Passafire is a
reggae rock
Reggae rock is a subgenre of reggae fusion and rock music that primarily uses the genres reggae, rock, and ska. Typical lyrics of reggae rock songs incorporate love, personal awareness, and life challenges while incorporating music and beat el ...
band based in
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
History
Formation and Self-titled album (2003–2006)
Passafire was founded in 2003 by
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
natives Ted Bowne on vocals/guitar and Nick Kubley on drums who at the time were students attending
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
Adding Tom Heet on bass and Adam Willis on keyboard, Passafire became a quartet. Their debut self-produced, self-titled album ''Passafire'' was released on August 29, 2006.
''Submersible'' (2007)
After Heet's departure from the band, Passafire added Nick's brother Will Kubley on bass and additional vocals. Their sophomore album, ''Submersible'' was released on September 18, 2007. It was recognized by
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
as one of the "Top 10 Best Reggae Albums of 2007".
''Everyone on Everynight'' (2009)
Passafire's third album, ''Everyone on Everynight'', was released on September 15, 2009 on
Pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
's recording label, LAW Records.
''Start From Scratch'' (2011)
Their fourth album, ''Start From Scratch'' was released on their on record label FlameGuy Records. It was produced by
Paul Leary and debuted on September 27, 2011. The album reached #1 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' ''Top Reggae Albums'' chart.
''Start from Scratch'' marked the departure of original keyboardist Adam Willis from the band in 2010. It was the first album to feature Mike DeGuzman on the keys, who was discovered after playing with
The Expendables in Chicago during the 2010 Winter Blackout Tour.
Adam Willis had left the band for personal reasons after the decision to not continue touring and parted ways with Passafire amicably.
They also released ''Remixed From Scratch'' in 2012, which featured
dub music
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican re ...
mixes and remixes of their songs from the previous album.
''Vines'' (2013)
In 2013, Passafire signed with
NYC's
Easy Star Records
Easy Star Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996. Based in New York City, the label primarily produces and releases albums in the genres of reggae and dub.
The label has had multiple albums chart at No. 1 on the ''Bill ...
, who welcomed them to the Easy Star family.
Passafire's fifth album, ''Vines'', was released on November 11, 2013 and ranked at #1 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' ''Top Reggae Albums'' chart.
This came after working again with Paul Leary, who also worked alongside
Sublime
Sublime may refer to:
Entertainment
* SuBLime, a comic imprint of Viz Media for BL manga
* Sublime (band), an American ska punk band
** ''Sublime'' (album), 1996
* ''Sublime'' (film), a 2007 horror film
* SubLime FM, a Dutch radio station dedic ...
, Pepper,
U2,
Slightly Stoopid
Slightly Stoopid is an American band based in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, metal and punk." As a band, they have released thirt ...
, and several other successful groups.
''Interval EP'' (2015)
The band released their EP, ''Interval'' on March 24, 2015, which featured four new songs that continued their sound in new directions into "progressive reggae".
''Longshot'' (2017)
On May 12, 2017, the band released their sixth album, ''Longshot'', along with a 2-song ''Longshot B-Sides'' EP on June 28, 2017 which included bonus track left off the LP.
A year later, Passafire released their latest live album ''Live in Atlanta'' on November 2, 2018. In 2019, they were also featured on ''Sugarshack Sessions Selects Vol. 1'' with a live acoustic single of their song "Submersible".
Passafire was featured as one of many reggae bands on
Collie Buddz
Colin Patrick Harper (born August 21, 1981), better known by his stage name Collie Buddz, is a Bermudian
reggae artist best known for his single "Come Around".
Career
Although Harper was born in New Dadyal Hospital, AJK. He studied audio enginee ...
riddim album, ''Cali Roots Riddim 2021'' with their single, "Waste No Time", which was produced by Buddz and mixed by
Stick Figure's touring guitarist, producer Johnny Cosmic.
In 2021, Passafire was one of several reggae and punk bands on ''The House That Bradley Built'', a charity compilation honoring
Sublime
Sublime may refer to:
Entertainment
* SuBLime, a comic imprint of Viz Media for BL manga
* Sublime (band), an American ska punk band
** ''Sublime'' (album), 1996
* ''Sublime'' (film), a 2007 horror film
* SubLime FM, a Dutch radio station dedic ...
's lead singer
Bradley Nowell
Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996) was an American musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the ska punk band Sublime.
Born and raised in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an interest in mu ...
, helping musicians with substance abuse. They covered Sublime's song "Greatest Hits".
''Strata'' (2021)
Passafire recorded their seventh album, ''Strata'' which released on Flame Guy Records on September 17, 2021. "The first three singles on ''Strata'' ("Keepin' On", Sleepless", and "Friends") were written and released before the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Bowne explains, "The pandemic kinda stopped things. We're all dispersed across the country now so when the pandemic hit we all went back to our home bases. When we were able to get together, we wrote and recorded the last seven songs on the album within a week. We're excited that we're able to tour again and perform our old and new jams. It's touring and sharing our music that keeps our band alive."
Tours
Passafire has been regularly touring, playing shows with bands such as
311 311 may refer to:
* 311 (number), a natural number
* AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD
* 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar
* 311 (band), an American band
** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album
...
(on the 311 Cruise in 2012 & 2019),
Pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
(playing on the LAW Records Tour in October 2008),
Rebelution,
Matisyahu
Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer
Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum mac ...
,
Michael Franti
Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American rapper, musician, poet, activist, documentarian, and singer-songwriter, known for his participation in many musical projects, most with a political and social emphasis, including the Beatnigs ...
and
The Wailers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
. They also toured with
Slightly Stoopid
Slightly Stoopid is an American band based in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, metal and punk." As a band, they have released thirt ...
at the end of December, 2013.
Musical Style
While earlier work mostly fits within the reggae-rock genre, the band's sound has taken on many forms since their self-titled release. Elements such as intricate lead guitar and unexpected instrumental breakdowns are reminiscent of
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
. This and other alternative influences are evident as early as their 2007 release, ''Submersible.'' In 2011, ''Start from Scratch'' explored more organic textures
that touched on
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
. The use of banjos, mandolins, acoustic guitar, and
melodica (most notably on the album's title track, performed by new member Mike DeGuzman) were a temporary shift in sound that would influence later releases.
Lineup
Current members
* Ted Bowne – Guitar, Vocals (2003–present)
* Nick Kubley – Drums (2003–present)
* Will Kubley – Bass, Vocals (2006–present) (beginning with the album ''Submersible'').
* Mike DeGuzman – Keyboards (2011–present) (beginning with the album ''Start From Scratch'').
Former members
* Adam Willis – Keyboards (2003–2010) (on albums ''Passafire'', ''Submersible'', and ''Everyone On Everynight'').
* Tom Heet – Bass (2003–2006) (on album ''Passafire'').
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums/EPs
Singles
References
External links
*
Official Passafire website
See also
*
SCAD Notable Alumni
{{Authority control
Rock music groups from Georgia (U.S. state)
Easy Star Records artists
Reggae rock groups
Musical groups from Savannah, Georgia