Interview with Jeff Rafferto of Agrolytes

Yeah, Neighborhood Love Radio. My name is Johnny Scott Gramercy. I'm here with the incomparable Jeff Rafferto. Hello. From Diagra Lights. We're going to chop it up a little bit about a thing or two. Yes, indeed. But first, Miss Jill Scott and the Isley Brothers. Enjoy. So many words. Well, well, well. Uh-huh. You know what I mean? No, I know. I know. Loving you is easy. Loving you is like breathing. Winter into spring. Natural evolution. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Loving you is righteous. Every light just shines bright. When I'm with you, oh, there's so much I want to say. Oh, baby. Say it now. I just want you to know. Say it now. So much I want to say. You say it now. Say it now. Say it now. Oh, my love. Say it now. Loving you. Loving you. Just like sweet and candid. Sweet and candid. Sweet. Feel. Feels like honey. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like honey. Like honey. Like honey. My sweet, like a morning kiss. Oh, oh. Loving you. Loving you. So beautiful, baby. Loving you is food for my soul. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Baby, you know. You know. You know. Oh, what I'm trying to say, girl. I got to let you know just what I feel. Got to let you know my heart. Got to let you know what's in my heart. I want to let you know just what I'm feeling. I, you know, want to play. I want you to know. I want you to know. Baby, baby, baby, baby. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. My baby's so good. There's nothing in this world like a day that would change what we have already Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing left to say I said it now, I said it now, nothing left to say I said it now, I said it now, we say, we say the same thing All I need to know, girl, I'm coming back I said it now, I said it now, we say, we say the same thing That's all I need to know, baby. Say love. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Say love. I'm a magician. Say love. Say love. You say love. And I say love. We say love. Oh, we say love. Say love. Da-da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da. Say love. Jill Scott and the Isley Brothers. That's half of the Jill Scott compilations. This next one's from Nostalgia. Nostalgia 77. The tune's called Sleepwalker. Available on True Thoughts Records. You're not always born on the good foot. Can't always open the right door. You walk with your eyes closed. You're gonna hit the wall. You're gonna fall. Fall to a hole. When you're in the hole. Open your eyes. Sleepwalker. Sleepwalker. Sleepwalker. Sleepwalker. Sleepwalker. Some are lucky but you are no. They won't always be way back home. They can pop in on a string. He's just climbing to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. They can pop in to his stick. Make his own way Live day to day Open your eyes Sleepwalking Walking Sleepwalking Sleepwalking People turn your back on you Cause you ain't playing by the rules Sleepwalking They say life is a game I say it's a shame You must play Your own way Have some bit of say You must open your eyes Sleepwalking Who are you? Sleepwalking Sleepwalking Yeah, that tune's available for free on www.truththoughts.co.uk. Next up, the Agrolytes' Prisoner song. Hellcat Records. Hi. Yeah. I wanna come back I ain't got the strength to carry on This is a bone and chain no more Oh, it's four I got to get back on track Because I said I want my own life back When I walked that two-way line I know I was gonna see them prisoners crying out Yeah I got to, got to get on out now From this dreadful world All the prisoners Yeah Oh, I got to get away now From this side of the wall When I come out I know this time I won't come back no more Because I heard all about my Oh, that revolving door Oh, I got to do the best I can, Lord To break myself away from the evil man that I once was Yes, I do now And I know I need that fix I just got to stay out of the mix That feeds me Yeah All right And temptation will be strong, Lord But I know I got to just move along without it Oh, yeah Because I got to stop Think of what I'm doing now Stop Too many years of wasting Stop Oh, because I can't come back to this Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah I need a little help, Lord Just to get me over this hump now Cause I gotta get away now, yeah All the prisoners, yeah Now I got to do what? Get away now Prisoners, yeah I just need a little more strength now I got to, got to get on back now I got to move right from now Yeah, I know, I know, I know Oh yeah, all right Agri-Lights' Prisoner song was the name of that tune off of the OG Agri-Lights, the eponymously titled record. Yes, indeed. Hellcat Records. And Agri-Lights are playing March 8th, right? No? Who am I thinking of? Um, I don't know. Yeah. Jungle Fire. I'm sorry, man. Jungle Fire's playing March 8th. Well, they're good. I went and saw them play right here downtown LA a couple weeks ago. For sure. They're playing with the Lions, who you have a little connection with. Yeah. Where's that at, actually? Alex's Bar. Oh, okay. That's a pretty killer one-two punch. Two great bands. Yeah. I wonder if Alex will be there. Uh, probably. He usually is when I'm there. I've played there a couple times recently, and he's usually there. Mm-hmm. And do you say hi, Alex? I do. I've actually known him for a really long time, before he had his bar, when his bar was just a dream. He used to book at the Foothill in Long Beach. You remember that? Yeah, I do. Signal Hill. Yeah, I totally do. Yeah. It was an old, pretty much kind of like an old cowboy country western place. I can't remember if I've been there or not. Like, I remember the name, and it rings a bell, but... Mm-hmm. They used to have, like, punk rock and, you know, all kinds of rockabilly, ska, reggae shows. It's the show I was thinking of. It was the Untouchables. That sounds very likely. But, yeah, they looked at a place at this bar, because it was like they might have had a wagon wheel or some shit. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, basically like the Palomino. It was like that generation, an old 40s or 50s kind of country western bar that, by the time the 90s came around... Chicken wire on the stage. Anyway... They got country and western. Real fast, slow ones. I want to make sure that you understand that my exclusive Neighborhood Love Radio's exclusive vinyl dealer, is CD Trader over there in Tarzana, California, 18926 Ventura Boulevard in beautiful Tarzana, California. They got vinyl, used CDs. They got cassettes, Jeff. Oh, cool. They have a track. Yeah. I wish they did. Maybe they'll turn up. Anyway, if you're a listener in Neighborhood Love Radio and you go in there and say so, then you're going to get 10% off your entire purchase, whatever you want. Yeah. Any vinyl? You little treasure hunter, vinyl treasure hunters out there? I go there at least every couple weeks or so and start. Start thumbing fruit through the stacks and I always find something to bring home. CD Trader, Tarzana, California, Venture Neighborhood Love. 10% off your purchases. You're welcome. Yeah. Thanks. Anyway, what are some of your favorite places to play? In the world or in Los Angeles? Well, in the states. In the lower 48. Okay. Mainland. Howleyland. I mean, home is always great. Anywhere. Los Angeles. Southern California. Southern California. San Diego has always been a good stronghold for the agrolytes. It's always been a good audience there. Texas is usually good. San Antonio. Let's just cut right to the chase. Where are the best girls at that come to the shows? That's what the loved ones really want to know. Yeah. Those would probably be at like, I don't know, Justin Timberlake. Let's get down to brass tacks here. Justin Timberlake shows, I'm assuming. They don't come to Oklahoma. Oh, that nonsense. That is pure rubbish. Is it? Yeah. I've been to agrolyte shows. Oh. And you guys are magnets. Studs. Matter of fact, we should probably do this right now. For all the young ladies that come to agrolyte shows and find you guys sexually attractive, which agrolytes are single and available? Let's see. You really got to think about it? I have to think. Well, we've been alternating. Yeah, we have. You've been alternating women? Alternating members. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Well, no. That's less interesting than alternating women. Yeah. Yeah, sort of, you know. Are you yourself single? Yeah. How long you been single? Feels like forever. All right, ladies. You can always email me. You can always email me at radiosancho at gmail.com and send pictures and, you know, just a couple paragraphs on yourself, you know, your background, your breeding goals, ambitions, things like that. And I'll pick through them and I'll separate the chaff from the wheat and I'll present them to young, studly Jeff or Fred of the agrolytes. Sound good? Sure. Why not? Yeah. I'll help you out, buddy. Oh, cool. Thanks. I definitely need all the help I can get. And where are you guys off? What's next this year? I know you guys got working on a soul project, right? Yeah. A couple of guys? Yeah. Yeah. Jesse. Jesse Wagner, the singer, and I, we've been working on a, it's pretty eclectic as far as musically we try and, you know, working on things that we, that we've liked. And we've even had songs on the back burner for a couple years now. We're going to come back. Talk to you about that. Talk to you about that a little bit, right? Okay. I like the cliffhanger. Even want more. What is it? Sound and movement. Travel to the new Africa. Look into your own city and find it. If you don't, create it. Tune to our space and experience. The ghetto music revolution. Yes. It's rising. Yes. You are in London. But it feels like Rwanda or Lisbon. It's ugly. And embodies the beauty of the pure and raw. It's sexual. Fast. Innocent. And lives by the rules of the now. It's the legacy. Our common history. We welcome you to this cypher. Here you can communicate your feelings through the language of drums. Because your name is written and that's your ism. Most of us were not born in Africa. We are the people. We are the people. We are the people. They are畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫畫 Strengthful power Black cover Well well Watch this Some say strength man need no build up I'm a give the young a rise And more to build up When time a ride up like a polka dot See those innocent body Dem so polka got Lord Some say strength man need no build up I'm a give the young a rise And more to build up When time a ride up like a polka dot See those innocent body Dem so polka got This is my dear ball See that say why why Need man get a call I'm a ro fly high Resistance a vital I'm a want to drive by And scan the feet white quack Who down the boom by Human get a like a leopard Who will always keep its pot In the cool that we've got Ten times I'm child some despair I've seen a lot Who that I am for my evil Just to hold it to them chat Some say strength man need no build up I'm a give the young a rise And more to build up When time a ride up like a polka dot See those innocent body Dem so polka got Lord Some say strength man need no build up I'm a give the young a rise And more to build up When time a ride up like a polka dot See those innocent body Dem so polka got This has been hated in 175 Let's rid oneself from pollution Get the notion and be real Make it as a resolution Must destruction realise There's no need for this device Natural disaster kill us much Hunger still a customized Survival get so critical No love when it's an integral Evolution man get tactical War theory and practical Before mama mama so hurt To tell them, some so strength man need no build up I'ma give the young a rise a more to build up When time arise up like a polka dot See those innocent bodies them so polka dot Some so strength man need no build up I'ma give the young a rise a more to build up When time arise up like a polka dot See those innocent bodies them so polka dot Just like a dog walk on a cloud island Knock your reed off, eagle on the ark You better watch where you walk In a file down them a break it, rather rest them bad Mind traverse but know how you a step it Look out, feel and mind But still in and them willing, tell them put the war aside The rock to Libya it spread, reach far and wide Just think men, just now decide and let's fight the genocide Kill as well as suicide, so make that shot by your side Tell them, some so strength man need no build up I'ma give the young a rise a more to build up Boy Boy Boy Boy Boy Boy! When time arise up like a polka dot See those innocent bodies them so polka dot Lord Some so strength man need no build up I'ma give the young a rise a more to build up Boy When time arise up like a polka dot See those innocent bodies them so polka dot畫!!!!畫!畫!!畫!畫!! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A little down-tempo Afro-Peruvian vibe by way of Nova Lima. That's the Boozoo Bayou remix, Africa Landau. It's a good tune. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about where we left off about what you're doing now musically. Okay. Yeah, working on a recording right now with Jesse Wagner, singer of the Agrolytes. We've been sort of, you know, we've had a lot of songs that we've written either individually or even collaborated on together that really don't fit in, you know, they're stylistic, stylistically they can be little varied, you know, we're tapping into like old school soul and early 50s style R&B and even kind of 70s. Basically, it's all kind of has a vintage feel to it, but it's, and it's all soul kind of based music, you know, but it's something that wouldn't, it's not, Agrolytes is a specific style of reggae and it's not, and we even do some things that would probably fit into what Agrolytes do as well. Morphe form. Morphe form, and we're taking this opportunity to express a lot of things that we have been loving for years, but just don't, haven't been able to do musically, haven't, you know, original stuff that reflects the wide variety of things that we're all, that we're into individually and together. What do we call in this project? It's Jesse and Jeff for right now. We're basically putting the songs down, recording them, as step one, and we're in the process of figuring out the best way to get that out to the world, let everybody know about it. So loved ones, here's what I want you to do. I want you to email me at radiosancho at gmail.com and tell me, put your vote in on what Jesse and Jeff should name their band. That's not a bad idea, man, because we're kicking them around right now. I woke up today like, hey, what? And I'll go through them, loved ones. I'll separate the chaff from the wheat. And I'll forward the good ones over to Mr. Jeff over here. Awesome. Yeah. So I'll put my vote in right now. Okay. Back stabbeth. Mm, okay. You're impressed, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah, I can tell. I feel like the wind's been knocked out of you. Yeah, not quite that. That's actually happened to me a couple times, so I wouldn't say it's that overtaking, but yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. We'll mull it over. A little bit, you know. You don't have to answer right away. Okay. You can sleep on it. Well, yeah, we'll mull it over. So where are you living at nowadays? Actually, not too far from downtown, just a couple miles outside of downtown. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, oh, real fast, loved ones, I want to make sure to mention that, let's say Jeff or Fred, the bass player for the AgroLights, you're driving through the beautiful San Fernando Valley and you come upon beautiful God's Country, Canoga Park, California, there's so many great landmarks and so much great history there. It used to be called Owensmouth. They got a street called Owensmouth, but Canoga Park used to be called Owensmouth. Really? I didn't know that. Yeah, because it was at the base of the Owens River at one time. Okay. All right, but beautiful. I didn't know that. The crowning jewel of Canoga Park, California is Nathan's Tattoo and Piercing on... Topanga. Topanga, right by Sherman. You got it, man. Nathan's Tattoo and Piercing, and check this out. If you walk into that place and you let them know that you heard about them, from Neighborhood Love Radio, 20% off any good goods or services, meaning jewelry. You know that expensive jewelry? 20% off. Tattoo work. You want to get that full back piece of Oscar the Grouch that you've been talking about? For years. 20% off. I've been dreaming of that for years. You want to get a Nathan's Tattoo and Piercing hat? I thought you were going to say, like, logo tattooed on your forehead, Nathan's Tattoo. Well, they might give you a little better discount if you want to do that. If you want to do that, yeah. Probably that might be a free one. 20% off. Now, piercing, jewelry, cleaning products, tattoo work, all that stuff. They got a whole stable. A whole stable full of great artists. You should go down and check them out. Mention Neighborhood Love Radio, get 20% off. Putting it into perspective for people who aren't that savvy, L.A. and San Fernando Valley areas, Bryan Cranston, star of Breaking Bad, Walter White, hails from Canoga Park, California. I didn't know that. You didn't know that? No. Canoga Park high in everything, man. I had no idea. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Are you like me when Breaking Bad was over, you went back and started re-watching Malcolm in the Middles? I never watched Malcolm in the Middles. It's an interesting show. I want to say it's a brilliant show. It's one of those things where you watch maybe two episodes and it's okay, and then the third show's brilliant, and then it'll go back to like two shows of being just okay, and then the third show's brilliant. Okay. But I remember not really memorizing Mr. Cranston's name, but remembering, how is his name in the sitcom, and going like, this guy's genius. Yeah. Oh, man. He's a real physical comedian, you know, like Pratt Falls and Freak, you know, jumping around. Well, he definitely has established himself now. People know his name now. And now they know he's a Canoga Parkian. Owen's Mouthian. Canoga High, we're even the mascot as a gun, as the song goes. Ha ha. Yeah. So, anyway, yeah, Nathan's Tattoo and Piercing is at 7222 Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park, California. Cross Street is Sherman Way. Yeah, check it out. And so, I'm sorry, I missed it, where you're talking about where you're residing now, a couple blocks away? Not blocks, miles. Miles, sorry. Yeah. What's the foot traffic like? What's the street life going on in your neighborhood? It's pretty mellow. It's kind of a bit of a nook, like it's not an area that's, it's not a lot of people, but it's a lot of people, and it's a lot of people, and it's a lot of people, that would be, you would travel through, sort of, you know what I'm saying? You would go there because you live there. It's not like there's a lot of cross traffic. It's a flyover state. Pretty much, yeah. I like it, though. I like it. What are some good eats around there? Um, good. Same answer? As what? It's not really some place where you go to find something to eat there. I eat there, and there's not really gourmet cuisine, per se, but, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I just said per se. You did. That's great. So, you're kind of a road dog, right? You guys are always out playing gigs, and you travel a lot. Yeah. What's your, what's some of your road, kind of, I'm sure you got your key restaurants that you like to visit. Maybe some, what's some of your general, actually, let's talk about that. What are some of the finer places to eat around the states? Around the states? Oh, oh, man. I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Like, let's say you pull up in Chicago, or Tampa, or whatever, and, and kind of everyone's like, yeah, we got to go hit this place before we leave. Oh, man. I'm trying to, you're going to have to give me a minute on that one. I'm trying to, there definitely are restaurants like that, but we haven't been, we've been on a bit of a break for a few months, so. The Waffle House. Oh, Waffle House. Yeah. Waffle House is pretty much unavoidable. Always delivers. You know what you're going to get, and it's going to be at a pretty good price, too. Unless you go overboard with your hash brown fixings. For those of you who don't know, Waffle House is a, is a ubiquitous breakfast-based restaurant throughout the southern U.S. Once you hit Texas, man, heading east from, from here, from the west coast, once you, actually, they start in Phoenix. I know this. They start in Phoenix. There's a few. They're speckled about. You get into New Mexico, they're, they're in there, too. But once you hit Texas, it seems like almost every, every single exit, you know, off of I-10 has a Waffle House in it. Have you spent a lot of time in Phoenix? A lot of time? No. I've been through there many times, but, uh, I used to live there when I was a kid for a brief amount of time. And, uh, what's up, uh, goth comedian Dark Mark over there? What's going on, dude? Um, I lived on this street called Van Buren Street. Okay. Yeah, that's one of the main, main, like, Yeah, and I guess, from what I hear now, there's a good Van Buren and a bad one. Like, if you go down the road. Okay. I lived on the bad one. Okay. And there's, uh, there's a fair amount of, uh, Ladies of the Night, and stuff like that. Okay. And I remember kind of seeing a few, uh, condoms and syringes and stuff. When you were a kid, even? Yeah. Yeah, totally. And, uh, we were just kind of passing through. Uh-huh. And, uh, we, my mom took care of horses. Uh-huh. And so we'd work at the horse track, uh, Turf Paradise. Okay. And then, uh, we just, so often we'd have to grab a hotel for, like, a cheap hotel for, like, a week, and then move on to Prescott or something like that. Okay. Yeah. So, um, Prescott, I believe, is how the locals pronounce it. Prescott is how the locals pronounce it. That's where Billy Jack, Billy Jack was from. The old, uh, movies from the, uh, 70s, Billy Jack. He's from Prescott. Yeah. Yeah. He was a little guy with a big hat and a big kick. Kind of like Colorado. People, we say Colorado, but people who are from the state pronounce it more like Colorado. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Somebody told me that, uh, nowhere but L.A. do they say the in front of the freeway numbers. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's pretty, in Northern California, even, they won't say, you know, if you like, they'll be like, take 80 to 880. They don't say take the 80 to the 880. It's just like, and they're all five, that's what they are in the Bay Area, like 580, 880, 980. And then, like I said, I said I-10 when I was thinking about Texas because that's what they say in Texas. They'll say take I-10 or I-10. Mm-hmm. I-10. I-10. Mm-hmm. So you feeling pretty good nowadays? Uh, sure, why not? I'm actually really stoked on this music that we're, that we're working on because we've been meaning to do it for a long time so it's actually kind of given me, we're working with some musicians that are, that are, we've been meaning to do stuff with for a while so high caliber dudes so it's been. I think, I think you're probably like me and a lot of other people who are just happiest that are creative, you know, not even at a creative zenith, just when we're creating. I mean, you're just an artist and so you're in a natural state. Yeah, yeah, and I find, actually thinking about that, I find like sometimes I won't realize if I'm not doing that for a while that I'll start feeling a little restless or down, you know, and then it's like, you know, getting back into that, I'll be like, get into the, you know, do a rehearsal or to do a show. It's like, oh yeah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Gets you a little natural high. Everybody in the world want to dance if you want to. Lose your dance, your body move. Well, all right. But I can't sit, get up, get down, shake a booty. Lose your dance, your body move. Get up, well, all right. guitar solo Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, Ooh! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I know I have a little luck To make you have a real, real, real, real good time Gonna make you live it up Cause everybody's gotta move Everybody's gotta groove Everybody's making love show Everybody's gotta live it up Why did I do that? What's wrong? Just wanna have me big fun Been holding back for too long I got to, got to, got to Live it up Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah I wanna sing, wanna swing I wanna hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Isley Brothers, Live It Up from the Ultimate Isley Brothers collection. Before that we heard Neighbor, DJ, producer, musician, Matt Donsie, a.k.a. Neighbor. Drunk on the Funk, that's featuring Think Tank off of the Drunk on the Funk EP on the Super Hi-Fi label, that's a UK label. And started off with the classic Daz by Brick. Daz, you ever heard that term before? D-A-Z? D-A-Z-Z. Also the Daz band. No, does it mean something? Disco and jazz. I did not know that, no. We're learning things today. I learned, yeah. I'm glad I can come out of here. Thank you so much, Jeff, for coming by, man. And Backstabbeth. I learned that, too. Backstabbeth. Yeah. Loved ones, this is the musical extension of neighborhood-love.com. Please check out neighborhood-love.com for the artist interviews, little scene reports, neighborhood hotspots, and so on. My name is Johnny Scott Gramercy, and I'm on this every Sunday, 9 a.m. here at Skid Row Studios. Check out skidrowstudios.com for the finest. I'm Johnny Scott Gramercy. I'm Johnny Scott Gramercy. I'm Johnny Scott Gramercy.