By Chris Nixon
August 14, 2008
The story of ska is a journey spanning continents, beginning with a percussive extension of American rhythm and blues that developed into a uniquely Jamaican style of music under the Caribbean sun.
Mixing a punk ethos with reggae, The Aggrolites, a five-piece ska group, lands at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre as part of the Vans Warped Tour. And the story of ska – with its circuitous passage from one island in the Caribbean to another island in the North Atlantic and back to America – is also the story of The Aggrolites, a Los Angeles-based reggae and ska band whose sound encompasses the genre's history. The band is one of the headliners at this year's Warped Tour, which lands at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater in Chula Vista tomorrow.
People tend to divide ska's history into waves.
The first wave came out of Jamaica in the '50s (Prince Buster, The Skatalites), influencing later island sounds like reggae and rocksteady. The second wave hit the shores of the U.K. in the late '60s and '70s, with the advent of 2 Tone Records and bands like The Specials and Madness.
The third wave spilled onto the beaches of the U.S. in the '90s (Hepcat, Bim Skala Bim, Mighty Mighty Bosstones), giving birth to pop ska/reggae bands like Sublime and No Doubt.
DETAILS
14th annual Vans Warped Tour, with The Aggrolites, Angels & Airwaves and Rise Against
When: Today, 11 a.m.
Where: Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista
Tickets: $24
Phone: (619) 671-3600
Online: warpedtour.com
Meanwhile, a young Jesse Wagner delved through his father's record collection while collecting chops from his musician uncle.
“My uncle was into soul music, and played in soul bands in Cleveland, Ohio,” said Wanger, the Aggrolites' singer and guitarist. “So I was raised on my dad's Motown and Tower of Power records.”
Immersing himself in the American soul music catalog, Wagner's love of brassy horn sections led him to ska, and that led to reggae. That musical heritage led him to Jamaica, which eventually steered him to the U.K.
“I was listening a lot to Madness and The Specials,” recalled Wagner, speaking via cell phone from a tour bus headed toward a Warped Tour stop in Canada. “There was also a local band called The Skeletones and another band called Hepcat, and I started getting into more old school ska from those bands. A lot of punk bands, too, turned me on to reggae.”
THE AGGROLITES
Jesse Wagner – vocals, lead guitar
Brian Dixon – rhythm guitar
Roger Rivas – organ
Korey Horn – drums
Jeff Roffredo – bass
And reggae brought Wagner to his current situation, leading the five-piece traditional reggae/ska group. Formed in 2002, the Los Angeles-based Aggrolites draws from the soul of ska and reggae mixed with the pure adrenaline of punk, a style they call “dirty reggae.”
Wagner and his band have released three albums, 2003's “Dirty Reggae,” the 2006 self-titled major label debut and 2007's “Reggae Hit L.A.,” while also serving as the backing bands for Jamaican performers like Phyllis Dillon and Prince Buster. The Aggrolites also collaborated with Rancid's Tim Armstrong on his 2007 solo debut “A Poet's Life.”
Ska icon Prince Buster once said after playing with The Aggrolites: “It reminded me of the old days. I can't believe that this young band from America could play my music just as good as the day it was recorded.”
Along with the link between punk, ska and reggae, The Aggrolites' inclusion in the Warped Tour this year represents founder Kevin Lyman's vision of diversity for the festival: Maybe some kid will check out The Aggrolites and get turned onto The Specials or Prince Buster, he reasoned.
“I think Kevin Lyman wanted us on there with a handful of other bands to keep the spirit of the Warped Tour alive,” said Wagner. “It's always been about diversity, about coming to a concert with dozens of bands and experiencing something you've never heard or opening your ears.
“You could go see a punk band, then move over and see a hardcore band and see a reggae band after that. It's about opening up your mind and exploring other genres of music.”
SKINHEAD SKA: ISLAND MUSIC BECOMES SOCIAL COMMENTARY
So how did a reggae/ska band playing traditional music from a tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean find its way onto the Warped Tour bill?
The annual traveling festival may be known as summer camp for punk bands, but Warped founder/promoter Kevin Lyman is known to step outside the tightknit punk family for his bands and artists. From hardcore to hip-hop to even edgy pop, the Warped Tour sports a diverse amalgam of sounds every year.
The Aggrolites' appearance this year represents the long history of reggae, ska and punk living and how those musics have thrived off each other's energy.
Aggrolites lead singer Jesse Wagner pinpoints a time almost 40 years ago and many thousands of miles away as the moment when reggae and punk became intertwined.
“Reggae came to the U.K. in 1969,” he said. “It became their Motown, what we would now consider oldies. In England, reggae was everyday music.
“Reggae was pretty much working-class music. That's why you had skinheads listening to reggae music in the '60s. It had nothing to do with racism. It was a working-class thing. There were Jamaican skinheads working in factories, just as there were the young English kids working in factories.
“That's how reggae music became social commentary, rebel music. Punk rockers heard what these Jamaicans were saying, and got into it. And it became the working-class music of the U.K.”
– CHRIS NIXON
BOOKED FOR WARPED TOUR
Bands playing the 14th annual Warped Tour tomorrow at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista:
3oh!3, Against Me!, The Aggrolites, Alesana, All Time Low, Anberlin, Angels and Airwaves, Beat Union, Bring Me the Horizon, Broadway Calls, Charlotte Sometimes, Classic Crime, Cobra Starship, Confide, Danger Radio, Devil Wears Prada, Dr. Manhattan, Evergreen Terrace, Everytime I Die, Family Force 5, Forever the Sickest Kids, Four Year Strong, From First to Last, GBH, Greeley Estates, Gym Class Heroes, Horrorpops, Katy Perry, Ludo, Mayday Parade, MC Chris, Motion City Soundtrack, Norma Jean, Pierce the Veil, Protest the Hero, Reel Big Fish, Relient K, Rise Against, Say Anything, Set Your Goals, Shwayze, Sky Eats Airplane, Story of the Year, Street Dogs, The Academy Is..., The Audition, The Briggs, The Bronx, The Color Fred, The Fabulous Rudies, The Human Abstract, The Lordz, The Maine, The Saint Alvia Cartel, The Vandals, We the Kings
