Festival organisers are super excited to present this year’s Kuranda Roots Festival: three days and nights jam packed with live and electronic music steeped in roots, reggae, world music, folk, funk, hip-hop, jazz, dub, bass, dancehall & sound system culture.
Set over the solstice weekend of June 20-22 at the ideal and ambient location at The Billabong, Kangaventure, the festival is situated only 5 minutes from the iconic rainforest village of Kuranda.
Every year the Festival boasts an exciting array of international, national and local artists, set to entertain festival goers and this year is no exception, as well as offering performance workshops in dance, circus, drumming, culture; and a market village with delicious food stalls to give that special festival atmosphere. The family-friendly event has on-site camping and offers an hourly shuttle bus service to and from Kuranda Village.
Joining the already stellar line-up including TIPPA IRIE (UK), DUB TERMINATOR & RAS STONE (NZ), HEARTICAL HIFI, BULLHORN, KOOII and the rest of the gang, and in store is a number of other heavyweight contenders coming to bring you a knockout of a festival!
Final Line Up
BOOVER BANTON (UK/Melb): appearing with Heartical HiFi and in a very special acoustic set at Kuranda Roots this year.
Leo Parry aka Boover Banton cut his teeth in the heyday of UK sound system culture in the 80’s where you could find him rocking the mic with his Lion Heart Soundsystem crew, and most recently providing vocals for part of Zion Train’s Australian tour and at Rainbow Serpent Festival 2014. Now based in Australia, you can catch Boover Banton on the mic with Heartical HiFi at monthly basement sessions in the heart of Melbourne
STAUNCH and Formidable: Formed in 2011 by James Hayes (ShadowFX) and Algernon Renton (Mustard Tiger/Positive Thought), the collaboration was aptly named STAUNCH; a bass heavy, funk laden mid-tempo breaks, glitch hop project. Both artists stemming from progressive trance backgrounds and influenced by the Australian outdoor music scene’s shift toward glitch, Staunch have been forging a fresh, intricate and unique style and tweaking dance floors everywhere
SCHOOLFIGHT joins the sizzling hot line-up: Gregarious 6-piece band bringing their particular brand of hip-hop, addictive keys and solid bass lines that are as big as they are bad-ass; infused with dirty funk undertones and smooth three-part crooning verses, which perfectly combine with a sweeping trumpet and chugging guitar riffs to create a powerful sound that dominates the recorded and live domains. Yes, they can.
NARAM: Originally from Wellington NZ, but now based in Melbourne, Naram is an obsessive reggae fan with a penchant for vintage dancehall, analogue synthesisers and ridiculously heavy basslines.
While he’s produced 1980s-inspired digital dancehall riddims for many years now, it wasn’t until a chance encounter with acclaimed German dub producer Disrupt (founder of Jahtari Records) that he entertained notions of releasing his music.
DUOS: is the Drum & Bass alter-ego of Brisbane based DJ/Producer James Millis. His harmonically progressive mixing style has earned him support slots for the likes of Andy C, Icicle, Datsik, DJ Yoda, Black Sun Empire, Spectrasoul, Sun in Aquarius, Kalya Scintilla and many others.
Dominating dance floors at various events including Eclipse 2012, Earth Frequency Festival, Manifest, Harmonize, Deliverance and Island Vibe has allowed him to push his Neurofunk/Ragga/D&B sound to an ever-growing audience of bass connoisseurs.
THE FLUMES: Inviting and delicate electric harp pouring out psychedelic melodies over a stylin’ rhythm section laced with soulful vocals – The Flumes conjure up a lush, funky, darkly sparkling and intoxicating brew of an exquisite and eclectic blend of psychedelic folk lathered with funk, blues, jazz, trip-hop and a splash of reggae. Sweetly superb
THE DIALERS: Dial in to this high energy 6 piece fusion act who have a healthy habit of whipping dance floors into a body gyrating frenzy with perhaps no way of dialling out. Hailing from the wild frontier country of FNQ , The Dialers originate from the Daintree and Kuranda rainforests to the glitz and glam that is the tourist mecca of Cairns. These two colliding worlds have helped to create their unique sound derived from a fusion of rock steady, reggae, blues, jazz, synth pop, funk and hip hop.
CHESHIRE: Last minute addition to this already mind-boggingly fat line-up… Starting with dubstep in 2008 he released his number 1 selling EP “Punk” with “Excision’s” Rottun Records, and has since developed his production techniques and style arriving recently at a point where bass and glitch meet jazz, funk and soul.
After 2 years traveling the world, gathering inspiration, Cheshire now lives in Melbourne refining his funk-infused, Latin-laced rhythms with Adapted Records, recently releasing his debut album “Simply Lifted”.
There are still some tickets in stores! Race down to Happy High Herbs (Cairns & Pt Douglas), Shiva Moon, Shi Sha, Fetish 4 Life or Sweet Leaf Cafe (Original Markets, Kuranda) or go online at http://www.kurandaroots.com
For more info go to: http://www.facebook/kurandaroots and stay up to date.
For Kuranda Roots Shuttle Bus times & enquiries contact Mark ph: +61 437 440 996