Lake Worth Long Shots: "I Don't Ever Want to Do an Acoustic Show Again"

The Lake Worth Long Shots are a 3-piece reggae band based out of Orlando. We know, that sounds confusing. But the guys grew up down here, and even though they moved to Orlando years ago, South Florida is still home.

Founding friends Bradley Christopher and Michael Castro wrote acoustic songs together for years before finally meeting the perfect drummer and turning the band into a trio. In the meantime, they created enough acoustic jams to put out a full length album, Wood Rich, which is helping the band stay actively on the minds of South Florida reggaeheads. Next up, they want to tour Florida and are already itching to get back in the studio. But first, they will open up day one of Propaganda's Summer Daze. Before continuing on their Florida musical tear, we chatted with the Lake Worth Long Shots about how they came up with the name, if they want to stay acoustic, and how hip-hop influences their sound.

See Also: Easy Star All-Stars' Mission Is to Bring Reggae "to the Masses" With Dub Side of the Moon

New Times: You guys are based out of Orlando. Where does the band name come from?

Bradley Christopher: Yeah, we live in Orlando but we are all from down south originally. Me and Mike used to both live off of Lake Worth Road. It was like what the Long Beach Dub All Stars did.

And it was just a duo for a long time?

Michael Castro: Yeah it was me and Brad for like a year doing acoustic shows. And then at the beginning of this year, we found Justin.

What was that process like finding a drummer?

Michael: We weren't as prepared for it back in the day. We would jam with people, and either they weren't that good or it didn't seem to click. But when we played with Justin we were like, "Oh yeah, this makes sense."

Justin, do you agree?

Justin Lund: Yeah, totally. When I played with these guys, I could see they were awesome musicians by themselves. But as soon as we added drum and percussion, then it just took off and added a whole new sound.

You guys started acoustic and moved onto electric. Do you still consider acoustic your favorite?

Bradley: Playing electric is way more fun. I don't ever want to do an acoustic show again. I would, but I'd rather not.

You recently opened for Afroman. Does hip-hop influence your sound at all?

Bradley: Yeah, even a lot of the lyrics that I write are more in a rap style. All three of us listen to a bunch of hip-hop. Justin likes the more recent stuff and all three of us are down with the old school rap.

Tell us about the process of creating Wood Rich.

Michael: We were writing songs during all of college. I was in Tallahassee going to FSU. So I would write the lead guitar and vocals and Brad was in West Palm, so he would write guitar and vocals and then when we got together, we would write bass lines for each others music, And then we moved in together and we're like, "Let's really try." It was years of writing songs for fun and then when we started playing we wanted to record and a bunch of stuff that ended up on Wood Rich was already ready.

Have you noticed any differences between the reggae scene in South Florida and what you are seeing in Orlando?

Bradley: From the trips we have taken down south, everyone is much more into it down there. Up here, it is more hit or miss.

Michael: I feel like the dance community and rap scene is a lot bigger up in the central and northern Florida areas. Except Jacksonville. I feel like Jacksonville is going to be the one city that is similar to South Florida.

Wood Rich is available for purchase online including iTunes.

See the Lake Worth Long Shots live at Propaganda, 6 S. J St., Lake Worth, Summer Daze Day 1 at 5:30 p.m. on the inside stage. Advance tickets are $25, door tickets are $30 and a 3-day pass is $60.

New Party Rules for Millennials