Toronto-based “nu-reggae band The Memberz strive to break the boundaries of traditional “genre-ification”. On their new single “What Ah Joy,” they are joined by one of Canadian reggae’s all-time greats, 10-time JUNO Award nominee and six-time winner Exco Levi.
The newly unveiled “What Ah Joy” accompanying lyric video created in Uganda by Makaka KRITIC, vividly illustrates the essence of the song with a montage of the faces of joyful people.
Watch the lyric video for “What Ah Joy” below and learn more about The Memberz via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Sure, I go by the name Mavriq. I am the frontman for the Toronto based Reggae band The Memberz
You have unveiled your latest single, “What Ah Joy.” Tell us a bit about the creative process behind the release.
Well, it started off quite differently than what we now know as ‘What ah Joy’. The concept of the Riddim was created by our keyboardist Charmazel, then sculpted and refined by our band leader Roscoe. Initially, it was for built another artiste Musical Sniper, whom most Reggae enthusiasts know as Rappa Roberts from the Iconic group Tippa Lee & Rappa Roberts. One evening after a recording session I heard the instrumental and fell in love with it. I asked Roscoe to allow me to write something to it, after weeks of me constantly nagging and telling him I found the right Chorus for the song, I went into the booth. Now you must understand Roscoe doesn’t show much emotion during recording sessions, so I wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. After some weeks had passed, he asked me “my youth, when you going to sing the verses?” Bingo! I laid the first verse and asked Carlton our Bass player to sing over the hook, which he did perfectly.
You worked with Exco Levi on the release. How was that experience?
It was great, very easy. He is a professional with his craft. So, after Carlton had laid the chorus, we then felt the song could use another voice, so I reached out to Exco and sent him the song and asked if he would add a verse. After listening, he then agreed. That Sunday I drove up to his studio in Brampton and the rest is history.
The video for “What Ah Joy” has just dropped. What was the highlight of the video creation process?
For me personally, the highlight of that process was the finished product. It’s hard to put into words, but I had a vision of what I wanted to see represented in the video but wasn’t sure it could be executed the way I was envisioning it. Then fast forward to seeing the finished product and it being much greater than what I had expected. That’s how it felt. I was truly happy with the quality and diversity the video portrayed.
What’s your favourite thing about being musicians in Toronto?
It would have to be the diversity of the people living here. Toronto is a melting pot of people and talent, no matter what your genre is, you will have an audience here.
What’s up next for you in 2023?
First on the agenda, we are excited to be performing at this year’s MOOSEFEST: Celebrating 5 Years of Roots Music Canada on June 4th, at the Tranzac Club in Toronto. After that we plan to release another single and complete our debut album, they say strike while the iron is hot. So that is what we intend to do.