Reggae.hr: Were the members of the band in reggae music before the album "Dub Side of the Moon"?
Michael Goldwasser: Yes, everyone involved in the band has an extensive background in reggae, though we also all play many styles of music.
Reggae.hr: How and why you decided to handle the classic rock music designs like Pink Floyd or Radiohead?
Michael Goldwasser: At first, we were not thinking about a long-term series; my Easy Star Records co-founder Lem Oppenheimer was a big fan of the Pink Floyd album, and he had the idea to try to make a reggae version of it. But after 'Dub Side of the Moon' became successful, we decided to try to apply the idea to other classic albums. It seemed like a good way to introduce more people to the reggae music that we loved, and it seems to have worked because many people tell us that they never really listened to reggae before they heard us, but now they love it.
Reggae.hr: Do you think that those classics brought this major popularity?
Michael Goldwasser: Yes, I am sure that we have become more popular because of our remakes. We seem to have struck a nerve with music fans who are looking for new and interesting versions of albums that they are already familiar with.
Reggae.hr: Are you planning to turn towards authoring material?
Michael Goldwasser: We have already put out original material, as early as 1997 and more recently with our EP 'Until That Day' (2006). We also have an album of original material called 'First Light' that is coming out in April.
Reggae.hr: Do you think that authoring material will have the same popularity as the classics?
Michael Goldwasser: I hope that we have now established ourselves with our fans so that they will also enjoy and want to buy "First Light". But we understand that some people will only care about our cover material.
Reggae.hr: Which album from the previous editing was the most demanding to adapt with dub/reggae sound?
Michael Goldwasser: They were all difficult in different ways. I guess that "OK Computer" was the hardest because so many of the songs are in odd time signatures - pretty much all reggae is in standard 4/4 time.
Reggae.hr: Who has the biggest musical influences on your work outside the bands that you have covered?
Michael Goldwasser: As a producer, songwriter, and musician, the bands that we have covered so far were actually not big influences on me. I was much more influenced by reggae acts such as Third World, Steel Pulse, Aswad, Dennis Brown, and Sugar Minott, as well as r&b artists like The Isley Brothers, Doony Hathaway, and Curtis Mayfield.
Reggae.hr: Concerning the 'Dubber Side of the Moon' - processing of processing does not sound good at first glance. What was challenging you to work on this album?
Michael Goldwasser: "Dubber Side of the Moon" was a unique venture for us because we enlisted various remixers to do most of the songs (only a few remixes were from members of the Easy Star crew). So the challenge was more in matching the right song to the right remixer, it wasn't about writing and producing new arrangements of rock songs.
Reggae.hr: Do you think the story with remakes would be successfully operated in the opposite direction? For example, that one rock band processing the album of some reggae legends like Gregory Isaacs, Marcia Giffiths or some other reggae artists?
Michael Goldwasser: I think that all music has the potential to be great if done well. But I think that a lot of the magic of great reggae albums comes from the vibes given off by the reggae music itself, so if you strip away the reggae, you lose a lot, no matter how great the songs are. Still, I would love to hear some rock versions of reggae albums to see how they worked.
Reggae.hr: What are yours considerations in general about Reggae music today?
Michael Goldwasser: There is not a whole lot of reggae music being made today that I love as much as the classic stuff from the 70's and 80's, but that is just my personal taste. There are many talented reggae artists out there now with good intentions, but overall, I feel like the music is not being produced as well as it could be. In some ways, technology has made it too easy to make music, so more people are doing it, not just the really talented. But that's OK - I think that anyone who wants to make music should do it. I just might not want to listen to it! But a couple of current groups that I think are really great are The Green from Hawaii and Rasta Power from Israel. They give me hope that there is a lot of good reggae yet to come.
Reggae.hr: At the recent tour, you are presenting the collection of remixes. Regarding that fact, what kind of appearance should we expect?
Michael Goldwasser: We are going to play songs from all of our albums, including the new one, 'First Light'. The fans should expect a high-energy show with plenty of positive vibes.
