Dubsiders

‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ and reggae music go together like ganja and munchies.

So it’s no surprise that New York’s Easy Star All-Stars are on their way back to Oz to revisit ‘Dub Side Of The Moon’, their dub reggae tribute to the Pink Floyd classic. “If we do a show and don’t do ‘Dub Side’,” explains bassist Ras I Ray (who might be the coolest man in the world, and is certainly the coolest man on either side of this phone call), “there’ll be some disappointed fans out there. As much as we try to incorporate other material into the live shows, we have to do ‘Dub Side’. So when I found out we were doing it in its entirety again in Australia, that really took me back. It’s going to be very nostalgic.”

‘Dub Side’ has remained in the Billboard Reggae Charts since 2003. Despite the success of subsequent tribute albums ‘Radiodread’ and ‘Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band’ (and 2011’s ‘First Light’, the all-star collective’s first disc of original material), it remains their best loved release, and played no small part in the revival of interest in Pink Floyd.

And if it weren’t for a spectacular demo tape, it wouldn’t exist at all. “When we first attempted to do the project,” Ras reveals, “they (Pink Floyd) were totally against it. But once we sent them the demos and they heard it, they had a change of mind and a change of heart. They heard where the demos were going and they loved it, and they gave us permission to do it.

“Then we got a little shout-out from Roger Waters, who saw the live DVD version and enjoyed it. He said it as simple as this: ‘it was fun’. Just to hear him say it was fun to watch, that was great, you know?”

Famously, the band also got enthusiastic seals of approval from Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood for ‘Radiodread’. With all these critical nods piling up, who will they take on next? “I’ve always had an affinity for Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’,” Ras says. “The songs are just so timeless. We’re into picking albums that have a theme to them, and a message behind them, so maybe it’ll happen… not that we’re talking about it yet. You’ve got me itchin’ to do it now!”

Easy Star All-Stars play The Zoo on Thursday January 5.