HR & Dubb Agents 1/25/14

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H.R. (of Bad Brains) & The Dubb Agents
with Dance The Hempen Jig and The Unknown Woodsmen
January 25, 2014 @ Lost Horizon - Syracuse, NY

Bad Brains Site	H.R.'s FB Page	D.I.A. Records	Dance The Hempen Jig	The Unknown Woodsmen	Leave A Comment

	I will NEVER forget the first time Dawn & I saw the legendary Bad Brains. It was on Sunday, August 5 at the 2007 Virgin Festival in Baltimore, MD. The incredible line-up included a performance by Bad Brains. Their newest album at the time, Build A Nation; released just nine days prior to the Virgin Fest show, was the first record of all new material by the original members since 1995. There was a lot of buzz about it, and we were excited to see them perform. Bad Brains was scheduled to appear on the South Stage at 4:15 on a sweltering Sunday afternoon. It was 104 degrees, and muggy. It was the second day of triple digit temperatures, and most festival goers were looking pretty drained and sunburned by that point. The band was announced, and as they began to play, and their singer H.R., carrying a suitcase, came from the side of the crowd, around the barrier and up to the stage. The band played their first song, and as they wrapped up, H.R. made a comment about the heat, then put his arms out to the side, palms up, looked to the sky, and said “Jah Rastafariiiiiiiiiiiiiii.” He held the “i” for a looong time. What happened next was mind-blowing! It began to rain. I shit you not! The sky clouded up and it began to rain. There were thousands of witnesses. It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen!

I will NEVER forget the first time Dawn & I saw the legendary Bad Brains.
It was on Sunday, August 5 at the 2007 Virgin Festival in Baltimore, MD. The incredible line-up included a performance by Bad Brains.
Their newest album at the time, Build A Nation; released just nine days prior to the Virgin Fest show, was the first record of all new material by the original members since 1995. There was a lot of buzz about it, and we were excited to see them perform.
Bad Brains was scheduled to appear on the South Stage at 4:15 on a sweltering Sunday afternoon. It was 104 degrees, and muggy. It was the second day of triple digit temperatures, and most festival goers were looking pretty drained and sunburned by that point.
The band was announced, and as they began to play, and their singer H.R., carrying a suitcase, came from the side of the crowd, around the barrier and up to the stage. The band played their first song, and as they wrapped up, H.R. made a comment about the heat, then put his arms out to the side, palms up, looked to the sky, and said “Jah Rastafariiiiiiiiiiiiiii.” He held the “i” for a looong time.
What happened next was mind-blowing!
It began to rain. I shit you not! The sky clouded up and it began to rain. There were thousands of witnesses.
It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen!

For those unfamiliar, Bad Brains is a band formed in 1977 in Washington, D.C., that is widely regarded as among the pioneers of Hardcore Punk.
The original lineup included the London-born Paul Hudson, more commonly known as H.R. (Human Rights) and Dr. Know on guitars, Darryl Jenifer on bass, and H.R.'s younger brother, Earl Hudson on drums. They were originally founded as Mind Power, a Jazz Fusion group, in 1975.
In addition to Jazz, they are also an adept Reggae band. Later Bad Brains recordings included elements of Funk, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, and Soul.
In 1977, Mind Power was introduced to Punk music by Sid McCray (who became their singer), became obsessed with the style, and changed their name to Bad Brains, from the The Ramones' song “Bad Brain.” McCray soon departed, and H.R. took over the position of vocalist. He adopted the moniker of H.R. from the name of his original band, Human Rights. His vocal stylings range from a rapid-fire nasal whine, to feral growling and screeches, to smooth near-crooning or staccato reggae rhymes.
Bad Brains developed an early reputation in Washington D.C., due, in part, to the relative novelty of an entirely black band playing Punk rock. But, it was mostly due to their undeniable talent and their high-energy, wildly animated, aggressive stage performances, during which, H.R. would leap and gyrate around the stage, performing spins, dives, back-flips, splits, and skanking.
In 1979, Bad Brains found themselves the subject of an unofficial ban among many Washington D.C. area clubs and performance venues (later addressed in their song, "Banned in D.C."). The band subsequently relocated to New York City. Around that same time the members of the band became Rastafarians.

Bad Brains' debut single "Pay to Cum" was released in January of 1980. The song was later featured in the Martin Scorsese film After Hours in 1985. It was also featured during the opening credits of the 2006 documentary American Hardcore. H.R. was featured prominently in the film, discussing the early days of the Washington & New York Hardcore scenes. Bad Brains' self-titled debut album was released on cassette only through ROIR Records in 1982, and was followed in 1983 by Rock for Light, which was produced by The Cars frontman, Ric Ocasek. After signing with SST Records in 1986, the band released the legendary album I Against I. The album was a blend of Hardcore with elements of Reggae, and introduced a Heavy Metal/Funk hybrid sound that became the groups' trademark sound. H.R. provided the vocal track for the song “Sacred Love” by telephone due to the fact he was incarcerated for a marijuana charge. Bad Brains were plagued by internal tensions from the beginning. Aside from the problems with H.R., who sometimes refused to perform at scheduled concerts and sessions, Earl Hudson, wanted to devote the band strictly to reggae, while Dr. Know and Darryl Jenifer were increasingly interested in heavy rock. These feuds caused the band to split yet again. H.R. experienced financial problems after an unsuccessful European tour with the group Human Rights, and Bad Brains touring replacement singer Taj Singleton did not fit well with the band, so H.R. and Earl both returned for the Quickness tour. After the tour, H.R. and Earl left once again and H.R. was replaced by former Faith No More vocalist Chuck Mosley. Soon after, Bad Brains broke up yet again. In 1990, Bad Brains backed longtime friend, fan, and protege Henry Rollins on a cover version of The MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" for the soundtrack to the film Pump Up The Volume, starring Christian Slater. Dr. Know was approached by Epic Records in 1992, who offered the band a major-label record deal. Former Cro-Mags drummer Mackie Jayson (who was a session musician on Quickness), and vocalist Israel Joseph I joined at this time. Rise was released in 1993. Bad Brains signed to Maverick Records for the 1995 release of God of Love, and then dissolved. Three years later, the band returned with the original line-up under the name Soul Brains, which was used until 2001, when they returned to Bad Brains. Between bouts of touring, H.R. has done guest vocals on songs a such as P.O.D.'s “Without Jah, Nothin'” in 2001, on 311's “Who's Got The Herb?” in 2004, and was featured in the live version of Sublime's cover of his own song “Shame In Dem Game.” Soon after, H.R. fell upon hard times. Being homeless and broke, he reunited with Bad Brains for two dates at CBGB.

Bad Brains' debut single "Pay to Cum" was released in January of 1980. The song was later featured in the Martin Scorsese film After Hours in 1985. It was also featured during the opening credits of the 2006 documentary American Hardcore. H.R. was featured prominently in the film, discussing the early days of the Washington & New York Hardcore scenes.
Bad Brains' self-titled debut album was released on cassette only through ROIR Records in 1982, and was followed in 1983 by Rock for Light, which was produced by The Cars frontman, Ric Ocasek.
After signing with SST Records in 1986, the band released the legendary album I Against I. The album was a blend of Hardcore with elements of Reggae, and introduced a Heavy Metal/Funk hybrid sound that became the groups' trademark sound. H.R. provided the vocal track for the song “Sacred Love” by telephone due to the fact he was incarcerated for a marijuana charge.
Bad Brains were plagued by internal tensions from the beginning. Aside from the problems with H.R., who sometimes refused to perform at scheduled concerts and sessions, Earl Hudson, wanted to devote the band strictly to reggae, while Dr. Know and Darryl Jenifer were increasingly interested in heavy rock. These feuds caused the band to split yet again.
H.R. experienced financial problems after an unsuccessful European tour with the group Human Rights, and Bad Brains touring replacement singer Taj Singleton did not fit well with the band, so H.R. and Earl both returned for the Quickness tour. After the tour, H.R. and Earl left once again and H.R. was replaced by former Faith No More vocalist Chuck Mosley.
Soon after, Bad Brains broke up yet again.
In 1990, Bad Brains backed longtime friend, fan, and protege Henry Rollins on a cover version of The MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" for the soundtrack to the film Pump Up The Volume, starring Christian Slater.
Dr. Know was approached by Epic Records in 1992, who offered the band a major-label record deal. Former Cro-Mags drummer Mackie Jayson (who was a session musician on Quickness), and vocalist Israel Joseph I joined at this time. Rise was released in 1993.
Bad Brains signed to Maverick Records for the 1995 release of God of Love, and then dissolved.
Three years later, the band returned with the original line-up under the name Soul Brains, which was used until 2001, when they returned to Bad Brains.
Between bouts of touring, H.R. has done guest vocals on songs a such as P.O.D.'s “Without Jah, Nothin'” in 2001, on 311's “Who's Got The Herb?” in 2004, and was featured in the live version of Sublime's cover of his own song “Shame In Dem Game.”
Soon after, H.R. fell upon hard times. Being homeless and broke, he reunited with Bad Brains for two dates at CBGB.

But H.R. wasn't down for long. In 2006, he began working on Hey Wella, which was released in 2008.
In 2007, Bad Brains returned to their Hardcore roots, and, on June 26th, released the album Build a Nation. It was the first Bad Brains release featuring the band's original line-up since 1995, and it was produced by Adam Yauch (aka MCA) of the Beastie Boys. The album debuted at No. 100 on the Billboard 200.

	In 2012 Bad Brains released their ninth album, the self-produced Into The Future on Megaforce Records. The record included a remix of "Peace Be Unto Thee", a tribute to Adam Yauch, who had died six months earlier of cancer. The record received positive reviews. As of late, H.R.'s performances have become much more mellow than earlier in his career, focusing primarily on reggae, and rasta. H.R. and The Dubb Agents rolled into Syracuse to perform at the Lost Horizon on January 25 in the middle of a brutally frigid arctic vortex, and blinding snow. But bad weather be damned, there was no way that Chris Besaw, Jerd Styles and I were missing this show! The bad weather and a major lack of promotion for the show made for a disappointing crowd. By the time The Dubb Agents took the stage, there were about thirty people in attendance. I had posted to my Facebook feed that I was going to the show as we left my house, and many people responded saying they had NO IDEA that it was was happening. Most people, obviously, never saw anything about it on Facebook, although there was an event page, that wasn't well shared. HR, a man that is loved & respected by the Hardcore & Punk & Reggae scenes, and packing houses in every other place he plays, walked into a nearly empty club in a town that has a proud Hardcore representation WORLDWIDE. It was painfully obvious that the promoter really dropped the ball on this show. (At the end of the night, the band's manager was obviously upset with this fact, and stated so loudly.)

In 2012 Bad Brains released their ninth album, the self-produced Into The Future on Megaforce Records. The record included a remix of "Peace Be Unto Thee", a tribute to Adam Yauch, who had died six months earlier of cancer. The record received positive reviews.
As of late, H.R.'s performances have become much more mellow than earlier in his career, focusing primarily on reggae, and rasta.
H.R. and The Dubb Agents rolled into Syracuse to perform at the Lost Horizon on January 25 in the middle of a brutally frigid arctic vortex, and blinding snow. But bad weather be damned, there was no way that Chris Besaw, Jerd Styles and I were missing this show!
The bad weather and a major lack of promotion for the show made for a disappointing crowd. By the time The Dubb Agents took the stage, there were about thirty people in attendance.
I had posted to my Facebook feed that I was going to the show as we left my house, and many people responded saying they had NO IDEA that it was was happening. Most people, obviously, never saw anything about it on Facebook, although there was an event page, that wasn't well shared.
HR, a man that is loved & respected by the Hardcore & Punk & Reggae scenes, and packing houses in every other place he plays, walked into a nearly empty club in a town that has a proud Hardcore representation WORLDWIDE.
It was painfully obvious that the promoter really dropped the ball on this show. (At the end of the night, the band's manager was obviously upset with this fact, and stated so loudly.)

We arrived at Lost Horizon later than expected due to the whiteout conditions, so when we got there, we rushed right inside. The show was opened by Dance The Hempen Jig from Watertown, NY, who were on stage when we walked in. I took a bunch of photos of them as they rocked out. Due to equipment failure, they ended their set early.

The Unknown Woodsmen from Cortland, NY were up next. They play original tunes peppered with the soul, groove, and growl of Blues, Reggae, R&B, and Rock.
When I was done taking pictures, I went back to the bar to put away my gear. It was there, that Chris and I found H.R., sitting at the bar, watching the band.
We introduced ourselves, and asked to take a few photos with him, which he was happy to do. We also asked if it might be possible to do an interview after the set, and he agreed to do it. A few moments later, he went into the back to get ready, and I headed to the pit.
Soon, H.R. and The Dubb Agents came out and got everyone dancing. It was a night of Reggae and Dub that got the entire crowd singing along to songs such as “Look What Love has Done” and dancing to “Shame In Dem Game.” The Dub Agents played for about 45 minutes before calling it a night.
Chris, Jerd, and I headed backstage for our interview. It took place in the back room (which is TINY) as the band was getting ready to leave.
H.R. asked if we could do it as quickly as possible, so I fired them off as quickly as I could, and we got through 11 questions in about 2 minutes... It was the FASTEST interview I have ever done. Luckily, the live performance of "Shame In Dem Game" is a little longer. Enjoy!

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