Crossed currents

>> The poly-stylistic power of Montreal’s Killawatt

Say what you play: Killawatt

by ERIN MACLEOD

Montrealers Killawatt have been keeping it positive since 1995 and are committed to spreading what they say is their message of “love, peace and unity.” Their conscious blend of soul, reggae, hip hop and R&B has been showcased at the Montreal International Reggae Festival for the past two years. Living up to the name of their new CD, Killawatt are Working Hard and Strong and hope to share their message with more folks. The Mirror spoke to band leader and founder, Richard “Parkey” Parkinson about making music and mixing it up.

Mirror: How did all of you come together?

Richard Parkinson: Originally, we were a roots rock reggae sort of band. As the years went by, we went through different changes. I took the role of taking it to a different level and what I did, basically, is that I interacted with different people and different styles. I wanted to take the music to a higher level. Some musicians, they can play our style of music, but they don’t understand the rhythm. Every music is about rhythm and skill. Sometimes people understand the skills but they don’t have the rhythm. I wanted to cross different styles of music—R&B, hip hop and other things—so it just evolved. You just want to expand what you feel of the music and take it to a higher level. And to even compete in the commercial world, you have to be able to be a bit commercial, but maintain your message.

M: What do you need to do to make sure you’ve got a good mix on your hands? Do you need to be careful when you’re blending different types of music?

RP: Every music has its distinctions. For you to be able to put your music out there in a certain way, it’s important that you have a certain style of arrangement. Whatever you’re saying, the music has to feel the same way, it has to be relevant to what you are saying. Not only that, music is always moving on, it’s always expanding. Some musicians might say they just want to be roots. Me, I want to be diverse. We’re playing for the whole world. It is important to me to try to put a little bit of everything so everybody can feel a part of it.

M: If you have all these influences and all these musicians coming together, how do you guys get along?

RP: We consider ourselves the United Nations of bands. There are all sorts of people [in Killawatt] from different backgrounds—we have people from the Philippines, Barbados, Africa, Canada, Jamaica. All different musicians. The core is me, Jahfari, Lady Ginseng and Yardsteppa. We are the core, and we then have a collective group of musicians that we work with. Jahfari has a roots influence, our roots vibes come from him. Lady Ginseng, she’s from New York, she has that R&B flavour. Yardsteppa, he’s like a chanter, he raps dancehall and hip hop. So having these three different kind of singers enables me to take it to different changes and make it more interactive for everyone.

M: Is Montreal a good place for this kind of musical experimentation?

RP: Definitely. Because Canada is a multi-ethnic country and Montreal is a multi-ethnic city. We consider ourselves representative of Montreal’s tapestry.

With Nomadic Massive and DJ Kani
at Saints Showbar on Friday,
April 13, 9 p.m., $10