Natural Born California Reggae Sound

Silverback Management: driving a native born Reggae movement.The marriage between punk and reggae goes back to the London days when the Jamaican sound was inspiring all kinds of different musicians, from UB40 to The Police. Known as the 1st wave (Original Jamaican) 2nd Wave (60s 70s) and 3rd Wave Ska (80s 90s) movements, Controlled Substance and Silverback Management could be helping to introduce a new wave in the marriage between Jamaican reggae/ska and American mainstream music: Full Infection.

Controlled Substance Sound Labs and Silverback Management have their start with a 3rd Wave band, Sublime. Sublime brought mainstream ska and reggae to the forefront, with the help of other massive bands that came before. None had really experienced the mainstream success that Sublime achieved. Bands like The Uptones, Reel Big Fish and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones had some mainstream success but none like the automatic nationwide playlist status of Sublime. After the death of Brad Nowell, Jon Phillips, who helped sign them to MCA, founded his own management companies and followed the stylistic tastes established in the decades before.

With more reggae than punk bands like Slightly Stoopid and Rebelution, Phillips has begun to cultivate artists that are the first generation of musicians raised on natural born California Ska, rather than listening purely to the Jamaican originators and English forefathers, like The Specials and The English Beat. The company has also taken on ska veterans Fishbone. Phillips’ bands have also integrated and played with well established reggae and ska acts beyond the relatively young LA/SoCal scene, acts like Stephen and Damian Marley, The English Beat and big culture shows like Coachella.

The best part about the Controlled Substance ethos, is that originators like Mad Professor, Half Pint and others have all worked with these young California artists, legitimizing the link between this new California reggae sound. The 2nd Wave California ska sound is still fighting for mainstream air-time, but Phillips believes the radio format is only one outlet in a new landscape of music.

Despite a recent breakdown in his relationship with the surviving members of Sublime, that chapter seems to have reached its end, but the future for California Ska/Reggae fusion is brighter than ever, thanks to people like Bradley Nowell and Jon Phillips.