The Dub Pistols were born in 1996 when Barry - who has also remixed tracks forthe likes of Moby, Limp Bizkit and Filter - solidified his beat-heavy sound.Later that same year, he signed three EPs to England1s Concrete label (There's Gonna Be A Riot, Westway and Best Got Better) and hasn't looked back.
With the Dub Pistols' Geffen debut, Six Million Ways to Live, the follow-up to 1998's critically-acclaimed Point Blank, Ashworth draws upon his broadest musical palette to date. Along with bandmates bassist Jason O'Brien and DJ Stix (who joined the band in 1998), Six Million Ways to Live is a fusion of sounds that are built on tough breakbeats that are bathed with hip-hop, ska, reggae, punk and soul.
"The last record was a series of tracks that were really for the dancefloor," explains Barry. "On Six Million Ways to Live, we wanted to work on a much bigger canvas...We worked more with horns and melody and really got into different types of samples and time signatures."
Rappers Planet Asia and Sight Beyond Light, featuring long-time collaborator T.K. Lawrence, lend their vocal skills and lyrical wisdom to the Pistols' complex musical gumbo. Also in the mix are veteran vocalists Terry Hall of The Specials on "Problem Is" and Horace Andy of Massive Attack ["Crazy"], who contribute heavy ska sensibilities recalling the second and third waves of the modern ska invasion.
Although critics and other musical pundits may twist themselves into knots figuring out where to place the Dub Pistols, Barry Ashworth and company are sure to stay a step ahead and take aim at any boundary or definition placed on their sound and probably throw a turntable or two at it like a Fender stuffed up the tweeter of a Marshall stack.
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