Further Notice eyes bright future

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Moving from a 'smooth expression' to Further Notice, the members of the Further Notice band are looking to their future with big plans in the making.

Having started over eight years ago while at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Further Notice consists of Llamar 'Riff Raff' Brown on keyboards, Andrae 'Wang' Carter on guitar, Boltar 'Montana' Solomon as the vocalist, Wayne 'Unga' Thompson on drums and Jason Welson on bass. Speaking with The Gleaner recently, Carter explained how the band got started.

Message of love

He said, "The band got started when our college had an event and needed musicians to play, so we came together and picked a team and was called Smooth Expression at the time. What set us apart from other bands is that Jah gave us a mission to complete, which I am sure he gave the rest, but we were chosen to spread the message of love, choosing this journey as a mission and not a competition. That makes us different, also we have a unique sound as a band."

While they are all trained to be versatile in their musical choices, according to Carter they prefer to perform cultural reggae and dancehall. After playing together for so long, they developed and grew to further produce impressionable drum beats, mean guitar riffs, beautiful play on keyboards, steady bass lines and a unique sultry voice to complete the package. Further Notice's musical journey soon took them across the world as one of the younger backing bands on the scene.

In recent times, they have done projects and live performances with local and international reggae, pop and hip hop sensations such as Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley, Stephen Marley, Nas, Mavado and Bounty Killer. They aspire, however, to one day travel the world together once again, but this time as the leading act rather than a backing band.

The band has also began working behind the scenes with producers Notice Productions. With Notice Productions they have created the summer anthem Holiday from Ding Dong and Chevaughn, as well as rhythms such as 'Epicenta' and 'Red and Black'.

Further Notice has already started to expand their catalogue with a new lovers rock single out called So Fine.

Other than striving to be the focus of attention on stage, according to Carter, they have many more goals to reach. He said, "In five years, we hope to see the band on billboards across Europe with number one songs. Also, I see us building schools here in Jamaica, and giving back to our people by reaching out to the less fortunate. We also plan to open our own record label in the future so we can give other young talented artistes a chance by doing this, keeping our culture alive."