Posing Not Providing

"We're actually really lucky,” Hemphill declares, as he talks about SOJA's gradual rise to popularity. “A good friend of mine once said to me, 'Bands either remain where they are and level off, or they shoot straight up and then they fall down. But you guys just keep kind of moving up year after year'. And I think we have the fans to thank for that. I put a lot of my own beliefs into the songs and the fans have come to start requesting me to run for president,” he pauses, laughing.

“And I think the fans are the ones who, every year, they put us further and further up. So every time it comes to do an album, we really think about the fans and the people and what the people and the spirits need, in the message and the music and so we try to give it back, and so we just trade back and forth. We just encourage each other to move forward and grow.”

Belief is an integral part of SOJA, but it's an area in which Hemphill has become more open and less prescriptive. When the band began, their Rastafarianism defined much of the lyrics (and indeed the band name: Soldiers Of Jah Army). Now, he says he wants to ask questions, rather than answer them.

“My father is the smartest guy I've ever met, and he always talks to me and tells me that the purpose of life is not a destination, it's a journey,” Hemphill says. “And a lot of smart people have said similar things, but I take the lyrics as the same kind of thing. You turn on the radio and you hear a bunch of people talking about themselves, and that's very popular these days in music – to talk about yourself. And so I spend a lot of time talking not about myself but about the way that I think things should be happening. The way to change things is not to tell people what to believe. It's to ask a lot of questions and talk about possible solutions and then step back and let everyone make their own decisions. If I told you everything that was true in the universe, as soon as you find one thing that I said that I was incorrect about then you could go question everything else I ever said, but if all I do is ask questions and promote people to come up with solutions on their own, then it's their own reasoning that they're trusting and they're not just trusting me the way that someone would a bible or a president or a congressman. They're trusting me to ask the questions that need to be asked and then they can answer for themselves. People can internalise the truth a lot more if they come to it, rather than being led to it, I think.”

As for bringing those questions into music, and creating a live experience, Hemphill is proud of what the band has achieved. “I always tell people that I have the best band in reggae music and people normally agree with me. These guys are crazy; they fly off the drum risers and they jump up on the speakers. And Bobby-Lee, the bass player, has dance moves for every song and everybody just goes nuts. The guys who are singing also play horns and they also pick up guitars and they also play drums. There's reggae and hip hop and samba and rock. We just kind of combine it. It's like a celebration and all of the music comes out, all these musicians go nuts and then I sit there with a microphone and say what I believe.”

Soja will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 30, Sunday 31 March and Monday 1 April - Bluesfest, Byron Bay NSW
Wednesday 3 - The Zoo, Fortitude Valley QLD
Thursday 4 April - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast QLD
Friday 5 April - The Metro, Sydney NSW
Saturday 6 April - Prince Bandroom, Melbourne VIC

Strength To Survive is out now.