During the Aggrolites’ last tour Reggae Music Talk had the chance to speak with the band’s keyboardist, Roger Rivas. The L.A. native gets into reggae’s recorded past and why the ensemble produces its own work.

Reggae Music Talk: In other interviews, you guys have said that you’re not a ska band, but the punk rock version. Usually there’s mention of Lee Perry. What about Lloyd Charmers and some of the lesser known early reggae singers and producers?

Roger Rivas: Lloyd Charmers was definitely an influence – the Hippy Boys, all that stuff. It’s pretty funny, because if you talk about any subculture or genre – psychobilly or skinhead reggae – you get all these names thrown at you. And then there’s some deep stuff that people don’t really investigate that’s kinda rare. With reggae people will throw out the Upsetters or the Skatalites, but there’s this whole other world – the UK stuff from the ‘60s and ‘70s on the Pama label.

There’s so much music out there that people aren’t exposed to because for one, it’s only on vinyl and it’s only attainable on a 45. Really, the only time you can hear that stuff is when you goto a dancehall or a reggae night. Then those deejays really get to share – that’s one of the main reasons I like touring Europe. You’ll go somewhere and hear an amazing song and be like, ‘What the heck is that?’

RMT: Is there a chance of getting those lesser known figures out there by broadening your own audience and trying to get your listeners interested in older recordings?

Now the world’s all consumed by this fake plastic music that’s just selling records. A lot of people just don’t have their heart in the music. I don’t know when we’ll find out if we’ve made it or broken through.

As far as reggae music, reggae music, in general, has never been a popular genre. Even Bob Marley or some of the Rasta stuff that’s out there at reggae festivals has never really been popular. Shaggy, Sean Paul and these cats on the radio, it’s still a minority in the pool of genres. So, it’s an on going fight. Reggae’s always been here – in the ‘80s and ‘90s. It’s gone through different phases. But as far as the mainstream and totally breaking through, it’s still a long ways off.

RMT: In trying to make a name for yourselves, the band has distanced itself from the term ‘skinhead reggae.’ Are you affiliated with that scene at all?

RR: We play skinhead reggae. But we don’t want to classify it. It’s a double edged sword. 99.9% of the time when someone says skinhead people think about racist skins. They just don’t grasp it when you explain it to them. It’s really is a unique story. There’s not a band today that can play it as good as they did back in the day. You can’t re-create that – those bands were that and now it’s gone.

RMT: So how do you differentiate yourselves from the past?

RR: Skinhead reggae was definitely an era and all we can do is be influenced by it. First of all, we’re not Jamaican. With Jesse [Wagner], he draws from bands like Tower of Power or groups where you’ve got this guy up front who isn’t black, he’s white, but he’s more soulful than anyone. And You’ve got a Mexican guy on organ not playing hip-hop or whatever. The melting pot that is us is already different. Like I said, you can’t recreate it.