The Professor’s Chair features interviews with local musicians. This week Steve Ross Voronko, the guitarist and lead singer from Bushwood, a local reggae band, sits down in the Professor’s Chair. The interview will air on RadioX’s Local Show between 6-9pm Thursday, and on SUTV online.
I’m here with Steve from Bushwood. Steve, where are you from, man?
Originally, I’m from Voorhees, N.J., but now I live in Deerfield Beach.
How would you classify your band, as a reggae band, a jam band? You’ve got the great horn section, so some people might want to call you ska, but how do you see yourself?
I like to think of it as a mix between, like, reggae-funk-rock. Something like that.
Who are some of your biggest influences, and how did you get into reggae-funk-rock?
In high school, man, all my buddies were playing Bob Marley. I’d cruise up to the high school blaring Bob Marley in the parking lot — everyone’s chillin’. Definitely started listening to Bob Marley at a young age. My mom raised me on classic rock — Led Zeppelin, stuff like that. Started getting a little more into reggae music in college, when I was about 22. When Bushwood started, we all kind of started as jam band, and eventually it evolved into more like reggae-funk. We started intertwining it with little Chili Peppers-flair in there and just, you know, try to make our own style.
Awesome. So who or what does Bushwood sound like?
That’s a good question because I’ve thought about that. If I had to compare us to anybody, I guess it would be like more the newer reggae bands like Rebelution or Slightly Stoopid. Maybe a little Earth, Wind and Fire a little bit of funk in there.
That’s a good comparison. I love Slightly Stoopid. I think that’s on point for what you all do. Your music is really uplifting, so I wanted to ask, what motivates you to perform?
There’s nothing like playing in front of a big crowd, man. We played a show in Pompano Beach a couple weeks ago, right on A1A and Atlantic Boulevard. There’s, like, a thousand people there, and just the feeling of playing in front of a huge crowd — and everyone’s vibing to you — there’s nothing on this earth that is like that feeling, and I try to get that every time.
What inspires you? Where do your lyrics come from inside yourself? Where do you get that inspiration?
A lot of times it’s love, and I’m at a point in my life where I’m very happy where I am and the lyrics kind of come out naturally, just from my experiences. Besides that, I would have to say being on the ocean, like on the boat fishing. There’s something about when I’m on the boat, it’s like you have such a crazy peace of mind, that there’s nothing else in the world that matters except peace and quiet. That’s where I get most of my inspiration from.
Your single is called “Tidal Wave.” It’s got a great music video. Where did you guys shoot that?
I think the one you’re talking about was at Arts Park in Hollywood for our CD release show. We had a really good turnout. There was probably 1,000 or so people, and we sold some CDs, and got some new fans that night, and we’re continuing to make them today.
You have another song called “I Don’t Want My MTV.” Now what’s that about?
That is a crazy song that we made about pretty much bringing the music back, and how we feel that the music business is going into the wrong direction. It should be focused on the music, and how good the band is, and notjust what you look like. We were just having this conversation — me and my roommate and bass player Adam — and we were saying, “Why are there so many TV shows, “American Idol,” stuff like that, but there’s no show called America’s Best Band? So our whole goal is to bring music back to when it made a difference.
To find out more about Bushwood, check out bushwoodband.com, reverbnation.com/bushwood and facebook.com/BushwoodBand.
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