June 24th, 2022 will mark the date Arizona’s The Irie dropped their debut 10-track album that features guest appearances by Nathan Aurora of Iya Terra and the late Andy J Chaves of Katastro.
Planet Paradise was produced by Matt Keller who has produced Katastro, The Maine, Anarbor and more. This will be the bands first full length release after putting out 2 EP’s over the last 2 years as the band has only been around since 2019. In that time the group has shared the stage with the likes of Katastro, Common Kings, Sublime with Rome, Collie Buddz, Jesse Royal, Mike Love, Anarbor, Sensi Trails, Tomorrows Bad Seeds, and more.
When it came to collaborating with the late Andy J Chaves, on the song “Fire In My Head,” The Irie tells The Pier: “We had the 3rd verse open for the longest time knowing we wanted a rapper on the 3rd verse. Andy was pretty much our first thought. We sent Andy the song, he called us back and rapped his verse over the phone. We were immediately excited and headed to 
the studio and got Andy in to lay his part down. The song meaning and message is conveying to people to get the courage to not be afraid to fall in love even when times get rough. Johnny our drummer threw out words about burning up from love and passion.”
The band would go on to share: “Andy and Katastro have been long time friends of ours, dating back to the drummers old band The Veragroove. The two bands grew up in the Arizona scene together. We are completely saddened and gutted from the untimely passing of Andy. We love him and the Katastro boys very much. We hope this song is immortalized along with his legendary career and personal impact.”
The Irie consists of drummer Johnny Groove, who solidified the band when moved back to Tempe, AZ from LA. He soon linked up with guitarist/vocalist George Ruiz and bassist Marcus Mapes. The trio wrote & recorded their first song, “Toxic Love” on Oct 6th, 2019 and their Coming Down EP soon followed on Jan. 18th, 2020 before rounding out their sound to present their 2nd EP titled Cant Get Enough on Feb 5th, 2021.
Everything has culminated to their debut album Planet Paradise that you can stream as of today. Tour dates and additional links can be found below.
Listen: The Irie – “Fire In My Head” (ft. Andy J Chaves of Katastro)
Related Links:
@TheIrieBand
The Irie Website
Article By: Mike Patti
Watch: The Irie – “PCH” (ft. Nathan Aurora of Iya Terra)