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Guestlist Recommends: Royal Hammer
Reggae | Friday 27th April 2012 | Osh
There's an album on the way which is sure to feature an authentic sound. Hailing from Maine, USA, Royal Hammer are certainly one top watch out for...
When did your musical journey begin and how long have you been on the scene for?
We started playing a lot of weekly performances and island gigs here in Maine. We were playing a lot of covers of our favourite artists - lots of deep cuts - and realised we had something special going when a lot of people were showing up and really digging the vibe. We all decided to start diving into the music deeper and cut an album on our own.
Your main sound is based on reggae/ dub... What is it about this genre that made you say, this is what I want to do?
It's different for all of us individually but we all love this genre so much as a group! We dive into reggae music, as deep as we can living in Maine, and try our best to stick to the roots and pay our respects through our music to all of the greats. Reggae and dub music has a wide reaching influence on all music from hip- hop to jazz to R&B and funk. The innovation sonically and rhythmically and the huge body of work that came out of Jamaica between the late ‘60s and early ‘80s is what inspires us to play this music.
So tell us a bit more about The Royal Hammer... Who’s involved/ why that name..?
Michael Taylor, lead vocals and guitar, is the centre of the group; he called on us all to play some tunes and play out. He knew the drummer, Gary Gemmiti, had the deepest pocket in town and had worked a lot with Stu Mahan on bass. He called on Ryan Zoidis on tenor sax and Dave Noyes on trombone. After a while, we wanted a denser horn sound and added alto sax, a la Lucas Desmond. When Pete left, we split keyboard duties between Mike Effenberger and Ty Quist. The group has some players that tour with larger artists like Soulive, Lettuce, The London Souls, amongst other heavy hitters on the scene. Our love of this music brought us together.
Who and what are the main influences for your sound?
There are so many! We really dig into the vocal styling of Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott, Dennis Brown, Alpha Blondie, Beres Hammond among many others. Roots Radics, The Upsetters, and Bob Marley's rhythm section influenced the group- can't forget about Zap Pow too! Our favourite producers are King Tubby, Scientist, Prince Jammy and Lee 'Scratch' Perry.
We are constantly inspired by other local and national musicians, the landscape of Maine, the city of Portland, our friends and families and the short- lived warm months in the summer.
Who have you worked with that has really influenced you and your sound?
The Legendary Glen Da Costa of Zap Pow influenced our sound to some degree. We had the opportunity to work with him a little bit last year and we look forward to working with him more. He is a wealth of knowledge and experience that we look up to. We played a show with Midnite and that definitely had an effect on us! Marty Dread's presence influences us every year when we get to perform with him. His vibe is cosmic! He's so positive and outgoing and he knows A TON of reggae! He’s a fantastic performer too.
With our debut album, we look forward to working with more people. It's such a nurturing music and we really want to learn from other people and are eager to share our knowledge.
Who would you like to work with in the future?
The legends and greats that are still out there and the younger cats that love this stuff as much as we do. U- Roy, Sister Nancy, Midnite, Sister Carol, Max Romeo, Sizzla, Beres Hammond, Steel Pulse, Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Scientist to name a few.
Are there any events coming up that you’ll be performing? If so, when will they be?
We played a lot over the past few years, but right now we are focusing on finishing our album. We are recording all analogue to tape so it takes a bit longer. We hope to have it ready by July. We will be booking a few album release shows for then. After that, it's full steam ahead.
Is there a particular city or country you’d like to bring your sound to and why..?
We would like to hit foreign markets and warmer climates! Seriously though, we'd love to take our music everywhere and get crowds excited about roots music!
Describe your music in three words...
Honest, roots, forward.
What message are you aiming to send through your music?
We want to get people excited about this music again. We feel that this music is not reserved for Rasta’s and it doesn't need to come out of Jamaica to be authentic. We feel that the music speaks for itself and knows no colour, creed, religion, or political affiliation. In these polarising times, we feel this music can break down the walls people are constantly trying to put up to separate us as people, when in reality, we are one. We are all human.
A defining moment in your career so far...
We feel this record will define us and our message.
Your favourite place to perform to date is... and why?
We have really enjoyed performing at Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine. They have always treated us well and it sounds great in there.
Are there any releases due soon? If so, when can we expect to hear?
We may trickle out some sound clips here and there of the new stuff, but our newest full- length release should be coming out sometime in the summer.
Where can we listen and download your music?
We'll have our stuff available on Reverbnation, iTunes, our website (which we'll have soon), and other online stores. We really want to have a vinyl pressing and some 45's as well. We love the vinyl sound and want our album to be next to our influences in people's collections!
Check the Royal Hammer page on Reverbnation and check their track and live performance with Marty Dread: www.reverbnation.com/
And find them on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/royalhammer
