The Dialogue sat with Aston Barrett Jr, the leader of the legendary reggae band The Wailers. Aston is travelling globally to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Legend," the highest-selling reggae album in history.
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00:00 Grammy award winning reggae artist Aston Barrett Jr. leader of legendary band the Wailers is
00:08 traveling the world celebrating the 40th anniversary of Legend, the greatest selling reggae album
00:15 of all time. Reggae has been a force for peace in the world, inspiring a spirit of tolerance
00:23 and helping to end conflicts.
00:24 Greetings, my name is Aston Barrett Jr. from the Wailers, son of Aston family man Barrett
00:30 and I am the band leader of the Wailers.
00:34 Aston is passionate about sharing the music and its message to fresh audiences and new
00:40 generations.
00:41 Please welcome from Kingston, Jamaica, Aston Barrett Jr. in the Wailers.
00:47 Hi Aston.
00:48 What's up man?
00:49 How you doing?
00:50 Great to see you.
00:51 Yeah, yeah.
00:52 Aston, you're traveling the world to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Legend by Bob Marley
01:00 and the Wailers, officially the best selling reggae album of all time.
01:05 What's it like for you to bring these iconic songs to such diverse audiences?
01:11 It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure and a privilege to be able to do that and just to see the
01:17 smile on everyone's face, you know, bringing everyone together, one love, one heart, let's
01:22 get together and feel alright.
01:24 It's amazing man, you know, just to see the culture and the nature of music and see how
01:30 the root of reggae, where it comes from.
01:34 Your father famously was bassist and band leader with Bob Marley and the Wailers.
01:40 Your uncle was the drummer.
01:42 What was it like for you growing up surrounded by this music and these legendary musicians?
01:48 What I would say growing up with my father, I learnt a lot, you know.
01:55 Actually I didn't really realize who my father really was until one day I put in a cassette
02:02 tape and I was watching a Bob Marley and the Wailers show in 1979, Santa Barbara.
02:13 My mother came in the room and she's like, "Oh there you go, look at your father."
02:16 And I'm like, that's when it clicked to me.
02:18 I'm like, "Oh, I want to be like him."
02:22 So when he came home from the studio, I said, "Daddy, I want to learn how to play bass."
02:30 And he's like, "Alright, have a few basses."
02:33 So I would say growing up with him, to have that one-on-one, I mean I had my own show.
02:38 I could be like, "Daddy, I want you to play this song for me."
02:41 And he'll just, "Okay, what song you want today?"
02:44 Like to grow up with that, it's a blessing and that's a memory that is just like, wow.
02:52 You know, it's a once in a lifetime you'll get something like that.
02:56 Do you feel a sense of responsibility then to protect your father's legacy and carry
03:03 it forward?
03:04 My respect for him and the music and the legacy is number one.
03:09 I feel it's very important to protect it and that's why we're continuing to keep the legacy
03:14 moving with the Wailers.
03:16 And when my father retired in 2016, he said I wanted to run the band.
03:23 So I had to make sure I had the education to make sure I can run the band the proper
03:27 way.
03:28 We just did the Bob Marley movie.
03:32 I played my father in it.
03:34 It was definitely something different.
03:37 It was amazing.
03:38 I learned a lot more about my father in it, you know.
03:42 And being surrounded and just doing the story and showing the people the other side of the
03:49 Wailers and Bob that they didn't know.
03:52 As you say, so many people have been inspired by the music and the Wailers themselves have
03:57 evolved over the decades, haven't they?
04:00 How does the band now compare to the original band?
04:06 We wouldn't really look on it as a comparison because our fathers, they did the work and
04:13 they paved the way for us.
04:15 So we were able to get a lot of the individual teachings from them.
04:21 And I learned a lot from my father.
04:23 So I was able to teach a lot of the band members that are here and still teaching them.
04:30 And that's why when you hear us, it sounds very close to that song because we got it
04:37 from the root.
04:46 You once said, I think, that you don't believe in songwriting just for the sake of it.
04:52 Can you give me an insight then into how you go about the process of making music?
04:58 Well, you know, like when you say songwriting, I believe that we should paint a picture before
05:04 we make music.
05:06 So like if I'm making music for myself, I usually just make music just by my mood.
05:13 I make music when I'm happy, sad, anything that could help to bring me up.
05:18 But like when we're doing music and then really want to, you know, give the people what they
05:24 need to get like from Bob Marley and the Wailers.
05:27 Aston, reggae music's had such a powerful impact on the world, hasn't it?
05:32 But do you also think it can be therapeutic for people, for the artists themselves, but
05:38 also for the audience?
05:40 It don't matter what we're going through, once we go on stage and play that music, we
05:46 forget about all trouble.
05:49 And it shows you how powerful the music is.
05:51 So I have a great team, my manager, Rich Alice, who was there from my dad's time, and my band.
05:59 Even, you know, those guys used to work with my dad when I was younger.
06:04 Christian used to work with my dad.
06:06 Matt used to work with my dad.
06:07 They were young working for my dad, and then since I took over, I still have them.
06:13 You know, so it's a whole family.
06:15 We travel everywhere in the world, and the love that we get, and people come to us.
06:21 You see the children, you see everyone from every race, every place.
06:26 It's amazing.
06:27 So, you know, it's peace, love, and unity, and that's what we want around the world.
06:33 And that's therapeutic, because that's what we need.
06:36 People that don't feel love, they will get the love from us.
06:38 I know, Ashton, there's going to be thousands of people here, plenty of families enjoying
06:43 this amazing concert in Qatar in just a few hours' time.
06:46 You've obviously got that to prepare for.
06:49 But what about the future afterwards?
06:52 What's next on the horizon for you?
06:55 So the Wailers album.
06:57 We have a new album coming out, also produced by Amelia Estefan.
07:02 It'll be out about June.
07:04 It's called "Evolutions."
07:06 So it's showing you the evolution of everything from my father time coming up to me.
07:13 And we planned all of this when my father was still alive.
07:16 I realized that it's time for me to really take over the real section of myself.
07:24 I have to do my father's legacy, and I wanted to do it so he could see it.
07:30 But he's still seeing it spiritually.
07:33 Every day, I feel it.
07:36 I feel him, but I'm staying strong.
07:38 And then the people and the audience, the fans, everyone keeps me up.
07:46 And it feels great.
07:48 Everyone playing their part in keeping the legacy going forward.
07:52 Ashton, thanks so much for being on the Dialogue with us.
07:55 Yeah, man.
07:56 Definitely.
07:57 [MUSIC]