Good for the Sol
Irie Sol’s second album takes a raw approach to their dancetastic sound
Aryn Widule, photos by Frank H. Robinson |
If you’ve lived in Eau Claire over the last seven years, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve either heard of, witnessed, listened to, or played in Irie Sol. Eau Claire’s very own reggaejazzohiphoppaska band is releasing its second album. Known for energetic and instrument-filled live shows, Irie Sol has consistently blended aspects of reggae, hip-hop, jazz, blues, and ska, incorporating the musical talents and inputs of literally dozens of members since it was founded in 2004.
When the group plays their set for the Sounds Like Summer Concert Series, they will have a myriad of guest performers. In addition to the Eau Claire, Madison, and Twin Cities natives that comprise the band, the show will include Omare and Babatunde Thomas (flying in from Alabama and Massachusetts, respectively) along with a vocalist from the UK. Guest performers are a staple of their sound. Over the years the invitation for folks to come onstage has not only brought in permanent members to the band, but helped stir the goulash of Irie’s sound, creating a unique, explosive, and unforgettable sound that the group hopes to capture in its latest offering.
Irie Sol: Live In Nashville, was recorded in a city that’s (not so much) known for its reggae/funk music roots, at Chris Mara’s newly opened studio, “Welcome to 1979.” Joel Pace, one of the core members of the band and an English professor at UWEC, was contacted by Mara with an idea.
“He had this idea that people wanted to hear the roughness of the music again. Today everything can be post-produced to perfection. It can be auto-tuned and made flawless. Chris wanted to open a studio that would record a solid take. No overdubs, no separate tracks. When we went down to Nashville he let us rehearse as much as we wanted to beforehand, but once the tape started, that was it,” Pace says.
Mara is known for his work with the Gin Blossoms and Juvenile, and although Nashville is known for country music (the vinyl printings of the album will be made entirely of recycled country records), it ended up being the perfect place for this particular funky project.
“It was recorded on an old reel-to-reel,” Pace said. “Chris listened to us rehearse and did the mixing on the fly. The entire album is one long take, you can hear talk-backs, conversations – you can even hear me opening and closing a door when I switched rooms to go from trumpet to vocals. There’s a lot of neat stuff on there and that’s what Chris wanted to capture.”
Irie Sol is known for its dancetastic live shows, and this latest project goes a long way in capturing the atmosphere and cohesion, even the mistakes, that a studio-produced multi-track process just can’t quite capture.
The gritty, textured quality of the recording reflects a lot of the band’s core values. The composition of the members and their musical backgrounds is as diverse they come. People from Jamaica, the East Coast, the Twin Cities, Northern Wisconsin, Alabama, and Los Angeles have all been a part of the group’s evolution.
“We’ve always promoted harmony, and our music is meant to reflect that. We converted Fur Elise to a hip-hop song; we’ve added Jazz to Bob Marley and Southern Rock to songs about peace and social awareness. We felt this opportunity helped to capture that spirit. I mean, I emailed Chris several times after the recording, after thinking about mistakes I had made, asking him to fix a flub somewhere. His answer was always the same, ‘Nope.’ ”
The recording retains that sort of honesty, and will surely be a unique experience. It is currently only being released on vinyl (until the first printing is sold) and will be available at the Aug. 25 show in Phoenix Park (with Dead Dogs and Sarah Krueger), plus The Local Store, and by request from any of the local folks who make up Eau Claire’s own Irie Sol.
