The Aggrolites heat up London, Coachella

Reggae music has the tendency to conjure up images of tropical paradise — things like beaches, palm trees and the clear blue ocean. So when California natives The Aggrolites decided to tour the North American East Coast in the middle of winter, what were they thinking?

“I don't know!” said lead singer/guitarist Jesse Wagner.

And in fact, the whole tour doesn't seem to make very much sense.

“We toured in the snow a couple years ago... but, with an Irish band?”

Wagner's speaking of Flogging Molly, a Celtic-influenced punk band The Aggrolites will be sharing the stage with for a majority of dates between February 15 and March 22. But only a few stops in, The Aggros will be playing a one-off headlining show at Call the Office, as they make their way from Toronto to Detroit.


It'll be a change of pace for the band, and being able to play a smaller venue is something they prefer, anyway.

“I've always liked playing with the audience right below you, rather than a big barricade between you and them,” asserted Wagner, over the phone. “I like playing little rooms... Those have always been the most fun for me.”

But The Aggrolites are no stranger to big gigs, either. When mod-rockers Madness (who are near-legends overseas, but virtually unknown here, save their Maxwell House adopted hit, “Our House”) needed an opener for a stretch of arena dates in the UK, finding the right fit was no easy task, especially since every past opener has been booed off stage.

“[The promoter was] saying that they had Morrisey... open up for them years ago and he got a beer bottle thrown at him... The Madness audiences are a really tough crowd to please,” he said.

But The Aggrolites took on the task, and the tour went off without a hitch.

“We got lucky,” Wagner reflected. “We got booed plenty of times opening up for [Irish punk group] The Dropkick Murphys, so I think maybe it was a good karma thing,” he laughed.

Their next big stage will come in April, when The Aggrolites will play the final day of southern California's Coachella music festival. Headlining throughout the three days are a number of established and even legendary artists, from The Killers and Amy Winehouse, to former Beatle Paul McCartney.

But for The Aggros, it's just a new audience to whom their brand of reggae - heavily influenced by the Jamaican music scene from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s - can be exposed.

In fact, their ethos as a band is to pay tribute to that musical period. According to Wagner, they hope to “be a gateway for kids to learn about reggae. Like, if you like The Aggrolites, hopefully you'll go out and buy The Upsetters' album, or something that we're influenced by, because there are too many good bands from that era that don't get enough respect and aren't known.”

Their method has proven quite successful thus far, especially after touring for years both as The Aggrolites and a backing band for Tim Armstrong, lead singer of punk band Rancid.

“Once we did the Tim Armstrong solo thing and those kind of gigs, the Dropkick Murphys tour, and [a tour] with the Aquabats a few years ago, those are the kids who would come up and be like ‘I didn't know this music existed,'“ Wagner said.

Still, despite household names like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, most reggae has had a tough time breaking through in the U.S.

“It started off on this little tiny speck on planet Earth, on this little-ass island... and swept its way over to the UK and from there it went all over Mainland Europe and... to North America, so I think it did pretty good for where it started.”

Nevertheless, Wagner suggests, “it's hard for a lot of Americans to pick up on [reggae] because it's just too exotic, or not just your typical rock and roll that Americans are used to listening to.”

But The Aggrolites have been making a good run of their career thus far, and with a new album coming out in May, there's still a lot more expected from these guys.

So, while they might not be bringing the California sun with them on the 18th of this month, their retro reggae music just might make any February feel a little warmer.