When the name “Baha Men” comes up in conversation among music fans, a lot of people think of a band that was an overnight success, or worse, a one-hit wonder. After all, the song “Who Let The Dogs Out?” was inescapable in 2000, going to #1 in multiple countries. But in truth, the Baha Men formed out of the ashes of High Voltage – a band which formed in 1979 – and released albums on the Big Beat, Atlantic and Mercury labels before 2000’s Who Let The Dogs Out. In 1994, the group had appeared in the Gérard Depardieu movie, My Father The Hero, which also featured a young Katherine Heigl. And in the years following their “peak” in 2000, four albums have been released by the Bahamian ensemble, including 2015’s Ride With Me.
In advance of the Baha Men’s then-upcoming show at B.B. King’s – their first New York City performance in over 10 years – I did some Q&A with vocalists Rik Carey and Dyson Knight. Unfortunately, the Grammy-winning act’s show in Times Square was cancelled after our interview took place, so this article sat on the shelf for a while. Hopefully a new live date will be announced for the New York area, but in the meantime, prepare to learn more about the Baha Men’s past, present and future.
For more information on the group – which also includes bassist Isaiah Taylor, drummer Colyn “Mo” Grant, guitarist Patrick Carey, keyboardist Jeffrey Chea, percussionist Anthony “Monks” Flowers, vocalist Leroy “Breaka” Butler, and music director and guitarist Herschell Small – click on over to www.bahamen.com.
What do you wish more people knew about the Baha Men?
Dyson Knight: The main thing we would like the world to know is that the band consist of real professional musicians! Our guitar player Pat can rip with the best of them. Our percussionist “Monks” is a master at his craft, to the point where he even constructs and customizes his own instruments. Every member of the band is seasoned in the arts. We are writers, producers and crazy energetic entertainers!
Your group was arguably the first group from the Bahamas to achieve major international success in the music world. But when I went to the Bahamas, I remember hearing that John Lennon did some writing while in the Bahamas and David Bowie often spent time there. Are there other prominent artists who’ve been influenced by the Bahamas?
D: Lenny Kravitz has a studio and has recorded a number of his hits here. He has revealed the story of writing “Fly Away” on the Bahama shores. He has also wrote and produced a song with the band called “Sunny Day” as well as featured on the song “I Just Want To Fool Around” that’s on the Move It Like This album.
The WWE personality John Layfield Bradshaw, or JBL, is another famous resident of the Bahamas. Have you ever run into him?
D: No, I haven’t. But it’s safe to say that the Bahamas is not at all a star-struck society. It’s the reason so many celebrities enjoy spending time here. We look at everyone as family.
Recently there were a few articles on The Baha Men is major U.S. publications, including a long one in Sports Illustrated. Those articles were largely rooted in the nostalgia of “Who Let The Dogs Out?” Does it bother you when people associate your group with one particular song as opposed to decades of existence?
D: Well, after putting your all into new material, it’s naturally preferred to at least get a fair review of the work. We accept that “Who Let The Dogs Out?” is a huge song, but we would like it to be associated with other epic songs and not the branding factor of the band. Songs like “Money Money Money” and “Ghost Busters” are good comparison examples. I feel that any working artist wouldn’t find it encouraging to only have people focusing on past work without giving the new material a chance.
Do you have a favorite usage of one of your songs in a movie?
D: I love the fact that “Who Let The Dogs Out?” is in the movie The Hangover, simply because the movie is FANTASTIC. But I’m most fond of “Best Years Of Our Lives” being in the movie Shrek. The placement and use of the song is a true testament of what Baha Men is all about. A fun loving band that believes in bring the bright side of living to front and centerstage.
How would you describe your new album Ride With Me to someone only familiar with your hit songs?
D: The Ride With Me album is geared to bring positive, mature, family friendly music into the industry. The feel-good vibes that we enjoy on a daily, being island boys, is audible throughout this album, even though the sound maintains a current party perfect punch!
For someone who hasn’t seen the Baha Men live before, how would you describe one of your live shows?
D: “We liked your song ‘Who Let The Dogs Out?’ but we didn’t know you guy were amazing!” is the sentiment expressed by persons while being asked for selfies at our most recent performances. It’s a great compliment and the best way I can explain us live in short. More detailed, one can expect great music with live guitars, drums, percussions, bass, keys, vocals with very little use of backing tracks. In fact, a lot of the songs in our sets are entirely acoustic. We also add a good deal of dancing – choreographed and freestyle — to our performances. There are interactive moments where we even bring people on-stage!
Once this current run of dates is over with, what’s ahead for the Baha Men?
D: There’s a lot of talks and planning going on right now, but at this present time we really don’t know! It honestly hasn’t been easy getting where we are right now, but with the new album and our performances getting such amazing reviews, we are hopeful that a world tour will be secured very soon.
Have you been to a Mets game since the 2000 World Series?
R: No we haven’t, unfortunately. At that era of our careers, we hardly had time to visit stadiums leisurely, heavily promoting our albums and singles sort of kept us from doing those types of visits. I remember all so clearly…The Mets versus The Yankees…It was awesome, and we were invited to perform there at the World Series 2000. It was a hell of an experience and tons of fun. The fans were ecstatic to see us there performing. I’m hoping that they invite us to perform our latest release “Off The Leash” at the World Series again…Who knows what will happen?
When you’re not busy as part of The Baha Men, how do you like to spend your free time?
R: I spend the bulk of my time producing music for other recording artists, I am also a visual artist, so I also paint a great deal, but most of all, I spend a whole lot of time with my wife and 2 two boys.
Finally, any last words for the kids?
R: Sure. “Eat your vegetables.” (laughs) Just kidding. Seriously, the road to success is a long and hard one, so always work harder at what you do and give it your all every time. Oh yeah, and go get our album, Ride With Me.
-by Darren Paltrowitz
