From Sunset Cliffs to the Open Road: Wax Reflects on Highway Hotel and the Art of Staying Inspired

In this Daily Reggae Artist Profile, Wax opens up about the making of Highway Hotel, a tour-inspired album that blends personal moments with the fun-loving energy that has become a hallmark of his music.

He also discusses his guitar-driven approach to hip hop, plans for an expanded live show with DJ Hoppa, and the reggae, rock, and acoustic influences that continue to shape his sound.

"Highway Hotel” feels like a very personal title. What themes or experiences shaped this album, and what were you hoping listeners will take away from it?

That is interesting that it sounds personal. I guess those are words that imply introspection... like a sole trucker on the highway thinking about life or Jack Kerouac writing "On the Road." The truth is that the title just means we made 80 percent of this album while we were on tour.

There certainly are some personal songs on there, such as "Acai" where I write about a simple good day I had and use my daughter's voice as the outro.... or "You've Changed" that discusses the idea of personal growth vs. "keeping it real" for lack of a better term. However, compared to my last album "Lifetime Achievement Award" this is much more of a fun sounding project. Most of the songs are light-hearted jams we created with our friends.

As far as what listeners will take away from it, you never really know. People hear music and lyrics differently. With the way social media is now, we are able to get feedback (whether we asked for it or not lol) from fans, and it is shocking sometimes how different people's interpretation of a song is from what was intended. All that said, I hope this project is just a fun one you can play in your car or at a BBQ. It is not super deep for the most part.

Your live shows have always had a strong connection with fans. As you get ready for the release party and Highway Hotel Tour, how are you preparing to bring these new songs to the stage?

Thank you for asking. We are hoping to try some new things on this run. DJ Hoppa has some really amazing abilities in terms of scratching, finger drumming, remixing, amongst other things. We haven't used those skills to their full potential yet. Same goes for me and my skills that I would like to unleash with more fervor... we want to really take the musicianship further on this run while still allowing for plenty of in the moment improvisation.

Honestly I just like to have fun on stage and send that energy out so the crowd has fun too. Hopefully the songs speak for themselves. If not, we will take the stinkers out of the setlist!

Guitar has always been such a big part of your sound, which is still pretty rare in hip hop. What drew you to writing and performing that way, and how has guitar shaped your identity as an artist?

When I was a kid I started playing guitar and rapping at around the same time. I never really saw them as things that had to be separate from each other.

In the 90s there were plenty of acts that played guitar and rapped, plus had melodies and what not. Shoutout one of my heroes who is now my friend G Love, he was a big influence for sure. I was in a band from when I was 15 to when I was 25 called MacGregor that was a hip hop/funk/rock sound, so what I am doing now is all built on that foundation. Red Hot Chili Peppers was a huge influence on me as a kid too in terms of rap/guitar combo.

All that said, there is definitely a distinction in my current live set between the hip hop section and the acoustic section. The acoustic section is more mellow obviously lol. It is fun to bring the energy up and down through the course of the show.

Nowadays I often go to Sunset Cliffs here in San Diego in the morning and write songs on my guitar that may be a little weird, childish, or off kilter in some type of way. That is the current iteration of my acoustic music, and probably will be a big focus for me next year. I would like to create essentially a Netflix special type of film where I do some acoustic songs interspersed with some comedy bits.

When you’re writing, do songs usually begin with guitar first, or can inspiration come from beats, lyrics, melodies, and even conversations?

It is always different. Like I said, right now I have a specific spot I go to for writing. I stare at the ocean and, as weird and cornily bohemian as it may sound, the energy from the waves kinda presents me with creative ideas. Other than that, I may just hear a beat and be inspired... or I may hear a beat and sit at my house and rack my brain to try to get 16 bars out for a feature or something like that.

The best songs always just come to you out of nowhere though... at least the meat and potatoes of the song. Like I wrote a song called "Dispensary Girl" where I developed a crush on the girl that worked at the weed shop. I was walking home with my bag and just started singing the chorus of the song.

Your music naturally connects with hip hop, reggae, and alternative audiences alike. Were there any reggae artists or records that influenced your songwriting or live performance style along the way?

I know amongst true reggae fans this a basic bitch cop out answer, but Bob Marley is one of the greatest artists and songwriters of all time. Any musician alive currently has been influenced by his songwriting. The OG Wailers lineup with Peter Tosh singing lead on "Cant Blame The Youth"... come on man there is nothing in the world better than that, at least that I have found personally I would love someone to put me on.

That said, I love The Congos and wish I could sing falsetto like that. "Don't Blame it on I" is one of my favorite songs of all time. Weird how similar those two song titles I mentioned are... anywho... as a hip hop fan growing up, there were a lot of reggae influenced songs I loved.

Obviously that Stalag riddim from Sister Nancy was heavily sampled and I never ever get sick of hearing that to this day... in fact I rapped over that directly on my song "Rare Specimen." I also love Eek-a-Mouse and I think I have been directly influenced by him. His style of scatting and not being afraid to sound crazy, on top of his ear for simple yet quirky melodies. I also really love a lot of modern reggae bands that I see at the festivals that are happening nowadays. My favorite that I have seen is The Elovaters. They have a level of funk to them that is right up my alley.