Salmonella Dub is a
dub/
drum n bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-b ...
/
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 ...
/
roots
A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
Root or roots may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
band from
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. The band was formed in 1992 by Andrew Penman, Dave Deakins, and Mark Tyler. The band has toured extensively throughout New Zealand, Australia, and Europe, including the UK and Ireland.
History
The original Salmonella Dub line-up was formed in 1992 in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
. They played their first gig in January 1993 at the
Westport racecourse.
The 'Dubbies' have been called the pioneers and originators of a unique Pacific style of dub/drum 'n' bass/reggae/hip hop and groove-based rock containing elements of the Polynesian hip hop style known as
Urban Pasifika
Urban Pasifika (also known as Urban Pacific and Urban Pacifika) is a New Zealand subgenre of hip hop, that developed primarily among Pasifika New Zealanders in South Auckland. Drawn from alternative hip hop and R&B influences, it was quickly ble ...
, along with other influential 90s bands like
Hallelujah Picassos
Hallelujah Picassos were/are a reggae, rap, ska, thrash, jazz, pop crossover band from Auckland, New Zealand. They started life in 1988 as a garage punk band The Rattlesnakes, changing their name to Hallelujah Picassos in 1989. They were relea ...
, Nemesis Dub Systems, Unitone HiFi, and
Supergroove
Supergroove is a New Zealand funk rock music group. Their debut album ''Traction (album), Traction'' was released in 1994. The group disbanded in 1997 but reformed in 2007.
History
The band was founded on New Year's Eve 1989/1990, having pre ...
. The band helped foster and tour acts like
Fat Freddy’s Drop
Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by mus ...
,
Shapeshifter
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...
, Cornerstone Roots, Kora, and Trinity Roots, as well as the new wave of Australian acts like Budspells, Rastawookie, King Tide, Red Eyes, and the likes, can all thank Salmonella Dub for breaking new ground, in an Australasian alternative music scene which was dominated through most of the 1990s by straight
guitar rock, and electronic dance music.
[EMI Music - from the Salmonella Dub EPK](_blank)
/ref> For many years the band has been connected to the small north Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
town of Kaikoura, where they have their studio, and where they helped found the Kaikoura Roots festival.
The group worked for some time with MC Tiki Taane
Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand-based musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to purs ...
, who began mixing their live sets in 1996, and later joined the band onstage to rap, sing, and play guitar. After developing a profile with the band, Taane embarked on a solo career in 2007. Also in 2007 was the exit of saxophone player Conan Wilcox, the author of the dubs horn lines to that point. Other guest or collaborative artists have included Paddy Free (of Pitch Black) who produced the most recent album release Freak Controller and performed with the band, and guests Whirimako Black, Hirini Melbourne, Richard Nunns and MC Mana. The band has also collaborated with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...
and Hamish McKeich.
The recent touring entourage includes the originators: Andrew Penman, David Deakins, Mark Tyler with Guests, Michelle Harrison, The Mighty Asterix, Scotty Taitoko, Simon Kay, Brent Thompson, Laughton Kora.
In February 2008, Salmonella Dub and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra collaborated for the Feel The Seasons Change tour of New Zealand with shows performed in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Nelson. The Feel The Seasons Change project combined Salmonella Dub’s contemporary music and production values with elements of Te Reo Māori, the ancient arts of taonga pūoro
Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand.
The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods ...
(traditional Maori instruments) and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...
's classical music tradition.
In the year 2000, the band won 8 Bnet awards for the L~bum Killervision alongside 4 awards at the NZ Tui awards.
In 2002 their album Inside the Dubplates won 4 awards at the Tui's. The irony being the remix album Outside the Dubplates picked up the best downbeat album while the Bnet's rightly gave it the award for a best dance album.
Around this time there was much hoo haa from Brendan Smythe from Nz on Ear claiming the band had received over 280K in NZ on ear grants when in fact the band had received 150k in album funding which they paid back to the government due to the success of their sales.
:"United by background images of our geography and history, the omnipresent birdsong of Richard Nunns on traditional Maori instruments, and the outstanding vocals of jazz-blues singer Whirimako Black, the collaboration was certainly intriguing if for its sheer scale. Between songs, conductor Hamish McKeich was careful not to trip over his players, squeezed onto two-thirds of the stage; Salmonella Dub looked oddly well-behaved and vulnerable standing next to them."
At the New Zealand Radio Awards in 2009, Radio New Zealand became the first noncommercial radio to win the Supreme Award including Best Technical Production, Studio, or Outside Broadcast Recording with '' Feel the Seasons Change – Live with the NZSO''.
The band released the single "Same Home Town" in 2013 in honour of their 20th birthday. The single is dedicated to the Dux de Lux
The Dux de Lux ( la, Masters of the Finest), originally called Llanmaes, was a popular beer garden and restaurant in Christchurch, New Zealand, that was part of the Christchurch Arts Centre, Arts Centre.
The building, initially a private home, ...
, the early Christchurch venue for the band.
Discography
Albums
EPs
Singles
DVDs
References
External links
Salmonella Dub Official Site
{{Authority control
New Zealand dub musical groups
Musical groups established in 1992
1992 establishments in New Zealand
Kaikōura