Aston Barrett Jr, the reggae musician transcending generations
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]