Since forming in Madrid, Spain several years ago, the reggae trio, the Emeterians, have consistently delivered reggae albums with an electrifying verve combined with a stirring mix of lyrical, soulful, thought-provoking roots reggae anthems.
The Emeterians consists of members Maga Lion, Brother Wildman and Sister Maryjane. They believe that now, more than ever, the world needs a powerful voice of reggae music to tackle the inequalities which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We think reggae music is and always has been a music that carries a message of righteousness, socially committed to fight injustice and preserve the principles of equality. We firmly believe this message is timeless and it will continue to encourage and guide mankind to finally achieve a better tomorrow,” Maga Lion said.
The Emeterians have consistently shown appreciation for diverse types of reggae on tracks such as the splendid ‘Love is the King’ and roots-rock, horn-happy ‘Positivity=Possibility’, which can be heard on their previous albums. The group’s last album, Roots O’Clock, was released by VPAL Music in 2019. The pandemic forced the group to cancel a lot of shows and to postpone the release of an acoustic album.
“With the pandemic, like for most artists, all our shows were cancelled. We were coming from our best year so far, 2019, so we had festivals already booked and plans to finally travel to JA and the US in 2020. We also wanted to release an acoustic live album in April, which we had to postpone. But it also affected us in a positive way in the sense that we were able to work on new recordings. We also had the chance to work on several cover songs with UB40’s Brian Travers, a new album, the Lockdown Project,” Maga Lion said.
The US just suffered its deadliest month of the pandemic with more than 95,300 Covid-19 deaths in January. That’s an average of more than 3,070 deaths a day. The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 106.5 million people, according to official counts. As of this week, at least 2.3 million people have died from coronavirus.
The trio firmly believes that there is an upside in even transforming the tragedy and fear wrought by the pandemic into an opportunity for personal growth and even rebirth. There are a slew of opportunities to connect with fans and continue the mission.
The trio is now promoting the excellent single, ‘World Crisis’, which was produced by Frankie Music. The single is being distributed by VPAL Music and will be available on all download digital platforms during Reggae Month.
“We were also part of a beautiful project called “Female Reggae Voices” with lots of talented empresses from around the globe. The truth is that the pandemic is teaching us how important music really is for everyone and how simple things do matter. We think the industry needs to re-adapt, the same as we artists and musicians and re-adapt again when the gigs come back,” Sister Maryjane said.
The trio relied heavily on social media to maintain a relationship with fans.
“We definitely had to focus on our social media and try to increase the engagement with our fans. We have been learning a lot about how to make your social media more appealing by creating lots of different formats and being able to regularly provide interesting content to our fans. Regarding Instagram Live sessions we are trying to do at least one each month, however, as the three of us don’t live together sometimes its not possible due to confinement,” Brother Wildman said.
The trio participated in many online streaming festivals and fundraisers, and are seeking out new ways to stay connected to their musical family.
The Emeterians released Power of Unity, their debut album, four years after they formed in 2004. In 2015, the trio followed up with their second album, ‘Inna Different Style’, which was followed by The Journey in 2016, and their fourth album, ‘Roots O’Clock’ in 2019.
The Emeterians have graced the stage at several major festivals including Rototom Sunsplash in Benicassim, Spain, as well as major shows in the Balearic Islands, Portugal, Germany and London.
