Groundation’s Harrison Stafford reflects on working with reggae legends Israel Vibration, The Abyssinians, and The Congos and bringing the new album, “One Rock” to life

Photo courtesy of Easy Star Records. Photo credit: Carla Henriques.

Dailyreggae.com caught up with Groundation’s Harrison Stafford to learn about the fabulous new Groundation album, “One Rock”, released today by Easy Star Records. Harrison reflects on the album’s inspiration, working with reggae legends like Israel Vibration, The Abyssinians, and The Congos, and his musical influences.

Was there an overarching theme and/or inspiration you had going into the making of the new "One Rock" album?

A lot of the album was inspired by the pandemic. The idea to focus the album's featuring on the elders was a direct reflection of having lost so many of our reggae icons through this time of isolation. Then also through this COVID-19 time you have the lyrical themes of greed and corruption within our ruling class as well as songs relating to the raw divisiveness of our world today. The concept behind the album ONE ROCK is one that reflects reality and looks directly at this post-pandemic, megalomanic world and our lack of ability to come together to focus on the real issues that face humanity.

What was it like collaborating with the legends Israel Vibration and The Abyssinians on "Original Riddim"?

It is was incredible! I honestly did not think the featuring was going to be possible. I have had good close relations with both these groups for many, many years, but still Israel Vibration had never really guest on any artist's album before, and the members of the Abyssinians were scattered and lead vocalist Bernard “Satta” Collins is not currently in good health. The song itself came together like magic. This theme of our shared history of music stretching through millennia and back to our ancestral home in Africa; who better to guest on “Original Riddim” than Israel Vibration and The Abyssinians?! After recording our tracks here in California I traveled to Texas to record Wiss (Israel Vibration), New York to record Skelly (Israel Vibration), then over to Jamaica to record Satta, and Florida to complete the Abyssinians harmony vocals. The result is simply amazing! Even just as a fan of reggae to be able to hear a new song that has Israel Vibration and The Abyssinians together is absolutely monumental to the genre.

How does your knowledge and experience with jazz music affect the sound of Groundation? Are there any similarities or differences from a musical perspective between the two genres that might surprise the average listener or musician?

Both Reggae and Jazz music are revolutionary musical art forms. I say this because for the most part people have traditionally been drawn to these two genres for the music alone. It's a fight for freedom, a fight for justice, it's a form of liberation and people tend to gravitate towards these genres not because of the money and stardom, no, they come to it for a much deeper and heartfelt reason.

What is your normal songwriting process? Do you start with a jam with the full band, with lyrics, a chord progression, or does it vary from song to song?

Every song is different. For sure a lot of the ideas come first from me and my guitar, but as the song gets further developed within the group it can really evolve into a whole different thing. I also like trying new improvised jams with the full group and of course recording everything with my iPhone, and just seeing what happens. I'll also ask the musicians point blank, “Anyone have any ideas? Let's hear something you got” and typically from those sessions something comes.

Is there a track on the album that you are most stoked for fans to hear?

Wow, this album really is dense with music. I would say the featuring songs with Israel Vibration, The Congos, and The Abyssinians are wonderful, I mean everyone HAS to check out “Original Riddim” for the historic value alone. However the other 6 songs from the album are so musically diverse and unique; “Market Price” with its intro and killer groove, “Greed” with its hypnotic polyrhythmic world, “Silver and Gold” and “Day When The Computer Done” seem to come from a different planet, and “Absolutely Clear” is such a progressive arrangement and composition. We are all so very proud of all the songs on this album.

We love the groove of your single "One Rock", how did this track come to fruition and what was it like working with The Congos?

That groove came from our bass player Isaiah Palmer. One day at rehearsal I said “Isaiah what you got?” and he instantly began to play this bass groove and Zach joined in on the drums playing this really fun one-drop style that has lots of snare rim action. We all really enjoyed the groove from day one, but working on the arrangement and what the song's theme would be took more time to develop. It wasn't until my wife said “you're not gonna have The Congos on the album?” that I entered into my studio and began to construct the vocal arrangement. Now working with The Congos in Jamaica was incredible. These guys are almost 80 years old but they carry this youthful energy that creates a magical upful atmosphere in the studio. They were very excited about the song and felt good about the lyrics. It was another few months after recording that ultimately cemented “One Rock” as the title track.

“One Rock” by Groundation featuring The Congos is the Daily Reggae Song of the Day.