The Scorchers Rocksteady Revolution

The Scorchers Rocksteady Revolution

Tell us about yourself and your music

Steve Carley – The Scorchers band leader, drummer, and songwriter

I have loved Reggae, Ska, and Rocksteady since I heard my first Ska tune at the age of 9 years, I instantly fell in love with the infectious offbeat rhythm and then had to collect and listen to as much reggae, ska, and rocksteady I could.

My first band “Buster” was a fast and furious Ska band with me lead singing. We played very large venues, toured and supported known bands, I loved being in a band playing the music I loved but also had a passion for writing my own tunes in this style and although we did really well, I had to admit I was not a naturally gifted singer.

So, inspired by Brad from The Specials, who I got to meet and our own drummer Simon I wanted to play the drums and dedicate myself to learning this style on the drums, bass, and keys.

I started drumming and writing tunes and set up The Scorchers Rocksteady band in 2015. The Scorchers are really well-received everywhere we play, feedback on the original material is always very positive and it seems we are hopefully on the brink of a breakthrough to put this amazing music back into the mainstream!

Talk to us more about your latest release

Our latest release is a Reggae DUB EP called “Waiting for the train” which is the title track. The EP features five original tunes featured on the forthcoming Scorchers album “Rocksteady Revolution” in true DUB style. The songs were written by Steve Carley and produced by Ian Dunston, Ian has played bass and produced many of the greats, he has a natural affinity to a reggae style and has brilliantly engineered and produced our first DUB EP.

What inspired you to write this release?

A love of reggae and reggae dub and a need to give others hope through my music. I founded and ran an award-winning charity using music and arts as a tool to support the most vulnerable people in our society for 18 years.

I am now the founder and Director of Unity Roots CIC (www.unityrootscic.com) which does the same but focuses on reggae, ska, rocksteady, and world music.

Describe the writing and recording process

I (Steve Carley) have written all the songs over the past few years and mocked them up for the band.

I then take the tunes to rehearsal where we develop them with the band, once we have gigged them a few times we look to record them.

We work with Ian Dunston, who is a brilliant producer and engineer and has played bass with and recorded/produced some well-known artists and bands. Ian specializes in reggae and reggae dub and obviously has a great ear for producing this material, Ian has now joined the Scorchers as their bass player, and Steve Carley and Ian work closely together on engineering and producing the Scorchers tunes.

We then master the tracks with Steve Kitch mastering who does a fantastic job every time.

We are signed to Beat Factory Records and release our material through the record company.

Any plans to release a video?

Any plans to hit the road?

Unfortunately all our gigs, festivals appearances, etc.. have been put on hold due to Covid.

We hope to get back to it next year, in the meantime, we are planning to do a live Facebook gig at least once a month.

As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?

We have based our branding on the 1960’s Jamaican Rocksteady album covers, we love the style, bright colors, and this way we can help to keep this part of musical history alive still.

We have also called our forthcoming album “Rocksteady Revolution” The Scorchers bringing back Rocksteady in respect for the original 60’s Jamaican Rocksteady music.

Who have you been listening to lately?

Steel Pulse, Peter Tosh, Ub40, Lee Perry, The Skatalites,

Who are your biggest influences?

Ub40, The Police, Steel Pulse, The Specials, All Jamaican Reggae and Reggae dub, all early Rocksteady, and Ska

Tell us about your passions

Reggae music, Ska, Rocksteady, keeping fit with cycling and running, gigging, playing drums, bass guitar, and love songwriting. I also am passionate about my work running my Community Interest Company supporting the most vulnerable through world music – www.unityrootscic.com

What else is happening next in your world?

The Scorchers are busy recording the final touches to their debut album “Rocksteady Revolution” ready for release hopefully before Christmas and shooting videos to their tunes.

 

 

 

Thanks for an awesome interview, The Scorchers Rocksteady Band

 

 

Connect with The Scorchers Rocksteady Band

Website: https://www.thescorchers.co.uk/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thescorchersrocksteadyband/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thescorchersbandofficial/Twitter: https://twitter.com/scorchersbandLastFM: https://soundcloud.com/thescorchersband/radio-respect-kelly-denyer-playing-waiting-for-the-trainYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClU5BlbEiLXbI-06jdJWt3ASoundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thescorchersband

Scroll to Top