Seventeen months in the making: The story behind Katastro’s “Good Time”

It’s been a little over two weeks since Katastro dropped their first release since Sucker, a single memorializing Andy Chaves’ legacy using vocals he recorded days before his untimely death. The sanguine “Good Time” took almost a year and a half from start to finish– a journey punctuated by intense emotional reprieve and completed through […]

The healing of the (KATASTRO) nation

“Good Time”, the highly anticipated single from Katastro, dropped today and features Jared Watson and Duddy B, using vocals Andy Chaves recorded at the Dirty Heads studio in Orange County just days before his untimely death on May 12th last year. The first music of any kind released by Katastro since Sucker in 2021, the […]

Mission Bayfest 2023: a weekend rager in San Diego

DAY 1 DAY 2 Bayfest is a twice-yearly festival that has worked its way into the fabric of the San Diego music scene — and with good reason. Alternating between Waterfront Park downtown and Mariner’s Point in Pacific Beach (the latter aptly named ‘Mission Bayfest‘), the mostly reggae-packed fest has morphed from a casual one-day, […]

Alta Music Festival 2023

This past weekend the first ever Alta Music Festival was held at the Avila Beach Golf Resort, featuring a mix of Cali reggae and hip-hop with acts like E-40 and Dirty Heads gracing the stage. The background was the beach, the ground was grass, and the parking was a breeze — Alta truly had everything. […]

Collie Buddz does it again with latest single “Take It Easy”

Add this one to every summertime 2023 playlist ASAP. Collie Buddz has done it again with the catchy, lazy afternoon single “Take It Easy”, giving off big “skip work, go to the beach” energy. Released Friday February 3rd, on the heels of two back-to-back shows in Hawaii at the end of January, rumors are swirling […]

Cali Roots finalizes jaw dropping lineup for 2023

California Roots Music and Art Festival, the genre’s most anticipated, prolific, and environmentally-friendly reggae event of the year, has officially dropped the final three acts to complete their Memorial Day weekend roster. Recently announced 2023 Coachella guests Rebelution and Stick Figure join genre-bending icons Thievery Corporation, finalizing the bill for the all ages festival as […]

Crab cakes and reggae, that’s what Maryland does!

Reggae Rise Up Maryland returns to the Baltimore Peninsula for the second year in a row following their wildly successful 2022 first-year installment. Boasting a lineup stacked with all your favorite reggae acts–plus some newcomers for funsies–the three day festival takes place June 23-25 and all but screams summer vacation. With estimated temperatures hovering in […]

Experiencing San Diego’s first Mission Bayfest 2022

A sunny, warm day at Mariner’s Park was the setting of the first-ever Mission Bayfest in San Diego. An offshoot of the wildly successful original Bayfest, held at Waterfront in Downtown San Diego since 2019, this all-ages, one-day festival was an eclectic mix of mostly reggae, with the world-renowned sonic chameleons Thievery Corporation thrown in […]

DENM drops “Wild Trip” with Landon McNamara

DENM — SoCal’s favorite bad boy (and rad dad) — teams up with the son of the North Shore, Landon MaNamara, in the first collaboration from the Slum Beach Posse aptly named, “Wild Trip”, released via Ineffable Records on August 25th. The first of what is sure to be many, this group effort came to […]

Reggae Rise Up Vegas returns for Fall 2022

From the Reggae Rise Up camp comes the second of three yearly nationwide festival installments, this time at the downtown Las Vegas Events Center the second weekend in October. Last year’s Reggae Rise Up in St. Petersburg, FL hosted over 15,000 festival-goers, with numbers for the other two festivals expected to reach or surpass in […]

Bikini Trill drops “F*cked Up” single & video, feat. BLESSED

Los Angeles’ own surf-pop / reggae outfit Bikini Trill has released a new self-produced single with Australian rapper BLESSED entitled “Fucked Up”, alongside an accompanying cartoon music video by animator SHOKKA. A nod to the complications of relationships, the animated video gives a colorful, visually stimulating peek into the intimacies of interacting with lovers (and […]

Dirty Heads’ eighth studio album ‘Midnight Control’ slaps

One thing I love about Dirty Heads is while they have an extremely signature sound, it’s still nearly impossible to put your finger on exactly what makes Dirty Heads the Dirty Heads. I opened the listening link for Midnight Control, the Huntington Beach five-piece’s eighth studio album, a couple weeks ago. I had no idea […]

Reliving the 5th Annual Lake Tahoe Reggae Fest

‘Chill figuratively, not literally’ was the name of the game at the fifth annual Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival at Harvey’s Outdoor Amphitheater located in Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on July 29th. Ample grass for picnic blankets, shade structures to boot, one stage (!) and long, vibey set change interludes hosted by local reggae DJ […]

An interview with Jared Watson of Dirty Heads

I had a quick phone call with Jared Watson of Dirty Heads (and his cooing infant son strapped to his chest!) during a home break on the tail-end of their now-finished Let’s Get It Kraken Tour, featuring SOJA, Tribal Seeds, Artikal Sound System and The Elovaters. What to talk about with Jared Watson…? Where do […]