Soul Rebels Interview - Part 1

They come from a city where the names are synonymous with the music. Names such as Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, the Marsalis family, Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers, Allan Toussaint, Buckwheat Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, and many many others. At the same time, there is a great tradition of high school and college marching bands that have incorporated the life and blood of the Big Easy. Now, along comes the Soul Rebels, six young men steeped in the history and traditions of New Orleans.

Thier latest release is entitled Rebelution, which Lumar LeBlanc proudly calls "a giant leap for music." the sound takes everything New Orleans has to offer, throws it into a blender, gently removes it, unwraps it carefully, and rejoices like a child receiving a Christmas present. The Soul Rebels unashamedly believe they are the future of music.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Lumar LeBlanc as he battled 5:00pm New Orleans traffic. Below is the first part of that interview. We discuss the sound of New Orleans and the Soul Rebels. Enjoy!

TGB: YOUR SOUND IS INTENSE. WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

LLB: It's a collaborations of all of the beautiful minds that comprise the Soul Rebels. We are basically a six piece organization. We have people who come from all walks of life and listen to all different types of music. There are people who are heavily influenced by jazz element. All of us are hip-hop based because we came up during the days of hip hop proliferating into the mainstream. Definitely the hip hop is there. Then you add the 70s funk which we are also influenced by. Then there is the protest element. Soul Rebels started out as a poor righteous band like a Public Enemy. You had issues that we took up, and incorporated them into the music. Our the years we becomes rebels in the sense of opening the doors for other forms of music. With a tuba, horns, snares, it's a different type of thing when you talk about them being the main instruments in a band.

HIP HOP HAS CHANGED. IN ITS EARLY DAYS, THE MUSIC WAS COMBINED WITH A MESSAGE. THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE THE CASE TODAY. THE SOUL REBELS DO SEEM TO EMBODY A MESSAGE. WHAT'S THAT MESSAGE?

Our message , right now, speaks to being whatever you want to be. You can express yourself in whatever form you want to. In doing so, you are a rebel and you're included in the rebelution. We don't want to have any barriers. We don't want anything that will limit us. If you look at jazz, a lot of times, people will say that jazz is not focus. There's a lot going on in jazz. Jazz is not supposed to be rap focused or urban contemporary. Then people think rap music is supposed to have a solid beat. It supposed to be commercial ready. But we wanted to mix all types of music together. Basically, it's rap with a message. Hip hop with a message. A message that you can be the greatest person that you want to. Just trust in yourself, go forward and do what you have to. We want to just free the minds of everybody that listens to the Soul Rebels. Have a good time and free your minds.

TALK ABOUT THE JAZZ INFLUENCE. DOES IT COME FROM PEOPLE LIKE COLTRANE, DAVIS, MONK, MINGUS, ETC.?

I was raised more on the sounds of New Orleans. We definitely respect those legendary icons that are still in our jazz community. We are definitely influenced by those individuals, but Soul Rebels, the members, we are influenced more by the traditions of New Orleans jazz and the funkateers from New Orleans. People like Louis Armstrong, the Olympia Brass band, WyNton Marsalis and the Marsalis family.

WHAT IS THE SOUND OF NEW ORLEANS?

The sound of New Orleans is heavily rooted in rhythm and that transcends into the horns. The horns are definitely the focus. They give communication. Then you move on to the tuba, bass, and snare, and they are what makes your body move and makes your soul just jump up and down. You can trace all the greats to that style. Even the great high school bands. All of them have the great tradition of the sounds of New Orleans.

IS THE COLLEGIATE SETTING WHERE THE BAND MEMBERS STARTED SHEDDING THEIR BABY TEETH?

We have guys who went to Loyola, Southern University, Texas Southern, and Xavier. Definitely the skills began to be polished at the collegiate setting. But we also go back to the great high schools like Fortier, McDonogh 35, John McDonogh, Sarah T. Reed, St. Augustus. All of these great schools is where we started getting our skills. When we got the college level, our skills were polished. We were able, at a collegiate level, to go to next level. It became a show-type of thing. The bands at the college level do a lot of show tunes and show style choreography. They have played at Super Bowls, for presidents, and all types of TV Shows. So, you have to be precision drilled and trained. In college, we were able to shed our baby teeth and put the stamp of approval on the showmanship. We learned how to be precise and peform on stage.