2008 Woodie Awards
'Rebelution' brings reggae flavor
New Rebelution stops by KVSC's "Monday Night Live" to perform
Misty Lester
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Intermission
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Negative One, also known as The New Rebelution, gathered a group of talented musicians to cover the tracks he writes from scratch. The band ranks up there with the likes of Bob Marley and Sublime with its blend of reggae, hip hop, funk and completely chill mentality.
If there ever was a band that fans could hang with, The New Rebelution is it. It is rare to come across a musical hidden treasure that has such a familiar, yet unique sound, with riffs and rhymes that take listeners through a masquerade of musical ecstasy.
The band performs music written by front man Negative one, who is a self-taught musical genius. Although he went to school for production, he began wondering what he was spending all that money on when he figured out he was learning more on his own than he was in school. Negative One said people might wonder why a white guy from Minnesota is singing reggae, but it only takes one listen to figure out why.
Negative One released the album "Less Is More" in 2004. He sings and plays all the music on the album with a few demos from other musicians. He can play guitar, bass, drums and keys. The New Rebelution is sitting on its newest release titled "Til' The Break of..." which made its debut Oct. 12 at the band's CD release party at The Cabooze in Minneapolis.
Negative One said he might not sell "Less Is More" for awhile, but will officially begin releasing "Til' The Break Of..." at shows within the next few weeks. While the albums can be listened to continuously, the band's live shows outshine the recorded material for the simple fact that the personalities weave together to create energy that is hard to find.
"There are a few tracks where there's somebody here and there playing something else, but most of it's all me," Negative One said. "I recorded almost all of it myself, too."
The band met at the Playhouse, which is a place the band Wookiefoot owned. Negative One put the group together so he could do live shows with the music he has written.
"Everybody in the band is all good friends of mine," Negative One said. "These are people I have brought together to play the music that I write."
Negative One, 29, is from Burnsville, Minn. When doing live shows, he sings lead vocals and plays guitar. He sports the Bob Marley dreads, which have only taken him a little more than a year to grow. Band member, Chris "Ape S--t" Hicks, 28, hails from Rochester and plays drums for the band. Playing bass is The Professor, 32, from Minneapolis.
The band member who can often be seen jumping around and dancing is Phone Jackson, 29, from Virginia, Minn. Jackson is responsible for promoting and representing with his lyrical and physical hypes. Born 75 miles from Canada, Phone Jackson said he grew up on the Iron Range.
"I love that place, though, and I definitely miss it," Phone Jackson said.
Phone Jackson has been working on his dreads for three years and describes them as the roots of his brain.
He said he can half-ass play the guitar and was in choir throughout high school.
"It taught me how to read music, but vocally, I don't really use any of that anymore because I'm singing hip hop now."
The band's temporary member, Jon Wayne, 24, hails from Jamestown, N.D. He plays guitar and contributes vocals when he's not working on his reggae/ska/alternative musical venture, Jon Wayne And The Pain.
The New Rebelution has a record label called Healing Records. The band records music in its studio, The Sweat Shop. The creativity resonating from The New Rebelution comes from a part of each member. Their unique nicknames in particular tell fans a little bit about their identity and persona.
"I used to develop pictures at a camera place, and the density of the pictures would go from plus nine to minus nine. I would have to change the density when developing them, so if I didn't know what number to use, I would just hit negative one over and over," Negative One said. "Then I came up with a few reasons why I thought it suited me, and I took the name on, but now I'm trying to get rid of it and replace it with The New Rebelution, much to the dislike of my friends."
One of the reasons Negative One wanted to be called that is because he wanted to get a positive message across to negative people. In time, he found positive people were listening to his music more so than negative people, so he felt the point became irrelevant. Now, he's trying to let the name slowly fade out. Negative One is not the only band member with an explanation for his nickname.
"Phone Jackson is a moniker I was given, and it has no real rhyme or reason to it," Phone Jackson said. "One night we were playing a show and trying to figure out what we were going to call ourselves and Phone Jackson sounded kind of cool. I think the name is really communicative."
Because the band sits with decades of combined musical experience under its belt, it can't help but be influenced by other musical pioneers. Some of them include Minneapolis avant-garde band Atmosphere, L.A. Reid, Sublime, Bob Marley, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the band's longtime-buddies, Wookiefoot. Negative One said everything in life influences him.
"I'm definitely influenced by a lot of different people, but I don't know of any band that has the same sound. I know it might sound a little bit like a lot of different people, but it's all stuff I'm influenced by," Negative One said. "Sometimes I'll listen to a song, and it will inspire me to write a different song, which might have the same groove, but it will still be its own."
When they're not playing, some of the band members can be seen working the music festivals at Harmony Park. They play much of their music at festivals including Harvest Fest, Project Earth and Bellaluna.
"Music is my life. It's all I do. I'm an at-home dad with my son, and my studio is in my living room, so it's perfect. I make music constantly, and I'll make music with my son here and there," Negative One said. "When I had to finish the album, I moved everything to a studio space and finished it there so that's where all my stuff is right now. It will end up back in my living room though so my son and I can continue working again."
Although this band has a lot going for them musically, their heads are in the right place when it comes to having a positive attitude and concerting efforts to make a change.
"We're trying to make people realize there needs to be some sort of revolution. It doesn't necessarily mean the environment. There needs to be a change of self and perspective," Phone Jackson said. "Actually initiating the change and taking action is what it's all about. That's what the album speaks volumes about."
Phone Jackson said his favorite track on the album, "Dem Youth," happens to be a very important track.
"It says if we're trying to change the world, we need to start by changing the examples we give to our children," Phone Jackson said. "We have so many examples of things that we give to our children which are negative, but we need to remember they are the ones who are going to help make the change."
It is pretty obvious the band's main goal is not to get rich and famous. That doesn't mean they don't want to earn a living doing what they love, it just means they have their heads on straight.
"If I never made any money making music I would still enjoy doing it all. I get the biggest high from writing, recording and putting a song together," Negative One said. "I like making a product that I can pop in my car and listen to. I listen to my album more than anybody, and I don't get sick of it. I make a lot of music strictly for myself to listen to."
It took The New Rebelution 3,500 hours to record the album. This amount of effort provided inspiration for a few of the tracks on the album. Negative One said the title track for "Til' The Break Of..." is about constantly making music. He said he's always been making music and will continue making music til' the break of... He said he left it open for people to interpret for themselves. Negative One went on to describe the album track "This Time," featuring Heatbox.
"I had the song pretty much done, but I had a sample in place of where Heatbox's part would go, and I had him come in and do vocal scratching on the chorus along with some beat boxing," Negative One said. "It was really fun to make, especially because we had just met each other. We went to my studio that night and now we're working together like crazy all the time and playing shows together. That was definitely a good connection my friend made for us."
Negative One said the song is about trying to change certain addictions, and saying you're going to do something or change something, but you are having a hard time doing so. He said it's about saying this time I'm going to actually make that change. Ideas for songs like "This Time" stem from all aspects of Negative One's life.
"I definitely chicken-scratch ideas when it comes to writing music, but mainly, especially with writing, playing instruments and playing and recording, I pretty much record everything I play. With that stuff, I just have inspiration for all the time," Negative One said. "I can just play instruments all the time."
Negative One said vocally, it's a lot different. He said he has to wait for it to come to him.
"I usually wait for the divine to speak through me," Negative One said. "When I feel it coming, I grab a pen and just start writing."
Phone Jackson is currently working on his self-titled solo project, which will showcase all the work he's done throughout his life.
"The album is about self-reflection, and I am excited about it," Phone Jackson said. "It should be really interesting. The whole concept of the album is that you're listening to an AM radio program and a storm comes up and goes overhead."
Phone Jackson and Negative One agreed that lately they have been working on taking more action as much as they can. They want to give more people the opportunity to come together as a community and be good examples.
The New Rebelution band members do a lot of work with Wookiefoot. The festival season keeps the band busy and allows them to remain in close contact with other bands.
The band will be doing their next gig Nov. 17 at the Red Carpet Nightclub along with Wookiefoot. Check them out on www.myspace.com/thenewrebelution or www.myspace.com/hiphopnegativeone.