Hailing from Santa Barbara, California, Rebelution has developed into a front-runner for grassroots, independent and touring driven music groups representing the Cali-Reggae genre. The Pier was fortunate enough to catch up with Eric Rachmany (singer and guitarist) from Rebelution following the band’s set at the Mesa Amphitheatre in Arizona. We were lucky enough to find out a little inside information as to when the next Rebelution album will drop, as well as plenty more goodies! Enjoy!
The Pier: You just finished up your set here in Mesa on the Seedless Summer Tour with Slightly Stoopid, Rebelution, Don Carlos, Karl Denson, Cisco and Shwayze. So, how did it feel to raise it up in front of a packed crowd tonight?
Rebelution: Oh it was cool. We have been coming to Arizona for a few years now. Every time we come here it is always banging. The crowd is always singing the music, the lyrics, all that. Can’t complain; Arizona has been really, really good to us over the years.
The Pier: Rebelution is basically rolling up the charts, iTunes downloads, and all of that. So, everyone is pretty much all about your lyrics. The crowd was in one voice tonight. How does that feel?
Rebelution: Yeah! It is a gratifying feeling to know that people are listening to the music and the words, and are feeling inspired to do something in their own realm and their own lives. That feels good. That is the best part about touring. When you actually get to see the people visually singing your lyrics. That’s the best part. You know that they are inspired. You know that they are going to leave after the show with that sense of inspiration and positive vibrations.
The Pier: Before this tour, you just finished up in the studio (Santa Barbara Sound Design) in Santa Barbara at the same spot as Depeche Mode. So, when can fans expect the album to be released?
Rebelution: We have a release date in mind. It is 99% certain, but I can’t disclose that information.
The Pier: Can you at least give us a season?
Rebelution: In the winter for sure. Early Winter. We are looking to tour and have a big album release. We have something really special planned. We are going to make a big announcement in probably a week, or two.
The Pier: You got the chance to hook up with Tribal Seeds on their latest album “Soundwaves”. Will there be any collaborations on the new album from Rebelution?
Rebelution: Yeah. We have three songs that we have collaborations on. We have one with Jacob Hemphill from SOJA. We have another song with Zumbi of Zion-I. And we also have another one with a Jamaican artist named Lutan Fyah. He is a great modern roots-dancehall artist out of Jamaica. He is really great and the track came together really nicely. We have the whole album pretty much done. But we are looking to release the album with additional material. We have a lot of material to give the fans and I know it has been a long time since we have released an album or given any insight about when our album would be released. But look for it really soon. We are going to make an announcement really soon.
The Pier: In terms of the tour coming to a close, you guys are wrapping up in Santa Barbara. How is that going to be to play the last show in your hometown?
Rebelution: We got started in Isla Vista, California. We will be coming to the Santa Barbara Bowl on the Seedless Summer Tour with Slightly Stoopid, Shwayze and Cisco Adler. It has just been a great tour all around, such good vibes between all the bands and the crew. It has been such an amazing production and it has been really inspiring to go from town to town touring with such great people. So, to come to the Santa Barbara Bowl and play for everybody is going to be such a good feeling. We have played there a couple times, but to see our hometown fans at the show we know it is going to be an experience to remember. So, we are excited!
The Pier: And you just started your own record label from the address where you used to live at in Isla Vista “6587”. Can you give us some insight into that process?
Rebelution: “6587” was the address we all used to live at on Del Playa. It’s kind of like the party block in Isla Vista. That is the first place where we played our shows in the backyard and in the front yard a couple times. It is really memorable because that is where we all gathered our influences and created our sound from that address. We made a lot of our songs off of the first couple albums from that address. So, it is exciting to have our own label and to produce more material. So, we are excited for our next album.
The Pier: You went from Isla Vista to worldwide recognition. How does that feel?
Rebelution: HAHA! It feels good. It is nice to be able to do this for a living. But more importantly, it is nice to give music to the people, and get inspired from our music. It is an amazing feeling when people come up to you and say, “This song helped me get through this time” or “I feel motivated now that I heard Bright Side of Life” or any sort of song like that. What a better feeling than that? It is great to make a living off of the music, but knowing that the people are feeling good because of our music is the best feeling.
Rebelution Links:
Rebelution Website
Rebelution Facebook
Rebelution Twitter
Interview by: Kris Siuta
Photos by: David Norris and Kit Chalberg