4 years ago (wow that’s been awhile!), one of the first interviews that appeared on Music is Our Occupation was an interview I did with Nakarin Teerapenun, lead guitar player, and one of the original founders of Thailand’s oldest ska band T-bone! 4 years later, T-bone are gearing up on releasing a new single this month and a new album later this year…and from what I’ve heard….it’s going to be a killer album! So in anticipation of the single and the album, I caught up with Gap, lead singer of the band (the guy with the dreadlocks), to see what the band’s been up to these days.
As a note…if you don’t know T-bone are yet…do yourself a favor and find out about them. A good start would be to read the interview I did with Nakarin 4 years ago.
Read on, readers, read on!
Daoster: I last talked to you guys 4 years ago…what have T-bone been up to since then?
Gap: We’ve been playing lots of live gigs. We’re happy with the fact that Thailand has been seeing a sudden boom in reggae/ska music lately, so we’ve been enjoying the ride! We’re glad we stuck to doing what we love – for 20 years, and now we enjoy seeing the fruit of our labour.
D: I understand you have a new single coming up, and an album not long after…what can you tell us about this single and album? What is the title of the single called, and what will the album be called? When will they be released?
G: The new album is called ‘Bone in Da House’. It will be coming out in a couple of months, and the first single, “Like a Rolling Stone”, will be released at the end of next week (Aug 19), as well as the MV.
D: I’ve heard that Dennis Alcapone contributed to a track for your upcoming album…and I’ve heard a track that you guys did with Little Roy and another you guys did with Prince Fatty…how many more guests can we expect for the upcoming album?
G: That’s right, we had two legendary Jamaican artists, ‘Dennis Alcapone’ and ‘Horseman’ toasting over our tracks. Moreover, we got ‘Bubble’, a well-known organ player, jamming on some songs, and ‘Prince Fatty’, our good friend, is a producer for this album, which was recorded in Bangkok. The mixing and mastering was done in England.
D: I’m very happy to have recently discovered that your albums “Sounds from the Land of Smiles” and “Enjoy Yourself” are now available on online sites such as Apple’s iTunes or the Amazon mp3 music store. Will the upcoming single and album be available for those sites for your fans outside of Thailand?
G: We’re working on it. We’ll keep updating
D: I really like how some of your songs (like นวด or Toh Long Tong) incorporate some Thai instruments and sounds into the music…can we expect more of that on the upcoming album and/or single?
N: We love it too and in the new album, there’s a song called ‘Smiley Face’ which still has that kind of sound!
D: Speaking as somebody from outside of Thailand looking in, it seems that the scene over there has grown really big! The Skatalites themselves have played in Thailand, and modern day stars like Ska Cubano have even performed in Thailand. How would you say the scene is in Thailand today as compared to 4 years ago?
G: Yes, they played at the “Smiley Fest”. We were the ones who contacted those bands and invited them to play at the festival. I believe it opened the audience’s ears and eyes to what’s out there and the reggae/ska music really took off as a result. Despite that, I think it is still a new scene in Thailand, and it comes and goes like a trend, but it won’t be gone as long as we are still around
D: I know Gap has his own solo dub project…do other members of the band have side bands/side projects? And does Gap plan on releasing a follow up album to Return to Dub Kitchen?
G: Everyone has their own band or project besides TBone. Num, our percussion player, is playing in the club scene with DJs. Lek, the drummer, recently released his own album. Ga-pi (the dub project) is more focused on live performance in different music scenes, such as indie events, club scene and music workshop. However, the bootleg album from Ga-pi will be released soon.
D: After the release of this single and the album later this year…what’s next for T-bone?
G: We just hope to get to do more of what we do best – perform live. Hopefully, that means playing abroad too! (Daoster’s note: Hopefully, one day…maybe…the USA)
D: Any last comments?
G: Please support us by downloading from the official website, www.here.co.th, if you still want TBone around!
Please also visit our Website and Facebook:
www.tboneska.com
www.facebook.com/tboneska.th
You heard the man! Check it out and check out their new single, “Like A Rolling Stone” that’s released on August 19th!
Hopefully, us fans outside of Thailand will get to hear it soon. And as mentioned, you can buy some of T-bone’s music online from the sites mentioned in the interview.
The post Catching up with T-bone! appeared first on Musical Occupation.
