Redeye Empire was a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

Formation and ''Redeye'' album (2006)

Redeye Empire was formed in the spring of 2006, inspired by musical influences which include

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 ...

, Jack Johnson and the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

. The first members included Gabe Davis who after seeing

G. Love Garrett Dutton (born October 3, 1972), better known as G. Love, is an American singer, rapper and musician best known as the frontman for the band G. Love & Special Sauce. Biography Dutton, the son of a banking lawyer, was born in the Soci ...

in concert in 2001 and was inspired to learn guitar and start a band. He started a project with Mike Redmond, who was a friend he had known since elementary school. They decided to write and record a few catchy songs they collaborated on and completed the recording of their first raw album before ever stepping foot onto a stage together. Without any formal background studying music, they mostly played on open mic nights and local bars. They added a few more band members: brothers, Micah and Jory Groberman and called themselves Davis Trading. Through the years of performing with Davis Trading, Gabe was thriving on the Vancouver live music scene and shared the stage with many musicians. As such, he developed a network of skilled players to perform on a recording, including three members from a popular funk instrumental electronic band called, The Masses. Ben Finkleman (producer and keyboard), Ali Siadat (drums), and Eric Stephenson (bass) would form the rhythm section. And after getting a melodic presence in Andre "Stretch" Arsenault, the band was now complete and would be the formation of Redeye Empire. They released their debut full-length album ''Redeye'' in 2006.

''The Diary of Everett Miley'' (2008)

The band toured with G. Love & Special Sauce in 2007 and again in 2010, playing venues such as

The Vic Theater The Vic Theatre is a music venue located in Chicago, Illinois. Vic Theatre can easily accommodate 1,400 people or with a seated capacity of 1,000. History Vic Theatre, designed by architect John Eberson, opened in 1912 as the Victoria Theatre. It ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, House of Blues Orlando in

Lake Buena Vista, Florida Lake Buena Vista () is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being the mailing address for Walt Disney World—although almost all of the resort facilities, including all four theme parks, are physically located i ...

and Stubbs BBQ in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. In early 2008, they toured with former

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

headliners

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 ...

, as well as

Iration Iration is a reggae/ pop group from Santa Barbara, California. All members originally hail from Hawaii. They play a mix of reggae, dub, pop, and rock. The group is one of the leading bands in the genre of sunshine reggae. History Formation and ...

. The follow-up, ''The Diary of Everett Miley'' was released in 2008. It was created with producers Chris D. (

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

, Jack Johnson) and Ben Kaplan (

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

Trapt Trapt is an American rock band formed in Los Gatos, California. Eight studio albums have been recorded to date: ''Amalgamation'' (1999), ''Trapt'' (2002), '' Someone in Control'' (2005), '' Only Through the Pain'' (2008), '' No Apologies'' (20 ...

). The ''

Vancouver Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'' called the album, "modern pop awareness

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

an occasional

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

influence... but...firmly reggae."

''Sea to Sky'' (2010)

Redeye Empire embarked on a second tour with G. Love & Special Sauce in February 2010 to promote their third studio album, titled ''Sea to Sky''. The band played venues across the United States in the south and on the west coast, including

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

in New Orleans, Dallas, San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as

The Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

in San Francisco, California. Redeye Empire also played various venues and festivals in 2010 including The WestBeach Festival in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

on September 24.

''Last Chance For Sunshine'' (2011)

Redeye Empire's fourth album "Last Chance For Sunshine" was released on July 1, 2011. It consists of 11 tracks produced by Ben Kaplan and Shawn "Doctor Boss" Cole (Bend Sinister, We Say Party!, Jackfruit). After promoting the album and touring for several more years, the band went on hiatus.

''Vernon Grant Chronicles'' (2020)

The band's fifth album ''Vernon Grant Chronicles'' was released on January 20, 2020. The band announced via their website that this would be their final "farewell" album. Throughout Redeye Empire's 15-plus years as a band, they have toured and shared the stage with the likes of G. Love & Special Sauce,

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 ...

The English Beat ''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 m ...

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 ...

, SOJA,

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1979, that plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late ' ...

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

Xavier Rudd Xavier Rudd (born 29 May 1978) is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. Several of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Indigen ...

, Rebelution,

Dirty Heads Dirty Heads is an American reggae rock band from Huntington Beach, California. Their debut album, ''Any Port in a Storm'', was released on September 23, 2008, by Executive Music Group (Fontana/Universal). Their newest album, ''Midnight Control' ...

, and

Sublime With Rome Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson (bassist), Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime (band), Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name is not only a reference to the singe ...

, among other bands.

Members

Current

* Gabe Davis – vocals, guitars * Mike Redmond – vocals, guitars * Eric Stephenson – bass * Jay Leonard Juatco – lead guitar * Ryan Davis – drums

Former

* Andre Arsenault - Lead Guitar * Ben Brown - Keyboards * Ali Siadat - Drums

Discography

* ''Redeye'' (2006) * ''The Diary of Everett Miley'' (2008) * ''Sea to Sky'' (2010) * ''Last Chance For Sunshine'' (2011) * ''Vernon Grant Chronicles'' (2020)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Redeye Empire website
Canadian reggae musical groups Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups from Vancouver Reggae rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 2006 establishments in British Columbia