A Roots Reggae Revival: 10 Ft. Ganja Plant Continues To Grow On “Bush Rock”
It’s no secret in the Sinning in LA family that Duke is the resident aficionado of reggae music, especially its dub genre. I love its stripped down, echo-heavy, drum and bass vibes, and it’s become my personal favorite strain of the reggae plant. But I didn’t come in to true, 1970’s, dubstyle Jamaican music by way of the originators (King Tubby, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Scientist), it was actually my college friend Phil and his amazing discovery of 10 Ft. Ganja Plant - the band with the best name in the world.
The year was 2002 and whenever I would go over to see Phil he’d have their debut release, Hillside Airstrip, playing on the stereo. Eventually, I came to know and love the songs as much as he did, if not more. But it was the last track, “New Day,” which hit me the hardest. It’s a heavily echoed affair with a massive dub beat behind it and that song changed something inside of me. It should be noted that at this particular time, and for the better part of the previous five years, I had immersed myself in the world of electronic music. I didn’t know it at the time, but many of the artists that I was listening to had been massively influenced by 70’s dub music and were incorporating elements of that style into their own productions.
Being the ravenous music lover that I am, I tried tracking down anything that I could find on these guys. I wanted to know who they were and where the crazy plant name had come from! But Hillside Airstrip was all there was. No tour. No promotion. Just that album.
“It wasn’t a gimmick. It was just more culturally in line with the dub records we loved from Jamaica,” said Kevin Kinsella, bassist and frontman for the group. “A lot of the reggae records from that time period were often never credited, so it’s a tip of the hat to that. It’s 100% the music and not the names."
We don’t run a hype game, we just want to let the music be first and foremost and that really sums up everything, because it’s about the music.
At the time of Hillside Airstrip’s release, Kevin was also the singer for the progressive reggae outfit, John Brown’s Body (JBB), whose vocal-heavy, futuristic grooves are an entirely different species altogether. Despite recording in a digital age far from the early dub methods of 1970’s Jamaica, his 10 Ft Ganja Plant project stands channels the legendary ghost of King Tubby himself.
Bush Rock, out now on ROIR Records is the band’s fourth official offering and may just be the group’s finest work yet. They’ve never sounded better or tighter than they do on this record, which is really impressive considering that when they started out over a decade ago, each member, including Kevin, was learning to play an instrument that they’d never played before.
“When my cousin and I started this it was just him on the drums and me on the bass,” Kevin explained. “We were touring with JBB and then what would happen is that we’d come off the road and a core of us, four of us that just wanted to play music all day long and when we were off the road we wanted to play music everyday, so we’d get up in the morning, brew up a pot of coffee and just start playing.”
The band has become more adventurous with each passing release and the plant seems to be growing right before our eyes. They’ve managed to maintain, however, the warmth that evokes the emotion of those classic dub recordings.
It’s 70’s style, Jamaican music. It’s got the spirit and spontaneity, it’s not over polished. It’s just soulful, genuine and grooveable.
Kevin then added, "One cool thing about the plant, and I push this when I’m in the studio, is that I think there’s a progressive element to it. Just like a new strain of ganja plant. Change is a natural thing and it’s not just entirely derivative rehash."
The new record is a perfect slice for creating summertime, anytime, such as on the flute-fueled “Soon Come,” but also serves up plenty of playful, dub-infused moments, as heard on the cheekily-titled and personal favorite, “10 Ft. Ganja Plant and Weed.”
“The diversity of the record provides something for everyone,” Kevin said. “I don’t sing lead on every track, nor does Ras J, and we do that purposefully so it doesn’t become one person’s expression and I really think that helps the listening-longevity of the record. There’s a couple of dubs to the head for sure but on every record there’s always a different guest voice or two or three. It just helps ensure the longevity of the group because it can’t be the same thing all the time.”
He’s definitely right about that, because this is one plant that’s already ten feet tall and continues to grow each and every year. Kevin also shared that the band may finally take the show on the road and bring a proper ‘plant’ experience to the City of Angels.
“Yes, but we gotta wait until 2010 to do it. We gotta stick to the 10‘s,” Kevin laughed. He’s thinking late spring or early summer, which would be a premium time to unveil a side of the stock we have yet to see.
“I think it’s just another solid stock of the bush,” Kevin said. “It is a 10 Ft Ganja Plant, so it’s a wild plant. That’s the thing about keeping the identity secret, we don’t stress about it, we don’t have a MySpace page, well I guess the label finally set one up, but the point is, we’re not trying to groom the plant too much. We’re not trying to be too slick, we don’t have a fancy press photo of the band, we don’t Tweet and there’s no Facebook. I’m not criticizing bands that do but the ethos of this plant is that it’s organic, it will grow, it will get people high and people will find it.”
In an age where information is in abundance and mystery in short supply, 10 Ft. Ganja Plant continues to grow and soar to new heights, all the while remaining shrouded in secrecy. It’s the way they prefer it and as long as they keep blessing our ears with albums like Bush Rock, I’ll stick to this stock.
