Interview with T-Ray Jacobo from Tribal Seeds

Tribal Seeds have become the band to watch in the reggae-rock scene, based out of San Diego the young band are made up of brothers Tony-Ray & Steve, John (bass), with Tony (guitar),  Carlos (drums) & Joe (percussion).

With influences ranging from Bob Marley, Steel Purse and Pete Tosh Tribal Seeds are creating a positive and irie vibe for all reggae fans.

With two albums and an EP under their belt, Tribal Seeds will continue to tour extensively so make sure to check them out when they hit your town.

This video showcases the superb Beautiful Mysterious with a Bob Marley cover thrown in at the end. Enjoy!

I appreciate your music is predominantly Reggae/Dub. Being based on the west coast you must be aware of the Cali music scene that is heavily influenced by Sublime.

Do you consider yourselves part of this scene? Are there any disadvantages to how this scene has evolved?

I grew up listening to Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, and Peter Tosh along with many other reggae legends. I feel like most of our inspiration comes from the roots scene.  It wasn’t until just a few years ago I started listening to Sublime.

I don’t see any disadvantages. The rock/ska reggae style of Sublime and other Cali bands has introduced reggae to a wider audience.

How did the band first come together? I know two of you are brothers but how did the rest of you meet and come to form Tribal Seeds?

My brother and I started `03 met our bassist john through a relative. John joined `04. Carlos (drummer) and Tony (guitarist) found us online. Tony joined `05 and Carlos came in `06.

Who, as a band and individually, are your musical influences?

As I mentioned, I grew up listening to reggae. Now a days I`m influenced by all genres of music.  As a band we listen to everything and draw ideas from all of it.

What was the first record/CD you ever bought?

Think my first CD was Born Jamaicans “kids from foreign”

How do you evolve your songs, from the first idea to the recording studio?

Sometimes we have jam sessions and song ideas come from that, and other times one of us has written some lyrics or has a chord progression or melody in mind and we build on that. Usually record a demo version at home clean it up and go to the studio and knock it out.

Which artists/bands are you currently listening to?

Lately I`ve been listening to the kooks, manu chao. Wu tang, dezarie…. . I`m a new music addict……

What are your future plans? Can we hope for some gigs in the UK?

Hope to have a new CD out early `09. I’m listening to some of our new stuff as I’m typing this. We’re excited about getting this stuff out. Listeners definitely gonna hear some stuff they haven’t heard from us before. Plan to do a lot of touring and yes the UK is a must for us. Hopefully soon….

Tribal Seeds have a new album called The Harvest, the buzz over at the Pier chat board is that it is the Album of the Year so far. Exciting times ahead for the San Deigo based band.

This interview was originally published in September 2008 but I have decided, due to the amount of hits it is receiving, to re-post it.