Irie Sol is as eclectic as it gets. This isn’t hyperbole; it’s just a cold, hard, sometimes frustrating fact. Irie Sol is the bane of every modern music writer because, frankly, they can’t be put into a tidy, little box.

“We cast our nets wide,” said Joel Pace, one of Irie Sol’s 10 current members. “There is no sense in segregating musical styles or people.”

It’s this attitude that has fueled Irie Sol for the past five or so years. The band originally started as a bet to lead singer, Chris Matthews, that the Midwest couldn’t sustain a reggae band, and in some ways, that bet has come true.

Irie Sol isn’t just a reggae band, they are a veritable smorgasbord of musical influence. The band themselves don’t even have a name for it. “Chris calls our style, ‘it’ as in, ‘it’s not jazz, it’s not rock, it’s just it,’ ” said Pace in a recent phone interview.

One song can range from a protest reggae march to a smooth jam to a towering inferno of funk. Yeah, one song. It’s a little intimidating to try and sum up, but for the sake of the article, let’s try.

A quick listen to Irie Sol will have you coming away with a smile on your face and maybe a few shakes in your booty. Their polyrhythmic jams are always filled with enough funky bass and keyboard to give even the staunchest school librarian happy feet, but that isn’t where it stops. Pace and Matthews give heartfelt lyrics about war, protest, and living together in uncertain times while horn players Matt Rongstad and Jon Lanctin layer in cerebral jazz licks. When Pace laughs over the phone about trying to describe their influences, it isn’t condescension, it’s empathy.

So where does a Midwest rock/reggae/rap/dance/whatever band go when it needs toproduce an album? Why, the guy who recorded the Gin Blossoms and the rapper Juvenile, of course.

Chris Mara, a former Chippewa Valley native and current Minneapolis-based music producer contacted the band over MySpace, and an internet friendship quickly blossomed.

“It couldn’t have been more perfect, because those were two sounds (rock and rap) that we were trying to have come off on the recording,” said Pace.

The recording process was (fittingly) eclectic. The band recorded not only with Mara at his studio, but also at Pachyderm studio (most famous for having Nirvana’s In Utero recorded there) and various other places around the Midwest.

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The result is a perfect mix of the bands influences, amazingly enough without muddying up or dumbing down any of the original sources. It’s something that is so easy to write, and yet so hard to pull off – to be more than the sum of your parts.

Irie Sol’s future is as uncertain as its past is eclectic. They are currently in negotiations with a fairly large record label, but still aren’t sure if it is the right move, or if they should go the more traditional “indie” route.

Their new album is coming out soon, but they still aren’t sure where to play a CD release here in Eau Claire (Irie Sol plans to release its album at Trocaderos in Minneapolis on Nov. 21.)

Pace doesn’t seem worried though, “Our goal is just to play our music and make as many people smile and dance as possible.”

Hardened groove-thang shakers the world over rejoice, your band just arrived, and they’re ready to party.

 

BAND AND COLLABORATOR WEB LINKS:

Irie Sol MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/iriesolreggae

Chris Mara (Indie Producer, Nashville):
http://www.chrismara.com/

Greg Reierson and Rare Form Mastering (Minneapolis):
http://www.rareformmastering.com/

Zach Hollander (Producer, Northfield, MN)
http://www.myspace.com/zachhollanderrecording

Panauh (Producer, Los Angeles):
http://www.myspace.com/panauh

Pachyderm Studio:
http://www.pachydermstudio.com/

Track Record Studios:
http://www.trackrecordstudios.com/

The Terrarium Studio:
http://www.the-terrarium.com/

Fuzzy Slippers Studio:
http://www.fuzzyslippersstudio.com/