Get extended access to 1600+ episodes, binge watch your favorite shows, and stream anytime - online or in the PBS app.
Already a Arizona PBS member?
You may have an unactivated Arizona PBS Passport member benefit. Check to see.
Season 2 Episode 8 | 7m 57s | Video has closed captioning.
The Irie visited the Arizona PBS studios to perform "Kick It" and “Mango Island." This reggae band hailing from Chandler, Arizona, was formed by George Ruiz in 2012. Although the band has gone through several iterations, the current lineup has been turning heads since late 2019.
Aired: 03/31/23
- Hi, we're the The Irie.
- And you're listening to "Playlist 48".
- On Arizona PBS.
(air swooshes) (mouse clicks) ♪ Wake up in the morning ♪ Got nothing to do ♪ Don't feel like doing nothin' ♪ ♪ But to kick it with you ♪ Roll a lil' somethin' ♪ Burn all afternoon ♪ While the sun is fallin' ♪ We have us some fun like ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ With you, ooh yeah ♪ I'm flying high ♪ High in the sky ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with you ♪ ♪ I'm sippin' wine ♪ Time on my side ♪ Playin' it cool, playin' it cool ♪ ♪ Wake up next mornin' ♪ Can we do it again ♪ Throw my own party ♪ Like it's the weekend ♪ Champagne on ice ♪ It's a celebration ♪ Going full throttle ♪ Pop another bottle ♪ Like ooh, yeah ♪ With you, ooh yeah ♪ I'm flying high ♪ High in the sky ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with you ♪ ♪ I'm sippin' wine ♪ Time on my side ♪ Playin' it cool, playin' it cool ♪ ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with ♪ ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with ♪ ("Kick It" continues) ("Kick It" continues) ♪ Yeah ♪ Yeah, I'm flying high ♪ High in the sky ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with you ♪ ♪ I'm sippin' wine ♪ Time on my side ♪ Playin' it cool, playin' it cool ♪ ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with ♪ ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with ♪ ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with ♪ ♪ Ooh, yeah ♪ Kick it with you, kick it with ♪ (air swooshes) (mouse clicks) - Right after high school I was playing rugby with my coach Bought Land in Molokai, Hawaii.
So right after high school, he offered us an opportunity.
He was like, "Dude, I bought some land.
I need some help to maintenance the farm, a mango farm.
So you guys, if you guys are willing to come down, I'll get your tickets and you guys will work, like basically work to stay and I'll pay you too as we go along."
So we used to like hitchhike into town to like sell boxes of mangoes just to get by.
So it's basically about my experience there.
(air swooshes) This one is called "Mango Island", yo.
("Mango Island") ("Mango Island" continues) ♪ I remember pickin' mangoes on the island ♪ ♪ Smokin' on the kine, feelin' like I'm flyin' ♪ ♪ Partyin' all night til we see the sunshine ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ I took a chance ♪ On paradise ♪ One way ticket ♪ Ima be all right, I'll be all right ♪ ♪ So take a chance ♪ On paradise ♪ You know everything's gonna be all right ♪ ♪ Gonna be all right ♪ I remember pickin' mangoes on the island ♪ ♪ I remember pickin' mangoes on the island ♪ Let's go.
("Mango Island" continues) ♪ Rum drunk, far from the main land ♪ ♪ Feeling this irie vibe, yeah ♪ Dancin' under the moon light ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ I took a chance ♪ On paradise ♪ One way ticket ♪ Ima be all right, Ima be all right ♪ ♪ So take a chance ♪ On paradise ♪ You know everything's gonna be all right ♪ ♪ Gonna be all right ♪ Yeah ("Mango Island" continues) ("Mango Island" fading) (air swooshes) (mouse clicks) The Irie we started, okay-- - We're all from Phoenix.
- Yeah, we're from Phoenix.
Yeah.
- We're all natives.
- We've been a band for about three years, but all of us have our separate projects.
So we've been doing music for about like 11 years altogether, so.
Music scene is beautiful right now, especially for the reggae scene.
The reggae scene in Arizona has kind of been like up and down, but right now I think we're flourishing and-- - Yeah, I think it's been growing a lot.
- Yeah, it's getting stronger.
My first experience I remember, my mom used to drive us around just to get out of the house and would always blast like the oldie channel, like the '70s, like Brent Woods type of stuff.
So, I was probably about like five years old.
- Wanting to know when I wanted to play drums, it was like, when my dad was like playing Green Day in the car and he was air drumming and I was like, "Oh, what's that?"
And then he got me a drum set for Christmas and then it's been that from there on.
- Yeah, I think one of my first memories of music was waking up in the morning, my mom is blasting Ace of Bass, "I Saw The Sign", and my dad would be, when my dad would wake us up, it'd be like some Santana type of stuff.
And "Black Velvet" also comes through a lot.
It's a good song.
- Heck yeah.
- Carries on.
Well, we do kind of turn it up at the end of some songs.
We'll kind of spice it up.
Not, you know, same chords as the recording, but we just kind of add a little, you know, like punk or little rock to it.
Just something to spike it up a bit.
- Yeah, we kinda just, yeah, we kind of just like go in the studio and like a lot of times me and him, we would just go to his house and like have a couple beers or whatever and just kind of create whatever comes to mind.
We kind of don't have a direction really.
It's just whatever feels good at the moment, you know.
But we definitely love the root of reggae 'cause that's what we were raised off.
My thing has always been, it's been a really a good therapy for me.
And if it helped me, if I could share that energy with other people, that's why I like doing what I do 'cause it helped me.
You know?
So, yeah.
- Heck yeah.
