group of eighth graders got together in 1979, they made music. They made new music, a style no one had really heard before; based on reggae, but faster, with the L.A style and a political slant. Ska. They played their hearts out and 32 years later they’re still going strong, with world tours under their belts, more world tours to come, a new EP in the works and a life time of stories behind them. They are called Fishbone.
A
Fishbone’s start seemed to be written in fate, a group of fourteen year olds finding each other and creating something so different that four decades to come they would influencing bands such as Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and many more
to pick up an instrument and spread their own message.
I
’m sitting with the man who started it all. Norwood. He tells me how it all began, “We were just young musicians who bonded as friends, most of us meeting in the eighth grade, we talked about doing a band, and a year later, it actually began to happen, in the ninth grade, when Angelo joined. We wrote and rehearsed, it was very different then. It took a little while for the different music styles to evolve, but we were young and punk rock was a new idea to us, especially in the states, and I guess compared to now, where it’s so global. Actually in the states, Reggae was only just beginning to catch on, and so we were just kids who played with the new and exciting sounds around us.”
Drawing on his past, Norwood talks with such a relaxed air about him. He knows his roots, which when you’ve been going for longer than some of their fans have been alive, is always a good thing. We go into the history, from the start in ‘79, jumping ahead to 1985 with the release of their first EP.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90