School’s Out For Summer: Slightly Stoopid Hit The Road With A New Album

SoCal’s favorite reggae rockers, Slightly Stoopid, are getting ready to tour the states. You know what that means? It’s officially summertime! The band’s 9^th studio album Everyday Life, Everyday People, is set to release next month on July 13th.

The album features 13 tracks, and special guests include Ali Campbell of UB40, Alborosie, G. Love, Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, Don Carlos, Yellowman, Sly Dunbar, and more.

The Weekly caught up with lead singer and guitarist Miles Doughty as the group preps to hit the road. We learned about the chemistry of recording, admiration of bands early on, and how collaborations can happen spontaneously while on tour.

OC Weekly (Michael Silver): The new album drops July 13th, do you ever get nervous when a record releases and think how fans will receive it?

Miles Doughty: For us when you go into the lab we create and let it all out and have fun. We’ve always maintained a staple Stoopid sound, and branch out trying different things, mashing them all together. We record a lot of different songs and styles. I think you have to go into it open-minded and not really give a shit, you know?

We’ve been recording for so long, it’s just something with touring and everything. You’ve seen so much and experienced different things on the road that comes out in the lyrics, and the style of music that fans can relate to it.

This is your bands 9^th album. How do you guy crank out the jams so effortlessly?

Me and Kyle, we’re basically brothers from other mothers. We’ve been friends since we were two years old, we lived across the street from each other growing up and we started the band together in high school. When we make music together we just go in cruise control and have fun, seeing what we can come up with. We spend more time together then we do with our own families, because we’re always on the road. We’ve been glued together for 39 years.

Going back to your early days, what bands or artists did you grow up listening to? Who inspired Miles?

Everything from Metallica, Minor Threat, Mötley Crüe, Guns ‘N Roses, that kind of stuff. You know, Bob Marley, Yellowman, Don Carlos and different stuff. From classic rock listening to Led Zeppelin and that kind of vibe. Being part of so many different generations of music growing up you get a little bit of that in your own music. Growing up in the rock, 80’s, grunge, and metal eras, it’s pretty cool how everything fuses together.

There are some familiar voices making features on the new album, such as G. Love, Chali 2na, and Don Carlos. Do you reach out to them when writing new songs, thinking, this would be perfect for a Charli verse, for example?

It happens kind of both ways. Especially knowing a lot of those guys, you write something and go, ‘Dude it would be kind of dope if he did a feature on this song,’ or else we talk like ‘Hey let’s make a jam together.’ It’s something that we’ve done touring and making music together, we’re all bros. It makes it easy when getting in the studio and all on the same level of thinking. It’s been a blessing really working with so many people we grew up listening to and share the same stage with them is pretty epic.

Repost from Stoopidhead Kenny!! Don’t have a cow, man! pic.twitter.com/F4XxCSA8am

— Slightly Stoopid (@SlightlyStoopid) June 6, 2018

Pepper is opening up for you this summer. How long have the bands been friends? Is there any chance of recording tracks together on the road?

We’ve been friends for 20 years with the guys from Pepper. It’s a cool thing to come back together and do another tour. We actually haven’t toured together in ten years, since the ‘Tailgate Tour’ in 2008, so it’s pretty rad man. So many collaborations during the summer with Pepper and Stick Figure, we’ll both be doing a lot of jams together. Their recording gear is always out so we’ll be looking to maybe come up with something for summertime and have fun. It’s basically like the ultimate backyard party with your best friends.

Tell me about the bands early years. Is it true Bradley Nowell from Sublime discovered and signed your group to Skunk Records?

Yes, Skunk Records was his label. Him and Miguel (Happoldt) brought us under their wing and took us into that realm. We were teenagers in high school so it was rad and a blessing. We would listen to 40 Oz. To Freedom before going out surfing. It was cool to come up with those guys and hang out, learning tricks from touring and recording.

This week you’re playing at Five Points Amphitheater in Irvine, a relatively new venue. What can fans expect and are there any surprises in store for the SoCal show?

We’re excited to play there! We’ve always played at Irvine Meadows, and we were one of the last bands to perform there. I’m stoked to be in this new realm and start a new chapter. We’re going to have fun and tear it up, go crazy for the fans. That’s what it’s all about.

Slightly Stoopid’s new album Everyday Life, Everyday People releases on July 13th. The band play’s this Friday, June 15th, at Five Points Amphitheater with support from Pepper and Stick Figure. Tickets are available on ticketmaster.com.