I had to pleasure to sit down with Todd Johnson of Arise Roots to talk about their new album "Pathways" that is set to release Friday, June 19th
Q: What are the plans for the future?
A: By the time this is out we'll have announced our new album Pathways. We'll be releasing that June 19th. We had plans to back it up with a tour, but with the coronavirus shut down in place we'll just have to put that on the back burner for the time being.
Q: What do you think reggae music would be like today is Bob Marley was still alive
A: Bob Marley is the undisputed king of reggae and it might never have reached the masses in the way it did without him. He's one of the best songwriters ever, not just in reggae, but in music. His words, songwriting, and general spirit created movements and inspired generations of people and is still doing so today.
Q: What was been your favorite show/tour?
A: So far I think my favorite tour has been the 2015 Summer Smoke Out tour with Tribal Seeds, The Expanders, and Arise Roots. We were really still getting established back then. We had just put out our new album "Love and War" (2014) and we barely had any money. Our bus had died a few weeks before the tour and we were able to borrow a van from a friend and we just roughed it all over the country sitting on the floor jammed into this van, but we were with all our friends and it ended up being a blast.
Q: What got you involved in music in the first place?
A: I've always been involved in music, however, I was more of a trumpet and tuba player. I went to CSULB on a scholarship to play tuba and quite frankly lost interest in trying to make a career out of playing orchestral music. My first band was an instrumental ska band, Legends of Brass, where I developed an affinity for Jamaican music. Chris Hampton of Hirie was one of the members of that band and it's cool to see some of us forging forward still!
Q: How do you feel about the internet in the music business?
A: It's both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you get pirated and there's an artificial market that is forced by those pirates; Essentially all streaming services fit that bill as there is really no security for our intellectual property. On the other hand, there's unlimited exposure so it's up to us as musicians to turn that exposure into opportunity. It's not the easiest of things, because it also creates one of the most competitive marketplaces in any industry, but that's the field we play on. It used to be that you would record an album and then tour to promote that album and push physical sales. In today's music industry that model has been flipped upside down and you essentially use the album to push a tour.
Q: What new music do you like? A: I like anything that moves me, but I will shout out Keznamdi's last album, Bloodline. I really enjoyed all the places that one went to. Who are some musical icons that influence you and arise roots? Definitely 70's roots radics era of reggae is my personal and probably the band's biggest influence. However, the first Jamaican style I fell in love with was traditional ska and bands like the Skatalites.
Q: Favorite venue to play and why? I've got a few favorite venues, but I really enjoy the
A: Norva in Norfolk, Virginia, and Jannus live in St. Petersburg, Florida. They're both nice places to show up early and relax and catch up, but any venue in San Diego, California hits the spot because that's my hometown and I'm always down to have an excuse to visit home and see the fam.
Q: How has this quarantine affected you? A: Quarantine sucks. It definitely has me feeling a full range of emotions throughout any given day. Seeing people profiteering while people are losing everything is disturbing and frustrating, but it's nothing new. I have more time and less time at the same time somehow. I go through periods of massive productivity and then other days will feel like doing absolutely nothing. It's not always easy to find inspiration being trapped inside, but I've been trying to write music as much as possible. Definitely have produced a ton of demos, we'll see if any of them finish the race, but I have a feeling a few of them will make it.
Q: What was it like working with Nattali Rize, Turbulence, and Lutan Fyah? A: Well, it was tough because of how much work it was to put together. For starters, everyone was all over the world so many emails were exchanged. We basically sent them all a blank track with 2 choruses and not much else and we just let everyone do their own thing. The concept I had in my head was that I wanted it to flow a bit like a Wu-Tang Clan song with many MC's and short verses. I was hoping that in the sections where the verses were we'd be able to flip the artist every 8 bars. I wasn't sure if it was going to work and everyone pretty much sang over the same part so it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to put together and I love how it came out!
Q: How long did it take you/arise roots to write Lion in the Jungle? A: Honestly, this song was more work than any song we've ever done mostly because of Logistics and getting audio quality to match as everyone recorded in separate locations. I forget how big the sessions file was, but it was definitely the biggest one we've ever made. What kind of message were you trying to portray with your new song? Lions in the jungle is a song about strength. Nobody messes with Lions and this song says we are the lions and we are not to be tested. Q: How long have you guys been working on the new album pathways? A: It's hard to say specifically how long we've been working on Pathways, probably the end of 2017, but some of the musical ideas date back to 2016 or earlier. It's been in the works for a really long time.
Q: Where did the name pathways come from? A: The name pathways represent all of our pathways that culminated in this album. We all walked our own individual pathways for this album to come together as a group. We built this band from nothing, never did a gofundme, never asked for money, took on debt, and held off on paying ourselves to build our business. Each song is it's own pathway into its own subject as well. It's not so much a central theme as it is just about what it took to get to this place in time.
Q: With the new album what kind of message are you trying to tell the audience:
A: That varies from song to song. There are songs about love and commitment, songs that caution the leadership you follow, songs that call for unification, and songs that warn not to test. It's more of a collection of songs from a period of time in which we created and we can't wait to share our new album, "Pathways" with everyone! You can preorder here: https://ffm.to/ariseroots
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