Rude Punch

Rude Punch’s sound is closer to Bob Marley than Slipknot, which is saying a lot considering Rude Punch hails from Iowa and not Jamaica. With the humble beginning of playing as high-school students in Davenport, Adam Tucker and Robb Laake, both 24, and Brady Jager, 23, have a seamless sound that makes classifying music by genre a thing of the past. Rude Punch will play the Picador, 330 E. Washington St., at 9 p.m. today. In high school, like an old-school love affair, the three friends reconfigured to jam once they finished playing in their separate ensembles. “We each belonged to different bands, but when we realized we would rather play with each other, we became our own unit,” said drummer Tucker. When first developing their sound in 2004, the bandmates played their favorite Bob Marley, Sublime, and 311 songs. In the spring of 2006, the musicians began writing their own songs and playing them at friends’ parties and at local bars, where they received positive feedback. “While people enjoyed our first album, they were really enthusiastic about our second — they wanted to know more about what we did and talk about it with us,” said Jager, Rude Punch’s vocalist. Even though the band’s music resists being placed into conventional musical categories, Rude Punch’s songs are magnetic because of how the band blends different sounds. “Our strengths are quite different,” said Tucker. “I drum kinda hard and hip-hoppish, and Robb’s bass is always moving and very fluid — he’s like another guitar player. And since our influences range from soul, punk rock, classic stuff from the ’50s and ’60s to tunes from the ’80s when we were kids, we don’t have just one sound.” When pressed, however, the group members will call the trio a reggae-rock band. “The thing about reggae is that the general vibe of it makes you feel good. The melodies, the percussion, the bassline … it’s funky, upbeat and happy,” said Jager. “The chords are sweet and optimistic.” The tracks on the band’s latest album, Killin’ It are wholly impressive. Laake’s bass and Jager’s guitar set down the reggae beats and tempos, and Tucker’s percussion carries listeners along without dominating them. In “Until the Sun Comes Up,” the electric guitar switches between sounding rock-ish and strong by playing on the off-beats, or the “skank” — the first and the third instead of the second and the fourth beats — which is a definitive quality of reggae music. “Payment” is looser — the beat is palpable in the way it seems to linger. For the lyrics, the band takes the typical reggae themes of love and sexual expression and injects them with modernity. “We sing about being kids from the Midwest, like the cold winters here, trying to get jobs, and trying to get with chicks,” said Jager. Rude Punch’s manager Jeff Jager, who is also Brady Jager’s father, attributed the group’s popularity to its capacity to excite an audience with its distinct, feel-good vibes. “When they perform, the fun that Brady, Adam, and Robb have onstage is evident and it becomes contagious,” Jeff Jager said. “Before they know it, fans are smiling, dancing, and having a great time. They get a chance to let their guard down and forget about their problems.” Unlike so many disposable musical acts, Rude Punch plans to stay around for a while. “Our plan is just to keep playing,” Tucker said. “Our music is fun to make and perform, and we’re going to keep doing it as long as we can.”

Punch Drunk Love: Local Band Tries to Find an Audience for Its Reggae-Infused Rock Contributed by Brad Vidmar Wednesday, 06 December 2006 At first glance, you wouldn't guess that the guys in Rude Punch are ambassadors for reggae rock in the Quad Cities. Often sporting T-shirts, jeans, and baseball caps, the three band members look like typical white, early-20s college kids. The trio - singer/guitarist Brady Jager, bassist Robb Laake, and drummer Adam Tucker - has been working this fall on its debut album and is gearing up for shows in Iowa City and in the Quad Cities over the next two months. And while the young band is at stylistic odds with most of its peers in this area, it is hell-bent on bringing its brand of Jamaican-flavored jingles to the masses. "It's real chill ... but it's not classical reggae," said Jager. "We play rock lines with reggae bass and guitar ... use a lot of distortion." The groups's sound is a groovin' mix of rock and reggae, heavily influenced by the music of Bob Marley, 311, and Sublime. The band also cited Slightly Stupid, Pepper, Peter Tosh, and Matisyahu, as well as hip-hop, classic rock, and the psychedelic metal of Tool. Sounding tight and well-rehearsed, the band played a smoking set on November 17, opening for Chicago Afrobeat Project at the Redstone Room. In front of a packed house, the band delivered at least a half-dozen original songs, as well as a cover of Sublime's "Santeria" that showcased Jager's uncanny vocal resemblance to that band's late singer, Bradley Nowell. "The girls will just come up to us [after performances] and say, ‘You guys are so-o-o good. ... You sound just like Sublime,'" said Jager, "You kind of hate that stuff [comparisons], because you don't want to be told that you sound like somebody else. ... But if we're playing their [Sublime's] songs, I guess thats good." On top of their live shows, the band recently began recording its still-untitled debut album in Galena, Illinois, in a two-night musical binge that required the band to bring their sleeping bags. The trio completed 12 instrumental tracks and plans to return to the studio soon to record vocals and put the finishing touches on the album. River Cities' Reader http://www.rcreader.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 14 March, 2008, 08:03 The band's MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/rudepunch) includes upcoming album tracks "Old Smoke Tree" and "Closer," and a live cut of "Soldiers for Hire" from a performance at the Redstone Room. The songs showcase funky reggae chords with trippy wah-pedal and delayed guitar effects, snaring drums, pounding bass, and rough vocal tracks with lyrics that tackle your usual reggae themes: love, perseverance, and marijuana inhalation. And despite being demo material, the sample MP3s on the page sound well-produced. "We started off playing a lot of heavy metal and rock - mainly what was popular around here," said Tucker about the trio's early days. While attending Davenport West High School, the band (all now in their early 20s) jammed with each other and other people in different unnamed basement bands. But Rude Punch's current reggae sound wasn't a part of their old groups' repertoire. "The attraction to reggae had always been there," said Tucker, "But with the people we were jamming with, it really wasn't what they wanted to do." Those bands didn't last. "I didn't really like what we were doing anyway," said Brady. "You start to get to a certain age and you start to figure out, ‘What do I really like?' instead of ‘What do my friends like?'" Citing their love for bands such as Sublime and 311, the band decided to move toward a reggae-rock hybrid sound. "That's probably what brought us together," said Tucker of the band's new style, "It had never been just us three focused on that genre." "I was always into that style," said Laake. "I think when we got together. it just worked better than any of the other bands." The band got its reggae groove started in 2004, originally calling itself Seed, which also included singer/guitarist Craig Smith. The group played the Quad Cities bar and college scene, landing opening spots in summer 2005 for Pepper and Dark Star Orchestra at the now-defunct QC Live. River Cities' Reader http://www.rcreader.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 14 March, 2008, 08:03 Following Smith's departure in April 2006, the band decided to rename itself, fittingly, after an alcoholic beverage Tucker had consumed while on vacation in Jamaica, and Rude Punch was born. Although the group has landed some high-profile shows recently (including a pre-party gig for a Slightly Stupid/Pepper concert this past month in Milwaukee), the trio is still working to establish an audience locally. "We can advertise our ass off, and not that many people are going to come to the show because it seems like people don't care," Jager said. "They're going to that bar because that's where they go. We get good crowd turnouts at bars that are just packed anyways." The band also recognizes that its style doesn't conform to current trends. At a recent XMG International musical conference in Chicago, Rude Punch found itself in competition with close to 50 other acts that Jager described as emo bands that all sounded the same. The trio lost to a band whose "name was like, six words long," Jager said. "‘Tomorrow Will End with the Lust of Forgotten Memories' or something like that. These guys are like, 25, singing about the love letter their girlfriend wrote them and how sad they are." The band sounded bitter about losing the XMG contest but is generally upbeat. "I think right now these emo bands could be compared to '80s hair metal," Jager said. "We're confident in our music. We say, ‘Man, if we get a bunch of people here, I know they'd like us!' ... So we're just trying to get more people to know who we are and like us hopefully." He added that once the band's CD is finished, the trio is aiming to go on tour with whoever will take them on the road. "We gotta get a van and a trailer," Jager said. "Just live in it and go." River Cities' Reader http://www.rcreader.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 14 March, 2008, 08:03 Rude Punch will perform on December 29 at RIBCO; December 30 at Mound Street Landing; and January 5 at the Redstone Room. River Cities' Reader http://

Band is giving its 1-2 punch Story Discussion David Burke | Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 12:00 am | No Comments Posted Font Size: Default font size Larger font size The second album from the Davenport band Rude Punch may have a sound similar to its 2006 debut, but there were plenty of changes behind the scenes. “The last CD, we kind of had everything written and then went in to record it,” lead singer and guitar player Brady Jager said. With album No. 2, “Killin’ It,” the band “had time to sit and mess with it and work out the kinks.” “It’s a little more raw,” drummer Adam Tucker said. “We had a lot more fun doing it.” “Killin’ It” will be introduced with a concert Saturday night at the Redstone Room, inside the River Music Experience, downtown Davenport. The rock-reggae trio said they noticed differences between the first and second albums. “The structures are a little more complex,” bassist Robb Laake said. “It’s not like it’s progressive rock, but more than last time.” “We’ll have a hard rock chorus and then break into reggae verses,” Jager added. The trio doesn’t play in the Quad-Cities very often, they said, but Mound Street Landing is usually a favorite spot. They have expanded their touring to include Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Austin, Texas. The three said “Killin’ It” may gain them new fans and the possibility of a mainstream breakthrough. “Half this album could be radio hits if somebody pushed them well,” Jager said. IF YOU GO What: Rude Punch, with Alan Sweet and the Mental Notes and Vibenhal When: 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21 Where: Redstone Room, inside the River Music Experience, 129 Main St., Davenport How much: $5 Information: (563) 326-1333 or RedstoneRoom.com on the Web Also on the Web: RudePunch.com Posted in Music on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 12:00 am | Tags: Rude, Punch, Rock, Reggae, Music, Redstone, Room, Davenport

Rude dudes Story Discussion David Burke | Posted: Wednesday, October 4, 2006 12:00 am | No Comments Posted Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Rude Punch — Robb Laake, left, Brady Jager and Adam Tucker — perform next weekend during Augusta-na homecoming festivi-ties at Rock Island Brewing Co. Photo by Jeff Cook/GO! Brady Jager’s T-shirt gives you a little bit of an idea of the Davenport band Rude Punch. It’s direct from the Buffalo Bill Cody gift shop, but “Bill” is crossed and “Soldier” written in with a marker. Then with a marker, the image of William Cody is transformed, thanks to Sharpie dreadlocks, into a mock Bob Marley, the reggae legend whose hits include “Buffalo Soldier.” Rude Punch — the concoction of singer-guitarist Jager, bass player Robb Laake and drummer Adam Tucker — is a Davenport-based band that spikes its punch with a good dose of reggae music. Bands like Sublime and 311 are among the influences of the band, which formed seven to eight months ago from three-fourths of the band Seed. “We want to give them something that’s totally new and what we want,” Jager said. “So many bands are trying to be this or that to please somebody, but we’re going to be what we want.” The three had played in several rock bands before forming Seed, the predecessor to Rude Punch. “The music that we played wasn’t really what we wanted to do,” Jager said. “This band would always come in at 2 in the morning and meet up with each other and play reggae music, different from what everybody else was playing.” The three have known each other for at least a decade — Jager graduated from Davenport West in 2003, a year after Laake and Tucker. They’ve even lived together for a time. “It’s just friends getting together and playing the music we love,” Tucker said. No one’s sure which of the three got hooked on reggae rock first, and which one spread the word to the other two. “All of us started with just the mood it gives you,” Tucker said. “It’s happy.” “We’ve all kind of grown up with it,” Jager said. “That’s what helped bring us all together,” Tucker said. “It was the biggest thing we had in common,” Jager said. Band members say they can imagine the sneers they might get from the West Coast, wondering how three kids from Iowa can appreciate, play and love reggae music. “Having the Internet, you’ve got like every style of music available. It’s not just what the local record stores have available,” Laake said. “We get all the same music they get.” The music has taught them to tolerate other people’s opinions, band members say. “This music’s all about love and respect and unity of people — not judging people on race or age or gender. We don’t judge by ‘Oh, you like metal music, we don’t like you,’” he said. “We like anybody to come to the shows.” Although the band has enough originals and cover songs in its repertoire to play a four-hour set at some bars, it’s readying 15 to 20 songs to take to a recording studio in Galena, Ill., later this month. Jager writes most of the words; Tucker and Laake handle a majority of the melodies. Tucker said reggae rock is easier to play, but tougher to write than standard rock. “I figure with all the rest of the music, you have to stick with it,” Tucker said. “But we can let this out.” Rude Punch plays next weekend, in its second gig at the Rock Island Brewing Co., during Augustana College homecoming activities. Its schedule also includes a Nov. 1 date at Milwaukee club The Rave, opening for bands Slightly Stoopid and Pepper. The next step for the band is to begin touring regionally, its members say. The ideal goal is to make music a full-time career. (Jager and Tucker are cooks at the Parkside Grill & Lounge in Moline; Tucker also works at Los Amigos in Bettendorf. Laake works in the circulation department of the Quad-City Times.) “We’re planning on being just like all our influences and everyone we looked up to. We’re looking at this as a career,” Jager said. “Being able to survive doing something you love — that’s the American dream, isn’t it?” David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. IF YOU GO What: Rude Punch, with Bad Girls When: 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Where: Rock Island Brewing Co., 1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island How much: Free Information: (309) 793-1999

By Kim W. Schumer

“Springfield City Council

Member” and “Hemp

Festival guest speaker”

might seem to members of

this typically conservative

community like a mash-up

created by the snarky

humorists at Cracked.com.

But it’s what you can

expect at the Springfield

Hemp Fest, Sept. 3 at

Summers at the River in

Nixa, when council member

Doug Burlison speaks

about the benefits of medical

marijuana.

“I’m personally in favor

of decriminalization, it’s

something I plan on pushing

at the local level and I

support a statewide push,”

Burlison said. “It’s an issue

way overdue at taking a

look at.”

The reported medical benefits

of cannabis are what

Burlison wants to stress.

“Cannabis is not a dangerous

substance,” he said.

“It has some medicinal

properties that we’re currently

missing out on. It

can greatly improve the

quality of life for terminal

patients.We’re of the mindset

that this is an untapped

resource that for less than

appropriate reasons has

been prohibited.”

Burlison said at the Hemp

Fest is “basically an education

and awareness venture.”

For members of the reggae/

rock band Rude Punch,

the Hemp Fest isn’t a

chance to climb on a soapbox

so much as a stage.

“We won’t do a lot of

speaking, we just like to

entertain,” said guitarist

Brady Jager. “We’ll drop

comments here and there

but as far as making our

point, we just want to

play good music.”

This isn’t the first hemp

festival the band has played

at, but it’s the biggest.

“We’ve been at a couple

of little ones,” Jager said.

“Sometimes they have to be

more underground, in a

back lot or something some

friend’s band is putting on.

Nothing like this scale, this

big and organized.”

Organizers expect as

many as 5,000 people to

attend.That number doesn’t

surprise Burlison.

“The crowd will be a lot

more diverse than just the

perceived ‘hippies,’”he said.

“There will be diverse musical

styles, a variety of vendors

focusing on the therapeutic

end of the discussion

and others that will be selling

hemp-related products

that are complementary to

the medical discussion.”

Burlison noted the conservative

mindset of many

people in the Ozarks may

cause a few raised eyebrows

over the idea of a

festival for,well, pot.

“In this area, one attractive

point is that you will

be able to shrink government

somewhat.

Decriminalization

would take some pressure

off the county jail and justice

system if we just took

this step of not chasing

people down for possessing

a plant,” he said.

What:

Hemp Fest

Springfield

When:

Sept. 3

Noon-1:30 a.m.

Where:

River Sports Complex,

2142 N. Sports Complex

Lane, Nixa

Summers at the

How much:

and camping; $5

cover to hear bands

Free admission

Info:

com/springfieldhempfest

883-1104, facebook.

■

educational efforts

and plenty of music

Festival features

Photo courtesy Rude Punch

The Rude Punch, a reggae/rock

play at the Springfield Hemp Fest Sept. 3 at Summers at the

River sports complex in Nixa.

trio from Davenport, Iowa,

I recently made a trip down to Gas Lamp (1501 Grand Avenue, Des Moines) for a show by the Quad Cities blues/soul/funk band The Candymakers. The band was travelling with Rude Punch, a reggae band that also hailed from the Quad Cities. The bands were like one big family, interchangeable on stage, and both bands brought sounds that were a breath of fresh air to the Iowa music scene. I had a chance to talk to Brady Jager, Rude Punch's lead vocalist and guitar player after the show, and he was kind enough to set aside some time to talk about the two bands' relationship, Rude Punch's formation, and their future.

Examiner: Tell my readers how Rude Punch was formed and how you came up with the name.

Jager: Rude Punch was formed around 2007. Adam Tucker, Robb Laake, and I had been in a reggae/acoustic rock band called Seed. Due to some issues among some of the members we decided to form our own band, allowing us the freedom to focus on more of a reggae/rock hybrid sound that we all loved. We wrote a dozen songs and recorded our debut album in February 2008. We toured extensively in the Midwest and did a couple mini tours down south. In 2010, we parted ways with our bassist Robb and hooked up with Alan Sweet. Alan worked out great because he could provide additional vocals, adding harmonies and his own flair to the group.

The name "Rude Punch" was derived from a drink that Adam had found on a vacation trip to Jamaica called "Rum Punch". We thought it sounded cool, so we combined that with the rebel feel of "Rude Boy", a term used in Jamaica for "Bad Boys", and came up with Rude Punch. We felt the name embodied our spirit as a group—kind of rebellious and anti-authority, and a mix of several different genres, like a punch drink is a "mix" of flavors. So, we thought Rude Punch was the perfect fit for our band.

Examiner: There aren’t a lot of bands making new reggae music these days, especially in the Midwest. Does that make it easier or harder to market the band?

Jager: I think it makes it easier for us. We've never been looked at as being a copy or part of any certain movement. We've always been looked at for what who we are and what we do, and not defined or pigeon-holed by any particular genre.

Examiner: Who are some of your favorite bands to listen to right now?

Jager: Right now I'm into Iration, Zapp and Roger, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Men at Work, 311(always), and Motown (always). Pretty crazy set list, right?

Examiner: Rude Punch and The Candymakers seemed like one big happy family when you played the Gas Lamp recently. With Alan in both bands, are there a lot of problems with scheduling?

Jager: The members of both bands have known each other for years and have played together, either as Rude Punch, The Candymakers, or just a jam band, it seems like, forever. The line is very blurry between the two bands, and it works out great. Sure there are scheduling conflicts, but we always figure out a way to work through them.

Examiner: What is Brady Jager’s New Year’s resolution?

Jager: Nothing specific. I just want to make sure that I do something every day to advance the band and make sure my creativity is pushed to the max, creating music that is really special.

Examiner: Besides playing shows, Rude Punch is also getting ready to do some recording. When can fans expect to see the fruits of those labors?

Jager: I have been writing constantly since the last album, and we are very close to getting into the studio and laying down tracks. I'm totally excited about the songs we are gonna lay down and can't wait to get them to our fans. I'm hoping by summer that we'll have the record ready for release.

Examiner: Where can fans follow the band?

Jager: We have our own website, www.rudepunch.com, but beyond that, we are active in all the social networks (except Twitter—I hate Twitter): Facebook, MySpace, ReverbNation, SonicBids, YouTube, etc. My best advice is just to Google Rude Punch and click a link.

Examiner: What is next for Rude Punch?

Jager: I don't think bands really ever know what's next, ha, ha. –The album, of course, and a tour of some sort to support it. Big picture, we need to really do a better job of promoting the Rude Punch, somehow getting our music out to the masses, and I mean everybody! Find a way to knock down the back door of this industry and surprise the hell out everyone. You know, catch the industry off guard, asleep at the wheel, and just blow everybody away. That's what Rude Punch is up to next.

Note: For those of you that missed Rude Punch and The Candymakers performances at Gas Lamp on January 7, both bands will return to the Gas Lamp on May 4, and again on June 8 and 9. Check out photos of Rude Punch on stage at the Gas Lamp near the top of this article on the left-hand side, as well as some of Rude Punch's music in the video box just below the photos.