Everyday Sunshine
I finally had the chance to see "Everyday Sunshine," the documentary about the influential and talented band Fishbone, at Unurban in Santa Monica. It's really a must-see for any music lover, especially ska, punk, funk music fans. It includes many interviews with the original band members as well as notable and famous musicians from No Doubt, P-Funk, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Primus, Ice-T, and more. It describes the band's history, inception, and tumultuous lifespan up till now. Relationships are broken, mended, twisted, healed; their liveihood despite not reaching commercial success and influence are constant talking points throughout the film.
The particular screening I attended was also cool since Norwood Fisher (the original and current bass player) was present for a Q&A. The interview unfortunately got off to a rocky start because of the interviewer asking stupid race questions ("why are black people better than funk music than white people") and boasting about his own band and other famous musicians he's seen and interviewed. There were a few standard questions like asking about favorite bass players, musicial influences, etc but also a few stupid ones ("did Fishbone really invent ska?").
Someone in attendance also simply thanked them for being who they are, and thanked them for never compromising themselves. Norwood responded to that quite well, and basically said that is how he has felt. Despite not being able to buy big houses and fast cars, Fishbone has been able to trailblaze and create their own music and to be proud of everything that they have put out. Even though they never got rich, they were able to live to the fullest of their own integrity. Past all the fighting and rough life of touring, it was a journey that was only acheived by holding onto what they believed in.
Also a shout-out to Music Cares as they were able to help pay for counseling between Angelo and Norwood (and perhaps some other original band members, I'm not entirely sure) that had to go down after the documentary was shown. The film went through some real raw moments in the band's history, and I'm glad that the band has only been able to do better because of the screening of the film.