MUSIC
Still Stoopid REGGAE ROOTS BAND SLIGHTLY STOOPID MAKES A STOP IN OKLAHOMA CITY AS THEY HONE IN ON THREE DECADES AS A BAND. By Adam Sculley
When guitarists/singers Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald started Slightly Stoopid in 1994, they were out front of a second generation of bands that wanted to build on the reggae-rock sound that was starting to take hold thanks to the success of groups like Sublime, 311 and, to a lesser extent, No Doubt. Now some 28 years later, Slightly Stoopid is one of several California reggae-rooted bands that can headline outdoor amphitheaters and a veteran member of a scene packed with acts playing some variation of reggae-rooted music and espousing California culture built around skateboarding, surfing, and in many cases, the benefits of cannabis. In fact, tour ing a mphit heaters has become an annual summer ritual for Slightly Stoopid. To say the least, Slightly Stoopid have become veterans at what it takes to deliver a large-scale show to crowds that can number upward of 20,000. “Now it’s kind of like we’ve got a great crew, awesome lights guy,” Doughty said in a recent phone interview. “Everybody kind of knows what we’re all thinking. It just makes it that much easier when you surround yourself with the right people and the right energ y. It’s like anything. If you’ve done something so many times, you get a lot better at it and start to perfect what’s going on around you.” Playing amphitheaters might have seemed like a pipe dream when Slightly Stoopid started out all those years ago in the San Diego area, but that’s not the case for groups trying to make their mark in the scene now. The Calireggae scene has grown into a significant part of the overall music scene and Doughty is pleased to see other bands benefiting from the genre’s popularity. “I never thought we’d be where we are when I was a kid,” Doughty said. “This is like living the dream times 10. It’s been an incredible journey. Back in the day when we
first started, we were one of the only bands. Obviously, there was Sublime, 311, No Doubt. Really (compared to) a lot of bands in the culture, we were like the Slightly Stoopid. Photo by Anders Junger. baby band of that. Now that Southern California culture Andy Geib (trombone), has spread like wildfire everyAnd as the touring miles piled where to where there are like up, Slightly Stoopid released 10,000 of those bands. It really studio albums on a regular basis, seems to be, this is across the developing and refining their board, the energy of the Southern sunny brand of reggae mixed with California culture seems to be rock, funk, folk, pop and even what a lot of people are vibing punk rock along the way. toward. And it’s great. I’m happy The group’s ninth studio album, for the successes for all of those Everyday Life, Everyday People, bands. It’s great to see when a lot arrived in 2018 and features guest of your friends are doing well and appearances from several major are experiencing the same things figures in the reggae world, includacross the board. It’s pretty cool.” ing Ali Campbell of UB40, Don Sublime and its late vocalist, Carlos (of Black Uhuru fame), Bradley Nowell, in fact, gave Yellowman, Sly Dunbar and Chali Slightly Stoopid its biggest early 2na (of Jurassic 5). While plenty break. Nowell signed Slightly eclectic, Everyday Life, Everyday Stoopid to his label, Skunk People finds Slightly Stoopid leaning Records, paving the way for the a bit more toward reggae than on release of Slightly Stoopid’s 1996 some of the previous albums. self-titled debut album. It gave Five of the 13 songs (“Livin’ in the group a legitimacy that was Babylon,” “Stay The Same Prayer valuable as Slightly Stoopid For You,” “Legalize It,” “No One sought to establish a fan base. Stops Us Now Nobody Knows” “I think when we first started and “Fire Below”) qualify as fairly touring, having that Skunk name, full-on reggae, while “Talk Too because of Sublime’s influences, Much” “If You Want It” and “Too we would go places and people Late” further the reggae-fied feel wouldn’t know who Slightly by dipping into the dub-style side Stoopid was and they would be of the reggae form. The album gets like ‘Hey, let’s go and check out its variety from tunes like “Higher that Skunk Records band,’” Now,” which blends rap, reggae Doughty said. “And it was such a and dreamy soul; “Glocks,” an inkiller little indie label back then, strumental offering easy-going, Skunk Records was.” full-bodied rock; “One More There’s been no magic formula Night,” a tuneful acoustic folkto Slightly Stoopid’s success. The pop ballad; and “Everybody group built its following the oldPeople,” which mixes jammy fashioned hard way, playing 200 acoustic folk with reggae. or more shows a year during its Doughty credited the guest first decade. Over the years, artists on Everyday Life, Everyday Slightly Stoopid also added band People with helping set the tone members to go with its expanding for the music on the album. instrumental mix. Today, the “Just because of the guest stars l i neup i nc lude s D oug ht y, we had on the record, it’s definiteMcDonald (guitar, bass, vocals), ly more of a reggae-influenced Ryan Moran (drums), Oguer Ocon record,” he said. “But you still have (percussion, harp), Daniel “Dela” songs like ‘One More Night,’ which Delacr uz (sa xophone), Paul is nothing even in the reggae Wolstencroft (keyboards) and realm. It’s a great ballad folk song,
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the story of our lives on the road, leaving our children, leaving our friends and our family, all of that is in the lyrics of the song. I think for us, with the guest stars we had, we ended up doing more reggae than we usually do on the records, which is fine because we love reggae music anyway. “You can almost, you can feel, I don’t know if maturity is the right word, but you can feel the band is growing up and just so much around us is in our music. Like what we see, how we see the world is presented in our music, (with) what we say lyrically, just the feeling of our music,” Doughty said, touching on the honesty and warm vibe of the new album. “For us, I was just happy with the different styles we did, from folk music to reggae to hip-hop, to a little bit of stuff in between. We’re just really happy, man. I think at this point in our lives, we’re in a good space mentally and physically. We love what we do and we’re blessed to do it.” With Slightly Stoopid joined by Pepper, Common Kings and Fortunate Youth on this summer’s tour, Doughty said there’s always a chance fans will see musical collaborations on stage between Slightly Stoopid and the other musicians. These are moments he enjoys. “What’s cool is it’s really something just special for the fans when they can see that kind of camaraderie, Doughty said. “It really makes a difference in the shows. It’s genuine. There’s nothing like set up about it. That’s what’s so special about the bands. People can relate because we’re all just regular, real people.” Slightly Stoopid plays the Zoo Amphitheatre Aug. 18. Tickets are $37.50 to $57.50. Visit thezooamphitheatre.com
