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The Dirty Heads talk backyard barbecues, shedding the ‘reggae rock’ label and more

 
The Dirty Heads. Photo by Andreas Ramirez.
The Dirty Heads. Photo by Andreas Ramirez.
Published May 22, 2018|Updated May 22, 2018

It's hard to say, exactly, how many 97X events the Dirty Heads have played at this point. There were three Next Big Things, at least, plus an acoustic Green Room performance or two.

And if you want to talk about shows in St. Petersburg, forget about it. Between all their shows at Vinoy Park and Jannus Live — including one last fall in support of new album Swim Team — they're practically part-time residents.

So when the Huntington Beach, Calif. reggae-pop-rock fusion band returns to St. Pete on Saturday to headline the 97X Barbecue Music and Arts Festival, all bets are off for an afternoon of fun in the sun.

The festival — a rejiggering of the alt-rock station's annual 97X BBQ — also features several other bands who've played past 97X events, including Awolnation, AJR, Judah and the Lion, Robert DeLong and Sir Sly. And, yes, there will be "arts," including live murals and other interactive visual media.

For the Dirty Heads, Memorial Day weekend helps usher in a summerlong partnership with the National Resources Defense Council. The band is donating $1 from every ticket sold to their headlining tour to that cause, and are working to eliminate single-use plastics from their lives on and off tour.

Before the fest, we caught up with Dirty Heads drummer Matt Ochoa and percussionist David Foral by email. (As their publicist put it, Ochoa "mostly" handled the answers, "with input" from Foral. Take from that what you will.)

Given that this event is dubbed the Barbecue, I have to ask: Who's the best grillsmith in the band?

I'd say Jared (Watson, vocals) might be the grillmaster of the bunch. Dave can cook up a mean vegetable for all you vegans, though!

About that "reggae-rock" tag — do you feel it was ever unfair? Your earlier albums played around with pop and funk and hip-hop, too.

It's something we've always been associated with, and being a part of that scene and watching it grow from nothing is amazing. Like you said, though, we have always pulled inspiration from across the board. and feel comfortable in saying we bring a little bit of everything to each album. We like to think there's at least a song for everyone and they all still have that Dirty Heads feel.

Swim Team keeps shifting your sound around. It still sounds tropical and summery, but how much reggae actually is there in the album's DNA?

This album leans a little more to the hip hop side of Dirty Heads because that's what we were feeling at the time. There is still everything else we've always done sprinkled throughout, too. Maybe we will do a polka album next to keep people on their toes.

So Glad You Made It, the song you did with Nick Hexum, sounds like it could fit on a country playlist. Was that intentional? What sort of sounds and songs inspired that one?

That one was fun to do, and no, nothing was too intentional going into it. We have been friends and fans of Nick for a long time, and had tossed the idea around for years before it actually came together.

Do you listen to modern reggae music? Who's out there pushing the genre in interesting directions?

We all listen to all kinds of music, as if you couldn't tell by our albums, but in this particular scene you're asking about, we've always been into what the Skints and the Expanders are doing. Also check out a band called the Frightnrs. Their singer sadly passed away before the release, but it is an amazing album that completely time-warps you back into the '70s U.K. rocksteady world.

— Jay Cridlin