Hangin' in the W.C. with roots rock reggae kings, nuffsed

Hey rockin readers and uber-reggae fans! Here is another edition of Hangin in the W.C.

Nuffsed

Friday, March 5, 2004

Chop Suey, Seattle, Washington, W.C.

Seattle is a city known for its mosh-inducing 90s grunge and its arms crossed, head bopping, overwhelmingly indie label pop and rock.. Yet, there is a completely different scene going on in Seattle that is much more flavorful. Folks, Seattle has a thriving reggae scene.

Now, many within the scene will argue whether it's legitimate or thriving, but local promoters, Reggae Hotline Productions and others attract big acts such as the Wailers, Israel Vibrations, Pablo Moses, and Midnight to play in the Emerald City several times a year.

One of the bands booked to open for the crazy reggae superstar Eek-a-Mouse late Janaury is Seattles own roots rock reggae kings, NUFFSED. (It is actually spelled in the lower case, nuffsed, but for visual recognition purposes, we will capitalize the bands name.) This group of righteous party dudes have created some captivatingly powerful songs of love, salvation and Rastafari.

The current lineup of NUFFSED begins with the original members, Daniel Mr. Miller on lead guitar and vocals, Todd Baum Rips on bass guitar, and Justin Lobster Barnes on drums.

It all starts with me on guitar, and the drums and bass to create the music first. Then we come up with the lyrics. But we all play together so the music belongs to all of us, Daniel explains when asked about the collective credit the band gets for each song.

We all write our own lyrics, says Eric Maher, a.k.a. King Cire, the group's maestro of dancehall chanting or toasting. Eric whips out fast-paced lyrics with finesse and precision. He confidently freestyles the rapid words with power of conviction, easily packing each performance with great energy.

Deiter Segura, a.k.a. Citizen D, is the third vocal M.C. with a nearly baritone voice that compliments Dan and Erics higher ranges. Back-up vocalist Marlin Randy Reed plays congas, bongos, and percussion, and rounding out the reggae rhythms with loopy organ/keyboards is Leif Thug Dalan. This is a tight and talented group of musicians.

The members of the group are from all across the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Manager Nate Gibbs, Todd, Lobster, and Randy hail from the islands, bringing with them a playful party kick. These guys live together as the core home unit.

Daniel, a Seattle native, met Lobster and Todd while in college. They immediately bonded over reggae music at a party. The band spent their first three years together developing their sound at house parties.

Their new home is the sweeeeeetest band house Ive ever seen sans celebrity rock star pads. They have a killer view of Seattles Lake Union and Interstate 5 Bridge. All the rooms are well-decorated and clean! The domestic touch surprises me because it reveals a deeper layer of the players. You get a happy and well-functioning family sense in their environment. It is a beautiful thing, and you can sense these good vibes in their performances.

Eric, originally from Vermont, Deiter, from Southern California, and Leif, another Washington native, all joined the group in 2002 and the current lineup has been playing strong in the Seattle area for the last year. They played well-attended shows at the Alki Beach Festival, the Seattle Hempfest, the Seattle Bob Marley Festival, Northwest Folklife Festival two years in a row, as well as numerous shows at almost every reputable or skanky venue you can name in Jet City.

One of the strongest songs on their forthcoming CD is Impeachment. The songs strongly starts out with the shrewd lyrics, Impeachment yea, Its time to clean up the nation so, impeachment now, Haile provide salvation well. Dan states, When we sing about Haile
[BB]
[Selassie], we are speaking of the Rastafarian who is also known as Jah Rastafari. He is the Emperor of Ethiopia. Haile will provide salvation and help impeach Bush.

Right on, my brother. The lyrics implore America to take out its trash- or more precisely, to question the quality of leadership and government who threaten to eliminate civil liberties and freedom in the U.S - and to rise up against the increasingly oppressive elements we are seeing worldwide. This song deserves to be heard at every caucus and polling booth, on radio waves, television and billboards, because this is the message we all been waiting for to take back the reins of power from a madman. Oh, but I transgress, dont I? This band inspires me to believe that we have the power to change our world.

Combining political defiance with Rastafarianism is the bands strength. The band further explains that Haile is God, but not like God in Heaven, oh I am going to up now, die, and then go to Hell. Or Im going to be good because then I will go to Heaven. Heaven is on Earth right now. Rastafari is a physical representation of Jesus Christ, Jah, or Jehovah. He is crowned King of kings, Lords of lords, conquering lion of the tribe of Judah, but for our purposes, hes the Living God. He exists in our hearts and in everything.

The band members are very passionate about the concepts preached in Rastafarianism. The conversation gets serious and religiously technical, right down to biblical references, when they speak about the subject, but the overall message in their songs is not religion or politics. They speak about the power within all of us to bring about change, salvation, peace or happiness. Dan summarizes Rasta is 'bout everything you need. It is about love, peace, freedom and not accepting any kind of bullshit. It is tough to live in a city and not get screwed. You have to watch yourself and make sure not to be in a sad place. Rasta helps with that because everyday you feel stoked to be alive.

Poignant social commentary pepper the hip swaying music; you are happy, shaking your groove thang, and then your ears pick up the wise messages coming from Daniels emotive

sun-honeyed voice. In the song Pedestrian Life, the band is Calling all Pedestrians/Instead of talking about you and then me/The I, the I, the I/cannot deal with no vanity no folly but/you pass them by on the street/shuffling their feet and they turn the other cheek/get their paycheck every other week yet their heart is so weak. Two points are made in that stanza about judgment and self-reflection:
[BB]
We need to start looking to ourselves and to each other for change, hence breaking down barriers of separation between all of us. Our judgmental and separatist attitudes destroy us. Our dependency on that separation, effects of modernization and the rat race in general, leads to defeat, fear, and self-destruction. This song reflects on the "man eat man" concept many of us harbor when we fear one another or overzealously covet our measly possessions rather than share in the bounty. These songs are not preachy or generically prescribed advice one posits in reggae lyrics. These are intelligent insights, artfully sung and balanced by clever hooks and dance-inducing grooves. This band is not just a group of reggae party boys. This is talent, my friends.

Talented as NUFFSED is, the band is not signed to a label yet. Though the band has been around for four years, they are now making their music career priority #1, now that many of them have finished their coursework at the University of Washington and have no desire to be just another pawn in the rat race.

They create, practice, record, mix down, and produce all their own original music in their home studio. They will have their CD release party in Seattle on March 5, 2003 at the Chop Suey.

This band has the drive, talent, and vision to make it big. It is their dream and, more importantly and encouragingly, an attainable goal. I asked them about their business expectations and they know what they want in terms of specifics and proper respect. Manager Nate points out an important detail of sharing their big sound. Its hard for us to just think on a small scale. There are eight of us and we all have day jobs. It is hard to move all of our equipment and us so we will need good support from a label. We do want to get on the road and we want tour support, definitely. Lobster correctly states, Honestly, we have a good sound. We have something going on that is real. Its good and Im sure it can be huge.

NUFFSED works hard and understands that they will also need expert studio support and widespread distribution. The faster and wider we can get our music out, the better, Eric responds to my question about how far they want to go in the music industry. When asked if they wanted to sell millions of records, they confidently joke, Platinum, Triple Platinum, all the

way to the top! I want a big medallion, encrusted with diamonds! They wisely point out, While we want all that, we never want to give up creative control. They all chime in "never," one right after the other.

We spend most of our interview time joking about the big time, the Seattle music scene, and the possibility that Dan will have to lose the dreadlocks or dye them blonde for a Jah forgive award show, but these guys have their stuff together and are prepared for whatever good fortune may come their way.

They eagerly shared a list of labels and artists they admire and look forward to working with in the future. Labels such as Hellcat or Skank out of California, or reggae aficionados Shenachie, RAS, and Island, all rank high along with VP, Loha Loha, Ryko, Sick, No Limit and, ironically, Nass label, Rockafella.

The Roots, Wyclef Jean, Buju Banton, Alpha Blondie and the Long Beach Dub All Stars are musicians with whom NUFFSED wants to collaborate or tour nationally and internationally. The WARPED tour would be sick. I think we go over well with the whole SoCal sound, Nate shares as we finish our interview. I agree with him, and encourage all of you to check out their music. Come see what the fuss is all about and put a little more love into your life. Next week, I hang with L.A. rockers, Run Run Run. Peace and love, Valeria Valiente

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