In a Valley full of bands, it takes an awful lot to rise to real prominence. But all it takes is a visit to a Fear Nuttin Band show to see that these guys have tapped into a bigger sound than the Valley can contain, that they aren’t just peddling a few dressed-up songwriterly turns.
When Roosta and Prowla lead the proceedings, the ear-bleeding volume, dancing rhythms and hard-edged guitar conjure something primal, a slow-motion Rastafarian explosion. The two singers provide non-stop duelling points of interest and a combination of Jamaica-flavored vocal turns from harmony singing to rap. Their talents sound more at home with the hardcore instrumentalizing of the full band than the Cookie Monster vocals that often rumble incoherently on top of hardcore. The Fear Nuttin Band has mastered a far deadlier, wickedly effective combo.
Valley critics and fans—they’ve won multiple categories in the Advocate Grand Band Slam—started praising Fear Nuttin in earnest, but now they have impressed a far wider audience via the Bodog Battle of the Bands reality show. There they lost a battle but nearly won the war when they were brought back thanks to the demands of fans. Their return performance prompted a wholesale lovefest from the judges—Johnny Rotten, bowing in praise, said it to them best: “You guys are so damned good.” That landed them a spot on the Bodog Music roster, even though they didn’t win the show’s biggest prize.
They’ve got all the requisite performing ability, but Roosta and Prowla, who sing even about the political and spiritual with inspiring ease, are on a mission to do more than make people jump around. As another of the Bodog judges said, that makes them “messengers.” If you wanted a message sent about Western Massachusetts, it’s hard to believe anybody could deliver it in better style.
The Advocate’s Nightcrawler, Gary Carra, recently talked to the Fear Nuttin Band about their newfound fortune and new recording in advance of their Dec. 7 show at The Hippodrome, where they’ll film for a live DVD. Fall From Grace, Soja, Burndown Allstars, Danny Pease & The Regulators, DJ Redemption, DJ Tarantula and 4×4 will also play.
—James Heflin
Nightcrawler: Now that you guys have had some time to reflect on the Bodog Battle of The Bands show, do you have any thoughts or favorite memories of the process?
Roosta: I would say New Orleans. It was special for us to go there and playing in the streets and jamming is right up our alley.
Christafari: Definitely. Other than that, you know, television in general is a lot of “hurry up and wait,” and lots of interviews and performances get cut. But all in all, I like the way we came off on the show…which is, as ourselves. No drama, and all about the music.
And it’s interesting, because while you guys weren’t technically the contest winners, you were also signed because the online voting revealed that FNB was actually the fan favorite. Did that surprise you, particularly considering that you are one of the most eclectic bands out there?
Christafari: Well, you always like to think you have a lot of fans, but then you do wonder and worry just how many the other guys have. But in my heart, I knew we had been hitting the clubs and working our myspace(.com/fearnuttinband) for years and had laid some solid groundwork, so I was hoping it would all pay off and it did.
Roosta: The other thing we did was to kick ass every single performance. I went back and watched the tv show and wouldn’t change a minute of any of it…so that had to help.
You have a couple of your castmates on the local show, so I take it you’re still friends and in touch with them. Or was this decision made by the label?
Christafari: No, we were in charge of the bill, and yes, we’re definitely friends with these guys. In fact, on our recent tour with Toots and The Maytals, our van broke down in Philly. We ended up staying at Dave from Burndown’s house all week.
Brian from Zion: It was perfect timing, too, because his parents had literally left for a one-week vacation, so we had the whole house to spread out in, take showers and all that.
Which reminds me of the living conditions on the show. It seems like they crammed a lot of you in those tour busses…what were the living conditions like?
Christafari: It wasn’t bad. We all had our own bunks and, hey, we’re used to living in vans.
Roosta: They also let us go to a hotel each day and shower there to get ready. That was helpful.
What’s the story on how your record deal went down? You weren’t given it on the show.
Christafari: No, it took place with some negotiations afterwards. We finally reached a place where everyone was happy and we went for it. And it’s nice to be at an up-and-coming label like Bodog because they have so many vehicles—the Web, Bodog cagefighting, Bodog TV—to get the word out.
Yeah, I see they have established names like Billy Idol and Wu-Tang Clan on the roster now, too. Were they instrumental in getting producer Terry Date on board for your debut release?
Christafari: Of course. But we did sit around for hours and throw names around. We all talked about artists and albums we liked the sounds of, and everytime we Googled it, his name came up. I never thought we’d get him, but they decided to contact him with the timeline and budget and whatever, and he agreed.
Roosta: We sent him some music, and he really liked it, too. He even moved his family vacation to have us in and make it work.
Knowing what big fans you guys are of so many bands Date has produced, how was it working with him? You must have freaked.
Christafari: It’s definitely awe-inspiring. I mean, Eddie Vedder was there the night before we showed up, so on the floor are pieces of paper with his handwriting and stuff. So that’s crazy. But Terry’s very laid back and easy to work with.
Roosta: And he taught me a great way to keep my voice going: drinking port wine. He learned it from Chris Cornell, and he says sipping port is like an oil change for the body.
Did he try to push you guys—who meld so many genres—into any certain direction or for a single?
Christafari: Actually, he was the total opposite. If someone else tried to change the direction, he was the one who stepped in and said, “Keep it real.” His whole philosophy is to get great, raw organic recordings. He’s definitely not big into computers or click tracks even.
I imagine he also has some great stories.
Brian: And videos! After recording every day, we’d have Pantera storytime, and he break out these amazing home videos of their recording sessions. We were in heaven.
Roosta: He was so great, and I tried to return the favor by cooking for him one night. I made chicken marsala with spinach and he loved it. He said I’d make someone a good wife some day.
—Gary Carra
