Roots, rock, reggae
Summit Dub Squad mixes music and positive vibes
By Stephanie Flood
Published on 02/28/2008
Dub truly is the goulash of music. It sprung out of reggae from the 1960s, and its vast ingredients cook just as much steam. It tends to have sound processing effects such as echo and reverberation and has also been known to include other touches, like ambient or multi-layered effects that create a series of lush soundscapes.
This beautiful concoction reveals an atmospheric jungle that fluctuates with ever-changing sounds and background instrumentation, and Flagstaff crew Summit Dub Squad are the foremost local purveyors of the style.
Summit Dub Squad is a band grounded by reggae-influenced dub sounds, as a flux of hip-hop and spoken word are placed in the foreground of its music. This squadron is comprised of a dynamic group of musicians, who bring their own personalities, energies and creativity to the scene.
The group includes these six, skillful people: drummer Ben Keller; electric guitarist, back-up vocalist, and flutist Hunter Redday; viola player, percussionist and vocalist Rachel D; lead vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist B Dub; DJ SOE, who works the turn tables, drum machine and percussion; and bassist Dub Dr. Paul.
“It’s like a neighborhood of sounds,” says Redday. “Some people listen to salsa in one neighborhood, some people listen to hip-hop in one neighborhood, some people listen to reggae. But you get a member in each of those communities, and that’s what I feel the Summit Dub Squad is.”
All music hearkens back to the same roots and accordingly, dub doesn’t just encompass one form—all historical styles of music are embraced, from Cajun music to folk, from classic rock to underground hip-hop, as all the basic roots of each genre are utilized equally. B Dub explains:
“We try to tap into the roots that kind of connect different styles,” B Dub says, “and try to branch out from there. We definitely have a philosophy of having a strong foundation but also calling in to other musicians.”
And since they’ve gotten together, they have played with a variety of other local musicians including Karna, members of the Foot Solejahs, members of the Skanksters, Synergy, and Brian David, a classical guitarist who is also featured on their forthcoming album, High Elevation Sound Flavor.
The members of Summit Dub Squad feel that the songs in this album have had the chance to solidify, formulate and crystallize into their full potential.
“We’ve been able to do a lot of live recordings at shows, and rough recordings at studios,“ B Dub says. “This is definitely our first big effort to try to refine everything and get really good takes.”
The Dub Squad opens the album with one of their signature songs, “The Showdown,” which starts off like a Western film during the sweaty moments of a dramatic face-off. The concepts of the song take on the history of the Southwest as European settlers clashed with the indigenous people of the region.
The meaning of the song strikes at two opposing forces that have beleaguered humanity since the dawning of society: the force of oppression trying to take people down and the strength of the people, fighting to gain their rightful grounds.
B Dub and Hunter aren’t afraid to speak of spiritual awareness, as their words rhyme and coordinate on beat, to spread the messages of truth, love and respect.
“I’ve always been a fan of music, “ Redday says. “I’ve been to a lot of places. I know the world we live in today, and it’s a very crazy world. Ninety nine percent of it is very bad. And the 1 percent is what we try to represent.”
According to the band, Summit Dub Squad wants people to use their hearts and minds to battle injustice. And since the group believes in non-violence, their weapon is music.
“There’s a certain phrase—drop a knowledge when picking up the microphone,” B Dub says. “You drop knowledge like you’re teaching the people. You’re saying something that means something, and that’s something we try to bring into our music.”
Another element Summit Dub Squad fosters is pure instrumentation. On the album, they have classical voila over reggae roots, and classical guitar over another one of their tracks. The have straight live versions of hip-hop with just rapping. They also have scratching, with turntables on almost all of the tracks. Punk roots and rock roots shuffle their sounds around too, since the band strives to transcend most musical limitations.
Also on board their boat of sound is a row of various percussion instruments including congas, timbales, and shakers. Some tracks careen with the healing sounds of the traditional Native American flute, while another track begins with the didgeridoo.
Within all of the music the members of Summit Dub Squad create, all that matters most to them is living in the now and affecting people in the present. Although scoring a record label would be nice, according to the band, they’ve all got jobs to tend to when they’re not playing. But, when they play together, Summit Dub Squad becomes a part of that positive force that keeps each of them alive and grateful to make music with each other.
“It’s powerful to me,” Keller says. “It’s more than, ‘Yeah, I’m in a band, that’s cool’ … This is my bread and water. This is pretty big for me. I know for all of us; I know we all hope that we become a positive influence. It’s easy to give up hope.”
Continues Redday, “If you don’t have hope, you’re dead.”
Catch the Summit Dub Squad at the release party for High Elevation Sound Flavor Sun, March 2 at Mia’s Lounge, 26 S. San Francisco. The show will start at 8 p.m. For more info, see www.myspace.com/summitdubsquad or call 774-3315.
Summit Dub Squad mixes music and positive vibes
By Stephanie Flood
Published on 02/28/2008
Dub truly is the goulash of music. It sprung out of reggae from the 1960s, and its vast ingredients cook just as much steam. It tends to have sound processing effects such as echo and reverberation and has also been known to include other touches, like ambient or multi-layered effects that create a series of lush soundscapes.
This beautiful concoction reveals an atmospheric jungle that fluctuates with ever-changing sounds and background instrumentation, and Flagstaff crew Summit Dub Squad are the foremost local purveyors of the style.
Summit Dub Squad is a band grounded by reggae-influenced dub sounds, as a flux of hip-hop and spoken word are placed in the foreground of its music. This squadron is comprised of a dynamic group of musicians, who bring their own personalities, energies and creativity to the scene.
The group includes these six, skillful people: drummer Ben Keller; electric guitarist, back-up vocalist, and flutist Hunter Redday; viola player, percussionist and vocalist Rachel D; lead vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist B Dub; DJ SOE, who works the turn tables, drum machine and percussion; and bassist Dub Dr. Paul.
“It’s like a neighborhood of sounds,” says Redday. “Some people listen to salsa in one neighborhood, some people listen to hip-hop in one neighborhood, some people listen to reggae. But you get a member in each of those communities, and that’s what I feel the Summit Dub Squad is.”
All music hearkens back to the same roots and accordingly, dub doesn’t just encompass one form—all historical styles of music are embraced, from Cajun music to folk, from classic rock to underground hip-hop, as all the basic roots of each genre are utilized equally. B Dub explains:
“We try to tap into the roots that kind of connect different styles,” B Dub says, “and try to branch out from there. We definitely have a philosophy of having a strong foundation but also calling in to other musicians.”
And since they’ve gotten together, they have played with a variety of other local musicians including Karna, members of the Foot Solejahs, members of the Skanksters, Synergy, and Brian David, a classical guitarist who is also featured on their forthcoming album, High Elevation Sound Flavor.
The members of Summit Dub Squad feel that the songs in this album have had the chance to solidify, formulate and crystallize into their full potential.
“We’ve been able to do a lot of live recordings at shows, and rough recordings at studios,“ B Dub says. “This is definitely our first big effort to try to refine everything and get really good takes.”
The Dub Squad opens the album with one of their signature songs, “The Showdown,” which starts off like a Western film during the sweaty moments of a dramatic face-off. The concepts of the song take on the history of the Southwest as European settlers clashed with the indigenous people of the region.
The meaning of the song strikes at two opposing forces that have beleaguered humanity since the dawning of society: the force of oppression trying to take people down and the strength of the people, fighting to gain their rightful grounds.
B Dub and Hunter aren’t afraid to speak of spiritual awareness, as their words rhyme and coordinate on beat, to spread the messages of truth, love and respect.
“I’ve always been a fan of music, “ Redday says. “I’ve been to a lot of places. I know the world we live in today, and it’s a very crazy world. Ninety nine percent of it is very bad. And the 1 percent is what we try to represent.”
According to the band, Summit Dub Squad wants people to use their hearts and minds to battle injustice. And since the group believes in non-violence, their weapon is music.
“There’s a certain phrase—drop a knowledge when picking up the microphone,” B Dub says. “You drop knowledge like you’re teaching the people. You’re saying something that means something, and that’s something we try to bring into our music.”
Another element Summit Dub Squad fosters is pure instrumentation. On the album, they have classical voila over reggae roots, and classical guitar over another one of their tracks. The have straight live versions of hip-hop with just rapping. They also have scratching, with turntables on almost all of the tracks. Punk roots and rock roots shuffle their sounds around too, since the band strives to transcend most musical limitations.
Also on board their boat of sound is a row of various percussion instruments including congas, timbales, and shakers. Some tracks careen with the healing sounds of the traditional Native American flute, while another track begins with the didgeridoo.
Within all of the music the members of Summit Dub Squad create, all that matters most to them is living in the now and affecting people in the present. Although scoring a record label would be nice, according to the band, they’ve all got jobs to tend to when they’re not playing. But, when they play together, Summit Dub Squad becomes a part of that positive force that keeps each of them alive and grateful to make music with each other.
“It’s powerful to me,” Keller says. “It’s more than, ‘Yeah, I’m in a band, that’s cool’ … This is my bread and water. This is pretty big for me. I know for all of us; I know we all hope that we become a positive influence. It’s easy to give up hope.”
Continues Redday, “If you don’t have hope, you’re dead.”
Catch the Summit Dub Squad at the release party for High Elevation Sound Flavor Sun, March 2 at Mia’s Lounge, 26 S. San Francisco. The show will start at 8 p.m. For more info, see www.myspace.com/summitdubsquad or call 774-3315.