Jamaican born dub extraordinaires, Easy Star Allstars? broke onto the scene with a vengeance with the release of their 2003 Pink Floyd? cover, Dub Side of the Moon. After quickly realizing their knack for re-interpreting classic albums the band has since released covers of Radiohead and most recently the Beatle's mother of all concept albums, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

With four studio albums down (including one original EP) and two more in the works the members of Easy Star have certifiably broken the type-cast mold of a cheesy cover band. Having gotten the thumbs up from members of Pink Floyd? as well as Radiohead was the official stamp of approval for the New York based musicians. When Thom Yorke announces on stage that he loves what you've done with his music, well, you might be kind of a big deal.

REAX: So you've done Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodread and now most recently, Sgt. Peppers. While making the first album did you ever envision that the band would continue down this "cover" or "re-interpretation" route or was it something that you decided to do after the success of Dub Side? After you realized that you were really good at it.
I-Ray: Ya know we had no idea the level of success that Dub Side of the Moon would receive, it has been such a blessing. That album was our baby. It took a long time to produce and I have to admit, it's still my favorite. Michael Goldwasser and the label are just so good at what they do. Michael really does make magic in the studio, he is a genius.

I think after the album came out and we got such incredible feedback from it is when we decided to stick with the concept album thing. We are not a cover band, we are re-interpreting these songs in a dub reggae fashion. It takes so much skill on Micheal's part to do that successfully. So yeah we love to play originals also but recreating a concept album is the really fun part. We don't just want to do a collection of hits from a band, the whole album has to work cohesively.

REAX: How do you choose which albums to interpret? What made you decide to cover Sgt. Peppers?
I-Ray: We definitely have our say but it's ultimately up to the label. We like to stick to the concept album thing. There are so many great ones out there, it's not always easy to narrow it down to one. Michael G. hears things that other people don't hear. He is constantly working the magic as far as taking a song in the right direction in a reggae way. He does such a good job of making sure we stick close enough to the original for anyone to be able to recognize it, but he also re-interprets it in way that works for our style, that's the magic he works.

REAX: Was there a song in particular off the album that you just heard and instantly imagined as a reggae version?
I-Ray: "When I'm 64" has always been one of my favorites. When it came out, at the time, it had gotten a lot of flack. People thought it was too poppy and cheesy to belong on the Sgt. Peppers album. I am so happy with the way that song came out on our album. I knew instantly it would be really fun to do.

REAX: Was there any songs on the album that you had a really tough time re-arranging? I feel like "Within You Without You" was probably a difficult task, you guys totally made it work though.
I-Ray: Yeah, that's exactly it. "Within You Without You" was without a doubt the most challenging track to pull off, hands down. It's got this sort of middle eastern feel, there are some really odd time signatures in it. Arranging that song was pretty difficult, it probably took the longest to do on the album.

REAX: What's the process like of mapping out and arranging songs? How long did that process take for each album?
I-Ray: It really just depends on the complexity of the album. Sgt. Peppers actually took the least amount of time. Most of the songs are very melodic, there weren't too many twists and turns. The Pink Floyd? and Radiohead was a whole different vibe. There were so many weird time signatures and key changes and interludes and all of these things going on. To really interpret it from song to song and remain true to the album was way more difficult for Dub Side of the Moon then anything else. Pre-arranging the song itself takes the longest. All of our albums have been so polar opposite from the last, so the process really has been different each time.

Fans have been showing such great appreciation. The best part for me is having a die hard Pink Floyd? fan or a totally devoted Radiohead or Beatles? fan come up to me and say "I love what you did with that album." That is absolutely priceless to me. I'm just so glad that we are getting that kind of feedback.

REAX: I read somewhere that you guys received praise from Radiohead for your 2006 album Radiodread, one of my favorite albums ever by the way. Have you gotten feedback from any of the Pink Floyd? or Beatles? crew?
I-Ray: Yeah! One of the Pink Floyd? members, David Gilmour, gave us a shout out on the live DVD performance. He just simply said "it was fun" It wasn't much but I'll take that as a thumbs up! I think that was his approval.

The shout out that Thom Yorke gave us at the Radiohead concert in Philadelphia was priceless, he straight up said on stage that he loved our interpretation of "Let Down." To hear that from the original artist was so amazing, that was such a great moment for us.

So far we haven't heard from anyone at the Beatles? camp. That's the only one we haven't heard anything back from! I like to think that sooner or later Sir Ringo or Sir Paul will give us some sort of recognition (chuckles).

REAX: I think that will definitely happen! What other albums have you been itching to cover? Any plans for another original record?
I-Ray: As a follow up to our EP that we let out in 2007, Until That Day, we will be releasing another original album. That was a request from the fans and we were really happy to give that to them. We just found out from the record company that we are going into the studio this summer to start recording another original album and we are really excited about it, that should be out either late next year or early 2012.

We also found out that we are going to start working on the next project, the next concept CD. but of course you know that it's top secret (chuckles). All the execs behind the closed doors know what it is but haven't even told us yet. The band is just excited to wait and get the news on what that is going to be. So yeah there are a lot of things going on between the original album and new project. We are all really excited.

REAX: I know you guys were primarily a studio band before Dub Side came out in 03. Do you enjoy rocking out live shows just as much as creating magic in the studio?
I-Ray: Out of all the projects we have done each band member has at least one project that they've worked on inside and out. Every one of us has our own solo projects and other things going on so it's actually pretty rare that we are all even in the studio at the same time. So yeah, all being together on stage for a live show is amazing. We are so fortunate to be able to experiment with different avenues we want to explore but making magic on stage for our incredible fans is for sure one of the best parts.

It just amazes me how the fan base is growing, and that they want to hear more of Easy Star. That says a lot for the record company. They have been really trying to stick to the classic reggae roots and that's what I love. I vibe off the record company and I'm really proud of the direction they've been going.

REAX: Well thanks so much I-Ray and we are all really looking forward to the shows here down south!
I-Ray: Listen I just want to know...are the people down there ready for some Easy Star Allstars? or what?! Well you can be my conveyor of love and tell the people that we are coming down with nothing but love for the south and that they deserve the best and we are going to give them the best. We are coming with love and can't wait to spend time with you all. One love baby!