http://www.stateofmindmusic.com/entry/567/Giant-Panda-Guerilla-Dub-Squad/
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
State of Mind Music
1-28-09
By Emily Ashbarry
To say that Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is a hard-working band is a bit of
an understatement. Having done about 180 shows a year the past two years,
including three weeks spent in Jamaica, they've become valuable contributors to
the North American live music and reggae scenes. They've done some
guerilla-style, unscheduled shows -- like setting up and using solar power to
play in the campground at a festival. They'll even play multiple gigs in a day.
This bright-eyed, motivated, friendly, creative bunch from Rochester, N.Y.,
aren't your typical reggae band, and they have come far in a short period of
time, no doubt due in part to their busy tour schedule and explosive
performances.
A GPGDS show feels like a giant outdoor party in summer, filled with friends and
good vibes. Their mixture of roots reggae, dub and afrobeat, generates warmth
that can make some of the coldest days seem sunny. The squad -- Matthew O'Brian
on guitar and lead vocals, James Searl on bass and lead vocals, Christopher
O'Brian on drums, Dylan Savage guitar and vocals, Rachel Orke plays fender
rhodes, clavinet, melodica, and Aaron Lipp is on Hammond B-3 Organ -- have
played from New York City to San Francisco and shared the stage with groups such
as Toots and the Maytals and The Wailers.
Reggae in the winter can create quite a sensory juxtaposition. On one of the
most frigid days of the year, some genuinely warm and welcoming reggae beats
were being played at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vt. Before the show,
Christopher, James and Matthew and I chatted about their adventures and what
it's like to be a giant panda dub guerilla.
I kind of wish reggae were more popular than it is. Do you feel the same way?
Christopher: I do. That would be beneficial for all the music listeners out
there, as well as myself being in a reggae band.
Why do you think it isn't more popular than it is?
Christopher: I'd say that reggae as a very broad, general term is not as
popular because most of it is talking about religion and specifically
Rastafarianism, so the main demographic is Rastafarians, but our music doesn't
necessarily do that.
You guys definitely have a bit of a political angle, which a lot of reggae
tends to have. Is that another reason perhaps, the politics?
Christopher: Absolutely. I would say the religion is the main factor, but
definitely politics is also one.
I think it's fair to say that there's a jam band scene, culture, vibe, call
it what you will… Is there a reggae scene?
Christopher: Yeah, definitely. And sometimes they meet together, and
sometimes they're independent. Sometimes you'll be at the reggae scene show and
you'll see the jam band kids. All the hippie festivals have a couple big reggae
acts; that's usually a good staple of a summer festival. But I feel like that
jam band demographic, another way to describe those people, is the main group of
people that comes out and sees live music in North America.
So then, what's an example of a real reggae scene? I only really see it
involved as kind of a jam band conglomerate.
Christopher: In Southern California there's a strong reggae-only reggae
scene. There's reggae diehards all over, people that are just strictly roots
music. And we'll meet people that really like our band and they'll say stuff
like "You guys are definitely improvising a little, there's a little jamming and
I am a reggae dude!" A lot of those people turn out to be our great friends, and
that means so much to us to have these roots enthusiasts of like 30 years tell
us they really enjoy our music. And we're booked at Reggae on the Rocks at Red
Rocks in Colorado, so that should be great.
That's with some of the Marley brothers, right?
Christopher: Yeah, I'm ecstatic to play there.
You guys have spent weeks at a time touring in Jamaica. What was that like?
Christopher: Yeah, we went down there for three weeks in 2007, and it was
about as amazing and inspirational as you might think for a reggae band from
Rochester, N.Y., to be able to have that adventure. It was spring break, which
is why we were brought down; there was a demographic to play to. It was just an
amazing experience going to the birthplace of the music.
What was the reception like? Were there many locals?
Christopher: We were surprised how many locals came out to the show and
checked it out, paid the price of the ticket and were really interested. And the
Jamaicans loved it! It was awesome. We were a little anxious, but people that
had never left the island before were like, wow, that's Jamaican roots reggae!
Is that mostly what people in Jamaica might be exposed to -- roots reggae
versus dub?
Christopher: The new movement of Jamaican music is not like the style of
Jamaican music that we play at all. People are familiar with the dance hall and
the reggae tone. A lot of the bigger stuff now is more influenced by that fast,
hard, driving beat, whereas we play like a '70s era roots reggae. That's hard to
find down there. To find an original roots reggae band is few and far between.
Wow, that's kind of surprising. I almost thought the opposite.
Christopher: We were very surprised also. I think it's due to the lack of instruments. It's hard to get instruments down there, and when you have them, and that's what you want to do, you have to make a living with it, so there were a lot of Bob Marley cover groups at all the tourist attractions. That was what we ran into 9 times out of 10.
What have been some of the best places you've seen while touring?
Christopher: We love California. It's a blast there, Northern California
specifically. Colorado we've had really great luck in and reception. We've found
some great people in a lot of great, interesting places… Lone Tree, Iowa, we
have a great group of friends. We've met people that we'll never forget.
So you guys tour pretty much relentlessly and voraciously. How do you keep it
interesting?
Christopher: Well, the music is different every night. It's based on the vibe
in the room and the state of mind of all the people in the band, what we've been
doing that day, how much sleep we got last night. We don't really write set
lists very much, which is kind of unusual. We actually rarely do it, so that
really makes all of us feel the energy of the crowd and combine forces with
them.
Yeah, I think you can definitely pick up on that flow from the crowd
perspective.
Christopher: We did 180 shows in 2007 and in 2008, which I thought was really
funny.
Yeah, I saw that. That's pretty crazy. So you guys spend a lot of time
traveling in the car. What gets a lot of play music-wise?
Christopher: You know, when I drive I like no music, which is very bizarre.
But, we're one of those bands that gets stuck on our favorite stuff and plays it
until we'll never wanna listen to it again. I'm definitely one of those people.
I burn stuff out hard. But yeah, we listen to a lot of reggae, a lot of funk
music in the band.
James: I would say the van gets listened to the most, like van sounds and road
sounds. And there's often instruments. There's a lot of jamming that goes on in
the van, so you'd hear a melodica or a resonator guitar or an acoustic guitar,
or steering wheel hits. So that's a lot of the music that goes on, and singing.
We've never had a real stereo in any of our vans, for no terribly good reason.
How has being from Rochester influenced the band?
James: That's a very good question.
Christopher: It has influenced it in infinite ways, but one is that there is a
very cultural music scene there, a deep music scene that's been going on for
quite a while, and we've had the honor of being able to get advice and learn and
jam and share stories with a lot of those people that have been around the block
a couple times, and that's been a real pleasure.
James: Reggae has been in Rochester -- original reggae music -- since the
mainstream world started listening to reggae in the late '70s. Lee Scratch Perry
moved there in 1981, and we ended up kind of melding into a community of
musicians young and old that all have played in a lot of different bands
together. And Dylan Savage, our guitar player, is a little bit older than us and
he played with a lot of these guys that ended up coming to our shows and started
talking to us about the good and the bad of what they thought we were doing. It
was also really cold, so you know, staying inside and playing loud bass-heavy
music… I think everybody thinks it's a pretty warming experience. So we did a
lot of that. It always feels like it might be kinda nice outside when there's
reggae going on. When we did residencies in clubs in Rochester, during the
winter months it seemed to be the most crucial for people, like they were really
thankful that there was some loud reggae music going on in the dead cold.
Christopher: It was like going to your psychologist for a lot of Rochester
folks.
You guys recently converted your van to waste vegetable oil, is that
correct?
James: It is being converted as we speak, which is why we're in two rental vans
right now. We're very, very excited. That's been a goal that we've been working
on for a couple of years, just researching and getting the right vehicle in
order to do it. As far as going around the country and trying to express
yourself, trying to share in community and stuff like that, one of the worst
things is having to... You're essentially a trucker and your prime motive is
that you have to support what you're doing, and that means buying gasoline,
which supports many things that are very contradictory to the message, so we're
really psyched to not have to depend on that as much.
Are there any other common environmental beliefs? Vegetarians for example?
Christopher: We're about down the middle on the vegetarians.
James: Being really interested in reggae culture, for myself personally, and I
also think many people in the band have exposed us to very natural feelings of
being conscious about the environment and the food that you eat, how you keep
your body.
Matthew: Nobody really eats pork. Pigs produce more carbon dioxide than cars.
James: We learn a lot and tend to draw a lot of people that are extremely
conscious about the environment. And it's always really nice for us to pick up
information and tips and just share an acknowledgement of a new lifestyle, new
way to do things -- we can't believe we didn't grow up with this kind of stuff.
That's a huge step, converting the van, for sure. If everyone could do that,
that would be amazing.
James: We happen to be in a niche of people that that would work. I don't think it would necessarily work for everybody, but it is definitely what bands should do if you're playing and traveling like that and trying to push your music.
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