Leeds based brothers Conrad and Michael Cruise are experienced music producers and band colleagues with a new album release under their DX1 moniker. This varied collection of tracks, entitled ‘Wisdom of Roots,’ is aimed at making reggae-based music accessible to newcomers to the genre along with appealing to those who already enjoy this classic sound.
Comprising a mix of material originally written by the brothers back in the early 90s and more recently, ‘Wisdom of Roots’ presents a selection of music ranging from earnest love songs to atmospheric urban sounds capes and upbeat sounds with a ‘let’s party’ flavour to make for a full and varied listen.
While Conrad and Michael take care of the instrumental side between them, they secured the services of two experienced local vocalists, Rickey Smith and Clifford Hughes, to provide the appropriate mood and atmosphere for the sung tracks.
The brothers use modern music making equipment such as state of the art keyboards to enable just the two of them to take care of a myriad of musical instrumentation, but the modern music making technology doesn’t stop the spirit and soul of classic Jamaican music being very much the signature of ‘Wisdom of Roots’.
Conrad and Michael also run their own label, Cruise International, through which they help new artists get their music into the hands – or more appropriately ears – of those who would enjoy it, along with providing a renaissance to older reggae-based music dating back many years.
As Conrad commented: “our work with DX1 and Cruise International is focused on making Jamaican-influenced music accessible through giving it the right exposure through the label and providing variety in our band’s music.”
Conrad and Michael are in a unique position as label owners and band colleagues. They experience creating music from the perspective of the musician and also as producers so understand the challenge both creatively and from a ‘business’ point of view of getting music in front of those who would enjoy it.
As Conrad further says: “there’s nothing worse than music existing but not everyone who might like it getting the chance to ‘meet’ it. We commit to doing what we can to connect the listener with music they’ll love.”
To help achieve this aim, along with the varied music contained on ‘Wisdom of Roots’ and its widespread availability via platforms such as Spotify, Amazon, iTunes and Juno, is the easy to navigate and expanding Cruise International website. With an ever-increasing choice of newer and older reggae, roots and related music to download, Conrad and Michael have set it up to be the ideal place to embark on a voyage of discovery to explore music and artists that might become firm favorites’.
Visit us at: www.dx1music.bandcamp.com/releases www.cruiseinternational.co.uk
