Boss Reggae Band The Reseters Drop Debut Album ‘Give Me a Blue Beat’ [Korea]

5 years after forming, Korea’s only boss reggae band, THE RESETERS, have unleashed their debut album ‘Give Me a Blue Beat’.

According to the band, “Boss reggae was a style of music that combined mods and skinhead culture in the UK. As a band we wanted to retain that spirit and reinterpret it with a modern twist. Our album was recorded on an 8 track tape recorder on equipment from the 1960’s. And we recorded the songs in one take. The mix was done by Joon Park, who is an active dubweiser, selecta, performer, and engineer of the Jamaican sound system crew ‘Banya Sound System’, and the mastering was done by Chris Long, who has worked with leading British and American bands including Khruangbin. Christopher Longwood was in charge. We just wanted to make a sound that was reminiscent of the 60’s, but we wanted to “Reset” the sound to match the era of 2023.”

As a reggae band, we also wanted to know what the songs were about.

“We sing about love and feeling blue in life by talking about our daily lives. Most of the songs are about ordinary people like us. For example, “Blue Beat” is a story of Kim Jang Hyup (our vocalist). One day he had a hard day and really wanted to sip a shot of whiskey, but it was the last day of the month, so payday hadn’t come yet. It’s a song about craving a drink when you have no money. But we don’t want to be too emotional. So sometimes we sing about a friend who emigrated to another country (Mr.Bomb), and also sing about love (Puppy Love).”

And of course, having not really heard a lot about the South Korean ska scene, we HAD to ask!

“Korean Ska and Reggae scene is small but nice. We always have small shows at small venues, but people always can enjoy the atmosphere. Because we are few but this is maybe the only scene people can enjoy real music. Some bands have been working since the mid 2000s. Kingston Rudieska could be a good example. Korean Ska and Reggae music is obviously different from other underground music. Because people in this scene always want to make new things from the old fashioned things.”

Check out the full album below.

https://www.instagram.com/the_reseters_official/