Paddyrasta

http://www.myspace.com/paddyrasta

The band are based in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Musical style: Cletic/Reggae crossover.

Paddyrasta play a fresh, original blend of reggae and traditional Celtic melodies inter-weaved with heartfelt, socially concious lyrics. The band have appeared live on BBC Celtic Connections, performing 3 songs from their debut album Listen To Your Heart - currently available worldwide through Proper Distribution Ltd. Paddyrasta have received airplay on national radio in both the UK and US with their St Patricks Day single release of a reggae version of Molly Malone being championed by DJs on radio shows. They were voted best band on Talk Sport Radios Mike Mendoza Show and tracks from their album are regularly played on BBC Scotland and the reggae station Big-Up Radio.

I played bass with Paddyrasta from the band's conception until Christmas 2006
During this first two years we played numerous gigs using the Bose L1 system including a 10 day tour in Northern Ireland at festivals, clubs and pub venues.

When I left the band, the equipment left with me,
the band prefer to travel light nowadays, what with members living in different regions.
I feel it is worth recording for posterity that this innovative band pioneered the use of Bose L1 system in Scotland.

The picture shows our setup on one of the smallest pub stages we ever played.
more pictures to folllow

Hi Colin Sweet Tooth,

Thank you for posting this. I would never have considered fusing reggae and Irish music. It works for me though; very interesting.

I am not seeing the picture you mentioned. Please try again.

An interesting concept, but for me, the singer singing in a false jamaican accent isn't believable.

UB40 have very succesfully done reggae for many years without jamaican accents and for me, unless its original, it doesnt work.

A bit like me (a Scot) doing C%W and trying to sound like Garth Brooks !

ST

Thanks for the reply.
I thought I had attached the picture, but I'd really like to add several in one post, could you tell me how to do that please. Meanwhile I'll try the one I sent earlier just one more time.

Regards

Colin

Hi Colin,

Thanks for the picture. I really like the feel of the lighting. Tight space though.

You can only have on attachment per post. That's okay though - just do a quickie description or even just "here's another one" for the text of each post. Then attach your photo. It'll be fine.

Interesting sound. I found it to be pleasant.
Hey Riggie, I'm from Kentucky and I can't sound like Garth Brooks either.

Respect mon,
Andy

Students of Aberdeen University invited us to play at a Fair-Trade fashion show they had organised. I lent my camera to a friend of the band, he turned out to be quite an artist.

There were five people on stage when this picture was taken, Sara on whistle and myself on Bass, either we didn't look so pretty that evening or we got edited out for the sake of a neat composition. It's one of my favorite pictures though.

It took a while before folks felt comfortable taking charge of their own EQ on stage.
I seem to recall we had quite a struggle trying to get a good sound at this large venue with 2Metre high stage.

I foolishly declined an offer to boost our sound with a line out to the house PA.
I rather arrogantly thought "Na... The L1 will handle it"
After the gig I discovered the house PA was Bose state-of-the-art gear, recently custom installed to suit the
unusual acoustics of the hall.

We live and learn (

One more arty shot from the fashion show

why not?

Hi Colin,

Thanks for these pictures. I am REALLY enjoying them (last one especially so). The candid comments are great too.

Wow!

I really dig the picture with the blue background.

May I ask how you arrived at the L1 solution?

With best regards,

Ken

Hi Ken

I'm glad you like the photos

to answer your question, "how did we arrive at the L1 solution?"

Well it was more a case of I than we.

I guess I have strong feelings about the rarity of acceptable stage sound and when I found the Bose L1 web pages I just wanted to try this system. I arranged for the 30 day trial and made sure we had several gigs in that time slot to really make a fair evaluation.

Once we had tried it I couldn't imagine sending the equipment back and became a passionate advocate for line source amplification, possibly a little fanatical even. If anything this attitude may have prejudiced the rest of the band against the L1.

We rehearsed mainly in a small room at home and there was a reluctance to hire a hall for rehearsing with full amplification. It proved to be a long learning curve and there were some stressful moments trying to get the sound right at the gigs, learning on the fly.

CST

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Colin Sweet Tooth,

Hi Colin,

Thanks for the pics and info about the band and your experiences with the L1!

JD