California has given birth to many artists, music teeming with the sunny lifestyle, and talent to boot. Slightly Stoopid,a reggae-rock band from Ocean Beach, San Diego, has snagged the tidal wave to success. Its members – Miles Doughty, Kyle McDonald, Ryan Moran, Oguer Ocon, DE LA, and C-Money – have become the West Coast’s golden boys of reggae through years of melodic transformation, friendships and chemistry found along the way.
Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald, the core duo of Slightly Stoopid, have known each other since they were young and well into high school, where the band formed their punk-rock roots.
“Kyle and I have been friends since we were little kids,” Doughty said. “We’re like brothers.”
For 15 years, Slightly Stoopid has been experimenting with the sounds and surf of California. Sublime’s own Bradley Nowell noticed the groundbreaking reggae-punk band during a concert. Talent for talent, the Slightly boys matched up, and Nowell signed them to Skunk Records.
“We did this show out in the foothill up in Long Beach, and after we played, Nowell was like, ‘Yo, let’s go make a record,'” Doughty said. “We were 17-years-old and stoked. Sublime was one of our biggest influences.”
Blowing up with the popular release of their 1998 album The Longest Barrel Ride, the band released two more albums while on Skunk Records. The fusion of acoustic-reggae and punk became a widely craved California flavor, resulting in Slightly Stoopid having released seven albums, two of which are live.
The band is currently touring in support of Chronchitis, their fifth studio album, which was released in August. This summer, they participated in the triple-billed Summer Haze tour, and the band is still in high spirits from its recent conclusion.
“Summer Haze was the best tour of our careers,” Doughty said. “Playing every day with G. Love and Ozomatli was great. We had both bands up for an encore every night. When you play with musicians at that level, it makes you so much better as a band.”
Far from their Ocean Beach stomping grounds, Slightly Stoopid’s fall tour will cover the U.S. before they head to Europe next spring. Being on the road is the epitome of living life to these surfer boys from the West Coast, and for them, the recipe for a great tour is a lot of hard work mixed with having a good time.
“There have been so many bands on tour with us, from Fishbone and Dave Matthews to the Marley brothers,” Doughty said. “Whenever we go out cruising, we’ve just gotta preach the good vibe and show the other cats that we’re hard workers.”
Their ever-evolving sound and reggae-rock stardom hasn’t kept the band from forgetting what matters in their music.
“With music, all you need to concentrate on is making music and satisfying your fans,” Doughty said.
Working hard and staying true to the sounds of the golden state and their fans, the boys of Slightly Stoopid are ready to put on a stellar show.
Don’t miss Slightly Stoopid with Inner Circle and The Super Villains at Canopy Club tonight, Oct. 4. Doors open at 8 p.m. for the 8:30 p.m. show.
