DORIAN GEIGER
Arts Writer

Rocky Mountain Rebel Music is a precious jewel amongst Canada’s indie rock scene that I first discovered last summer while living in Victoria, B.C.

I didn’t know what to expect from Rocky Mountain Rebel Music beforehand other than hearing from the friends I came with that the show was to be a groovy mix of indie, ska, funk and a pinch of reggae. That part was true. What I didn’t expect was the monster 10-piece instrumental collective that is the core of Victoria-based RMRM.

When the trumpets got a-blazing and RMRM got their performance underway there were more people jamming out on stage than three hip-hop shows put together, conjuring up what resembled more of a ska-funk orchestra than just a mere rock show.

If Bob Marley and Sublime were to have an illegitimate lovechild it would surely be RMRM.

Two guitars, a male and female vocalist, a keyboard, bass, drums (both a standard kit and bongos), a trumpet, saxophone, a violin and a didgeridoo are the wheels and bearings of RMRM’s distinctly funky and perpetually evolving sound.

RMRM’s drummer Simon Bailey described the difficulty in organizing such a sizable collective of artists and even elaborated that when the group first started they took out ads on Craigslist looking for musicians. Some of the bandmates RMRM found on the classifieds website are still a large foundation of the band and Bailey confessed that a large percentage of the group are reggae-heads.

“Reggae is a style that sort of influences almost every (Rocky Mountain Rebel Music) song. It’s all very rock driven, a little bit of funk in the middle,” said Bailey. However, the band continues to pick up new influences.

“We have an increasing Latin-American influence, like Santana kind of stuff. We got a new Brazilian keyboard player — he wrote a soundbar we’re playing now at shows so it’s a really diverse sound and it’s hard to pigeonhole,” he explained.

As for the band’s curious name, “rebel music” often touches on the subjects of oppressive rules, societal issues and cultural uprisings — and according to Bailey, RMRM is Canada’s version of such a genre.

“Rebel music is a term that is used to describe music that originates in the Carribean. Bob Marley has been termed rebel music, but it’s not just reggae,” said Bailey. “It encompasses a few different styles and plays socially conscious lyrics. What we play is our version — we’re not trying to be a Bob Marley cover band and we’re not trying to play it like Caribbeans play it. We’re playing it in our style that we play it and the region we’re from.

On RMRM’s self titled 2009 album, such summertime anthems like “Light it Up,” “Wild One” and “New Joint” are the perfect melodies to sip a beer to, lounge back in your beach chair and soak up the sun.

As part of their Western Canadian tour, RMRM will be making a stop in Saskatoon at Amigos on Aug. 12 playing alongside Saskatoon’s Post Modern Hippies.