Murph for starters could you tell us a bit about Rhythmites?
Andrew 'Murph' Murphy (lead guitar): "Originally Rhythmites was a three piece band, bass, drums and guitar and with myself on vocals. Towards the late nineteen eighties the band evolved into the five some it still is today and it was also in that period that we recorded our debut album 'Integration' (now being re-released by Bristol Archive Records, red.)."
Rhythmites hails from Bath, in the early parts of the twentieth century still home to the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I for a while. Did Rastafari have its influence on the music you guys turned out?
Andrew 'Murph' Murphy: "(laughs) Well, as it happens I own a cabinet that came from Fairfield house! Of course the message of Rastafari runs through our music and I think the 'Integration' album in particular was very much Rastafarian influenced."
How exactly did the reissue of the 'Integration' album come about?
Andrew 'Murph' Murphy: "After we released 'Integration', we did a lot of touring all over Europe, changed vocalists and recorded two more albums. The band also split up for a while and when we reunited with the current lineup, we were approached by Mike Darby from Bristol Archive Records who told us he was interested in rereleasing 'Integration'. As we weren't too happy with the original sound of the album, we decided to call on Ben Findley, Peter Gabriel's main soundman, and asked him to remix the album for us. I don't know if you've listened to the reissue yet, but he's truly done an amazing job."
Can I describe Rhythmites as a UK roots band?
Andrew 'Murph' Murphy: "Absolutely, I think we fit that description. That being said, the sound of Rhythmites is quite heavily influenced by Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound productions and even heavier things like Tackhead for example. Quite a few of us are also into jazz, so our music is definitely a combination of various influences coming together."