Kastick’s ‘Reggae Rockin’ Journey’ release eases the pain after being robbed on tour

Musician Paul Kastick has drummed his way into some of the biggest festivals across the globe, earning for himself a name that is as big as that of some of the celebrity singers with whom he has worked. It is not surprising that Kastick has released a projected titled My Reggae Rockin’ Journey Vol 1, but there’s a catch, he’s up front and centre, mic in hand, as the singer rather than the drummer.

Seven years in the making, the release has come at the right time, and that is no cliché. It synced with Kastick’s need for some personal, spiritual uplifting following a bad experience when he was robbery while on tour in the US in July. His backpack with his passports, his laptop, and other items, all totalling US$15,000 were among his losses when the tour bus was broken into while his group had breakfast at a Denny’s in Seattle, having played drums at a gig at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma the night before.

Kastick was devastated.

“All my years on tour, this has never happened to me,” Kastick told The Gleaner. “They smashed the window and stole four backpacks … but luckily, the other three persons had their passports on them. We called the cops, they said, ‘We don’t investigate calls like this any more.’ Can you imagine? Crime happened to us that traumatised us and we were told to go online and make the report. Nobody cares! Luckily for us, one police officer came and took a report… he was quite decent. And that’s how I was able to get a travel certificate, but when yuh not travelling with a passport, it’s awkward … yuh get pulled over … questioned… all dem tings. So, I had to come back to Jamaica while the rest of the team went to do shows in London.”

Back in Jamaica, he had to get a new passport and then go through the entire process all over again, in order to get back a new work permit for the UK. By the time that was sorted out, the tour had almost come to an end. With only two weeks remaining, it didn’t even make any sense for him to join Maxi Priest and the band.

“The only bright light is that my album dropped last week. Part of mi still feel angry … people have mi money, mi laptop with all nine hard drives, all of mi productions, mi clients’ work … mi daughter iPhone. I only have the album because I had put it in a drop box and sent it off,” he shared.

On the 15-track My Reggae Rockin’ Journey Vol 1, Kastick makes a stop back in the era of the ‘80s when teenagers were tuned in to MTV and the hits they played. Kastick has chosen some of his favourite songs from that era and packaged them into this rock and reggae album. He shared that the original idea was for him to get singers such as Richie Stephens and Tarrus Riley to do the songs, but their schedules were not matching, then the pandemic came, and his friend Taddy P sat him down and gave him a good talk.

The gist of it was, “I am a bass player and I have four albums out. I come into this business seeing you sing. You can sing the songs yourself.”

“After that scolding, I decided to do just that, but keep it secret. The five-song idea somehow spiralled into 20 songs … I brought in Rudy Valentino, who worked with me on Tessanne’s Hideaway … and here it is. As a member of Big Mountain [California reggae band] I am in San Diego a lot, so it wasn’t hard to keep this project a secret. I am happy that it is finally out,” Kastick said.

It was in August last year that the Steely Dan classic, Night By Night, produced by Valentino, became the first track to be released from the project. A Josh Gold Remix of the same track, as well as I’ll See U in My Dreams, Giant’s 1989 hit song, were both released in March via Kastick’s GrooveGalore MuziK.

Other tracks on the album are I Could Have Lied, one of Kastick’s favourite songs from Red Hot Chili Peppers; Poison’s Every Rose Has its Thorn; Whitesnake’s Hear I Go Again, and One, originally done by U2.

A multi-instrumentalist composer and producer, Kastick has worked with Grammy Award-winning reggae singer, Maxi Priest, Diana King, Enigma, Shaggy, Tessanne Chin, Ky-Mani Marley and Andru Donald. His career took off in 1989 when he became the drummer for the top band, 809.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com