Reggae.hr: What prompted Giel Mulder (Dutch reggae trombone player) to make his own reggae band?
Giel Mulder: I used to play in some skapunk bands, but liked the older sound from the sixties better then the punkish ska. And reggae is easier to dance on when you get older. I do not have the energy anymore to dance to the fast and heavy ska-punk music as when I was a teenager.

Reggae.hr: What were the first impressions when you started your first European tour?
Giel Mulder: Can you remember how you felt the night before your birthday, when you were young? It is the same kind of excitement we feel when we can go on tour again. Going on tour is just like a fieldtrip used to be at school. All the excitement, out with the boys. It is fantastic. We allways have a lot of fun together. Touring is also a very nice way to see other countries. We never have the time to take a look at the well known touristic highlights, but allways have a good party with local people. It is a good way to come into contact with people. Playing music together, drinking together, having a party together. That way I can see people from all kind of European countries in a way I would not have seen them if I had just went to holiday like a tourist.

Reggae.hr: Why the second album "Reggae Beat You" was released for Grover Records, not for MoonSkaWorld records like your first album?
Giel Mulder: Grover Records offered us a good deal, because it is linked with Moskito Promotions. They could release our album, and do our bookings alltogether. Which is great, because that makes it possible for us to tour all across Europe. For our third album we have also signed a deal with a Dutch label to release it in Holland. We hope we can do some bigger gigs in Holland too that way.

Reggae.hr: How do you decide to play older direction in reggae music and not for example dancehall?
Giel Mulder: When we started the band, I was just not interested in contemporary reggae. I have allways listened a lot to music from the sixties, whether it was Phil Spector, Motown, Stax, Studio 1 or the Beatles. Because I was in a lot of punk and punkish ska bands back then, I felt I needed to play more groovy music I enjoyed listening to myself. That is when we started the Upsessions. Nowadays I listen sometimes to more recent reggae music, but the music from '69 is still the best for me.

Reggae.hr: Do you intend to stay in the rocksteady genre, or  you open mind to experiment with other genres of reggae?
Giel Mulder: We have become more open minded during the years, which in my opinion, is a good thing. We will allways sound like The Upsessions, even when we play roots reggae, calypso, surf or funk. The ska and skinheadreggae will allways be the basis of our music, but we like to look beyond the borders of Jamaican music.

Reggae.hr: What are your thoughts about reggae music fifty years ago and reggae music of today?
Giel Mulder: There seems to be a revival of the sixties reggae going on now, and I like it. Bands like The Aggrolites, The Moon Invaders, The Slackers are all heavily inspired by the sixties sound. But they play in a totally different scene then roots reggae bands or dancehall bands. Reggae has become a family of styles which differ very much from each other in sound, style and scene. Though I like to go to shows of bands that are not in "our" scene, I enjoy the concerts with bands like us the most. I think the old Jamaicans from fifty years ago are very lucky they invented reggae. For the old singers it is still a way to earn a little money. But in a way it can be a little sad to see very old singers still have the need to perform to make ends meet. I just hope they all perform for the love of their music, and can retire whenever they can.

Reggae.hr: You are coming from Netherlands. How do you explain the fact that you have a lot of excellent ska musicians(Mark Foggo, Mr.Review, Rude rich and the Highnotes and the Beatbusters) just in your country?
Giel Mulder: The Netherlands have a very strange ska-scene. We have a lot of good bands indeed, but not a big audience for these bands. Ska is really very small in Holland, and it is hard to find gigs for ska bands. It looks like all the folks that like ska are in a band themself.

Reggae.hr: This is first time that you perform in front of  audience in Zagreb. What can they expect from your concert 26th September in club Attack?
Giel Mulder: The Upsessions like to party. So we are going to party, first on stage, and hopefully later on at the bar or on the dancefloor with a good dj.