Getting Down with Dub Trio - Music

I interviewed Dub Trio for Culture Magazine, and yes, Joe Tomino is a very cool person to talk to. He even hooked me up with two tickets to their show over at The Echo in Los Angeles. 

Their live show was impressive, and their skills were on display for a packed room to see. You could feel the bass and drums in your bones. I enjoy music like that. 

I also noticed that the lack of vocals in many of their new songs makes them ideal for artistic projects where you don't want a lot of vocals yammering away while you are trying to concentrate, much like classical music. Solid stuff. 

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Dub Trio takes dubstep and metal where they’ve never gone before

Somewhere between the speed of heavy metal, the technological ferocity of dub and the aggression of punk, there is a cynosure where all three converge. It is from that interstitial territory that Dub Trio composes its fusion of electro-house thrash, or whatever you call good music that makes you want to stomp your feet and rock.

The band—scheduled to perform at The Echo in L.A. Nov. 16—was born in New York City, when guitarist and keyboardist Dave Holmes began working with bassist/keyboardist Stu Brooks and drummer Joe Tomino

Since their first album in 2004 (Exploring the Dangers of), they’ve only gotten bigger and better, and have toured with Matishayu and Mike Patton, and recorded with artists like G-Unit and Mobb Deep.

Joe Tomino spoke to CULTURE about everything from working with Lady Gaga and their new album, IV.

What is it about dub, metal and punk that work so well together, and how did your band end up with the unique sound that it has?

We were in a few other bands before Dub Trio. We started a side project just to make money and get around New York. We all came from a rock background from our high school days, but we didn’t play rock or metal until years later. We didn’t intend to be a dub band that combines rock. We never talked about what we were going to do. It kind of just happened.

Your band has worked with Lady Gaga. Can you tell me about the experience?

It’s funny because we knew her as Stephanie. She was a chick from the Lower East Side. We did a bunch of demos for her about the time she became Lady Gaga. She was just a really normal New York chick. Really nice. She remembered meeting us on the street three or four years before we worked with her in the studio.

IV is your latest album. What can fans looks forward to with this one?

It’s a continuation of where the band has been stylistically and compositionally, but more from roots and reggae dub. It’s also more experimental. This album has no vocals, although our last two studio records had a few songs with vocals. It’s dubstep-meets-metal, with a lot of manipulation in post-production.

What song from the new album would punk or metal fans really appreciate?

There are two songs that come to mind, “Control Issues Controlling Your Mind” and “Noise.” I think you get the most Dub Trio sound with a metal or punk aesthetic with “Noise.”