It's been many years since Red Beat released an album of really new music. Lockdown created the perfect conditions for online collaborations with friends to reestablish the sound of one of post-punk's most experimental bands. The first EP featured 3 brand new songs written by Roy Jones on acoustic guitar. The sound of Red Beat was always guitar driven and after many years of writing on the keyboard, these songs had a raw rock power that had been missing from Roy's pallet for many years. Chameleon…
Read moreConcert for Shalom Hospice
I'm collaborating with my brother Howard Jones to promote a fund raising concert for Shalom House, a local palliative care hospice which is in need of money to keep its 24 /7 care for end of life going. Howard will be headlining the event and playing songs from his extensive repertoire acoustically with the support of Robin Boult on guitar.I conduct a 20 voice mixed choir of fellow Buddhists called Many Treasures Chorus, the name derives from a Buddha who appears in the Lotus Sutra to bear witness to the…
Read moreRewriting the story of my life
I've just made a video for a song I wrote and recorded 37 years ago. At that time I was 20 years old and I was in a band called 'After Science' which eventually came to be called Red Beat who released 3 singles and recorded a Jon Peel session. Back in 1978 though it was all about high energy rock. Our line up was me on vocals and two of my brothers Paul and Martin on drums and guitar with our friend Majid Ahmed on bass. We used to rehearse two nights a week for four hours in the evenings after work. Then…
Read moreWant that perfect ten?
My third release of this year is due on Wednesday July 29th. It's an electro house tune but with a rock rather than a pop edge. It is actually remix of a song of the same name I released as Roy Jones from the album Red Lotus in 2009. The chorus was slightly different on that version, lyrically but this chorus seemed to suit the house feel of this new dance tune. The mood has gone more minor than major too and there's less formal structure and a new chill section with some lovely three part harmony…
Read moreLaunching Conscious Love
Conscious Love EP launches today. I thought I'd share my thoughts and a few anecdotes about the 6 tunes it contains. First the track list:
1) One Energy
2) Conscious Love
3) Bulletproof Feeling Transatlantic (feat. Normbeatz)
4) Cenfigen
5) Bulletproof Moombahton
6) Limitless
The two electrohouse tunes, 'One Energy' and' Limitless' tunes which I released as singles start and end the EP. They were both influenced by the pop/dance styles of people like Guetta and Calvin Harris. Riffy with a house beat and…
Read moreMachines In Motion - Red Beat's 1st release
Recorded in 1979 and released in 1980, Machines in Motion was an innovative rock/reggae song which marked Red Beat as visionary musicians in a time of great musical inventiveness. It was single of the week in influential british Music paper, melody Maker. Machines in Motion was recorded at Gooseberry Studio's in London's Soho district which was a mini Chinatown at the time. Legendary engineer/producer Marc Lusardi was at the controls bringing his expertise with dub and special analogue tape effects to…
Read morethe eternal rhythm of birth and death
The eternal rhythm of birth and death
"Why do I do this? The Thus Come One perceives the true aspect of the threefold world exactly as it is. There is no ebb or flow of birth and death, and there is no existing in this world and later entering extinction. It is neither substantial nor empty, neither consistent nor diverse. Nor is it what those who dwell in the threefold world perceive it to be. All such things the Thus Come One sees clearly and without error."
(excerpt from the Life Span chapter of…
Read moreOne Energy
ONE ENERGY - dRedzilla now available at most digital outlets on the Bounce label.
One energy is a new single from dRedzilla which moves away from Dubstep into the Electro House genre. This is the first official release since January 2013 when Machines in Motion remix appeared on the digital shelves. There had been some work with rapper Normbeatz which led to two new versions of Bulletproof Feeling, which are only available through Reverb Nation if you want to buy them, otherwise you'll find them on…
Read moreVisit to Earth
I've been digitally remastering some songs from the post -punk era, when I played in a band called 'Jones Boys' with two of my brothers, Martin and Paul with Majid Ahmed on bass. We did lots of low key pub gigs in the South of England in 1978 to 1980. When I've finished I'll upload them and make them available on iTunes. This picture was part of a poster of the Jones Boys which I found recently. I couldn't resist adding the antennae. One of the songs we did back then was called Visit to Earth, viewing…
Read moreWhats Up?
Been working on some new tunes in a housey tempo. Wracking my brain trying to come up with subjects which are stimulating and exciting but not negative. Ideas which empower and expand the humanity of the listener. I've got one finished but the second one is proving to be difficult, I've gone through a load of concepts already and ended up rejecting them all. I'm hoping to create 5 new tunes by the end of the year. That's about it for now. Be good, one love, dRed.