Victor Rice doesn’t hide his fascination with the rocksteady era. And since he has lived in São Paulo for almost 20 years, it was only a matter of time when we would hear the influence of Brazilian culture in his music. In the mid-1960s, when the Jamaicans slowed down the tempo, the combination of samba, soul, rock, and funk was becoming increasingly popular in Brazil. Rice has been looking for the perfect fusion of samba and rocksteady for several years.
To me the master of the beats would be if I came up with a rhythm that Brazilians thought was Brazilian and Jamaicans thought was Jamaican. And that doesn’t happen yet. All of my experiments with this fusion either lean to one side or they go to the other.
– so he told me about his search in an interview from 2018. We talked at the time about the “Smoke” album, which the musician and producer recorded with colleagues from Europe.
The next, entitled “Drink”, will be released on May 13. Like its predecessor, it will be out on Easy Star Records on black vinyl and can already be pre-ordered. This time, Victor Rice invited some Brazilian musicians to participate on the record.
“Simão” is the first single.
Waiting for the new album, I wonder already what’s going to be the title of the last part of the trilogy. If the first is “Smoke” and the second is “Drink”, then perhaps the third will be “Dance”? Or maybe “Love” or “Sleep”?
It all probably started because the first gig I went to as a teenager was a ska show. If I knew that it would last this long, maybe I would think twice. Or maybe not, and it was just meant to be. Now I go to gigs and record interviews with the bands I like. But if they play rock and roll in the area, there's a good chance that you will find me there.
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