Anyway, but it was like, man, that in itself is like a nostalgic thing.

Absolutely.

Thing for so many of us.

So you're on good morning.

Good morning.

And then, uh, and then a couple of days later I'm back in Tauranga teaching and, um, I get this message from Brad saying, Hey man, saw you on good morning show the other day.

And, um, would you be keen to jam kind of thing? And I was like, wow.

What does it still do to you?

Anyway, but it was like, man, that in itself is like a nostalgic moment.

thing for so many of us.

So you're on, good morning.

Good morning and then a couple of days later I'm back in Tauranga teaching and I get this message from Brad saying, hey man, saw you on Good Morning Show the other day and would you be keen to jam? And I was like, wow.

I saw his last name and I was like, I know that name.

And I was like, yeah, of course.

And then I went to Whakatane and met his brother Stu as well, Stu Cora, and the three of us had a jam and And that was the end of that.

What does it still do to you?

fans tell you about what they love about the music?

Yeah, that's it, man.

It's a feeling that they get when they listen to the music and it is a special thing to be able to give the world.

I certainly don't take that for granted that the music shifts a lot of people emotionally in a positive way or in a reflecting way.

It's a beautiful thing to be able to do.

They come up and they're just like, man, your songs got me through depression or they got me through this or they got me through this in my life.

It's like, wow.

So will you do anything particular with the LAB music for this event?

What other things are on your calendar for the next year? Are you in the studio?

Yeah, we're currently writing quite a bit and recording.

We've set up a place in Whakatane where we do that and we also go back down to Wellington, which is where we've done stuff with Lee Preble, Greg's brother.

Yeah, so we go down there a bit and...

So, yeah, lots of writing and recording at the moment.

And then the show is kind of kickoff for us in January.

So we've got quite a hiatus from playing live for a bit.

So when you're in the studio and you say that you're writing, is there a process that's, like what is the process when you're writing songs? Do you kind of lay down the music and then someone adds the vocals or are you kind of working in together? Yeah.

And Joel, you must be stoked to be in there again, mate.

Yeah, well, it's cool.

It's the first time LAB's played the symphony show, so it's...

I actually jumped up with Cyril last year.

Got it, yeah.

Just to play in the air for like two and a half minutes and jump off in.

It was just like baptism by fire.

that's incredible because and joel you're about 12 were you when you're on stage yeah yeah

L.A.B. being a part of this festival and behind it and everything, I mean, this is a really huge venture for you guys, pushing this and bringing together such amazing reggae bands.

Yeah, man.

And it's been one of those things that we've... wanted to do for a while and kind of been doing with our own shows anyway.

So we're like, man, why don't we give this a crack? And with the backing of Loop, who are our label and also the promoter, co-promoter, I guess, it's like it's a no-brainer that the boys have been working alongside us for years putting on our shows.

So let's put on something together then.

What about you, Joel? Who's someone you're excited to share a drink with?

I always like hanging out with Rads, man.

I mean, we don't really get to have a drink together, but hopefully the next show we do, her band's just so, just so steezy.

Because of course somebody in the room would've gone, "Well, you know what festivals are like at the moment, don't you?" 'Cause I mean, they're struggling, aren't they?

Totally.

Yeah, and it's, you know, we wanna put on something affordable for, for people that can, you know, that can come out because, uh, it's not a $1,000 weekend anymore for everybody.

It's like, man, people don't have that kind of money to spend on going to big gigs and, you know, the, the international market's obviously very saturated too.

So we're competing with that obviously.

And, um, but we know we can, we can hold, hold up against that stuff, especially, uh, going back to kinda grassroots style of festival.

Okay, so it's you and who? And is the who still to be sorted out, and that's part of the, you know, gotta get into this and organize it all?

Yeah.

Because of course somebody in the room would've gone, "Well, you know what festivals are like at the moment, don't you?" 'Cause I mean, they're struggling, aren't they?

Totally.

Yeah.

And it's, you know, we wanna put on something affordable for, for people that can, you know, that can come out because, uh, it's not a $1,000 weekend anymore for everybody.

It's like, man, people don't have that kind of money to spend on going to big gigs and, you know, the, the international market's obviously very saturated too.

So we're competing with that obviously and, um, but we know we can, we can hold, hold up against that stuff, especially, uh, going back to kinda grassroots style of festival.

Okay, so it's you and who? And is the who still to be sorted out, and that's part of the, you know, gotta get into this and organize it all?

Yeah.