2008 Woodie Awards
An interview with Matt Velasquez of Rebelution
Singer calls Gaelstock opening gig "blessing" for band, excited to play for Gael crowd
Adrian Garro
Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Detour
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
Adrian Garro: Who would you say are your biggest influences as a band?
Matt Velasquez: There are so many to list. Some of us listen to all kinds of music from hip-hop, rock, to country, and others listen to mainly reggae. Some of us like to rock out and some of us like to try and stick to the more reggae vibe. Each one of us has many different musical influences which I feel make our sound what it is. We try not to suppress one another's style to make them fit our individual expectations of what our music should be. We usually start with a few chords and build up from there and try to mold a song in to what we think sounds good. If I had to name some bands that have influenced our style I would say Bob, dredg, Gentlemen, Barrington Levy, Sublime, Incubus, 2pac, Don Carlos, etc.
AG: As a reggae band comprised of Caucasians, is it hard to
avoid the Sublime comparisons? Do you think this is a fair
comparison?
MV: Personally, I don't think we sound like Sublime at all and we are not trying to. I have seen so many bands try to emulate Sublime's sound and for me it just doesn't work. You can have a serious career trying to sound like someone else, [but] you have to be yourself and that's what we are doing. Whether we are [an] all white band or not, it doesn't matter. We are trying to make good music and it happens to have a predominantly reggae sound; that's it.
AG: What made you want to play at Saint Mary's College?
MV: One of my friends actually suggested us to the board and pushed for us. Then one day I received a phone call asking to play at Gaelstock and we all agreed. We heard good acts have headlined in the past and we wanted to be a part of it. We also heard someone started a Facebook page that was requesting us for Gaelstock so I think it was the fans that really sparked our interest.