SUBLIME PICKS AND INFO

When Brad was 10, his parents split. He lived with his mom, Nancy. In 1981, he moved back to his dad's house in Long Beach, CA. He was a smart kid with lots of potential, he just wasn't "real school-minded," says his sister Kellie. Counselors observed this also, but they had a different conclusion: ritalin. Long Beach was a great place for a kid like Brad to grow up, its diverse culture of Latino and African Americans, and its underground scene of punk and hip hop took its toll. Sublime was never really a club band, they preferred parties, and when the party was there, so was Sublime. In 1990, before Brad could earn his degree in finance, he dropped out of California State for his band. Brad was a mellow guy on the outside; real easy-going, and he always seemed like he didn't have a care in the world. "There was always a part of him that wasnt satisfied. As happy as he was 80% of the time, there was 20% that could not be made happy, and it ate him up," says his wife, Troy. It was exactly what ate him up that eventually killed him. For most of the time that Troy knew him, 3 years, Brad battled an addiction to herion. He was constantly trying to kick the habit, when he made his deal with MCA, when Troy got pregnant. But he could never be comfortable without the drug, friends say. Troy blames the ritalin Brad took as a child for his cravings for drugs. But he also thought it was very rock and roll; stars were doing it and writing great songs, so he wanted to try it. Robbin' the Hood was recorded at the height of his herion addiction, and that's exactly what the record is about ["Now I've got the needle, and I can shake but I can't breathe, take it away and i want more, and more. Someday I'm gonna lose the war."-Pool Shark, Robbin' the Hood]. His addiction got to be so bad that he pawned his instruments to get his fix the afternoon before a show, knowing that the band's producer Migeul would bail him out. But this party attitude the band had began to take its toll, as well. The band missed oppurtunities such as when they were supposed to play a KROQ party with Bush and Hole, they printed out 40 backstage passes for friends, and dogs. By the end of the day, Louie has bitten a record exec's daughter, and a pasted friend just missed MTV's Kennedy with alittle of what he had for lunch. Or in September 1997, when Bud and Eric flew to NY for the MTV music awards and bought a bottle of tequila for Bud's dad. They ended drinking it all and almost blowing it when it came time to accept the awards. Goodman(the band's D.J.) comes to the rescue, saying,"This is all for Bradley Nowell-peace." But then again, that's sublime for you. Nothing more, nothing less.

It's been a long and wild ride since sublime's first gig way back in 1988 in Long Beach, California. The explosive debut not only set off a small scale riot, but also marked the beginning of a rare, genre-busting collaboration. Once known as the “below average garage punk band that every kid wanted to play at his party,” sublime steadily escalated from a group of backyard beer buddies to a renowned musical entity. Blending a love of dance-hall and rock-steady reggae rhythms with an aggressive punk ethos, sublime ammassed a nearly fanatical Southern California following that would do just about anything (or anyone?) to catch one of their blistering sets. In 1992, realizing the hysteria they were creating, Brad and co-conspirator/producer Miguel pawned the band's equipment and founded their own label, Skunk Records, to release and self-distribute their now cult classic, 40 oz to Freedom. “Basically, we created Skunk Records so that I could have a business card,” explains Miguel, “and so we could say `Skunk Recording artists sublime'.” 40 oz to Freedom, which was originally recorded for under $1,000, has gone on to sell thousands of copies with the first 30,000 being sold directly from the trunks of the band members' cars. 40 oz to Freedom was not only on the Billboard Alternative New Artist Albums Chart for over 50 weeks, spending the last 30 weeks in the top 20, but also broke into Billboard's Heatseeker (Top 50 New Artists Chart) while spending 5 weeks as the Billboard Pacific region #1 new artist top seller. The album became an indie icon exemplifying the synthesis of life and art. Utilizing samples off of everything from old Minutemen records, hip-hop and conversations with street denizens to just plain old bong sessions in the garage, sublime so much embodies the D.I.Y. ethic that has come back to haunt them at times. Much like the problems that De La Soul and other early Native Tongue artists experienced with using samples, sublime has was forced to pay up or remove samples from their albums. In fact, their signature sounding track, “Get Out,” which lyrically dictates the bands approach to making music, unfortunately had to be cut from 40 oz. Robbin' the Hood, the experimental masterpiece released in 1994, also on Skunk, was recorded on a shoe string budget, partially on 4-tracks, in various living rooms and abandoned houses around LBC as well as with some charitable free time from Mr. Brett (Epitaph) at the legendary West Beach Studios (whose past occupants include The Minutemen, Bad Religion, and The Descendants). This subversive album, woven together with punk, dub and crazy spoken word, was never meant to be a follow-up to the conceptually classic 40 oz; it served as a precursor to the untapped possibilities of sublime. Robbin's eclectic bouillabaisse of sonic manipulation has now gained thousands of listeners. Sublime's D.I.Y. ethic and intensity has garnered them shows with local and national music icons such as Firehose and Mike Watt, HR of Bad Brains, The Melvins, The Vandals, Rage Against The Machine, Avail, Ramones, Supernova, Greyboy All-Stars, No Doubt, Butthole Survers, The Mentors, The Ziggens, and of course, Duran Duran. Over ten major tours, three vans, and one motor home later, the band sas spread its garage-hall gospel all across America, creating a rabid grass-roots following everywhere they go, especially among the surf/skate/snowboard constituency best exemplified by sublime's co-headlining gigs on last summer's inaugural Warped Tour, a hybrid of punk and skating with L7, No Use For A Name, Fluf and others that were organized by Warp Magazine. Also furthering the group's natural connection to the board culture was the Sno-Core Tour–with Guttermouth and Skankin Pickle–which destroyed ski resorts (and hotel rooms) throughout Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and California. The 3 Ring Circus tour, a scary three-headed beast of a show, was conceived and released by sublime and its Skunk Records' employees on the unsuspecting West Coast in 1995. The 20-plus sold out shows on the Circus tour featured not only sublime, but the amazing and shocking talents of The Wesley Willis JFiasco and the Lordz of Brooklyn. The tour's diversity is a direct refelction of sublime's ability and drive to combine seemingly disparate forms of music and cultures. Sublime and Bad Religion were the featured artists at the Band Aid III benefit show for Lifebeat (a fundraising organization for AIDS research) at Bear Mountain, California. Sponsored by Warp and Snowboarding magazines, the bibles of the boarding culture, the show spotlighted the top board athletes and organizations that support that subculture. In April, 1996, High Times and Skunk Records teamed up to bring a Legal Defense Fund Benefit Show to the House of Blues in Los Angeles and Wetlands in NYC. Sublime headlined all three sold-out nights, which also featured the likes of the Greyboy All-Stars, Wayne Kramer, Weapon of Choice, Slightly Stoopid, DFL, the Wesley Willis Fiasco, and the Lordz of Brooklyn.

Alongside other 90s US acts such as 311 and Rage Against The Machine, Sublime built their reputation by developing a sound which mixed and matched from various traditions, especially rap, ska and rock. The band's profile initially depended on their heavy touring schedule and mesmerising live performances, which helped to build a loyal following among those in the skate and snow-boarding communities - always the group's natural fanbase. Though the group signed to MCA Records subsidiary Gasoline Alley, both of their first two albums were distributed through the independent network. This led to a substantial grassroots following which 1996's self-titled third album looked certain to exploit. However, lead singer Bradley Nowell died of a drugs overdose in May 1996, just four months before its release. After some consideration, it was decided to go ahead with its release, as bass player Eric Wilson told the press. "We just want the album to do well so that Brad"s kid can go to a good school, and so that we can continue to make a living.' In November 1997, previously unreleased songs were included on Second Hand Smoke, which was released as a special limited edition CD in the USA; proceeds from the sale of the CDs went to the US Musicians' Assistance Program, a charity that helps musicians fight drug and alcohol addiction.