BEING chosen to open for UB40 on their upcoming performances on November 5 and 6 was quite a remarkable moment for local band Grassy Spark. “It really is something huge for us and especially our parents,” says Josh Riley. He explains that the band members all have day jobs and then in the evenings they put in extra hours for their music be it in the form of rehearsing or admin.
“Over the past four years, obviously our parents have watched this happen and observed how hard we graft to get what we want; so it really does make them proud to see that we aren’t just a bunch of teens ‘tryna start a band baby’, but are actually gathering some serious momentum as an artist in the industry. It’s always good to know you’re blowing your parents minds by doing what you love and UB40 have some of the most incredible reggae songs ever written in history! We all grew up listening to the classics such as Kingston Town and Red Red Wine and I don’t think it will really settle in until the end of October that we’ll actually be opening for UB40.”
Grassy Spark recently launched their album Portal, the culmination of two years worth of songwriting and growth. “We named the album Portal because it is a representation of where we began as Grassy, both individually and collectively, as well as it being a representation of how we have progressed musically over the past four years,” says Riley, adding that their intention was to take listeners on a journey with each song individually, as well as through the album.
He says that they didn’t want their fans to have any expectations, and took that into account with the album’s flow, the mixing of genres and the message behind each song. “The point was to transport them from one opinion to another; by tapping into every emotion across the spectrum. Whether it was from the opinion of what we once were, to what we are now, or from the opinion of what one song sounded like compared to the next; the emphasis was explicitly transportation, but more importantly change!”
So far, the reactions to the album have been great, from their fans and other musicians. “But for a band like UB40 to be presented with our new material among a plethora of other artists, and decide to go with us as the opener for their SA tour, means we did ‘something’ right!” says Riley. They’ve also had positive feedback from around the world as well as from the production manager of The Prodigy and Kasabian.
But besides that, Riley feels they would have still been pleased with the album. “It took us about a year and three months to perfect it, after many early mornings, late nights, chest colds, and lack of oxygen in the tiny room we tracked the album in: all in all, one of the most incredibly worthwhile things we’ve ever accomplished as musicians, and family.”
Portal saw the band team up with various artists, many of whom they’d always dreamed of working with. “Our relationship with Jeremy Loops grew completely organically and fell into place in the most serendipitous way,” says Riley. “We met in Zambia at Greenpop’s Festival of Action, featured on one another’s songs at the Earthfest, and on the final day we simply asked ‘Bro do you wana feature on Living in a Paradise with your harmonica and some vox?’ — we filmed the music video before actually recording the song, which was beautiful.”
Other artists who feature on Portal include Nomadic Orchestra, “whom we’ve always admired as the tightest brass band in the industry”. Bonj Mpanza from TheCITY: “All we can say is WOW, and you should listen to Love to Share.”
Tebos and Khaos from The Rudimentals also featured on Mona Lisa and Feel it respectively.
“We cannot stress how much power and flavour they brought to these tracks, they are probably our favourites on the album, and show a very different direction and evolution of the band.”
Riley says that the idea of featuring artists stems from the need to share what they love. “It’s a hard thing to do in a world ruled by the ego; but we push on through, radiate as much love as possible, and keep spreading positivity.”
The band is looking forward to performing for fans at UB40s concerts. “This is music we grew up listening to as laaities; the kinda tunes your parents play on road trips or Sunday arvie drives to get some fish and chips — so you best believe we are going to play the excitement out of our souls.”
They have also learnt that they will be opening for Foster the People at Superbalist is Rocking the Daisies on October 8. “We didn’t even know till we checked the line-up times and couldn’t believe it. We’ll also be opening for them, Mac Miller, and Beardy Man at Superbalist In The City Concert in Joburg,” says Riley.
Over the years Grassy Spark’s sound has definitely evolved. Riley says that often bands pick a genre and stick to it. “That’s exactly what we did with our first EP, The Virtual Kids — it’s safe, but your likelihood of making a name for yourself is up against the billion other bands operating in those genres. We however, hold a different perspective regarding music. Why should we play and stick to one genre if we love so many? Why not write a rock n roll song, a funk song, a hip-hop song, an electro song, an indie song if you can? No one was stopping us, so that’s what we did.”
The band experimented with sounds from a past music generation, “with a giant sprinkling of Grassy’s interpretation of modern music”. But they will never abandon their reggae and ska roots.
And they are determined to keep working hard. “We most certainly aren’t going to cruise on these successes. We’ve seen many bands do that in the industry and we don’t understand why. Maybe it’s because working the industry and staying authentic is not easy when you’re expected to appease a mass audience,” he says.
“But we don’t want to cruise — we want to work till it hurts, work till we start aging too fast, work till it inspires the world.”
l www.facebook.com/GrassySpark