Flagstaff band Summit Dub Squad is celebrating their 20th anniversary this week.
The group is known for their heavy reggae and hip-hop influences, rhythmic record scratches and a rotating cast of musicians playing anything from guitar to didgeridoo.
Before they started Summit Dub Squad, founding members B Dub the artist and Andrew Baker, who goes by dj SOE, lived together and made music with a hip-hop group called Greenhouse Fresh Produce.
But that chapter of their life ended suddenly when they came home one day to find fire trucks outside of the house.
"And the house attic was on fire and basically they just condemned the building and we had to just immediately just grab our stuff and move out, you know, just in an instant," said B Dub.
After a few weeks of couch surfing, B Dub says he and dj SOE were able to find another house, where they moved in with another musician. That’s where Summit Dub Squad was born.
"Where we ended up moving to was on Summit Avenue," B Dub said. "So, yeah, that’s how we got the name and that’s kind of where our, our musical journey started."
There’s a song on Summit Dub Squad’s 2009 album, "Roots and Branches," about the time they spent in between stable housing situations. It’s melancholy, yet hopeful. It’s called "It’s Our Home."
According to dj SOE, the title of the song is a reference to something B Dub told his son at the time. They were staying at a friend’s house, and he said, "This our home now."
"I think all of us believe that music is medicine … to be able to see shows and to be able to dance and to be able to just be ... absorbed in all that sound. It really has like, a medicinal, like, healing quality to it," B Dub said.
Generally speaking, dj SOE says Summit Dub Squad doesn’t do a whole lot of talking during their sets.
"It’s kind of just one song and the next without a whole lot of chit chatting in between. Just let the music do the talking," said dj SOE.
But Friday night will be a little more intimate. To celebrate their 20-year anniversary, they’ll be explaining the band's history and the meaning behind some of the songs throughout the set.
"A lot of our themes are just really kind of reflecting our environment and our — the city we live in, and the culture that we try to promote," B Dub said.
Summit Dub Squad will be performing Aug. 29 at Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff.
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