Dub-influenced rock is a pillar of the beach lifestyle soundtrack. In the eclectic musical atmosphere of beach communities, the music played reflects the lifestyles lived. Musicians carry the torches lit by bands like Sublime while two brothers, Jon and Matt Phillips, throw gas on that torch. They have ensured the mobility of this progressive music scene for more than a decade, much as they do today. From managing Sublime in the mid-nineties to the inception of the recently-formed Controlled Substance Sound Labs, we take a tour of the last 13 years with the Phillips brothers in the catch-fire musical scene they've helped cultivate. Even though our bands may fit into a certain genre, all of our bands bring a different interpretation to the table. It’s just real lifestyle party music, and all of these bands were influenced by their lifestyles and where they grew up. When you’re living in a beach town, you’re listening to a lot of reggae, but there’s a lot of punk rock and surf rock, and it shows in all of these bands’ music. They’ve all taken these styles and created a sound that’s their own. I think that’s why this scene is elevating over other scenes of music, other scenes seem to become repetitive. With Silverback and Controlled Substance we’re putting together something different to offer. Since these bands differ from each other and from the rest of the music scene, our scene is able to carry along. -Matt Phillips ‘94 ‘Groovy’ Greg Abramson, while working at Gasoline Alley, introduces Jon Phillips to Sublime and their music. This same year Sublime releases their 2nd album and subversive masterpiece Robbin’ The Hood on Skunk Records. This LP alongside their 1st classic 1992’s ‘40 Oz. To Freedom’ on Long Beach, CA indie Skunk Records begins to manifest a cult status amongst the regional underground, mostly along the California coast, Florida, and Hawaii. "Greg was in Long Beach kind of promoting them. He gave me two cassette tapes, Jah Won’t Pay The Bills and Forty Ounces. He took me down to Huntington Beach to see them, and we just kind of stumbled upon three hundred people that knew every word to their songs. You weren’t hearing about that in Hollywood, it was just the beach culture." -J.P. As a young A&R executive, Jon Phillips signs Sublime to the Gasoline Alley/MCA record label. He convinces the major label MCA to allow the band to develop under the Skunk Records moniker it started, preserving the band’s indie, D.I.Y. mindset and punk rock credibility, while also helping to develop the profile of the street credible Skunk Record’s logo and label. The mindset being that Gasoline Alley/MCA would eventually get its due but that on the street level, this was a generation that could rally behind a tag like ‘Skunk Records’ and be a part of a new wave and new discovery that could ignite the music world as Sublime eventually would. "I think that the label thought it was a kind of a cool thing to do, they were kind of intrigued by it. It was funny because there would be all these kids in their plush offices working to market Sublime, but they understood it. The pressure from the top is that they would want you to produce the next No Doubt or whoever, so it was walking the line between that and keeping something street credible. From a marketing standpoint it was important to keep it that way, the music and talent is what made Sublime commercial." -J.P ‘95 The song ‘Date Rape’ breaks at commercial radio with KROQ being the champion, as Sublime hits the road on the very first Warped Tour, only to be kicked off halfway thru for stealing peoples’ meal tickets, rumored drug use, and for a Dalmatian named Lou Dog whose presence and bite prone behavior was causing a liability for a tour still struggling with its infancy. The band rejoined on the West Coast 3 weeks later. They continue to tour in a van nationally for the remainder of their existence as a live music entity. ‘96 Sublime creates their now legendary self-titled ‘Sublime’ under the A&R direction of Phillips, and the knob twisting of Butthole Surfer’s Paul Leary and legendary producer David Kahne, as well as Skunk’s founder and original Sublime producer Michael ‘Miguel’ Happoldt. "They wanted to have a kind of garage sound on the recording and wanted to buy their own equipment and set up their own studio. So they did that and set up pre-production at what was called the Fake Night Club. Honestly, after hearing the demo of ‘What I Got’ before it was mixed by David Kahne or anything, we knew we had a huge single. We had felt the ground swelling for a while, and for me, I knew Sublime was going to be big like Nirvana." -JP "They were still in high school, like 16 years old. Slightly Stoopid first opened up for Sublime in Ocean Beach at a place called Dream Street. Eventually, Brad and Miguel asked Slightly Stoopid to come to Long Beach to record as Skunk artists. Brad just really saw the talent with those guys." -MP Bradley Nowell signs Slightly Stoopid to Skunk Records and performs on their 1st album. April 20th: Slightly Stoopid performs with Sublime in Los Angeles at House of Blues’ High Times Magazine ‘Joint Effort’ benefit. May 25, 1996- Sublime mastermind Bradley Nowell passes away from a tragic drug overdose on tour months prior to the release of their 3rd album, Sublime. Three months later the album will have a huge impact on commercial music as ‘What I Got’ becomes a smash on alternative radio. The album spawns 4+ hits including ‘Wrong Way,’ ‘Santeria,’ and ‘Doin Time.’ Sublime begins its climb to cult heroes and eventually music legend. "It was bittersweet. I don’t think anyone overly enjoyed the success because of the circumstances. Making videos was difficult for us. MTV was still actually playing music videos, and there was pressure from the top to make videos. With Brad gone we needed to reflect the band’s aesthetic appropriately. In retrospect, I think they came out with memorable ones. Produced under $20,000, ‘What I Got’ won MTV’s best alternative video in ‘96." -JP ‘97 Long Beach Dub Allstars form from the ashes of Sublime, as the rhythm section carries on. "Sublime never toured to promote the album, and that’s what ultimately ushered in LBDA, they wanted to go out and play the songs." -JP ‘98 Silverback Management is born, and Jon Phillips takes on Long Beach Dub Allstars, as Matt Phillips takes on Slightly Stoopid. Both bands carry the torch of the classic California sound. "Silverback really started with Jon living in LA running it out of his bedroom, and me living in San Diego running it out of my bedroom. I moved down to San Diego for college, and Jon was kind of like ‘I’m busy with Long Beach Dub Allstars, will you take on Slightly Stoopid?’" -MP Slightly Stoopid release The Longest Barrel Ride on Skunk Records, LBDA signs to Dreamworks Records and release Right Back. "Miles comes up to me and was like ‘You gotta help us.’ I think they showed up at The Longest Barrel Ride release party without any CDs, so my little apartment in college pretty much became the record label, and there were boxes covering my apartment. I had my roommates packing and shipping, and I’m running a mailing list of off Outlook Express. It was a real small operation at that time." -MP "The first touring vehicle that Sublime bought when they signed with Gasoline Alley was a Ford Econo-line that had been converted into this ice cream truck, and Brad didn’t have a car, so I remember Miles driving Brad up to my office, and we all went together to buy this van turned ice cream truck. I started to get to know Miles and Kyle, I always took it like Brad being like ‘Here’s these guys Miles and Kyle, they’re going to carry the torch if you guys want this thing to last.’ Brad always prophesied about what his future and demise might be, and here he was introducing me these musicians that would ultimately carry the torch. It’s sort of symbolic." -JP ‘99 Fishbone takes Slightly Stoopid on their first full national tour, as years later Stoopid will return the favor. ‘00-’01 Slightly Stoopid performs a secret acoustic performance (since their original drummer didn’t show up) on air for San Diego’s Rock 105.3 FM. Due to overwhelming requests from listeners, it is re-aired. The magic was later released on CD as Slightly Stoopid’s Live and Direct: Acoustic Roots is released on the band’s own STOOPID RECORDS, which has sold 75,000 units to date through various distributors, live shows and online. 9-11-01: LBDA release Wonders of the World on the same date the Twin Towers fall. The band subsequently breaks up after this tour. Overlooked on the album is the positive anthem ‘Sunny Hours’ featuring will.i.am of the still under the radar Black Eyed Peas. "We were shunned by every major label in the industry. Even with Sublime going 5-10 times platinum at this point, none of the big guys would take Slightly Stoopid that seriously. At the same time, Miles and Kyle weren’t the guys to jump through hoops. It was just ‘This is what we do, sell it.’" -JP Slightly Stoopid and The Expendables play memorable acoustic performance in honor of fallen big wave surfer Jay Moriarity at benefit. It is this performance that will be a precursor to subsequent tours together, and the beginning of The Expendables ultimately becoming Stoopid/Controlled Substance artists. ‘03 Slightly Stoopid’s 3rd studio album Everything You Need is released on indie SurfDog records. G-Love joins the band to record ‘Mellow Mood’ which was later featured on the bonus disc of surf epic ‘Step Into Liquid’ Everything You Need has sold 120,000 units to date. Silverback Management signs Kona, Hawaii’s Pepper to the management roster. "We went out to Hawaii because Slightly Stoopid and Shortbus were playing for Surf Fest. The bill was Pennywise, Damian Marley, Slightly Stoopid, Shortbus, and Pepper was the opener. We went early to catch Pepper, and me and Jon just looked at each other. Their set just kind of blew us away." -MP Slightly Stoopid takes Pepper on tour across the nation. ‘04 Pepper gets in the studio with Ron St. Germain (311, Bad Brains) and releases In With the Old on Volcom Entertainment, but hits radio with their song ‘Give It Up’ (dirty hot sex) from their previous Kona Town release. This song becomes #1 requested and #1 airplay at various commercial radio stations, most notably Hawaii’s Star 97 and Los Angeles’ power station KROQ, and further cements the Hawaiian trio into the pastiche of Cali pop radio culture. ‘05 Slightly Stoopid release Closer To the Sun, and the EP Slightly Not Stoned To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid on Stoopid/Caliplates/Reincarnate Records. The single ‘This Joint’ becomes #1 on KROQ radio request line but is taken off the air because it sounds too ‘hip-hop’ according to corporate program directors. Closer to the Sun Debuts at # 161 on the Billboard charts and has currently sold 90,000 units. Returning the favor from years earlier, Slightly Stoopid takes Fishbone on tour along with The Beautiful Girls. Silverback signs Fishbone "We had known Angelo and Norwood for years. What bands have those guys not influenced? They were just kind of wondering if we could put them in a younger audience, and, of course, it’s impossible to turn them down, they’re legends. I think in two years they’re eligible to be inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. They’ve influenced everyone from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Sublime. It’s an honor to the elder statesmen to try to help them move the barometer to a younger generation. Me and Jon just felt like the kids deserve to hear Fishbone." -MP "They just have a lot of talent and are the ultimate rock n’ roll rollercoaster. But they’ve survived, and I don’t think there is one front man in the business that gives more than Angelo Moore." -JP ‘06 Pepper signs to Atlantic Records and releases No Shame in August ‘06. The record features contributions production wise from members of No Doubt, 311, and Butthole Surfers. Pepper soon hits the road with 311 and The Wailers and then combine with Slightly Stoopid for the SOLD OUT JAGERMUSIC Theatre Tour. Pepper’s No Shame spawns the top 20 alternative single ‘No Control.’ Within months Atlantic dropped the band leaving Pepper proud sole owners of their masters for their own label, Law Records. Slightly Stoopid takes The Expendables on tour again. Silverback signs The Beautiful Girls - gold record selling artists from Australia. "I started really hearing a lot about The Beautiful Girls, but at this point we were getting 5 to 10 CDs a day, and I would just give them to friends to listen to. But The Beautiful Girls intrigued me because they did this cover of Sublime’s ‘Badfish’ into Slightly Stoopid’s ‘Mellow Mood.’ They were already big in Australia with Learn Yourself. When you hear frontman Matt McHugh and listen to his lyrics, you know the guy’s just a star." -MP Slightly Stoopid becomes a bona fide headliner selling out 1000 seaters and also hits the road with Dave Matthews band. They hit massive festival audiences at New Orleans Jazzfest, Austin City Limits, Langerado festival in Florida, Vegoose in Las Vegas and the San Diego Street Scene. Slightly Stoopid ranks in Pollstars top 50 touring acts selling out 1,500-3,000 room capacities. ‘07 Silverback signs The Expendables The Expendables could be the cleanest band out right now. They’re really pumping and people are starting to take notice. -JP Silverback Management forms Controlled Substance Sound Labs as new label and distribution arm for its artists to create and own their own music masters, and to have a vehicle to release new music in the digital medium. "Controlled Substance Sound Labs was formed by the Phillips Bros. as an artistic pipeline for the family of artists under Silverback Management. As a firm that has represented the vision and career direction on the management side, we have created a record label and distribution scenario that caters to the new ‘independent’ minded landscape of the music business, and its changing climate. We maintain a grassroots and artist-driven environment with a serious penchant for credible musicians that share a somewhat common niche that some might say is a ‘California’ sound. But we just love good music and like to have a good time, and although we represent musicians from all over the map, our artists seem to have a common bond with one another stylistically in some form, and most importantly we are all close friends. From a standpoint of art vs. commerce, we have created a trustworthy scenario to release albums and have our bands own their own masters and copyrights’a practice not commonly held by the major label behemoths currently in a steep decline both creatively and from a business standpoint. Our artists and us share a family vibe and a likeminded approach to cultivating a sound and vision’roots steeped in rock/reggae/blues and funk encompassed with a mindset of organic dub and hip hop, spun with a populist vision. This is indeed a vibrant scene and really a great time in history in which music and technology can collide to create endless opportunities. At Silverback and Controlled Substance Sound Labs, we thrive on it! Welcome to our family!"