Biography

by Jason MacNeil

This reggae-influenced Canadian band started in its native Kingston, Ontario -- not the traditional Jamaican reggae capital. In early 2000, bassist Eon Sinclair, drummer Pat Pengelly, and vocalist/guitarist/visual artist Jay Malinowski met at university and discovered a mutual love of dub reggae music. All musicians, the trio began performing classic reggae numbers at university. This continued for some time, and djembe player Brett Dunlop was added to create a fuller sound. In 2001, Bedouin Soundclash (who took their name from Israeli producer Badawi's 1996 album) won a battle of the bands competition at Queen's University. The group has performed in Canada and the United States, opening up for David Usher, Default, the Slackers, and Wide Mouth Mason. In late 2001 and early 2002, the band entered the studio to record its debut album (Dunlop was no longer in the lineup by this point). The album, Root Fire****, was released in April 2002. Sounding a Mosaic, which was produced by Bad Brains' Darryl Jenifer, followed two years later.