The Sounds The Stories: Simpkin Project

The Sounds The Stories is an eclectic music series featuring live performances and entertaining discussions with emerging and established artists. This program is filmed and edited into a short documentary compilation with the audio from each episode.

Simpkin Project plays a multi-faceted blend of reggae and Americana that varies greatly on its exterior layers but only atop the organic rhythms of reggae music. Their sound has been described as “uncompromising… blending authentic roots reggae rhythms with a wall-of-sound production style.” The lyrical compositions of frontman Phil Simpkin range “from the simply truthful to the stirringly anthemic.” Their dedication and respect for reggae music is both seen and heard through their nunique, enthusiastic live performances, songwriting style and studio recordings.

Rich guitar work that draws from influences in blues and rock ‘n’ roll is rarely in dull company, propelled steadily forward by the band’s thumping drums, bass and percussion, and the clockwork sound of rhythm guitar that defines Jamaica’s most culturally celebrated music. Their keyboard arrangements are lush and vibrant, providing a melodic backdrop against which three-part vocal harmonies shine brightly.

These pieces come together to form a kind of living machine comprised of six cogs that change shape, size and tempo, moving not only bodies on a dance floor, but the hearts and minds inside them. Simpkin Project’s music can be likened to a dialect of its parent language – culturally adapted to make sense in its place and time. It is music that addresses the struggles we all face; showing us that there is beauty in all things, from love to loss to injustice, and thus remaining true to the messages of traditional roots-reggae without which it would not exist.