[fa:p:id=1066718605,j=r,s=s,l=p]AUSTIN DAZE: Native Roots blends both the spiritual philosophies and musical elements of reggae and Native American culture. How did this first happen?

JOHN WILLIAMS: Native Roots is a partnership between me and the lead singer Emmett Garcia. As far as the reggae music, for me, it goes back years and years into the ’70s. The Native American movement was real strong in northern Arizona—I grew up on a reservation there—and we just listened to Bob Marley every single night. What he said seemed to relate directly to what we were experiencing. The message was that we needed to lift up and stay strong when everything was pushing us down. That was my first experience with reggae music and Rasta. And then I did some traveling. I played a variety of styles of music and was playing in a band that had a Santana-like sound. We got to go to Europe, and I really found how universal reggae music was. I thought it was just us in northern Arizona that were listening to reggae music day and night, and I found out the whole world was. So when I came back I made a conscious effort to mold my musical focus on reggae music and to do it in the true spirit. Read the rest of this entry »

[fa:p:a=72157594267830938,id=312454248,j=r,s=s,l=p]AUSTIN DAZE: Your new album “Love is My Religion” is amazing. How does it feel for you? Does it feel more or less special than anything else you have created?

ZIGGY MARLEY: this was an album that was special in a couple of ways. One of the main ways is that this is an album that is a message about my religion. I am honored that I was inspired to bring that message to people Read the rest of this entry »

[fa:p:a=72157594267830938,id=235385271,j=r,s=s,l=p]AUSTIN DAZE: How has the Reggae scene changed since you started?

YELLOWMAN: It changed a lot. It changed a lot because most of the Reggae music right now is a different kind of music – not the roots, hard core drum, real music. You understand? What we are trying to do right now, we try to do rhoomba (?), the Reggae in the dance halls. Reggae strayed away from the dance halls because of the new younger artists. But now we are trying to bring it back. Read the rest of this entry »

AD: How did you all start playing reggae and who are your influences? JBB: The band was formed in the mid to late 90′s. It was born out of a group called Tribulations, which was also a seventies beats reggae band with more of a rock twist. Kevin Kinsella formed Tribulations in the late 80′s and early 90′s. Sort of at the time of Sublime and Long Beach Dub All-Stars, sort of more of that vein. And Tribulations came out of it. They toured nationally and internationally for a number of years, and then broke up in 1994. After a couple of years of hiatus, Kevin reformed John Brown’s Body as a five piece wanting to get back to a little bit rootsier of a sound in lieu of some of the rock edge that had been incorporated into Tribulations. Everyone in the band has been influenced by Read the rest of this entry »