Earlier in the year, I sent a message to someone in
booking/managing/wrangling at the Slackers camp to conduct an interview with
all or part of the band. I'm a fan. That's no secret to any of you folks who
read my ramblings and listen to my show, and getting to put pen to paper (or
fingers to keys) in regards to this music I love is gift enough, but getting to
involve the band that started it all for me and continues to keep me hooked?
Amazing. I was told yes, sure. Send over some questions.
Unfortunately, I had no idea who would be answering
these questions. Being that there are such diverse talents and personalities in
this band, there was no way I could do anything but send several generic
questions over and pray I would not be judged for how boring they probably
were. It was David Hillyard, Slackers saxophonist and scene legend that
got back to me. He did the best anyone could with my impersonal, generic, and
probably boring inquiries, and I am forever thankful to him for that. I have
since then been hoping to redeem myself.
Fast forward to last week, and I had a message from
the amazing Mr. Hillyard in my inbox with some info on the new Rocksteady Seven
album. The album, Friends and Enemies, is due out December 4th on Whatevski
Records and was recorded over the course of a day at Seaside Studios
in Brooklyn. No over-dubs. It maintains the same raw, true flavor we have come
to expect. I was happy to debut the track "Evil" on my show this past
week, and not surprisingly fielded rave reviews from my listeners in the days
that followed. I am beyond excited to get my hands on the full album after its
release in a few short weeks. You can bet you will be hearing a lot more of it
from me.
When I first heard the Rocksteady Seven's first album
Playtime, I was immediately addicted. It remains one of the most played albums
in my home, in my car, and in my headphones while tapping away mundane duties
at work. Diverse and raw with a ska-jazz-blues-groove straight through, it's
similar enough track to track to maintain interest, but different enough that
you never get bored. Far from it. Everything I heard after that held the same
truths, and I really don't put together a show without something from the
Rocksteady Seven every week. On what I have heard so far of Friends and
Enemies, I can give you my word that you will not be disappointed.
Dave Hillyard was nice enough to let me pick his brain
a bit (in a much more direct and specific fashion than in my previous
interview, thank goodness...) about his work, his influences, and what keeps
him moving along as one of the most well talented and well respected musicians
in the modern ska scene to this day.
So first and foremost, what was it that inspired you
to pick up a saxophone in this first place?
Hillard: I
heard Saxa from the Beat. It was his saxophone tone that made me want to play.
He started what became an obsession.
What have been some of the most
prominent musical influences for you throughout your career thus far?
Hillyard: I started out listening
to 2 Tone era ska and then I got into the older music. I got into the
Skatalites, Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, the Maytals, Heptones, Justin Hines,
Count Ossie....lots and lots of Jamaican music. I was friends with a studio one
distributor in San Diego where I grew up and I would go over to his house and
listen to and buy tons of records.
The Skatalites
turned me onto jazz and instrumental music in general. I started listening to
American jazz artists like John Coltrane, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ben
Webster, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis...so much music. I listen to jazz from the
1920s up until the present all the time.
I also got really
into Soul, RnB and Blues. The Impressions, the Temptations, Lee Allen, Howling
Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Redding, Charlie Whitehead, Lee Dorsey, Allen
Touissaint...there is just so much music there.
So in a funny way I
grew up on English and Jamaican musicians and then they introduced me to
American artists and for that matter, a whole wide world of music.
Ska music got me
into Latin and Brazilian music.
More recently I’ve
been listening to lots of music from different parts of Africa like Getachew
Mekurya, Alemeyehu Eschete, Fela Kuti, and Ignaze Da Souza.
I've also been
fortunate enough to be around some great musicians in person. Besides all the
guys my age I played with in bands, there are older guys like Larry McDonald
who is a big mentor to me. Glen Adams was a big mentor to me. I was lucky
enough to hang out with Tommy and Roland several times. They taught me stuff
about saxophone and gave me exercises to practice. Roy Campbell, the trumpet
player, was also a big influence on me in terms of how to improvise.
The Slackers have demonstrated a
notable staying power within the ska scene. You still make great music, and you
still put on amazing live shows. What do you think is the reason behind that?
Hillyard: Well,
I'm glad you think that. I'm not exactly sure what our secret is to our
longevity, maybe its better that I don't figure it out. For myself, it’s that I
love what I do. I try to work on my playing and make sure that I'm always
improving myself in some way. I love playing gigs, travelling, seeing the world.
So as long as I keep on enjoying doing that I think the shows will be ok.
The Question is up for re-release
on vinyl, and I saw that you are playing the album in its entirety in Miami.
What is it like to revisit songs you guys wrote and recorded so long ago? There
are some that don’t really get played out all too often. Will you be taking
some of those songs and throwing them into live show rotation for all the
holiday tour shows?
Hillyard: Well, there are only 4 songs that we
definitely haven't been playing at all from the Question; Power, Motor City,
the Mummy, and Do You Know. Considering that its an 18 song album that we put
out 14 years ago, I think that's pretty amazing.
I mean the question
has 'have the time' on it, so we play that all the time.
We try to rotate
our songs around a fair amount. We don’t want people to come back 6 months
later and see us doing the same show.
For me, its fun to
play the old tunes and I appreciate the fact that people like the songs. Its a
great feeling that someone likes your music.
On the other hand,
I always like playing new tunes. I like recording new music. I like writing new
tunes. It makes me feel like I'm alive.
So I guess its all
about finding a balance between the old and the new.
I'm excited that we
are going to get a chance to reissue the vinyl on Big Tunes. The original
pressing was only for 250 copies and sold out a long time ago.
I got to see you with The Void
Union in Stanhope earlier this year, and it was amazing. I read that you joined
them on a few shows. Any plans to work with them again?
Hillyard: I have known a bunch of the Void Union
guys as they came up playing with Westbound Train. Rich Graiko, their trumpet
player, has also been playing with Rocksteady 7 in NYC for the last 4 years or
so.
I have done some
guest cameos on their recent albums. Took a solo here and there. Then we did a
gig up in Boston a couple years back where me and Django were special guests
with them. We followed that up with the recent tour.
It was fun for me
because I could just focus on playing the music. I didn't have to deal with
lodging or business or anything except for playing the music. So it was just a
real fun joyful couple days for me.
How did the Rocksteady Seven
initially come about?
Hillyard: I had a lot of tunes that weren't
getting played with the Slackers and before that with Hepcat. I had been
impressed with what Django had done with Stubborn All-Stars, so I wanted to try
to do a band that was playing all my tunes. I had never done that before.
I met Larry
McDonald at a Skatalites show in New York City. I heard what he was playing and
had the realization of how I wanted the band to sound. Me and Larry talked a
lot that night and I realized we were into a lot of the same music and had a
lot of the same ideas about how you can mix jazz-reggae-ska-latin and other
stuff together.
How was it working on the new album?
Hillyard: It was
cool. I've made my last 2 albums at Seaside in Brooklyn. We record everything
live with only minimal overdubs. On this most recent album, FRIENDS AND
ENEMIES, there is only 1. Hehehehe.
I'm going for a
direct raw sound. Its about capturing a moment.
I see you have dates set with them
for Europe in the New Year. Are there any plans for US dates after that?
Hillyard: Well, the tough thing about Rocksteady
7 is that everyone in the band, including myself always has other commitments.
So I'm always juggling musicians. Its really as much a musical concept as much
as a band.
The commonality is
me and Larry.
I got my NYC group
with guys like Rich Graiko, Justin Rothberg, and Dan Jeselsohn.
Right now, I have
my European touring group of Mr Tbone and guys from the Caroloregians and Moon
Invaders. And I also have my
west coast touring group of Clint Sobolik, Christian Vela, Jimmy Boom, and
Kincaid Smith.
My immediate plan
is to tour with the European group in January. I'm gonna do some NYC dates in
Febuary. Then hopefully do some West Coast dates in spring.
This is in between
the Slackers touring schedule. So its a busy life!
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