Clint Warren bares his life & love for reggae music ❤️

There are artists on this planet that are unforgettable with a magical sound and vibe. One we must mention is Clint Warren: born South African and raised in America, Waren blends eccentric and downright original world music sounds. Soothing riffs with his soft and deep vocals bring his songs such melody. 

I simply couldn’t resist interviewing this rising artist with such admiral intentions with his writing and music style. Clint Warren is one of 65 reggae and dancehall artists that nominated for “Best Reggae Album” under voter consideration at the 66th GRAMMY Awards, on top of receiving accolades from publications near and far.

Clint does his own thing, with his own style as a one-man army.

I was happy to sit down with him and see what he is all about. Plus, it must not go without saying that this man put himself through law school and served our country as a Marine. He is an astounding human being with honor and integrity. If anyone deserves to be representing the reggae community, it’s Clint! Read the whole exchange below.

Tell us your first memory with music, and what compelled you to do this!

• CW: I would have to say my earliest memory is a little blurry, since I started out as one of those child TV actors. I was the host of a teen music culture show called Zap Mag and I remember filming an episode at a hotel in Durban, South Africa around 1993. Durban, to this day, is still a super popular surfing spot. If you don’t mind surfing with Great Whites, that is… Although they did have shark nets there. The show was usually filmed in front of a live studio audience in Johannesburg, where I lived. However, the time I’m thinking of was done a little differently. There was a huge yearly event going on at the hotel and the biggest live audience I’d ever seen before. I remember there being so many kids, I couldn’t see my siblings in the audience (who I’d usually look to for clues on how I was doing). The main guest I had on the show is the reason I got into reggae music in the first place. His name was Lucky Dube and he was the African counterpart of David Nesta “Ziggy” Marley. He told us all about the history of reggae music and how it originally came down from the horn of Africa. It wasn’t until the 1960s that it became known as reggae, though. Before that, they used to call it ska and rocksteady (‘roots’ in America).
• Mind you, we had a lot of big music guests on the show, like Dave Matthews. But when I saw Lucky Dube sing and play his guitar, I was blown away. He could make any word sound like a musical instrument and played the guitar more like a drum and percussion rather than making guitar sounds. I think that was the moment I knew that this was the kind of music I wanted to get into. 

Is reggae music your forever love?

• If you’ve ever interviewed a reggae musician before (and for those of you reading this who might be into reggae), then you know it’s a way of life. Once you go reggae, there’s no coming back from that. The meme that comes to mind is the one that says something like ‘I’m an introvert until I talk about reggae music’. If I ever walk into a bar or restaurant and reggae music is playing, I light up. 

You have lived such an admirable life already, with many accomplishments. What’s your best memory of this part of your life? 

• Oorah! I appreciate that. My best memories in the Marines are probably jamming on the beach with Navy Seals at Coronado Island in San Diego and at Camp Pendleton, California. This was back when Jared Watson and Dustin Bushnell (of Dirty Heads) played in a band called HB Surround Sound around Orange County. I had grown up surfing in Durban, South Africa and got to practice in high school in South Florida after we emigrated to the States. This was also about 10 to 15 years after Sublime and No Doubt brought reggae music to Southern California. We were the only guys with haircuts called ‘High and Tights’, so we stood out like sore thumbs among the other surfers.
• One of those guys in the Seal crew was the most famous Sniper in America history and a true hero — Chief Chris Kyle. The way it works with the Navy and Marines, is that the Marine Corps is actually a subdivision of the Dept. of the Navy and we borrow Frogmen as snipers and Corpsmen as our medics. Chief Kyle’s brother Sgt. Jeff Kyle was also a Marine like me, but had been in for a few years already. They were both what we would call ‘Salty Dogs’ when I was a private. I got demoted a few times for my classic shenanigans’ like trying to play a guitar while surfing. This was also around the time that Super Troopers just came out on DVD, meaning we could rent it at the Base’s Exchange Stores. Those were some good times. 

You were also in the Peace Corps, yeah?

• I’m glad you asked that. In any other interviews I’ve done, I’m always asked about either the US Marine Corps or US Peace Corps, as though the two are mutually exclusive. I’m the only US Marine Corps to have successfully transitioned into the Peace Corps, not because other Marines may not have wanted to, but rather because of the years of hoops I had to jump through to actually do it.
• I got recruited at my law school by the Peace Corps. I was attending Florida International Law entering class of 2008 and was about to graduate in 2011 at the time. Their sales pitch was essentially that they were looking for volunteers who were lawyers and could act as legal advisors to the United States Dept. of State for high-risk posts, like Albania and other former Soviet countries. I was unaware of this at the time, but a Peace Corps volunteer had just been detained by the Russian military for giving an interview to the local media that went against their laws, which put the U.S. on high alert. So, in 2011, I began the process of applying to The International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA). They are the ones who handle things like War Crimes Tribunals. I found out later that the actual reason the Peace Corps wanted me had nothing to do with being a lawyer; the place they had marked for my post was Albania. The thing about Albania (and I didn’t know this until after I joined) is that no other volunteers wanted to go there, because it was extremely violent and they had a very unique kind of hatred for Americans.
• Albania is also the place where the former Soviet Union ended up storing the majority of their weapon stockpiles. We’re talking about actual tons of nuclear weapons, bombs, grenades, and rounds of ammunition stockpiled from the floors to the ceilings in school buildings and ready for a potential revival of the Cold War. If Russia was going to send nukes over to America, Albania was where they would be launched from. The country of Albania wasn’t a fan of America, because corporations had come over in the 1990s and destroyed their economy and way of life. So, who better to serve there than a US Marine with a South African accent?
• The reason other Marines couldn’t apply to the Peace Corps was that you had to give up your security clearance. For me, being an active duty enlisted Marine, I had Classified security clearance; that meant I had insider information that wouldn’t be eligible to be de-classified for 10 more years. So, the US Dept. of State (who’s in charge of the Peace Corps) wanted to find out exactly what I knew and how to undo all of that. Mind you, I was also 100% service-disabled from the Marines, so I had to give up my monthly disability check from the VA and had to begin a series of surgeries to repair all the damage I had endured in the Marines. In exchange for that, the US Peace Corps would pay off all my school debt, which was around $250,000 at that point. Not only that, but the US Dept. of State felt that a Doctor of Law wasn’t enough schooling. So, the Feds sent me to the University of Miami to also get a Postdoctoral Masters in Community Psychology to better understand the people of the former USSR. So, for the next four years, I went back to school [while going] through the process of undoing my security clearance and a bunch of major reconstructive surgeries to get me up to snuff. Four years later, in 2015, I became the only US Marine to ever successfully transition into the US Peace Corps. 

You resided by Portland for a while and your music has an oceanic vibe… Does where you live inspire you?

• I did live in Oregon from 2019 up until 2023. Like many other musicians, I got priced out, unfortunately, and just moved back to the east coast a few months ago. Oregon reminded me a lot of my birthplace in South Africa: the geography and terrain were very similar to the mountains and trees in South Africa. It’s probably one of the most beautiful states I’ve ever been to. It was Matthew Paul Miller (Matisyahu) who led me to moving to Oregon after I got back from my Peace Corps service. I remember talking about it with the surfers I hung out with in SoCal; it had always been my dream to check it out. I know that Matisyahu said that Oregon was where he came up with his whole identity. The Pacific Northwest was also where reggae legend Clinton Fearon relocated to from Jamaica.
• [Oregon has] a very different take on reggae music, as opposed to Florida which is heavily influenced by Caribbean reggae and Soca music. Rather, in the Pacific Northwest, their version of reggae had evolved from Hawaiian music and is called ‘Ja-waiian reggae’. So, a mix of Jamaican and Hawaiian music. Instead of acoustic guitars, they play ukuleles. I learned as much as I could about that kind of reggae music and incorporated all those sounds and instruments into my debut EP entitled Pacific Coast Reggae, released in 2022. It’s very different from SoCal and Caribbean reggae. I think Lucky Dube would have been proud of the sound I came up with. The EP ended up being nominated for a GRAMMY Award for ‘Best World Music Album’ out of 65 entries in 2023. 

You have a very strong following and building every day! How does that feel?

• It honestly feels a little weird and humbling. I never thought I would ever be able to play the guitar again after I got hurt in the Marines. That’s one of the main reasons I got so involved with academia instead of music. I lost some of my hearing, had the worst case of tinnitus anyone could possibly have (you probably read about those 3M earplugs that didn’t work), could barely walk, and lost the use of my right arm. Music just never seemed like it could have ever been an option for me again after all that. Even if I hadn’t gotten hurt, I never imagined myself being as good as guys like Jared Watson and Dustin Bushnell, who were my music idols being a young Marine in Southern California. The way they played and sang seemed so effortless to me; it just didn’t seem like I could ever be on that same level myself.
• Now, I have my own fans reaching out and asking me for guitar tips. I even saw in some of my GRAMMY nominations, music critics comparing me to Carlos Santana. I’m still in shock about that. I’m still a little suspicious that I’ll wake up one day and realize it was all a dream and I’m still stuck in the Naval Hospital in San Diego. 

Let’s talk about your a recent release ‘The Psilocybin Song’. I love the lyrics!

• That’s such a fun song. If you listen to reggae, then you know that half of the songs are about legalizing cannabis for medicinal purposes. Well, this is one of the first reggae songs about legalizing psilocybin mushrooms. The song was written to be a comedic anthem for the PNW (Pacific Northwest), where psilocybin mushrooms were legalized under the Washington and Oregon Psilocybin Services Section Acts. The song tells the story of a straight-edge postman who was prescribed psilocybin for the first time and all the adventures (trouble) he gets into while delivering mail to the residents of the PNW:
• “I don’t smoke no cigarettes // I don’t drink no booze // I don’t smoka de’ ganja // Because I got you // My silly Simon // He’s a hella fungi // He’s got me lookin’ at things // That I never seen before.“

You’re proactive about medicinal needs, obviously, but also about rescuing dogs, right?

• I haven’t mentioned this before, but I’m a big animal lover. I had been involved with canine rescue since the Marines and, nowadays, I pretty much spend all day every day in my home studio (aka, guest room) recording music with my two co-workers who are Australian Shepherds and my girlfriend, Samantha Lee, who’s also my co-songwriter. If you’ve ever seen the music video for my song “Land Piranha”, that’s based on my dog, Scouty-P. Those three provide a lot of inspiration for my songs. I’m not sure what it is with reggae musicians and Aussies, but a lot of us seem to have them. 

Yes! Speaking of, tell us about your record label and management company! 

• I’m stoked to announce that I just signed with Universal Music Group (UMG) via Lucent Records for the release of two new songs. Lucent is a true independent subsidiary of Universal Music Group, giving artists like me major label support, while allowing us to remain fully independent, so I can continue writing songs about mushrooms, lizards, dogs, and space monkeys. 
• I don’t want to give away too much about the new songs before they come out, but I think my fans will really like them. ‘Flowing’ is a love song and features the vocals of a super talented female reggae artist also from my homeland of Africa called ‘Tau Ea Tau’, which means ‘lioness’ in Africa. I’m in the process of filming a music video for that song. After that, I’ll be gearing up for an east coast tour, as well as collabs with some other super talented reggae artists, like Mellodose, Tilibop, StoneTribe, Lucy Morningstar, Sunburnt Sky, Flip Flop Republic, Dub-321, Solrise, African Reggae Machine, and a bunch of others. It’s truly an exciting time. 

Any inspiring words for artists trying to get their name out there?

• If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘10,000 hours’, that’s basically all it takes to go from good to great. You must be willing to invest 10,000 hours practicing whatever you do. To become a great lawyer, I had to invest 10,000 hours practicing after law school. If you want to be a great singer, then you must invest that same amount of time. The difference is that you have much less guidance in being a recording artist and it’s really not something you can learn in music school. So, those 10,000 hours have to be invested in recording yourself and listening to yourself sing. I’ll usually listen to vocal ideas I have on repeat while at the gym. If you also want to be a great guitarist, then that’s another 10,000 hours (after you’ve actually learned how to master the guitar). I play all the instruments in my songs, so I still have a few thousand hours I need to invest to get where I want to go.

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