DUBBEST, THE NEW SCHOOL OF THE NORTH

When and why the band was formed?

Dubbest formed in 2009 as most of us were graduating high school in Bridgewater, MA. We had been playing together for years in various bands and it made perfect sense to come together and focus on reggae/dub music, it just felt right from the start.

How was the reggae scene in Boston back then?

The reggae scene in Boston always had some strong bands that have prospered for years now, Mighty Mystic, Soul Rebel Project, High Hopes Band, Fear Nuttin Band, and they are all still getting stronger and stronger and im proud to say that we've been accepted into that 'Boston Reggae Family'. There are a lot of new bands coming out of Boston now too, Boston's music scene will always be a huge variety of sounds.

How do you define your reggae style?

I would define our style as a Roots reggae/dub style with a 'jam' aspect that not many other reggae bands are doing nowadays. We are big fans of Grateful Dead and Phish and that carries over into our playing, which I think gives us a different sound than most reggae bands.

What influences do you have?

Most of our influences come from the originals of roots reggae like Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Wailing Souls, Toots & Maytals, etc. Augustus Pablo was a huge influence on us and our 'dub' sound. Also newer bands like Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, John Browns Body, and 10 Foot Ganja Plant had given us a huge amount of inspiration from our start, and have always been very nice and supporting of us from our start when we used to give them our demos and stuff like that.

You released "Avoid the pier", for those who have not heard it yet. What can you say about this album?

Avoid The Pier was a DIY record that we started in 2011 I wanna say, we took a long time mixing it and by the time it was done and ready for release it was almost 2013! That is a record we are very proud of though for that reason of doing it all by ourselves. Its essentially a 'dub' record with a handful of full songs on it as well. Just wait till you hear our next album, were recording it in September!

What do you currently doing? You're thinking in a next album? tour?

We're just getting off of our Cross Pollination summer tour and already to start booking our next tour, likely in Spring on 2015. And our new record will be recorded in September of this fall with Craig Welsch, drummer engineer of 10ft Ganja Plant, and we are super excited to be releasing that one, hopefully by next summer.

What could you tell us about the reggae scene in Boston now? Any interesting band?

The reggae scene in Boston is still strong, there is about 5 or 6 bands that have been doing it for a long time and their getting better and better. And there is always new bands popping up and side projects of reggae musicians in Boston, its a tight community among all of us and I love it!

The reggae scene in USA is growing a lot with greats bands, some new and other that been working for long time... like Groundation, SOJA, Slightly Stoopid, Rebelution. What do you think about this bands?

I think its all making things a lot better and easier for bands like us to keep a growing fan base and keep booking shows. There is a ton of reggae music coming out of the west coast and it all is opening doors for reggae bands all over the country. East coast reggae is trying to start that same driving popularity that the west coast has been successfully doing for years now. I absolutely love the fact that I can go into a store or bar or whatever and hear reggae on the radio, that all means were moving in the right direction and I cant wait to see where it takes us! Love and respect to all the reggae bands doing it right now.

Could you send a message for your latin american fans...

Big thanks to everyone who has been supporting us over the years in Latin America! We absolutely love the fact that we will be able to someday go over to different parts of the world and see beautiful people that have been a part of our growing scene, I hope we can make it to you guys soon so we can show our appreciation. Please keep listening and we promise to not disappoint you! Much love from all of us to you!