Tropidelic are road hogs. They also roll at a workaholic pace, which for any working band means write, record, tour, repeat. It’s a solid formula that works for the Cleveland-based band that you’d file under reggae, soul, funk, hip-hop, jam and then some.
Tropidelic will perform Tuesday in Durango. Opening the show is Kyle Smith and Joey Harkum.
They’ve been on the road it seems forever, at least since they dropped their seventh and latest record, “All the Colors” in August 2022. Always looking ahead to the next project, while they’re on the road to support the latest release they’ll write for the next one, ultimately always returning to their home-base of Cleveland to regroup, record and start planning another tour.
If you go
WHAT: Tropidelic with Kyle Smith and Joey Harkum.
WHEN: Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
TICKETS: $20, available online at https://tinyurl.com/bdh9z47a.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.animascitytheatre.com.
“We are pretty much like workhorses. We have something loosely slated for summer or early fall of 2024 – that’s when we’ll have another record out,” said Tropidelic frontman Matt Roads. “It’s all by convenience. We spend so much time on the road, so it’s got to be around our schedule. We have a home base in what they call ‘the steel yard’ in Cleveland. It’s a rough and tumble sort of area that has tried to develop, right next to some railroad tracks and a bunch of industry. You can smell the chemical smell in the buildings from the nearby businesses. That’s where we’ll record for the most part, and we’ll do some writing on the road, it’s pretty much a constant process in and around touring.”
It’s a great time to be alive when it comes to the digestion of music. For the past decade there’s been a steady and solid flow of listening options, from the growth of streaming services that offer an array of genres via thousands of bands, to large festivals where one can be inundated with a load of different artists. Tropidelic are products of those options, reaping the musical benefits. Hence, they have a festival-heavy sound where high energy, funk horns ride high over reggae rhythms. It’s all good-time music, where Roads and band don’t play favorites when it comes to influences.
“I can’t decide which ones I like the most, or we can’t, you know? A lot of these records come out sounding pretty diverse song to song,” he said. “I also don’t want to be pigeonholed; I want to make the music that I want to make, that we want to make, without any limitations, or that it’s got to fit in this box. But all those things are strong influences for a lot of us.”
They also keep the whole thing very “do it yourself.” They stick to recording in that gritty neighborhood in Cleveland, release music independently on smaller labels, and even host their own annual festival called “Everwild.”
They also keep it honest with the fans, as they’ve earned those fans one listener at a time via band accessibility. That means no hanging out in the green room until seconds before you go on stage, and splitting from the venue as the last notes of your encore are still ringing in ears. It does mean hanging out with the people who paid for the ticket before the show, then being the one slinging product at the merch table post-show. It’s how they’ve built a fan base from coast to coast.
“We’ve done everything independently for a very long time. We take a lot of pride in our live show and being accessible, down-to-earth people. We’re always out there mingling and saying what’s up; it’s not hard to find us and that has helped us along the way,” Roads said. “All of us get enjoyment out of meeting the people and talking to them. It’s definitely an important aspect of what we do.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
