The INK interview with Rasta Rafiki

ink Interview - Rasta Rafiki
Rasta Rafiki
We caught up with seminal WV reggae band, Rasta Rafiki, during their second reunion tour in as many years. On the eve of their second show at 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown, we sat down with Tom Batchelor, Dave Lloyd, John Schmitt, Derrick MacDonald, and Steve Markle for a candid conversation about Rafiki's past, present, and future. The only band member we never got to chat with before soundcheck started was Andy Lindsay. Sorry Andy! Hopefully we'll get our chance next year!
INK: So last year you guys did 3 dates. How many this year?
TOM: Four.
INK: And where all are you playing?
TOM: Last week we were at the Purple Fiddle Festival which is in Canaan Valley. And then this week, here at 123 [123 Pleasant St. in Morgantown], tomorrow night at The Empty Glass and then Saturday at Songer Whitewater in Fayetteville.
INK: Any thoughts on uh, expanding further and doing more?
TOM: Yeah, next year Zurich, Copenhagen, France [laughing], you know...DAVE: It ain't impossible.TOM:That's right.
INK: Are you working on any new stuff? Any new material?
TOM: Oh we're always working on new material- mostly for our comedy routine. Ah, you know, not really. We kinda did a few different things for this round as far as learning some new material, but it's pretty much from our three cds.JOHN:We did some experimental stuff in our rehearsals that I thought went pretty well. I think if we get together next year there could be some new material. As of now though its pretty much the old standardsDAVE:I'm livin' next year already so we're right on top of it.
INK: Well that's great you might be putting some new stuff in next year, but I guess its kinda hard with you guys being all spread out and everything.
TOM: YeahDAVE: Well Morgantown and Charleston's not that far, when you consider it- a couple hours--
INK: Which one of you is living in Florida now?
JOHN: Derrick.
INK: And you John are in Uniontown, Dave in Charleston, and Steve living in Parkersburg?
JOHN: Yeah.
INK: When was the last time you guys played together before last year?
TOM: Ten years ago?DAVE:11TOM: Yeah, actually, '96.DAVE:YepTOM:So, 11, 12 years.
INK: You know, I remember something- Didn't you guys sell a song to Disney or something- somewhere back down the road?
[Groans all around]TOM: Our illustrious Disney career... No, uh, it was National Lampoon's Last Resort-
INK: Oh that's right- mid-90's right? Who was in that?
TOM: Right, I think Corey Feldman was the big star.
INK: Yeah somebody said that to me the other day and I was thinking it was like "The Lion King" or something like that.
TOM: I wish! [laughing] Maybe we coulda got that Disney money-DAVE:Even that fake Disney money [laughing]TOM:They still haven't payed us for using the Rafiki name- [laughing] Yeah we've got a beef with Disney.
INK: That's right! They DID use that in "The Lion King!"
TOM: Yeah-
INK: So this whole thing's gonna be over pretty quick- just like another week or so-
DAVE: I mean- for this year- maybe- maybe, 'cause I mean I got some recording stuff lined up in New York and I'm tryin' to get these guys to record another cd actually, but I didn't want to say nothin' 'cause we're not collectively comin' up with stuff right now. But there's something in the works I got with an independent label in New York. Tryin' to work somethin' out there.
INK: Good, good! So the shows are being well-attended?
TOM: Yeah, yeah! The reaction's been pretty positive. People seem to be enjoying it so- that helps us enjoy it.DAVE:I even like it and its so hard for me to have fun that I just gotta go to class- go to therapy to learn how to have fun [laughing] But actually, like he said, there's a lotta people coming out and if they have fun, I'm havin' fun.
INK: So [Tom] are you the most active musically right now with the Tom Batchelor Band getting steady gigs?
TOM: Yeah, Derrick too- he's got a couple bands in Florida that he plays in. Yeah, I don't know though, Dave's probably the most active as far as "engagements."DAVE:I got a kid from Morgantown, well he's in school now, he's 17. He just got here. He's subbin' for me tomorrow, and Saturday, down in Charleston, he's bad, a keyboard player... but yeah, I play in like 3 bands in Charleston... sometimes 4.
INK: Lots of different input, that's nice.
TOM: Let me see if I can get Derrick over here for ya... [leaves]DAVE:Yeah man, I'm kickin' it with at least 2 or 3 bands, mostly R&B and jazz, but that's why its fun for me to come here and get back to a little reggae- its pretty cool.
INK: I always liked the way you guys sorta bent the genre a bit too-
DAVE: Yeah, we bent it alright [laughs]JOHN:[laughing] Bent it, broke it, and glued it back together.DAVE:Yeah, I think that's the whole appeal for some people- it's the fusion that pulled a lot of these different ideas comin' into one place. It represents, you know, kind of a unity thing that we're looking for...
INK: Yeah, cooperation and, you know, conflict sometimes-
DAVE: Right, you don't get along all the time but you can still work together.
INK: Sometimes conflict breeds good stuff-
DAVE: If you keep your head on your shoulders... don't take anything personal, you know, that's one of those lessons I've learned. You know stuff that happens- you make it mean too much and go crazy like one of my roommates did not too long ago... It's just life. You're gonna be here and then you're gonna be gone, right? Do what you can while you're here. Don't fight yourself.
INK: You guys didn't really fight all that much, back in the day, did you?
DAVE: No-JOHN: I think, overall, we got along pretty amazingly well, considering we spent a lot of our lives living in this little bus together.DAVE:No, I mean these were some of the best mannered young men that I've worked with, you know, and then, like you said, bein' on the road and whatnot, perusing with a bunch of women, you know, it was mostly music, they were actually there for the music-JOHN:Yeah, being on the road is a real test of how well you can get along, and, you know, we had our moments when things didn't go so well, but, you know, we hung in there together for a number of years... and it was worth every minute of it.
INK: So what was it- what was the thing that brought you to the final decision, to hang it up, at least for a while-?
DAVE: I think it was- what I gathered- it was just time. It was like it had run its course at some point. And uh, I'm not sure but-
INK: You felt like you weren't fresh anymore?
DAVE: I think that may have been it. It was like we were kinda gettin'- maybe not everybody, but some people were gettin' uncomfortable with just- it was goin' kinda the same way- I'm not real sure but- music was changing at the time, so it was like, our niche had kind of distorted, sort of-
INK: Do you think it's kind of swung around your way again?
DAVE: Uh, now that we're older, it's just that we're able to look at it from a different perspective- not allow the outside forces to affect what we- and people still like it, why not give it to 'em? That's basically the bottom line. If somebody wants something- if you've got a market for something, sell it.
INK: And I'm sure you guys aren't travelling in the little van this tour.
DAVE: No [laughing] it'd be nice though. I loved that little van. I wish I had one. I'd put ya'll in it- make ya'll come with me.JOHN:Yeah, these days we each have our own different things... like some of us have different careers outside of music- some of us have lots of different musical enterprises going on. We were doing it so intensely back then, there wasn't any time for anything else, you know, it was all Rasta Rafiki, all the time. And when we got off the road, you know, after a two or three week road stint, the last thing I wanted to do was to play more guitar, or come up with new material, you know- I wanted to forget about it for a while, you know- go do my own thing, relax, rest up, you know, before I had to get back on the road again. This way [present tour] there's no expectation. You know, if we don't make so much money and pay our bills every month, you know, through the music, you know, there's not that pressure there.
INK: Well expectation can be a little rough, especially when you don't live up to what you think you should be doing- that can be a real negative.
JOHN: And you know why- why we called it, you know we split up back then, I'm sure you could get six different answers from six different guys. But I know for myself coming back to it- you know to do it for the pleasure and excitement of getting together with some real nice guys and playing some good music, you know, with no other obligation to it but that- I enjoy it ten times more.
INK: And you're [John] a pharmacist now, so have you built yourself a home studio or anything?
JOHN: Well I have bought some guitars and it's nice, when you want something, to be able to go out and get it. So you know, I went to school for five and a half years- um-
INK: And school, that was part of the reason for you wasn't it?
JOHN: Right, and you know, everyone knows there are lots of people out there who have regular jobs and, you know, don't have any health insurance- and all the issues you hear people talking about for the election, you know I was experiencing all those things myself and I realized that getting old, playing guitar in a reggae band can have its liabilities. You know, you get sick, how you going to afford your health care and stuff. So all these things were in the back of my mind when I decided to leave the band.
INK: Yeah, you're looking at someone with no health insurance right now.
JOHN: Yeah, and there's a lot of people in the same boat.
INK: Are you very politically active?
JOHN: Well, I uh, I'm out there on the left, you know. I'm not generally outspoken in my opinions. I don't generally enjoy other people's opinions being shoved in my face, so I figure- for the most part, keep mine to myself, but, at the same time, there's a lot of bad stuff going on. When you see so many bad things, you kinda feel compelled to say something about it-
INK: Music can be a good influence that way.
DAVE: Yeah, in Rasta Rafiki we always tried to carry you know- take, you know, we had certain ideals that we want to live by and they can be expressed on an interpersonal level and also on a public and a civic and a political level too. You know, we have beliefs and values and things that are important to us- and there are right ways to do things and wrong ways to do things. It's like everything else, you know, you hope for the best and if things don't work out the way you want 'em too, you make the best of it.
[Derrick sits down]
INK: Hey Derrick, how's it goin? You enjoying the tour so far?
DERRICK: Yeah man, every time, you know?
INK: All the way from Florida, that's a long way to go.
DERRICK: You know the vibes, the Rasta Rafiki vibes are unmatched, you know what I'm sayin'? It's like a homecoming every time.
INK: We were talking earlier about the possibilities of some new stuff coming out eventually-
DERRICK: Well maybe, you know, I'll wait and see. I'm game for whatever, you know?
INK: So, if you guys like, hit a new gear, would you drop everything and come back to it?
DERRICK: That's a tough one, that's a tough one, 'cause you know, so many factors that would go into something like that-
INK: It's complicated- I'm sure you have a life built in Florida-
DERRICK: I do, I do, but I'm committed to making music so, I mean, if it was something that was concrete and everybody was committed to doin' something, I would be game. 'Cause you know, I'm always doin' music- six nights a week that's what I do.
INK: So are you working with more than one act?
DERRICK: I work with a few musicians down in Tampa. I mainly work with an acoustic guitar player from Brazil and we got this two-piece thing that we do. I play drums and sing and he plays guitar. Sometimes we add another musician in and it's going really well man. We got a really unique sound, the two of us.
INK: So it's making you a living then-
DERRICK: Oh definitely. And we'd be ready to take the thing on the road too, you know. It's just gettin' people committed. I mean we both have kids, but I'm always open to something, you know. If we do this [Rasta Rafiki tour] every year, maybe, at some point, people will get that wild hair to say "Hey, let's do this for a couple weeks... a month." So we're takin' baby steps, you know?
INK: We were just talkin' about your old van a little while ago-
DERRICK: I like being on the road still, you know? Sometimes I got my best sleep in that van. I'd say the main thing now, for me anyway, is not so much about the future or what can we get out of it, but just vibin' with old friends, you know? That means so much to me, you know?
INK: We were just speculating before on the positives of not having expectations and some of the amazing stuff that can come out of such a relaxed vibe-
DERRICK: See, that's what I regret about life, you know, you said "Takin' it back on the road" or "gettin' it together" then that changes expectations, and I don't necessarily want to go there. It's like "ok, we're gonna go on the road, then this has to happen and this has to happen and this," you know? When we come together for this it ain't about making a living or making money. It's just about putting it together again.
INK: Makin' a good vibe and makin' some good music-
DERRICK: Yeah man, yeah
INK: We were also talking about some of the ways you guys bent the genre-
DERRICK: I don't think we necessarily did it consciously, it's just that we had so many bloods. We were who we were you know and a lot can be said about not putting expectation or limitation on style. This is what I have to add to the painting and this is what Andy has to add, and just let it be, you know? That's what Rasta Rafiki is to me. It's not reggae or anything. It's just six guys lettin' it be, you know? That's what it is. You wanna define it then go ahead, but that's just what it is. Thank goodness people like it, you know?
INK: So you have a couple kids now?
DERRICK: I have three kids, 13, 7, and 5.
INK: Any of them following your footsteps into music?.
DERRICK: Oh they're all into music, my oldest writes songs, plays the drums. My middle son, he plays piano and he's pretty awesome. My daughter's the same.
[Steve enters as Derrick heads for food]
INK: So, Steve you've got kids too now, right?
STEVE: I have two kids, a 13 year old and a 19 year old. The 19 year old will be here tonight actually. He just started college
INK: So, you're living in republican territory these days-
STEVE: Yeah, its a little goofy over there, yeah I live in Parkersburg.
INK: Been doin' anything musically over there?
STEVE: You know, not really, I play with Tom and I play by myself- I wouldn't say play with myself- I play occasionally with some guys there too but nothing serious. Been wanting to start my own like, shoegazer band, sounds like My Bloody Valentine or something, but I haven't actually pulled it off yet. I wanna play in a really loud band-
INK: [laughing] Well, most drummers do-
STEVE: I wanna play guitar in it, you know- don't even want to play drums- just guitar.
INK: So what are your thoughts on the reunion here?
STEVE: Well, I don't know- I enjoy it. I always like playing with these guys [inaudible]. I'd like to see us write some new material if we're going to continue to do this. We haven't done that yet, however I'm sure everyone has some ideas that we just haven't put together yet.
INK: Yeah, I think Dave was saying something like that earlier-
STEVE: Yeah its out there floating around. It just takes so much time to mature, you know? It's like being married.
INK: We were talking about the freedom of doing this without expectation.
STEVE: Yeah, this is strictly self-indulgent and we play better as a result. We played well last weekend I think. We got the kinks blown out and I think we'll play well tonight too. I'm sure we'll have our moments, but, by and large it's, you know, it's safer than chainsaws.
INK: [laughing] What are your ideas on expanding the tour-
STEVE: We've been thinking about trying to put together a little mini-tour to hit some festivals, 'cause that was always our favorite thing to do. We'd always play here too [123 Pleasant St.].
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