Reggae-Agenda meets Flying Vipers (Boston, US)

10/04/2026

Flying Vipers, Interview

📸: @__sandr0_

For those in Europe discovering you for the first time — who are the Flying Vipers, and how did the band come together?

Flying Vipers are a group of veteran musicians that make original music heavily inspired by 1970’s era reggae from Jamaica and beyond. Marc & I (John) are twin brothers and have been making noise together our whole lives, and most of our bandmates are from other groups we’ve played with for years. It started as a studio-only side project to experiment with live dub mixing using an old Tascam cassette 4-track, but blossomed from there.

You’re based in Boston — how did that environment shape your sound and identity as a reggae/dub band?

Boston has a deep history with reggae bands going back to the 70s – a local movie theater ran The Harder They Come when it was new for years helping spread the music and culture. It’s a small city so the scene here is tight. We know most of the usual players, many are our friends, and shows often become a big piece of our social lives.

The physical environment may play a role as well, which is at times the opposite of Jamaica, with harsh winters and cold shorelines. Even within the US we find ourselves at odds with the more popular California reggae vibe. But we try to use our music to spread joy and positivity, to turn darkness into light, while embracing the rough edges.

WWW: Flying Vipers (USA) Vlissingen – 24 April 2026 – 1st time in the Netherlands
(Interview continues after image)

'Flying Vipers Boston USA reggae dub band - Singer

📸: @johnsoaresphotos

Sound & Inspiration

Your music has a very authentic 70s roots and dub feel. What draws you to that era?

It’s both the songwriting and the production style. It’s a deceptively simple style with a lot of nuance, and those early development years produced an uncanny amount of deeply spirited music and experimentation, from the musicians as well as the studio engineers.

Which artists and producers have had the biggest influence on your sound?

It’s hard to pin down even a handful as we’re all big music nerds that listen to as much different music as possible. On the production side, it’s Augustus Pablo, Keith Hudson, Bullwackie, the Hoo Kim brothers, Jack Ruby, Junjo, Dennis Bovell and Adrian Sherwood, and of course King Tubby, Scientist, Lee Perry… but we also take inspiration from plenty of non-reggae artists, which can range from Gang of Four, to CAN, to Sun Ra, to Stax & Motown.

How important is analog gear and recording techniques in your productions?

It’s not necessarily important that it’s analog, but we appreciate the limitations that recording to tape brings. There are sonic elements to vintage instruments and recording gear that sometimes you just can’t get with something modern and digital. The live mixing element, done on the fly by turning knobs and sliding faders, also helps keep our recordings sounding of a specific era.

📸: @mozianmedia

Creative Process

Can you walk us through your creative process when building a dub track?

The initial recording is all done without much thought to how the dub mix will land. We play through all the parts without any effects, drop outs, etc. The arrangement comes together whether it’s an instrumental or vocal, then once all the instruments are laid down, the dub mixing commences and the tune takes off on a different path – sometimes not far from the recording, sometimes radically different. That’s half the fun! There’s a balance of live improvisation, happy accidents, and doing something over and over again, trying to nail a preconceived idea.

Do your songs start from the riddim, the bassline, or a specific vibe?

Most of our tunes start with a bass line and build up from there.

How do you approach the balance between traditional roots reggae and modern elements?

Sometimes we will stop and ask ourselves if something sounds rootsy, and sometimes we might have a general vibe or specific song we’ll refer to, but we try to just let the songs and sounds unfold naturally. While we love traditional roots, we can’t pretend we’re not a modern band living in the moment, using our own voice, which differs dramatically from our source inspirations.

📸: @mozianmedia

Live & Dub Experience

Your live shows are known for their deep dub energy — what can people expect from a Flying Vipers performance?

We have a 7-piece band of ace musicians that really enjoy playing this music and performing together, so hopefully that comes across. A message will be delivered, whether it’s heavy duty or light hearted, but it’s all meant to make you want to dance and sing, or move you in some way.

How do you translate studio dub into a live setting?

We sometimes have a sound engineer that will dub out the mix live, like when our longtime friend Craig “Dub Fader” Welsch is at the controls. But when we don’t have our own engineer, we’ll do the dub style ourselves with pedals and such, some of it is planned, a lot of it is improvised.

📸: @nouveau_lara

Europe & The Netherlands

You’ll be playing in the Netherlands for the first time — what are your expectations?

We hope people come out and enjoy the music! The Netherlands seem to have a great appreciation for classic reggae, so we feel very fortunate to bring our music here. We have friends like the Void Union that have played around the country and speak highly of it.

European crowds are known for their strong love for roots and dub. How do you connect with that audience?

Many of us have played in other bands that have performed all over Europe and beyond over the years, and while we love our American audiences, at times the EU crowds seem more supportive, more willing to just dance and let loose. You can see by how often the veteran JA singers and musicians tour around the EU, while rarely if ever touring the US.

Are there any European artists or soundsystems you’re excited to see or collaborate with?

We were really hoping to share the stage with our comrades from Fruits Records in Geneva, Switzerland – we had something all lined up with them there, but unfortunately had to shorten our trip due to unexpected family commitments. Hopefully next time we can link up with them on stage and in the studio. We’re excited to meet NL’s High Tide Sounds who are on the bill with us, and in general we hope to plant seeds for future shows across the EU and UK.