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Rochester music interviews
We hit up artists on their way to the ROC
New Zealand is a difficult place to leave, says Tommy Benedetti, drummer for reggae act John Brown’s Body, which made its first-ever visit to the South Pacific island country during a three-week tour with The Black Seeds.
“I think our keyboardist, Matt (Goodwin), is still over there,” says Benedetti, with a laugh, while recovering from 28 hours of travel during a recent phone interview.
The octet — which, along with Benedetti and Goodwin, includes singer Elliot Martin, bassist Nate Edgar, guitarist Mike Keenan, trumpet player Sam Dechenne, saxophonist Drew Sayers and trombonist Scott Flynn — had a total of six days off while on tour in New Zealand, which afforded “a lot of time to get crazy,” as Benedetti put it.
“We did a whole bunch of crazy stuff, (including) bungee jumping. We hung out by beautiful lakes and went to hot springs and just did all this incredibly cool nature stuff,” says the drummer. “In the U.K. (where the band also toured this year), it’s more about the historic sites and the old buildings, where New Zealand is just, like, beautiful, untouched nature. It’s an incredible place to go.”
John Brown’s Body has returned home to the states, only to pick up where it left off with a handful of dates next month, including a stop at Water Street Music Hall on Saturday, Dec. 5. Following those shows, the band will head to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where it will board the Poesia and take off for Jam Cruise 8 — a floating festival that will travel to the Caribbean and also feature artists Galactic, Maceo Parker and Dweezil Zappa, among others.
This will be the band’s first Jam Cruise, but after participating in the Dave Matthews and Friends Cruise in 2006, members of John Brown’s Body have some idea of what to expect.
“Bands were playing all the time on two cruise ships, and there were super-jams going on,” Benedetti recalls of the ’06 gig. “I remember seeing the ships we were getting on, and I just couldn’t believe it. They’re just so huge; they’re like a floating city.” And, he adds, there’s a nonstop party vibe — “no doubt.”
Fans aboard the Poesia, as well as at the Water Street gig, can expect to hear many tunes off the band’s most recent releases, Amplify and Re-Amplify. The former debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Chart last year and showcases the band’s self-proclaimed “future roots” sound, a traditional reggae style mixed with a modern, funky feel.
Re-Amplify is the outcome of producers from around the world remixing and putting their own spin on Amplify tunes.
“Creatively, I always thought remix records were just a cool treat for not only the fans, but musicians as well, just to hear your song reinterpreted and reinvented in a way that you probably wouldn’t think of yourself because you’re so attached (to the songs),” Benedetti says.
It may be awhile before the reggae act “locks itself in the studio” to make another album; it can be difficult to coordinate eight people living in two different cities, Benedetti says. But the band hopes to work on some demos in the spring and promises to release new tracks before then.
“These days it’s just kind of important to keep the music fresh and keep people interested and throw little tidbits out here and there … release a few songs online or something,” says the drummer. “We also recorded a song called ‘Bank Robber’ for a Clash tribute album … coming out in December. So we always try to keep fresh tracks coming out.”
