The Black Seeds

The Black Seeds

Performing in Leicester, August 2012
Background information
Origin Wellington, New Zealand
Genres Reggae, roots reggae, funk, dub, rock, pop, soul, world music
Years active 1998–present
Labels Sonar Kollektiv,
Easy Star Records,
Loop, Capitol
Associated acts Fly My Pretties
Flash Harry
Flight of the Conchords
Video Kid
Hollie Smith
Fat Freddy's Drop
Website www.theblackseeds.com
Members Barnaby Weir
Mike Fabulous
Daniel Weetman
Lee Prebble
Jarney Murphy
Tim Jarray
Jabin Ward
Nigel Patterson
Barrett Hocking
Past members Bret McKenzie
Rich Christie
Shannon Williams
Andrew Christiansen
Toby Laing

The Black Seeds is a musical group rooted in reggae from Wellington, New Zealand.[1] Their rocksteady-influenced song 'One By One' became an international hit when it was played in top ranked TV Series Breaking Bad. Their music is a boundary-crossing sound fusion of big-beat funk, dub, afro music, pop, rock and soul – and a large or small touch of original roots reggae (like it was played 1972-1985) or ragga is almost always present regardless musical style.[2]

Formed in 1998, The Black Seeds perform with eight members,[3] with instruments including vocals, guitar, saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums, bongos, keyboard and wood block. Black Seeds first album, Keep on Pushing, was released 2001 when the band already had established themselves as a strong live act.[4] Already very successful in New Zealand and popular in Australia and south east Asia, their third album Into the Dojo (2007) introduced Black Seeds to the rest of the world.[5] They have released five albums, a live album, and two remix albums. They have two double-platinum selling albums in New Zealand,[2] and successful European album releases through the German-based Sonar Kollektiv label. In 2011 Black Seeds was descibed by Rolling Stone Mgazine as "The Best Reggae band in the world right now".[6]

Lead singer Barnaby Weir is also associated with the sideprojects Flash Harry and Fly My Pretties.[7] Former band member Bret McKenzie is also a member of international award-winning comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, as well as playing Figwit the elf in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.[8] In June 2011, trumpet player Andrew Christiansen left the band and was replaced by Barrett Hocking.[9]

Their song "One by One" was used in AMC's Breaking Bad Season 2 Episode, "4 Days Out" and also appears on the series' official soundtrack.[10][11]

Discography

The Black Seeds at Summerjam 2013

References

  1. Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2013) "The Black Seeds, rooted in reggae", Jamaica Observer, 27 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013
  2. 1 2 "The Black Seeds Bio". Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  3. "The Black Seeds". Under the Radar. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  4. Kellman, Andy. "The Black Seeds. Biography". AllMusic. AllMusic; All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  5. "The Black Seeds". Loop Recordings Aot(ear)oa. Loop Media, NZ. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  6. "The Black Seeds". Loop Recordings Aot(ear)oa. Loop Media, NZ. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  7. Rebecca Thomson. "Fly My Pretties - Barnaby Weir is Flying High". NZ Musician. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  8. "THE BLACK SEEDS – BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION". Rock Paper Scissors. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  9. Katarina Filipe (16 March 2012). "Going global with The Black Seeds". The Timaru Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  10. "Breaking Bad (Music from the Original TV Series)". iTunes. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  11. Maria Elena Fernandez (18 May 2010). "'Breaking Bad': La musica on sale Tuesday on I-tunes and Amazon". LA Times. Retrieved 10 April 2012.

External links

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