A voice for Reggae

Members of The Push Reggae Band.

By Jamie Salter

The Push Reggae Band is on a mission to share the Reggae genre and its powerful, underlying messages with the world.

Darrel Belle – otherwise known as Belly – arrived in Australia from the Seychelles Islands in 1999.

Belly quickly become friends with Daniel Gabrielle, also from Seychelles, and after many jam sessions the pair decided to form a band in 2012.

Flash forward to present day, and The Push Reggae Band is gearing up to release their very first original album Pressure and Time by the end of March.

Right before the Covid-19 pandemic pressed the pause button on live music, Belly was inspired by production artist Pat Barallong to build a music studio in his Pakenham home.

“I got a crash course on recording vocals and receiving files and here we are today,“ Belly said.

“I never thought we’d get to this stage but we have a 14 track album coming out.

“We decided to start our own thing and do it properly.“

Belly is the band’s lead vocalist and also plays rhythm guitar, having sung in school choirs after migrating to Australia.

“I’ve always played music ever since I was very little, we’re very academic focused back home but here, having access to music in school helped me get through HSC.

“Even after high school I was involved with Windmill Theatre Company.“

Belly said his love of performing takes over when The Push Reggae Band plays at shows all over Melbourne including The Corner Hotel in Richmond.

The band recently performed at the annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash, headlining for the second time.

But as much as Belly loves performing, he said it was less about the fame and more about the message hidden in the music.

“I love connecting with the crowd but it’s more the message we portray through music – especially with the drama of reggae,“ Belly said.

Inspired by Bob Marley, he said every song was a lesson or a teaching.

“Reggae is not a very commercial music, so it’s about the global message of consciousness – it’s not just lyrics for lyrics sake,“ he said.

“It’s a type of music that on the surface sounds tropical but there’s quite serious underlying messages.

“We’re trying to respect all the reggae ambassadors that have come and gone – they were actually activists and we want to follow in their footsteps.“

Belly said he couldn’t wait to start taking those steps by making the band’s first album a reality.

“Having played so many gigs in the past it becomes a bit fruitless doing sets that weren’t even ours, so now were hoping to play our own music,“ Belly said.

Band members include keyboardist Riccardo Barabulo, backing vocals Sophia Azemia and Stella Savy, drummer Paul Duncan and guitarist Bob Simon.

Originally from Indonesia, Bob Simon lives and works in Pakenham and is currently planning on booking the band’s first international show back home in Indonesia.

In the meantime, The Push Reggae Band will perform at the Jamaican Music and Food Festival at the end of the year and will upload their album to The Push Reggae band YouTube channel.