Dubtribe Sound System

Dubtribe is all about positivity. Peace. Love. Good vibes. But if you pigeonhole them as nave hippies, you’re missing the whole story. As the band states, “Our mission is to incite change, restore faith, and have a proper boogie at the same time.” Since 1993, Sunshine and Moonbeam Jones have been building an extremely strong organization known as Dubtribe Sound System, which encompasses a successful band, touring business and booking agency,as well as a thriving indie label (Imperial Dub) and an informative website (www.imperialdub.com ) which has educated thousands of aspiring young Electronic musicians about the means of assembling a studio or live setup, or running an indie label. At the core of all this is the wonderful personal and professional relationship between Sunshine and Moonbeam.

Dubtribe have been constantly touring North America, building up a massively dedicated fanbase with their marathon uplifting live sets, which move effortlessly and seamlessly from the deepest house to the hardest hitting breakbeats, all topped off with Moonbeam’s lovely voice and Sunshine’s mad but poignant exhortations. When the vibe is right, the sets have been known to stretch up to four hours in length, leaving audiences both exhilarated and exhausted. The band is now arguably the biggest act on the American Rave scene, and Dubtribe have packed houses all over the continent, playing to thousands in both major markets and place like Jackson, Mississippi, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Lawrence, Kansas. In a typical year, upwards of 300,000 people will experience the Dubtribe live vibe. And we do mean live! Dubtribe may use machines, but DATS and computers don’t enter into the stage show. Everything is spontaneous, every show unique and unduplicateable.

Along the way Dubtribe (and their various a/k/a’s) have released a slew of critically acclaimed 12″s, a lovely ambient LP (“Selene Songs”), an extremely groovy mix CD (“Imperial Dub Recordings, Vol. 1.”), and the classic “Sound System” LP. The latter spawned “Sunshine’s Theme” and “Mother Earth,” two records, which though long out of print, continue to get played constantly, fetch insane collectors prices, and appear on virtually every American “Electronic Classics” compilation put out. “Mother Earth” has also recently resurfaced on the Chemical Brothers’ new mix CD because, as Ed Chemical says, “it still sounds revolutionary today.”

While all that is impressive, it is the past. 1999 will see Dubtribe release “Bryant Street,” its first full-length artist album in three years (the band had been prevented from releasing records under the Dubtribe moniker due to legal hassles with a former business partner). Much of this material will be instantly recognizable to their fans, as it has been the backbone of their live set for the past 2 years. Like the set, it will be diverse, emotional, non-stop and instantly memorable. The band will also embark on a yearlong worldwide tour, so all of you will get to witness the unique spirit that is Dubtribe for yourselves.