The members of reggae band Niceness recorded their latest record in a summer-camp style setting. The Telluride-based band dropped “Realize” back in February, but it had been recorded well before the news started reporting the possibility of a forthcoming virus, well before quarantine and well before the time when you shouldn’t go near your co-workers, bandmates or best friends.
The band left the mountains of Telluride and headed west to California to record, settling north of the Bay Area in the town of Cotati and Prairie Sun Recording Studios, a former chicken hatchery turned recording studio where they stayed on site to record, recreate and be together as a tight-knit band.
Niceness will perform Saturday along with local funk-groove band J-Calvin at Durango Craft Spirits, the first in the summerlong concert series that is the iAM MUSIC Fest.
Staying on site for both business and pleasure aided to the overall vibe of “Realize,” as well as helping the overall vibe of the band. Reggae music is a family affair, and hanging with your co-workers when the recording machines are off can strengthen the band bond.
“After we’d get done with our recording sessions, we all go make dinner, have dinner together and you can informally talk about what happened that day in the studio and decide what to do next, or maybe change the arrangements a little bit,” said Niceness keyboard player and vocalist David “Bassie” Christeson. “It’s getting that chill time with the people you just worked super hard with to lay down nice tracks.”
Niceness is a band with an old-school mindset. They may have more in common with the music of Bob Marley or Peter Tosh than any modern dance-hall reggae artists, and that comes out in their sound. For the recording of “Realize,” they recruited producer Jim Fox and trucked in analog recording equipment, all in an effort to capture the classic reggae sound. It’s all a labor of love.
If you go
What: Niceness, J-Calvin, iAM MUSIC bands play the iAM MUSIC Fest.
When: 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Durango Craft Spirits, 1120 Main Ave.
Tickets: Tickets sold in blocks of single, two, four, six per table. For prices and to purchase, visit https://bit.ly/3tZeRNd.
More information: Visit www.iammusic.us
“There’s a thing about analog. I grew up during the ’70s rock ’n’ roll era, where you get vinyl records, take them home and put them on the phonograph,” Christeson said. “There’s something about that rich, warm, analog sound that’s a lot harder to get on digital. So we went there, and the thing about analog with a 24-track when you’re recording is, you don’t like a track, you basically have to go back and put the whole rhythm section back together and do it over again. You don’t get thousands of takes. ‘OK, take 2,053.’ You don’t get that. Later on, when it’s dubbed into Pro Tools, you can add stuff just like that. But for the initial rhythm section, vocals and stuff, that got done analog because of the richness of the sound.”
There are very few “casual” reggae fans. For most lovers of the genre, it’s an all-or-nothing attitude, an attraction to the positive message and the overall scene. For Christeson, whose pre-Niceness reggae resume includes time spent in bands 8750 and Bredren, it’s the aforementioned reasons along with that identifiable “one-drop” rhythm that defines classic reggae music.
“The thing about reggae, it’s the feeling. It’s the heart and nature of it, it reaches you. I love all genres – jazz, country, classical – but there’s something about reggae and that one drop. That vibe, especially the old-time Jamaican stuff. It’s a real spiritual, soulful thing. That’s what it is for me, it’s a form of gospel music. It’s gospel with a one drop.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
