Tomorrow People Newsletter Interview

Out of the 100+ reggae bands currently active in NZ, not one of them has moved up the ranks faster than Wellington band Tomorrow People. From the garage to playing NZ’s Premier Reggae Festival ‘Raggamuffin’ and ‘A’ rotation on radio within a year, the band has gone from strength to strength showing no signs of slowing down. Ken answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz:

Do you have any plans for future collaborations with other musicians? Who would they be?

In our new album, we are very blessed to have the likes of Fran Kora, Sons of Zion, Paua and Lion Rezz feature on it. These guys are super talented and they are musos that sat well with those particular songs. In the future we would love to go abroad and collaborate with overseas artists. It’s inspiring to see more and more Kiwi artists doing the same thing, so we’d like to follow in their footsteps.

Where do you get your inspiration to create music from?

We all play a part in the creative thinking process, so inspiration can come from anyone or anywhere. With our new songs, we were inspired by stories of the past, and from the people around us.

What has been your most memorable show to date?

Over the years we have been able to tick off the bucket list events that we wanted to be a part of, both locally and overseas. Homegrown Festival would have to be the most memorable because it showcases New Zealand’s top artists, and we were extremely humbled to have been part of the event earlier this year. Being able to perform to an audience that wouldn’t normally listen to our genre and seeing them enjoy it definitely encourages us to continue doing what we are doing. Also getting the chance to share the stage with New Zealand heavyweights like The Black Seeds, Six60 and Shapeshifter etc. was truly an amazing experience.

Tell us about Tomorrow People’s next release.

Our next offering is a single off our latest album Bass & Bassinets. It’s called Independent Girl and in this song I sing the lead part, with Avina handling the raga rap duties. We had heaps of laughs (maybe a bit too much) shooting this music video, and with summer around the corner we are hoping that this song is blasted at all the barbeques!

What can we expect to see from Tomorrow People over the next year?

We will be touring and promoting our new album on the road. We’ve got various summer festivals and shows up and down the country. Some of our new material hasn’t had the ‘stage test’ yet, so we’re nervous, but excited about how it’ll go. This is definitely the most enjoyable and rewarding part of what we do so we are hoping the people will be vibing with us all summer long!