OUTLOUD Exclusive Interview with The Wailers' Aston "Family Man" Barrett and newcomer Yvad
The Wailers' Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Yvad
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Interview by Ashlé Grant
Photos by Sarah Efronson
The legendary band the Wailers played a key role in helping to create the critically acclaimed "Best music album of the 20th century" as stated in Time Magazine. Exodus, the performance spotlight of the Wailers upcoming tour, has certainly proven to be a noteworthy reggae album, but bass player Aston "Family Man" Barrett just prefers to call it, "the music of the century."
Although Mr. Marley is no longer with us, the remaining members of his band still nostalgically remind listeners of why and how Exodus became such a monumental album in the first place. Family Man considers Exodus to be special. "It’s the movement of Jah people, reminding them all again," he said. Of course, the band has played Exodus on tour countless times, but Family Man acknowledged that for this time around, it’s relevant in relation to what’s happening in the world today: "What goes around, comes around," he said.
Bob Marley and the Wailers have undeniably been successful and sold millions, receiving world-wide recognition. Family Man believes he has been "voluntarily chosen for the mission," to spread the messages of Bob Marley’s celebrated music. And when asked if he’d be continuing this "mission" in any special way, Family Man whispered details of working on a collaborative album with "a lot of name-brand artists, mostly from the west side."
The Wailers' set list
He also stated that the band is working on a new idea called reggae-country. "[It's] a different concept coming out of Jamaica," he said. Band member Yvad described the music as having "the roots of reggae but with a country feel." Family Man says he discovered the interconnectedness of reggae and country music: "Reggae music and country music are related. They both tell it uncut, without commercial. That’s what reggae’s all about. With country-reggae, we’re coming to do what no one has done before."
When asked if there was any particular artists the Wailers would enjoy working with, Yvad responded that there are a lot of people he'd like to work with, but he listed no one in specific. Continuing to pry on the topic, OUTLOUD asked if the band mates had any favorite artists, and Yvad responded that Beres Hammond is always a favorite. "[I haven't] really seen anybody new that could really, that has really done it better, other than maybe Tarrus Riley, he’s doing very good. I like his music a lot. But uh, I don’t think there’s anybody else that’s doing much better than these guys now-a-days," he said.
OUTLOUD was also curious to know if Yvad, the Wailers current lead singer, feels any pressure or big responsibility to play Marley's songs. He responded by confessing that indeed he felt the responsibility but considered it as "not a pressure" but fun. "[It's] doing Jah’s work, a great opportunity and great honor and privilege, so it’s all good," he said.
Aston "Family Man" Barrett
Later in the interview, Family Man told a story of one his favorite performances over the 40-plus years he’s had in the performance business, before and with the Wailers: "In ’69, we played at a club in London, which they called Peak Easy; you see that’s where all the press people and all the critics come. So we were doing two weeks playing there, two shows a night and after that it was wrote up in the paper, and after that it was like magic! And then, you know, when we come to U.S. to play the reggae, we played at a small club, but when we finished and we were packing and coming outside, there was an old guy who said 'Man, I’m 72 years of age, I’ve been listening to a lot of noise, but I like your noise.''' Family then broke into laughter.
Reggae, no doubt, has had a remarkable influence in not only its home-base of Jamaica, but internationally as well over its roughly 50-year course. Yvad spoke of it being a "powerful tool" that the Wailers have basically mastered, using it "to communicate with people and to influence people to become better within themselves." Family Man advised that any new musicians trying to do the same thing should "listen keenly, keep on the right track, and don’t get carried away because there are a lot of things that will attract you."
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