Interview with Chris Verso of High Fever

neighborhood love radio my name is johnny scott gramercy welcome to neighborhood love radio we play music we play soul funk reggae a little bit of uh afro beat a little bit of latin a little bit of hip-hop a little light dusting of uh maybe small jazz we are the musical extension of neighborhood-love.com a website devoted to music culture fashion food things like that on my uh at the table here my guest chris verso of the band high fever what's up chris hi hi chris is going to come down we're going to listen to some music and probably talk a little bit about said music and uh we want you to hang out with us will you i'm going to play up uh first up i got brown out from austin texas they're two you they got a pretty cool album out now of uh black sabbath covers it actually works they call it brown sabbath it actually works pretty well but this tune is way back from their 2012 uzi album on the nat geo label i'm going to follow that up with some classic funk from robert edwards please enjoy the show thank you loved ones so so so so so so so so so so so even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even even So ask the question. Now you're making me boozy, boozy, boozy. You never think that I can stop. Ask the question. Now you're making me boozy, boozy, boozy. guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo You never think that I can stop. Ask the question. Now you're making me boozy, boozy, boozy. You never think that I can stop. Ask the question. Now you're making me boozy, boozy, boozy. guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo Oh, come on, baby, let's do our thing. guitar solo Tonight's the night to party. guitar solo Woo! Making funky on the bottom. guitar solo Сер Сер Сер Сер!! Сер Сер Сер Сер Сер Fuckin' beat Love got me hoppin' Boppin' To your body heat Funky on the bottom Funky on the bottom Sweep on the top Sweep on the top Funky on the bottom Yeah Sweep on the top Sweat fallin' Sweat fallin' The room is burnin' hot I'm loaded up, baby Then shoot my shot Shoot my shot Yeah Shoot my shot Yeah, yeah Funky on the bottom Funky on the bottom Sweep on the top Sweep on the top Funky on the bottom Funky on the bottom Sweep on the top Sweep on the top Trip light flashin' You got the water bed splashin' Burnin' bush burnin' Got the room turnin' Funky On the bottom Sweep on the top Funky on the bottom Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Shoot my shot, shoot my shot, yeah. Shoot my shot, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna rock the groove to keep you moving. Dance on, we gonna rock on. We gonna party. Monkey on the bottom. Party, party. Monkey on the top. I know you can do it, girl. Monkey on the bottom. Look at you. Shaking your head from side to side. Monkey on the top. You know what to do to get in stride. Yes, you do. Monkey on the bottom, yeah. Make it sweet. Yeah. On the top. Rock the groove, keep it moving. Rock the groove, keep it moving. Rock the groove, keep it moving. Come on. Rock the groove, keep it moving. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Hey, left-hands, you like that one? There's a compiled, a compilation by DJ Sure Shot. Pardon me, left-hands. Put out on the Love and Hate Records, LA's own Sheridan House Records, an old funk and soul record label. They put out a box set. You can find more about that on the Love and Hate record label or also Ubiquity Recordings, too. Robert Edwards was the name of that dude. But this is Labiche Chiffre. Some classic kind of soul jazz. If you're not familiar with this one, I think you'll be very much in love with it. I got the blues But I don't mind All I have to do Is get to you And then I feel just fine I'm on a down high But not all the way When I'm feeling low You do your thing just so And then I feel okay You're so good The way you give You're so good You're the best there is I got the blues Got it all so bad When I think of me It's hard to be A person quite so sad Cause you got the answer And it makes me glad When I'm feeling slow You give me rock and roll And then I feel it bad You're so good The way you give You're so good You're the best there is You're the best there is You're the best there is You're the best there is You're the best there is I was lost But now I'm found Tending love Yet wise Morning love Sun won't shine I'll get by With a hand I was lost But now I'm found Tending love Yet wise Just a hopeless Sun won't shine I'll get by With a hand I was lost But now I'm found But now I'm found In your sea Sun won't shine With a sweet Dream In your dream When you know I hold my heart I will stay In your dream In your dream In your hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot In hot hot hot Abyssinian Free 50 plus year recording legend I looked up a I guess a pretty cool quote by the guy the other day Abyssinian Free The insistence that one should be ethnic is endemic irritating and insulting Pretty cool to hear an artist say that A black artist He's actually from England From London, England I believe Before that we heard Robert Edwards Funky on the bottom was the name of the artist of the tune And the box set I was mentioning is called Catch Action The Sophisticated Boogie Funk Of Sheridan House Records Which is basically a classic soul funk disco reggae record label Oh not reggae but a record label out of Los Angeles The compilation was done by DJ Sure Shot For the good folks and revivalists over at Love and Hate Records That'll be out September on CD and MP3 digitally And I think there's an LP box set version right after that We started off the set with Brown Out Uzi is the name of the tune I think I play Brown Out at least once every two shows or so That's on the Nat Geo label Chris Verso is here with us What's up Chris? Hey, how are you? I'm good And Chris Verso is from the band High Fever H-I-F-E-V-E-R All girl ska reggae band Mostly reggae Mostly reggae And I was playing with the Disgustingtons for a little while While their regular basis was out of town Big Dan I was filling in his big shoes there for a while And we got to play a show together It really was your debut show Even though the following show on the flyer said the debut of I didn't publicly call bullshit on that Well it was the following show was supposed to be our debut And then I intervened Yes I cock blocked Yes you did You stole that That's right But it was great man That was probably one of the best debuts I've ever seen Like everybody was into it It was super fun And I'll be honest with you A lot of times you go see reggae or rock Any newer band And You know I sort of halfway got my mind to be a little bit judgmental about it But Completely honestly like it was I was going in there expecting to feel one way But it was really really good Like I was blown away Nice The two keyboards Your harmonies Everything was really good Everybody had a lot of pep And it was fun You guys made it really fun You jibber jabbered with the audience a little bit Thank you It was awesome Yeah I think At least right now since Yeah you say reggae People expect one thing Yeah And while I love I guess traditional reggae What people think of like Bob Marley or Peter Tosh We're doing a little bit of a 60s I guess mod take on it More danceable Yeah just different And all girls so there's a feminine you know side of it I guess Well who doesn't like to look at girls And I think it's a good thing that we're doing it And And the band spells it H-I-F-E-V-E-R And you can find them on all of Facebook there High Fever Also on their Instagram high dash It's underscore I think High underscore fever underscore girls right Yes And so lots of bikini shots and skin shots on the Instagram Yeah no No Not right now Okay lots of pictures of your food Yes Okay Yes what the High Fever girls eat Yes No It needs to be well documented Yeah Excellent But what neighborhood are you living in Like not specifically but you know round about Well a few of us are from different places but I guess What about you specifically Me specifically West Hollywood West Hollywood That is my neighborhood How long you been in About eight years Yeah it's a great walking neighborhood too Yeah Yeah Eight years Yeah almost I think Yeah almost I think there's been a lot of changes in eight years but especially a lot of changes I remember when I was a teenager that was one of the few places where you could go to see like a hardcore show because they're pretty liberal around there Yeah And it's blossomed into this like crazy walking village Yeah You know like they shorten the they narrowed the streets and widen the sidewalks You know Yeah And it's pretty interesting Well I mean Good for them Yeah I like I mean where I specifically live is I guess there's a lot of the Hollywood crowd actresses and models and what not Like who I don't know specifically Drop some names I don't know specifically but I my area has some of those designers You see famous people around We do You say hi to them you go through their trash what happens No No but we see a lot of paparazzi looking into stores Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah I see looking into store windows in our neighborhood Really Yeah So see a lot of that but where I really like to I like to walk down to Fairfax that area Yeah A little bit more my speed Yeah like the farmers market Yeah Counters It's my favorite Yeah They used to have that falafel joint eat a pita remember that place Yes That place was awesome It was It's gone And they're they don't have anything on the street Yeah They don't have anything on the street Yeah They don't have anything on that property it's No It's weird Yeah They haven't built anything That's a that's a there's an animal Golden State across the street Yeah There's some good restaurants in there Yeah And that's just below what has been coined the dude district The dude district Yeah it's where like the that one shop with the skateboard ramp in it Oh yeah yeah There's a lot of bro dude stuff going on Yeah just moved in kind of within the past few years Yeah A lot of sneaker shops Yeah I think that's where Tyler the Creator lives and stuff Yeah Oh okay And so you got sort of the tag alongs there and Right I tend to go a little bit more towards Third Street or the Grove Farmer's Market it's my favorite place Hey you know the guys in the Lions right Yes Yeah Lions Reggae Yes And I'm gonna play a Lions tune from their first debut their actual debut LP This Generation Roll It Round that's out on the Stones Throw label this is a haunting tune man I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Let's watch the flowers grow, and plant the seed We'll make it wetter, make it sweater, not a downer, feebler Let's roll it down, hold it down Push a little tighter, make a joyous sound Roll it down, lock it down Twist a little tighter, love Gun fitter, ruts clipper, reaching for the heights And all I got to say that if it's nice, do it twice And if you hungry, girl, I'll feed your appetite Sprinkle a little pepper, I'ma shake a lick of spice See a movie, I'm boogie woogie Show you why them punks call a rude boy a Rudy I know you choose it, so won't you choose it Your mama might love me, but your daddy won't approve me Roll it down, hold it down Push a little tighter, make a joyous sound Roll it down, lock it down Twist a little tighter, make it higher now Roll it down, hold it down Push a little tighter, make a joyous sound Roll it down, lock it down Twist a little tighter, love I need something simple, I want for kiss a little dimple Throw a rock in the ocean then watch the water ripple It's first I trickle then I lick a sprinkle Take it from the hips and then we're gonna roll it from the middle Let's take it easy, I love you deeply The neighbors keep knocking, say them won't we call the PD And won't you tease me, I love you sweetly Let's twist it up and skin it up until your eyes get fleeky Roll it down, hold it down Push a little tighter, make a joyous sound Roll it down, lock it down Twist a little tighter, make it higher now Roll it down, hold it down Push a little tighter, make a joyous sound Roll it down, lock it down Twist a little tighter, make it higher now Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm wondering what to do. When that hits us hard, it makes us feel so weak. Reach out to the ones we love for the strength we seek. I say that love, love is to give. Kiss out to love, love is to live on. Love, love is to give. Kiss out to love, love is to live on. In that darkest hour. All we know is fear. Sometimes it feels the only way is to disappear. To make that great escape. Say the end is here. Lost is our faith in love. Love, love is to give. Kiss out to love. Kiss out to love, love is to live on. Love, love is to give. Kiss out to love, love is to live on. Love is to live. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes life is cruel. Never see what's coming. It's the morning rule. Though life may be hard. Of course it will be kind. Give it with love. Give it love, love. Love is to give. Kiss out to love, love is to live on. Love, love is to give Can't stop the love Love is to live, oh, oh Love is to live That was Chris Murray from L.A. That song is for free if you want to go and support. If you go to the website ChrisCare, C-R-I-S, just like my guest Chris, but a different Chris, ChrisCare.org, it's in support of a pretty cool chick who got diagnosed with MS and she needs a little bit of help. Anyway, you could go there and find that song for free on ChrisCare.org. This is Prince Fatty meets Nostalgia 77, Medicine Chest Dub. This is from their forthcoming LP on the True Thoughts label. Enjoy. Medicine Chest Dub Medicine Chest Dub Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh 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. are. Got it. And people get to shout in a little bit. Cornhole is the name of the game. Okay. Yeah. And we'll go cornhole. We'll go cornholing somewhere up there on Hill Street. Sure. By La Cita. Anyway, LA, I guess, is what I'm talking about. And just walking through the streets. Man, I love it here. And I did a little traveling recently, but always fun. Always happy to get back home to Los Angeles. Hey, if you like what you hear behind the sound of, if you're tuning out the sound of my voice and in lieu of the music playing behind me, that's the Raw Project. The name of the tune is Do Ryan from the Score record. The record's called Score 2009. They're from Melbourne. Contemporary music duo embracing both new and old traditional elements of jazz. What's next? Does High Fever have any shows? Not right now. Probably soon. We just played a couple. Where'd you play last? We played at the Grand Star. Grand Star. I don't know that one. It's the Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown. Oh, cool. Yeah. It's right at the beginning of the plaza, I guess, on Broadway near the Bruce Lee statue. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's in the plaza there. Yeah. I have noticed a sign. I've never been there, though. Yeah. They have a downstairs and an upstairs. We played the upstairs area for a club called Shindig. Oh, yeah. Shindig. That's by the crew that does, they do a couple other clubs. Yeah. It's Mila. She hosts Shindig. But yeah, that was really fun. And then we had a show before that. Lots of liquid eyeliner. Yes. Yes. Lots of, yeah, liquid eyeliner and little mini skirts. Oh, it's like a... It's like I was there. I know. Yeah. In spirit. That's cool. That's a cool environment. Yeah. Yeah. And that sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah. It was. We had a good show. Mm-hmm. Have you been to the alleys behind, in the plaza, like between the buildings? They have some great alleys, like great Photoshop or great photo opportunities there, like, because they look like foreign alleys. I have a picture of the kid and my daughter, like, just running up the alley, and we were there for some festival. She's just running up the alley, and everyone's like, where was that picture taken? And it's like, LA, downtown, county town. But it just kind of catapults you to somewhere else around the world, a little bit more third world-ish looking, you know? Yeah. I haven't... Someplace with fish heads on the ground. I haven't explored those alleys, but I've gone back where those art galleries are. Yeah, for sure. I feel like we're... Chungking Road. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like we're in a time warp, actually. Ironically, I haven't had a lot of good food in the area. Yeah. Well... Yeah. You'd think there would be some great food around there. Yeah. No dice. No. You gotta go walk down to Oliveira Street. Oh, well, yeah. Definitely. Hey, you gonna stick around? You wanna hear some more music? Sure. All right. Let's see what... The Queen of Memphis soul, Carla Thomas. Her very first hit was called Gee Whiz, Look at His Eyes, and we're gonna hear it. She recorded it when she was 15. She's still around. She has legendary stacks recording. She's a great artist. Carla Thomas. After that, we're gonna hear new music from the Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra. They have a record, a CD version of their records coming out August 26th. We're getting a little peek at that. Anyway, Carla Thomas. Enjoy. She's got everything a girl could want. She's got everything a girl could want. She's got everything a girl could want. She's got everything a girl could want. Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man It's paradise I hope I'm not here Do you call? Do you call? Heaven up above Knows how much I love That fellow so Angels sing Of the love I bring I hope our love will grow and grow Cause gee whiz I love that guy Gee whiz My love My, my, oh, my There are things we could do I could say I love you But all I can say is Gee whiz Gee whiz Gee whiz Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Here we go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time. This has been Neighborhood Love Radio. My name is Johnny Scott Granversi. I'm here with Chris Verso. Thank you so much, Chris. Thank you. We're going to wrap right now. I'll see you next week. Oh, by the way, you can always email me at radiosancho at gmail.com. Thanks, loved ones.