A life aquatic

>> After almost three decades, Fishbone
still bait their hooks with the best bits

REGULATING THE VIBE: Fishbone

by LATEEF MARTIN

Nothing’s better than a story that starts out with, “We were in a strip club in Atlanta...” That probably wouldn’t have happened if the Mirror had talked to Angelo Moore—singer, sax blower, and one of two original members of Fishbone. But when it’s midnight in Germany, fish will roam. The other originator, bassist Norwood Fisher, is a decidedly more laid-back character. The Compton, L.A.-born fusioneers, founded in 1979, paved the way for today’s ska and funk-rock outfits, and still do it better than anyone. Their latest, Still Stuck in Your Throat, is one of their best albums to date, and Fisher took the Mirror’s call while touring in Germany, to talk about it.

Mirror: I’ve noticed some new flavours on this album.

Norwood Fisher: There’re some things that are experimental for us. Like, the rhythms in “Let Them Ho’s Fight” have more of a dancehall thing going.

M: Was that song based on a general commentary, or from a specific situation?

NF: It was definitely a specific situation, we didn’t coin the term.

M: There’s the Kanye-Ludacris version, “Breathe In, Breathe Out.”

NF: Yeah, I never heard the Kanye-Ludacris version. I like Ludacris though, his angle’s necessary. But for us, we were in a strip club in Atlanta and they were having a boxing match. I don’t think they were exactly strippers. The word was that they were welfare mothers from the projects there to feed their kids, and the purse was $3,000, and I was like, well... okay... It was one of the most brutal things I ever saw.

M: Fishbone’s been in the game since ’79. Marriages don’t last that long. You and Angelo are the last two original members holding it down. How do you maintain the vibe?

NF: Tell you what, man. Honestly, we had every reason to remain an original member band forever, and I was really surprised as I watched my brethren take off to whatever endeavours their travels brought them to. And each time one of them left, I had to question whether it was worth moving forward or not, like, would it be Fishbone without those guys? And I’m glad Angelo and I decided to continue and forge forward. Me and Angelo regulate what the vibe is going to be. We bring in the essence of the original Fishbone.

M: You’ve been through three decades of music industry changes and survived through it all. What’s your take on it from when you started out?

NF: I really enjoy where it’s going and I know that there are major changes still ahead of us. It keeps things exciting for my experimental spirit to try to keep forging forward and touching on that thing that people may have overlooked or forgotten. The thing that sounds fresher than anything on the block. We came up in a time where we used tape! That’s an ancient artefact these days. People do everything with ProTools now. I love it. I remember everyone sitting on pins and needles when they used to break out razorblades. “They about to do coke?” No, they about to cut the motherfuckin’ tape up and splice it together! But the digital realm is actually very liberating, and I’m embracing it like a motherfucker.

With Arseniq 33 and the Sunshiners at
Café Campus on Wednesday, July 11, 8 p.m., $15