HUB (the roots) interview

[Elano]

The times they have-a changed in Roots World. After ten albums and damn near twenty years of almost constant touring, the band has finally settled down into their nightly gig at 30 Rock with funny man Jimmy Fallon. But there’s one Root who beat the rest of them to the “Man, I’m tired of this shit”-punch: Mr. Leonard Hubbard aka Hub. It turns out though, for Hub, who admits that leaving the road and the band has limited his chewstick buying significantly, it does not mean settling down. In fact, as Hub told Okayplayer in an exclusive recent interview, things are definitely still busy for the legendary bassman.

But first, of course, we had to ask him about his time with The Roots.

“I’d have to say my favorite period of The Roots was when we were just starting out, when it was straight raw—no one was doing what we did. We started from scratch,” Hub says, reflecting on his time with the group. He says that playing live back then was especially exciting, if not a bit frustrating, because soundmen at venues didn’t know how to handle The Roots. “We weren’t playing loud rock with loud guitars, and we weren’t playing straight jazz with the bass turned all the way up—because you still had to hear Black Thought’s vocals, you know?!—we were playing live hip-hop, which was very new and no one was quite sure how to handle it.”

Hub also reflects on the process the band went through in their many stages as being one affected by what was going on around them, transferring the sounds on the radio to something more live and real.

“The Roots went through changes because we were never a group with a multi-platinum song on the radio. We never had royalty checks coming in that could pay the bills. Our fame is from live performance. So taking that live performance into recording, as the textures in hip-hop in the mainstream changed, our attitude in the studio changed.” Hub says that the Roots evolved with hip-hop, first starting out with that organic, live, acoustic bass and drums sound popularized in the early 90’s by groups like A Tribe Called Quest, to when “people like Wu-Tang came, and Nas came, we’d come in with actual tracks rather than transferring our live sound.”

Moving forward, Okayplayer had one question for Hub that only this site’s visitors would be curious to know: Was there any talk of rejoining The Roots on Fallon?

“No, no, that never came up,” Hub says, matter-of-fact-ly. “You know, I left about a year before any of that idea was even formed, and since I’m not a regular member now, it wasn’t ever an issue. I’m proud of them though, and think it’s a great gig. Also, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a ‘Roots featuring Hub’ appearance somewhere along the line—whether it’s on the show or on stage, we’ll have to see, but I definitely wouldn’t rule something like that out.”

But back to the here and now and what’s real. As stated, Hub may have moved on from being a day-to-day member of The Roots (“Man, it’s crazy to have more than just a gallon of spring water in the fridge now, you know? That life was crazy—I live ten minutes from the airport for that very reason, because I was constantly coming and going and not home for more than a day or two!,” he says), but he’s still very busy, with projects in music, books, theatre, and education. One of his major recent projects is an album with Philadelphia artist A. Marcy Francis, titled Reachin’ Higher.

“You know, for all of the music I have done over the years, no one has ever really heard a Leonard Hubbard song. I feel that with this project, people finally are,” Hub says about the album. “Marcy is an old friend of mine, and someone who I’ve casually worked with on music ideas over the years, and we finally had the opportunity to formulate our ideas into something here.”


And that they did. Reachin’ Higher is an album of many different sounds (spoken word, jazz, funk, and reggae are some used among the 12-track album), but what grounds the project is a common thread of spirituality, which Hub says was definitely on purpose.

“You know, Marcy is a very spiritual person. She works all over the Philly area in various outreach programs, so this album is reflective of that very spiritual attitude,” Hub says. “For example, she is a learned performer of the spiritual African Shekere instrument. There is also a song on the album that features the words written by a then ten-year-old American girl named Rachel Corrie., who was killed in the Gaza Strip when she was a 23-year-old peace activist. People and things like that are what this album is about, just that higher spirituality.”

Aside from this latest release, Hub has also worked with Philadelphia artist Stephanie Owens on a few projects. One is a “Do-the-Right-Thing”-type play, entitled “The Mirror Effect,” which follows the trials and tribulations of a newly immigrated Asian family in inner-city America, and the various relationships and attitudes that are formed. Hub also helped out with Stephanie’s children book series, which aligns with his passion for education. “I’m real proud of the children’s book especially,” Hub says. “Stephanie was recently on Stevie Wonder’s radio show, and he said he was going to bring a copy to the Obama girls when he was in DC! But the books are really about those growing experiences children share, so whenever I can help out in that way, I’m very excited to do it.”

One other educational project Hub is involved and takes pride in (Philly parents, take notice) is the Summer Jam Camp he coaches at Philadelphia’s esteemed Settlement Music School “It’s a lot of fun. We let the kids form a band within the program, give them some recording time in a real studio to produce a CD collection of their work, play a few gigs, culminating in a camp-wide concert. To give my experience and help these kids achieve their dream and learn about what recording as a professional musician is really like is a lot of fun and I’m humbled to have the opportunity.”

Okay, okay, it’s great Hub is staying busy and doing all sorts of great projects with people in his community, but what about a proper Hub album??

“It’s coming!,” Hub said. “I’m going to put together an album, hopefully soon, featuring all of my A-List friends. I really want to try out some different songs and get these people I’ve worked with over the years involved and make something great. All my A&R friends keep asking me, ‘When’s THAT coming? Keep me on top of that one, man!’ and all of that, so we’ll see what ends up happening. I’m excited for it though.”

All in all, Hub is a professional musician in the truest since of the title. He’s used his time and attention in the Roots not to rest on his laurels, but to get involved in projects that he’s passionate about, and where he can focus this, combined with his intense spirit. That’s why Reachin Higher may be the perfect title for his latest musical product.”

“Above all though man, I have to thank the fans. Without them and their continued support, none of this would be possible,” Hub says. He may be right, but he definitely brings the personal passion to every project he is involved in.

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