June 9
It's time for the old update. Here's is what's going on in our world.
ALBUM PROGRESS:
Today we sent "in The Wake" to the replicator. This was a very monumental step for us since our record will be released nearly 2 years after we started it. We are very excited about the new release and we know that every Simpkin Project fan will love it as well. The time invested was well worth it and we tried as hard as possible to not cut one single corner. With that said, this album could not have been created and brought into fruition without the continual support of all of our friends and family especially: Sean Kennedy, Kevin Bayless, Brian Griffiths, Chris Peaslee, Mike Mayer, Joey Hui Hui, Pasquale DeRosa for his creative contributions, Carissa Valderrama, Jason Miller for his unending support, Britney Meadows, Ben Kanselbaum at S.S.P., Ralph Arenas, Hughes Drive Productions, Karen Taylor and the Taylor family, Jonathan Belzley at Lurssen Mastering, all of the singers who participated in the group vocal on If You Really want It, Mark Holden, Lisa Bivens, Sean Orphila and Sean Angers for their beautiful singing bowl performances, Micworks, Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad, and all of the reggae legends that have come before us, who paved the way for our music to be created. We would like to give an extra special thanks to all of the fans who have contributed their love, time, support and positive energy over the years. We are indebted to you all and cherish every opportunity we have to bring our music to the masses.
To celebrate this, we are going to have our CD release party on July 18th at Gallagher's Pub in Downtown Huntington Beach. We thought this would be a great place to have it since it would be an up close and personal performance with a tightly filled room. In The Wake will be made available for the first time that night, so be sure to come and grab your copy.
SUMMER SHOW SCHEDULE:
Our summer schedule is filling up quickly so we wanted to make sure that everyone is caught up on dates and events. First off, this weekend (June 14th) we will be performing down in San Diego. The 710 Club in Pacific Beach has been kind enough to allow us to headline a show and mash up the sound system for a while. We don't play in San Diego as often as we need to, so we hope that after this show we can visit more frequently and continue to spread the vibes because we know how much San Diegans love their reggae music. Please join us in S.D.
If you can't make it to this weekend's show, we have plenty of other gigs that you might be able to make it to. Don't miss June 29th where we will warm up the stage for the legendary U-Roy and Cornell Campbell at the world famous Malibu Inn, right across the street from the Malibu pier. It is a real honor to be playing with such legendary musicians who have inspired so many of us. Big up to the Malibu Inn for their kind extension of gratitude towards The Simpkin Project, and live music in general. It is amazing how accessible our favorite reggae artists are. This is just the beginning for us so please check our website for more details for the up and coming show dates.
ONE LOVE,The Simpkin Project
Leave a Comment
May 21
They liked it so much they need more. Its not just the Irish nachos that keep bringin' em' back. It's the reggae blasting down the street too. Mark you calenders because we will be playing another pub style reggae blowout at Gallagher's Pub in downtown Huntington during the first weekend of the 2008 US open of Surfing. Get there early because this place is going to be banging.
Hope to see you there
The Simpkin Project
Leave a Comment
May 18
DO YOU PLAY LIVE? WHERE? ANY SPECIAL MOMENTS?
We play live all the time. For us, it's the best thing ever. Nothing beats a crowd tuned into the vibe, dancing and singing the words to your songs. It adds so much fuel to our fire. The whole musical experience immediately elevates quickly to a whole new level. You can just feel the audience and respond to their needs. With reggae, you can never go wrong. Even the blackest, most brutal emo-screamo kids can't deny it, and every genre barrows from it. It's probably because reggae speaks to a broader demographic of people than most other styles of music. Everyone struggles throughout life on this spinning rock, and reggae music is the perfect drug to help drown out our voluminous troubles. Reggae makes you feel good, which is why it is so infectious. We love reggae music period. It is what we were all raised on. Strictly roots, rock, reggae music. What other genre of music exists solely as the vehicle that carries with it messages of peace, positive vibes, respect, love, empowerment, and spiritualism?" Wherever we play, good vibes are always to come simply because of our dynamic and dedication to the sounds of roots. Since we are from Southern California, we primarily play in that region and it is not uncommon for us to play long sets. The rhythms are like a heartbeat, and are easily meditated on, which makes them impossible to resist. Visit our website at www.simpkinproject.com
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE SIMPKIN PROJECT?
The Simpkin Project came together in a not so usual way. It stems out of a studio project that Phil Simpkin originally organized. He was the lead singer of a band called Big Cat and was looking to release a couple of his own songs he had been messing with on the side. Since Phil and Shawn Taylor have been friends for over 20 years and Shawn recorded Big Cat's first record, they thought it would be ideal to record these new songs at Shawn's recording studio. Throughout the summer of '03 Phil and a number of his closest friends recorded enough material for 6 songs and 4 dubs. At the time of the recording sessions, nobody really knew what to do with the recordings we had just made…
Fast forward one year and we see a band called The Verbs begin to surface in neighboring Anaheim California. They were a hip-hop band with drum and bass, keys and two MC's. Their rhythm section was led by Sean Kennedy on the drums and Pasquale Derosa on the bass. Old friends from high school, Sean and Pasqule, decide they would also like to record an album at Shawn's studio. Well not long after those infamous sessions, The Verbs called it quits and hung up the mic. Also during this time, Phil's band Big Cat was nearly nonexistent and therefore created the perfect void for The Simpkin Project to fill
Over the next few years a group under the pseudo name, "The Simpkin Project", began to play some shows in the local area, and from night to night the roster of musicians seemed to change. Our first show was opening for Steel Pulse at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana. This really got the snowball rolling. Not long after that a permanent line up was a must and we needed dedicated musicians to bring this great music to the masses. In the summer of '05, Phil, Shawn, and Mark Thompson (also of Big Cat) combined with Sean and Pasquale of The verbs, and close friend Kevin Bayless, to form the core group musicians under the name "The Simpkin Project". From there it grew rapidly. Later down the line we asked Sergio Sandoval to join us as our percussionist. The formation of the newly assembled 7 piece, really gave us the opportunity to play some of the most challenging reggae music out there, along with the raw talent needed to write original compositions. In June of 2007 we had to say goodbye to Kevin Bayless, and asked that Ralph Arenas (formally lead singer of the HB roots, band Upright) to join us as the new rhythm guitar player. Ralph's contributions to the band cannot go unmentioned. His unique voice and style finally allowed us to sing beautiful 3 part harmonies. Continually he supplies with his creative energy and stunning graphic design. We are growing faster than ever, with no signs of slowing. Our plans are to play wherever we can in the hopes that our positive vibes wear off on our audiences. We all hope that we can play this music for the rest of our lives and continue to share it with the entire planet. It is only a matter of time before our seedling grows into a mighty tree, with its roots firmly planted
HOW DID YOU COME WITH YOUR BAND NAME?
People always say "what" when we tell them our band name. Although it really isn't that odd of a name in comparison to some of the band names out there, we as The Simpkin Project feels that our name is a very unique, even though many bands have the suffix Project attached to their names. We just assume name it after our lead singer Phil Simpkin, since he creates the most of the original material and it was his project to begin with. I think the name originally came out not having a name at all, and needing something to call it while we were recording. It just kind of stuck around, and now we would dream of ever changing it.
DO YOU THINK THE INTERNET AND MP3's HAVE CHANGED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?
All we can say is, "power to the people". When Napster came out it redefined how consumers and music lovers wanted their music, FREE. For a few years there, internet music was flowing like water, at no charge and it wasn't until the major labels starting realizing that their money was getting flushed down the tubes, did they take any action. This of course led to the set up our current internet music downloading infrastructure. What's great about the internet is that is puts the entire globe right at your fingertips. This technology alone has allowed us to broadcast ourselves to an otherwise unreachable amount of people all over the world. Sure, record labels can still blow you up beyond all belief but now an artist can really have much of the same impact on the public as the major labels do, and can literally run their entire music career from their living rooms. Moreover the cost of musical instruments and recording equipment has led us to giant revolution in the music industry, and for the first time in history we see artists that literally engulf the planet in popularity without ever being signed to a major label. One of the biggest tools and artist has is the internet along with digital copies of their songs. Artists are no longer going to be cutting records; they are going to be making files. With that comes a super grey area of quality versus convenience. Although the MP3 is no doubt a great and necessary invention for the music industry, it is unfortunately a double edged sword. On one side of it, we have the portability and availability of mass quantities of easily downloadable music; however the quality in which we listen to that music has depleted enormously. It's sad but people are not trained or ever aware that there is a recognizable and sizable loss of quality between and the actual CD audio and its MP3 counterpart. It is understandable for internet use since people only have limited bandwidth and still want hear their favorite artists, but for the most part it is only going to hurt us in the long run. That isn't to say that a cleaner, better, clearer and smaller, file formats will soon take over the market. We just need make sure that the highest fidelity versions of the artist's material are still available. We use as much technology as we can to promote ourselves in an age where everybody and their brother call themselves musicians. It is our intention to show the world that we are serious about what we do and can offer a genuine quality musical performance and experience for all. It is impossible to exist on the internet without using MP3 technology, which is why we have embraced it, but we also encourage everyone to listen to music and enjoy video in the highest possible quality one can find. That is how the artist intended it to be heard/scene so we all should try and honor that, if we are truly fans of the digital arts.
WHAT INTRUMENTS DO YOU USE?
The elements that make up the roots beat fit together like gears on a clock. Every instrument seems to be playing where the other ones aren't. On the surface, its structure appears too simplistic, and most take is for granted, but its flow and meditative nature make it very palatable and accessible. The frequencies of each instrument sit on different tonal "shelves", which separate them into distinct identifiable tones, combine that with their distinct rhythmic pattern, and you have the fundamentals of what makes up that undeniably unique rhythm. Since we are a seven piece reggae band, the opportunity to cover all of the necessary instruments vital to the sound of reggae music becomes a reality. The Simpkin Project utilizes Drums and bass, Hammond organs, Rhodes pianos, synthesizers, vintage guitar tones, diverse percussion instruments and rich vocal harmonies to craft our sound, just as the legends of roots did before us.
Leave a Comment
May 13
We had a great time jammin' in downtown huntington. We rarely get to play down there so, it was a real treat. I think in the future we are going to try to hit the downtown scene at least once a month. Anyway we would like to thank everyone who came out on saturday night and rocked with us. The energy felt good and the pub was grooving. Thanks to Gallagher's for having us, we can't wait to jam there again. So here is a little vid we cut up from some footage. Enjoy.
Click here to watch highlights from the show!!!
Leave a Comment
Myspace Profile Tracker World Visitor Map 
