Feature: Rebel Control Decodes ‘Love People Power’
Photo Credit: Simon Jaymes
What was the creative process like for this particular album?
The creative process itself was easy (ha — we just find a handful of chords and a groove and write about what’s on our minds). It was the practical side that became a challenge and ended up taking far longer than expected!
We’d been working on demos of a bunch of songs and had just narrowed it down to 9 tracks that sat really well together lyrically and musically, when an old friend of ours, producer Graham Pilgrim, reached out. He had been working at Wolfe Studios in San Cesareo near Rome, Italy, and said it would be a great spot for recording reggae. So we booked the flights and took some of the crew out for a long weekend.
Over a couple of days we laid down drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and percussion — mostly live after jamming along with the demos of the songs. Not long after that, the whole Covid situation kicked in and everything got locked down. Soon after that, I fractured a bone in my hand and couldn’t play for a long while and one of our key crew members was also going through some mental health challenges.
Once we were finally able to get back to it, we set up when we could at Soundflower Studios in Wembley, London, finishing the vocals, doing backing vocals and all the additional layers — like the horn section, lead guitar, keyboard and percussion overdubs. Then Graham mixed the finished songs back at his studio in Rome when he had time between his other projects.
How do you feel ‘Love People Power’ represents your artistic identity?
This album was always meant to showcase the live band side of what we do. We were really blessed to work with such an amazing crew of musicians; the whole album is live instruments — no samples or programming, just real playing.
But there is another side to us — we love getting into some dancehall riddims or drum and bass vibes sometimes too. So watch out!
Can you talk about any standout tracks on ‘Love People Power’ and what makes them special to you?
“Things” is a personal favourite — it just came together so naturally. It’s got a nice, light, chill vibe that I love. “Smile” is another one — I hope we struck the right balance with the reggae/pop crossover on that one! And lyrically “Scare Dem” and “Don’t Let Them Fool Ya” feel like important tracks for these turbulent times we’re living in.
Can you tell us more about you as a band?
We’ve been doing this for a while now — made some nice tunes, played some amazing shows; we’ve made people smile, dance and hopefully think a little bit too. For us, it’s always been about sharing good vibes and spreading a positive message.
What is the message you want to convey?
That’s an easy one! We’ve always been about peace, love and unity. Simple as that!
