Biography
Wood In Di Fire rock the dancehall with Jamaican jazz and heavy reggae grooves at their monthly live jams at Berlin's Schokoladen club. Wood In Di Fire began as a session project. After five years, several tours and recordings they've become a band with an astonishing groove. But the session idea is still alive: Guests and members add flavours from Reggae, Trip Hop, Ska, Electro or Latin and make the music rich of unexpected turns. Wood In Di Fire have already prooven that they're able to put that down on CD. Their first album ¿Que Pasa? was listed in the critic's top ten 2003 of the german Reggae magazine Riddim.
Like ¿Que Pasa? the new album OFF THE HOOK was recorded live in a barn in the countryside somewhere north of Berlin. The album features Susan Pawlak (velvet voice), Longfingah (ragga-emphasis), Ann (times to remember) and Eric (SambaRamba KlockTock).
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In spring 2000, a couple of musicians from various Berlin bands had enough of practising their band's programs and clearly defined style all the time. They met in a much to small rehearsal room in Prenzlauer Berg with just one aim: just play and indulge in the reggae groove. Their musical backgrounds: Mother’s Pride (Ska), Luniq (Trip Hop), Ska-T (Ska-Punk-Ragga), The Special Guests (Ska), Sonidos Unidos (Latin/Calypso?), JazzBo (60ies Ska-Jazz), La Foot Creole (New Orleans-Jazz).
Later that year, Wood In Di Fire started to play public sessions at Schokoladen club. They were often joined by friends from other bands - or people who just dropped by with their instruments. The band still plays those sessions every month. Today it's an institution of the Berlin Reggae scene.
Not only the music is improvised: In summer 2001 Wood In Di Fire produced a first demo. With a few hundred CD-ROM copies the crew started on a spontaneous tour through France and Spain. The demo album "Harvest In The East" probably still serves to bring back the holiday memories of some enthusiastic tourists, who witnessed the chaotic concerts - on the beach promenade or in the small sports pub in nizza, somewhere on a camping ground or in that squat in Paris...
Wood In Di Fire started playing more and more "regular" concerts, among them concerts with The Slackers or at the "Dub Club" party at Flex club in Vienna.
In May 2003 the band released a vinyl single: "Jah War" (RecSin) is a cover version of a song by the legendary british punk band Ruts from 1979. The B-side of the single contains a dub version by Rod Gonzales (Die Ärzte).
The first regular album ¿Que Pasa? was released in August 2003. The basic tracks were recorded live in a barn in the countrysinde somewhere north of Berlin. It found a distributer in France (Mosaic). Wood In Di Fire returned to France, touring there twice in February and August 2004.
March 2000 March: Recording of the "Harvest In The East" demo
Autumn 2000 First Jam-Sessions at Schokoladen club, Berlin
Sommer 2001
Wood In Di Fire played on a truck at the "Karneval der Kulturen" (carnival of cultures) in Berlin
Tour through Switzerland, France and Spain
Herbst 2001 Regular live band at "Island Night Club", Zosch Club, Berlin
April 2002 Concerts in Vienna
August 2002 Recording Sessions for the second CD ¿Que Pasa?
2003 Release of ¿Que Pasa?
2004 February: Release of ¿Que Pasa? in France;
Second tour in France
August: Third tour in France
2005 Release of OFF THE HOOK
Line Up
Florian Stauch – Trombone
Daniel Sauerborn – Alto Sax
Nick Behr – Tenor Sax
Benjamin Wendt – Guitar
Christoph Becker – Guitar
Martin Bartels – Double Bass
Lukas Leonhardt – Drums
Erik Wisniewski – Percussion
Longfingah – Vocals
Susan Pawlak – Vocals
Ann Kristin Beelitz – Vocals
The (guest-) musicians play / played in other well known Berlin bands: e.g. The Special Guests (Ska), Mother's Pride (Ska, Reggae), Ska-T (Reggae, Ragga), Jazzbo (Jamaican Jazz), La Foot Creole (New Orleans Jazz), Thursday's Rhythm & Beat Organization (60ies Beat, Soul).
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.