Dirty Heads, The Hip Abduction, Tropidelic, Eli-Mac, et Slightly Stoopid

Bushell was in a punk band and had recorded some hip-hop demo tapes and the two started collaborating, recording in Bushells garage. They created their blend of pop-punk, reggae and hip-hop that was to see them through their recording career under the name “Dirty Head”, which was apparently the name they earned from their family members in their garage days.

Before long they had formed a full band with other members, percussionist Jon Olazabal, drummer Matt Ochoa, and bassist David Foral. They were scheduled to release their first album, “Any Port in a Storm” with Warner Brothers but decided they’d stick it to the big record label and went with EMG.

The first single, “Lay Me Down”, featuring Rome Ramirez from Sublime with Rome, got them a Number 1 slot on the Billboard Alternative Song Chart for 2010.

The rest of the album was a symposium of big wigs including Beatles sessioner and R&B multi-instrumentalist, Billy Preston, Vandals drummer, Josh Freese and reggae singer Tippa Irie.

Dirty Heads began to tour regularly, supporting the likes of Unwritten Law, 311 and Matisyahu.

After a recording hiatus, they put out “Cabin by the Sea”, which also hosted a bunch of cameos including Kymani Marley on “Your Love”, a reappearance of Rome Ramirez on “Mongo Push”, Matisyahu on “Dance All Night”, and hip-hop veteran and cameo machine Del the Funky Homosapien on “Smoke Rings”.

Their studio album, “Sound of Change”, debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Alternative Albums Chart, with the single “My Sweet Summer” drawing in a new electronic infusion to their rootsy reggae sound, resulting in a dolled-up dancehall number with a melancholic undercurrent, its chorus channeling some the jilted blues tracks of the 1960s, perhaps most recognizably Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”.

In a way, this band could only hail from a place called Open Beach. The uniting thing about their music is its sense of carefree abandon; it’s the sound of an endless summer, a spring break that’s everything you could possibly want and more. Needless to say, it’s pretty awesome that way.

One of the most impressive things about the band is that in their nineteen years as a band they’ve been built around the same core duo of founding members, multi-instrumentalists and childhood friends Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald. Their chemistry and artistry, not to mention their friendship, have been the driving forces behind the band in a way that few bands before or since have replicated.

They formed the band in high school and soon afterwards they were discovered by Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell, who signed them to his label where in 1996, they released their debut album “Slightly $toopid”. They’ve since released a total of seven studio albums but for all their quality and experience as musicians, it’s the bands live show that’s made them the band they are to this day.

Few bands have a more welcoming, inclusive spirit at their shows than Slightly Stoopid, both the founding members of the band credit their fans with making them what they are today. That gratitude is pretty much tangible when they perform, and they give back in turn with every riotous skank, every crowd surfing bass player, and every ounce of positivity they possess.

They may be a cult band, but they’re the kind of cult that welcomes newcomers of all shapes, sizes and colours. Anyone would do very well to be a part of it the next chance they get.