B-Side Players is a septet led by frontman Karlos Paez and including guitarist Giovanni Mejia, bass player Gerry Guevara, saxophonist Regan Branch, percussionists Victor Tapia and Luis Cuenca, and drummer Ryan Moran. The son of a musician, Paez spent a good deal of his time growing up on the road and formed the band in 1993 in San Diego. The group built a local following and won several San Diego music awards for their blend of Latin, funk, rock, and reggae, and have toured with artists ranging from Ben Harper to Papa Roach. The group issued Movement in September 2001, which culled material from two self-released records, Renacimeinto and Culture Of Resistence. The album included a guest appearance by Herbie Hancock drummer Mike Clark and a cover of the War classic “Spill The Wine”. Continue reading ‘Fire in the Youth’
Andy Smith is the originator of the major-label multi-genre mix album. When his mix-CD The Document hit the streets in 1998, it became the soundtrack for a generation who had heard Coldcut’s Journeys By DJs but needed to hear more - The Document and its follow ups Document II and Document III filled the void.
The Document III and other mixes
Having sold in excess of 130,000 copies of The Document I and II, Andy released the eagerly anticipated The Document III on Sanctuary Records in 2005. The mix features artists as diverse as Muddy Waters, Freda Payne, Showbiz and AG, Black Sabbath and Aldo Vanucci.
The Document mix CD series reflects Smith’s well honed DJ style of playing good music whatever the genre from his mixed bag of vinyl treasures.
The series has proved so popular that Trojan Records asked Andy to breathe new life into their back catalogue by releasing a reggae spin off called The Trojan Document in 2006. Record Kicks releases Andy’s latest compilation Lets Boogaloo Volume 4 in 2007.
Portishead
Andy originally made his name back in the 1990s as Portishead’s world tour DJ reflecting their respect for both the art of digging for breaks and hip-hop scratch DJing. This appreciation of different genres made Andy the ideal guy to provide sample material for Portishead. These hip-hop elements helped form the basis of the unique Portishead sound.
Tomorrows Bad Seeds was originally started as an acoustic three piece. Since then it has evolved into much more. With a high-energy mix of Reggae, Rock, Punk, and Hip Hop they create a unique sound that can captivate any crowd.
Since getting together in ’04 they have been killing the West Coast playing such venues as: HOB Hollywood, Vault 350, The Catalyst, San Felipe(SWAT High School grad trip), Keyclub, Galaxy Theatre, Downtown Brewing Co., Ventura Theatre, and many others. Along the way they have shared the stage with artists such as: Slightly Stoopid, Half Pint, The Expendables, Hed(pe), Common Sense, Dubcat, Midnight, Salvador Santana, The B Foundation, Iration, and many more.
Tomorrows Bad Seeds is a melodic fusion of music and lyrics charged by day-to-day experiences, Love, and Politics.They strive to spread a seed of consciousness and pave the way for a brighter future. “PLANT THE SEED AND LET IT GROW”
My long time friend and soon to be reggae legend(imo) Elan is playing The Roxy this Sunday, May 27th. Although he is still young, he brings years of experience rocking stages across the world singing the reggae music. He will not disappoint you, I promise. After spending years fronting the pioneers of reggae, The Wailers, he has embarked on his own journey. With help from greats such as Sly and Robbie, Fatis and Cutty Ranks among others, Elan is on his way to making his own history. Don’t miss this legend in the making.
