Dubbington Brings Remixed Reggae to Hermosa

Guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and dub station. These were the instruments played by Dubbington musicians Thursday night at Saint Rocke, providing locals and visitors with a rich reggae sound best heard live and remixed.

Dubbington, a project started last January by Alonso Vargas, Darren Simms and Oren Avineri, is the performance of dub reggae music, a technique that developed in the 1960s.

Vargas, who also manages Spyder Surf on Pacific Coast Highway, pointed out that there's, "not a lot of this kind of reggae out there, but now, more than ever, reggae is opening more doors because of venues like [Saint Rocke]," he said. "Reggae has been growing in the last 10 years in the South Bay."

Pioneered by such artists as Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock and Errol Thompson, "dubbing" involves taking standard or popular songs and weaving them into a unique, improvised remix.

"We're makin' this up as we go along," Simms said.

As Simms operated a mixing board Thursday, the influences of hip-hop, techno, punk, post-punk, trip hop, and house music were all clear. He added effects like reverbs, echoes, delays, loops and snippets of original song recordings.

"Let's get into outer space," Vargas announced to the audience before the group launched into a classic Bob Marley tune that slowly morphed and wandered into uncharted sonic territory.

Live dubbing is a more recent phenomenon, developed by different artists in various forms around the world.

"We bring in guys from all over the world - Israel, England, Jamaica," Vargas said, referring to the evolving and international nature of the project.

Vargas' bass penetrated souls with vibration, while Avineri kept a slow and steady beat, punctuated with improvised fills and rhythmic changes. Simms followed the rest of the band closely, capturing guitar licks in reverberating loops and highlighting the snare drum with an echoing "crack!"

Clive Ross, from Kingston, Jamaica, strummed the guitar and improvised solos on top of the beat. Ross' friend Zacky took Adam Arredondo's place on keyboards.

All the players would occasionally sneak in vocals, whether lyrics or just voiced tones, utilizing the voice as another instrument. Ross broke into a rap several times, in a quick, passionate rhythm.

"It's a way to keep being creative," Vargas said.

Dubbington music can be heard every Thursday night at Saint Rocke, beginning at 8:30 p.m.