Black Slate’s 1981 tour featured 12 New Zealand shows in 14 days.
“Most of the shows sold out at the time,” says Brightly.
“We were very young then and it was the first time we had the experience of touring in a country where we were really famous.”
Band dispersed due to a fear of losing their passion for musicBut Brightly says the tour was so great that it became their last tour.
“We were just a bit young. Different members of the band handled it differently. We weren’t enemies but we knew we didn’t want to go on stage together again.”
Brightly says the band also dispersed due from a fear of losing their passion for music.
“When we looked around and saw artists that we held in high regard and what they had become, we said, ‘we don’t want that’ — we’ve always wanted to love music.”
Brightly says Black Slate’s popularity in New Zealand helped shape the country’s reggae scene.
“When you listen to New Zealand reggae, what makes it so different to reggae in other countries is that New Zealand came off the back of UK reggae as opposed to (reggae music from) Jamaica.”
The reformationSince reforming, Black Slate have had the chance to tour with some of the New Zealand bands who were influenced by the UK act.
“You’ve got bands that are famous now, whose parents came to see us (during the 1981 tour),” says Brightly.
“When I saw Katchafire on tour, they said, ‘now I can tick you off my bucket list cause I’ve played with Black Slate’.”
“It’s an honour to have been able to play with these guys.”
Brightly says reggae music has changed since the group formed in 1972.
“Reggae music is now like a movement, with different movements inside it,” says Brightly.
“It used to be a fashion, now it’s a lifestyle, a culture.”
While the genre might have changed, Brightly says Black Slate’s new album Peaceful Demonstration stays true to its original sound.
“Peaceful Demonstration lines up with everything we’ve done in the past. The three core members are still together, which makes our music similar to how it used to be.”
“We don’t try to play a style, we have our own style so to answer whether it’s different, no.”
One undeniable difference however is the addition of band members Colin ‘Steam Fish’ McNeish on bass and lead vocalists Jessie ‘Energy’ Brade and Gaven ‘Magic Voice’ Creary.
These members will join the tour, playing alongside original members Brightly (keyboards), Chris ‘Music House’ Hanson (rhythm and lead guitar) and Desmond ‘Drummy’ Mahoney (drums and percussion).
“We’re calling it our celebration tour,” says Brightly. “A celebration of our lives, music and our relationship with New Zealand.”
One relationship that the band is eager to revisit is with a Maori community who welcomed the group onto their marae 35 years ago.
“We will have quite a lot of free time while we’re here and we want to go back to this Maori town, where we were given a personal tour,” says Brightly.
“We kept photos from the tour and this lady I have spoken with said she still has our autographs on her wall.”
'History in the making'Black Slate will play the East Coast festival, now in its fifth year, alongside Californian crew Big Mountain and Hawaiian George “Fiji” Veikoso (aka The Godfather of Pacific Reggae).
Twelve other acts, including Kiwi reggae-fusion band Sons of Zion and Gisborne singer-songwriter Rob Ruha will also play the festival.
“It’s our first tour back in New Zealand since 1981, that’s why we’re so excited — we’re like kids with a new toy,” says Brightly.
“This is history in the making. I’m looking forward to seeing what gets birthed out of this.”
¦ East Coast Vibes is on at Gisborne Soundshell; January 28, 2017.
