Band of the Week: The Quasi Kings

MEET THE BAND: Zach Coleman (vocals, saxophone, percussion), Benny Coleman (vocals, bass), Dave Freeman (drums), Satch Garlock (keyboards), Kendal Baver (rhythm guitarist), Wib Schneider (lead guitar)

BROTHERLY LOVE: Brothers Zach and Benny Coleman played in a Columbus, OH-based band called Shrub for a few years before breaking off in a separate direction. “Shrub played a bunch of shows with [Cleveland’s] Tropidelic and all of those dudes,” says Benny Coleman in a conference call with his brother. “We just wanted to do our own thing. Around 2016, we started doing our own shows as the Turkish Royals and then that became the Quasi Kings. Since then, the lineup has shifted some; COVID had a dramatic impact. “Some of the original members went through career changes,” says Zach Coleman. “But we still work with the original members from time-to-time.”

CARRYING THE REGGAE TORCH: In elementary school, the Coleman brothers had a friend whose dad was in the Columbus, OH-based Ark Band. Benny Coleman even remembers dipping out of class to see the band play. That was their first-ever reggae show, and Benny Coleman would wind up playing bass with the Ark Band for a time. “Just getting to hang out with them was great,” he says. “They taught me a lot about the art and culture. That’s how we met [Cleveland reggae icon] Carlos Jones.” Zach Coleman says he tagged along with his brother as they dove into the local reggae scene. “We feel an onus to take what the Ark Band taught us and to carry the torch and pay it back,” says Benny Coleman. “There’s a debt there. We want to do that for others.”

GOOD VIBRATIONS: The band’s first EP, Throwaway Culture, came out in 2018. The band’s full-length debut arrived last August. COVID interrupted the recording process. “It was a process trying to figure out how to get people into the studio safely,” says Zach Coleman. “It stretched things out.” For the latest album, the band worked with producer Eric Jones. “Eric is part of what makes the band special,” says Benny Coleman. “He recorded it and mixed it and mastered it. He goes on the road to help us recreate the sound. When he is there, it’s like the cherry on top.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: A song such as the Jack Johnson-like “Day I Die” features bits of organ and rattling percussion as it finds Benny Coleman singing “I’ll be loving you ‘til the day I die.” The perky “Guns Drawn” features crisp vocal harmonies and thumping bass. The group is currently working on a few demos for its next album and has worked up several covers for the current tour. “We get pretty eclectic with the covers,” say Benny Coleman. “We are working on [Steely Dan’s] ‘Reelin’ in the Years,’ and we want to stay true to it for our dads. There’s a version of Sly & Robbie’s ‘Inner City Blues’ and we will try to do some combination of the Marvin Gaye version and the Sly & Robbie version. We do ‘In Too Deep’ by Sum 41 and a lot of Bob Marley.” In the past, the group has done a dub version of Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf.” “We try to stay all across the board,” says Zach Coleman. “We’re music lovers, and we don’t like to stick to just one thing.”

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: thequasikings.com.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: The Quasi Kings perform with M.O.O.K.Y. and Land of Panda at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, at the Beachland Ballroom.

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