Aswad Talk ‘Live In London’ Album, Musical Influences And More

 Reggae legends Aswad have released ‘Live In London’ and will also play Uptown Festival on 15th September 2024 at Bute Park, Cardiff, Wales. Bassist and vocalist Tony Gad kindly chatted to us about the new release:

Who is in Aswad and what do they play?

ASWAD consists now of myself Tony Gad, Bass guitar and vocals
Plus Soloman who happens to be Angus Gaye, AKA Drummie ZEB son
He does Vocals

Additional muscians for live are:

Chris Thompson …..Drums
Andre Hall ……..Keyboards
Andrew Smith ……. Guitar
Isaac Ayree ……..keyboards
Henry Tenyue ……. Trombone

What is your earliest musical memory?

My earliest musical memory is watching my dad and his brother playing usually on a Saturday evenings gospel songs on their guitars. They both had what I used to call them at the time, Elvis Presley guitars because I had only ever seen pictures of Elvis with guitars like that. 

You have released your new live album ‘Aswad – Live In London’. Did you have a particular reason for releasing a new live album now and did you always plan for it to be in London?  

The live album wasn’t something we had specifically planned to do. Technology has enabled things to be done which maybe 20 years ago would have been impossible or really expensive to achieve. In earlier days to record a live album you would have turned up at the venue with a huge truck which basically had a whole recording studio in it plus crew to record the show. Now with how far that technology has advanced it can be done, with the right tech a whole lot smaller now.

Our live engineer decided to record a couple of shows we did in London without saying and then told us a couple of weeks later he had recorded them. After listening to it our Manager suggested we release it. 

Who mixed and mastered the release?

The album was Mixed by Christian Cowlin, assisted by Myself and Soloman and was Mastered by Mark Gittens

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

Once we have left stage we always want to feel that we have done our best and the audience leave feeling happy.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

There’s no favoured stage effects as such but I would feel uncomfortable if I didn’t go on stage with the same bass guitar I’ve had for the last 30 years or so. It’s like my good luck Charm. We used to use a lot of stage effects in the early days but much of that now we leave to the live engineer.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

My home town is London, it shaped and made me.

How do you look after your voice?

I try to look after my voice by keep singing everyday and not shout

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

The Colour Purple.
I didn’t quite finish reading the whole book but after watching the movie it would be very interesting to write the score.
Good question…

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

My musical influences are too many to mention. At school I played Tuba in the brass band, and was part of the steel band orchestra. I’m influenced by most music. As musicians you’re always listening no matter the genre. As a band we grew up in the 70s so we listened American soul and R&B Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield Earth, Wind and Fire, a lot of Quincy Jones productions, plus what we heard here,
Beatles, Rolling Stones and all the big bands over the years, and then what was closest to us culturally, Reggae and all the other genres from across the Caribbean and Africa.

Do you have any further music releases planned for 2024?

We have been writing even from before this Live album was released so yes we will have some new material if not 2024 then definitely in 2025.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024?

Yes dates are out there for 2024. Just check online for Aswad live dates
UK/EUROPE

What makes Aswad happy and what makes you unhappy?

Aswad are most happy when we are on stage playing live.
We are unhappy when there is no positive news