Embracing Sublime Tradition, Vibes, Ganja, and Good Music

Badfish trumpeter Danny Torgersen’s lungs are filled with music, and Ganja smoke. As the lead trumpeter, occasional guitarist, and self-identified “ass shaker” of the world renowned Sublime cover band Badfish, Danny has been touring the nation spreading the Sublime vibes and traditions that the original Sublime front man Bradley Nowell pioneered over twenty years ago. Nowell was an eclectic composer and musical genius. In his relatively brief career as a musician, Nowell trailblazed new musical realms which remain unmatched in ingenuity and creativity. The Sublime sound is characterized largely by Ska, Punk, and Reggae, but Nowell also combined an eclectic mix of sounds from all types of musical areas like, rap, pop culture, and even Operas. As lead trumpeter and Sublime enthusiast, Torgersen obsesses over replicating the original Sublime sound and culture. And when the occasion calls for it, Torgersen is happy to spark up a blunt on stage in keeping with the Ganja traditions of Reggae and Sublime.

WHATS IT LIKE PLAYING FOR BADFISH?

It’s an honor to play in this band. They’ve had such a long legacy of keeping the sublime ethos alive and there’s so many bands that have come from the tours they’ve put on. It’s cultural at this point. I have never played professionally unless we smoked weed. It’s such a piece of that genre and energy and Bradley refers to it in his music listening to reggae.

WHAT DEFINES SUBLIME CULTURE AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A “BADFISH”?

Sublime culture is rebellious culture, it is about rebellion and revolution. That’s what it represented in its root form. I’ve heard a lot of theories about what it is to be a badfish. Are you a badfish too? If Bradley’s a badfish, were all being badfishes if we’re playing sublime songs. To me it nods back to that rebelliousness and staying a wanderer. Nowell sort of sings about staying as an outlier. Surf culture and beach culture is engrained with SoCal culture and beach culture is engrained with reggae culture. And you see that on tour.

HOW IS CANNABIS ENTWINED WITH SUBLIME?

Y’know, marijuana’s connection to reggae alone is enough to be an eternal bond. The roots of Rasta and viewing marijuana as a sacred plant you can’t separate the two. Even if the band isn’t smoking, I’m sure people listening are. It’s a lot of cultural but in a way too it’s represented the rebellious spirit of that genre, the ska punk reggae movement. It represented rebelliousness especially when weed was illegal. Now it doesn’t die with it becoming legal, it feels like a victory. It feels like we won something.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO SMOKE ON STAGE?

In my heart my favorite thing to smoke is a blunt, but I have asthma. I just love a constant stream of joints and Sativas, I can’t be snoozing. I will say though because I was recovering from a surgery I got really into edibles which seemed to navigate back in the day when we were cooking shit up but now there’s all these specifications. I’m into the Baked Bros edibles. They’re each named out of each aesthetic. I like “Happy” and “Sleepy” that’s a good way to live.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TRUMPETING FOR SUBLIME SONGS?

The horn arrangements of the Sublime catalog are all over the place. Sometimes it’s a trombone, trumpet, sax. I try to represent all of those as best I can on the trumpet. I’ve been playing since I was a kid. I would say it makes people the happiest, so for that reason its my favorite instrument, and the hardest, but the gains outweigh the difficult. If you play trumpet in someone’s face, they’re just stoked. It’s cool that horns have held their place in ska culture.

Some of these horn parts are legendary. Like the trombone solo on Wrong Way. It’s just engrained on music history. It’s interesting to see that out of everything it’s what hits the hardest. It evokes memories and something meaningful when people hear it. They know every note of a hornline, like they know the lyrics. That’s one of my favorite songs to play.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SONG TO PLAY?

I feel like, lately the song Jailhouse has been my favorite to play. Not a lot happens in that song but the groove is so sick and the lyrics are sick and the chords, it’s almost like rap, again, that rebellious reggae punk attitude. I dig peace and love unity reggae too but I kinda like that grunge stuff.

One of my favorite songs live is Ruca that’s because we’ve been using samplers to play the original samples from the album. We do it just like the album. Lately Pat has been playing the sampler and playing the sample at the same time. It was cool when Troy, Bradley’s widow came out and she said that’s the first time we’ve heard it live. And she’s an awesome person who supports everyone in the scene.

YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH BRADLEY’S WIDOW AND FAMILY AND PEOPLE WHO KNEW HIM, WHAT DO THEY SAY ABOUT HIM?

They all talk about him like he was a true genius artist who just did what he did. The confidence and the way people talk about it. People talk about how much music he knew about. You can see that when you start catching on to the songs from the past he’s quoting and weaving into things. He’s sort of a librarian of reggae and hip hop making all of these mashups. He’s sort of the boss DJ. People always bring up his intelligence and the ease of his musicianship and cleverness with songwriting and music history.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SUBLIME ALBUM?

My favorite album… I’d say that’s a big toss up between 40oz or self titled. In fact we’re playing the entire album in a couple weeks at Garden Grove because it’s a few nights.

STP gets requested every night. Saw Red is legend. That propelled Gwen Stefani in a way. Hardcore fans they spend more time listening so they hear things the first listen they don’t catch.

WHEN DID YOU GET INTO SUBLIME, WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THEM?

Around 13 I got into Sublime, Ska, Punk. Right when you’re deciding your overall aesthetic. Being a young trumpet player and hearing ska songs on the radio that’s such a connection for a whole generation of horn players. You could play horn and be modern and punk and popular. If you’re playing in concert band you don’t feel that way. My first bands ever were ska bands. I must’ve joined one when I was 14 and haven’t stopped since. Ska meant the world to me to be honest with you. I was a Ska kid.

It’s such a fun incarnation of punk. I’m a total nerd about it. Bradley was such a musical genius, he was the boss DJ.

Just the song Garden Grove alone has multiple hip hop samples, one from 1972 by the Ohio Players, two NWA samples from 87 and 88 and then there’s that synthesizer appears in all of NWA’s songs before 96 NWA, Too Short, Snoop Dogg. Summertime is an old theatrical song from the American songbook.

Foolish Fool is also from classic Mo Town.

Scarlet begonias is a dead song that crosses over into the jam world. You would be shocked to find out all the samples in their history.

Check out Badfish locally!

Smash Hits Cannabis presents Badfish: A Tribute to Sublime

WHERE: Gateway City Performing Arts Center Holyoke, Mass.

WHEN: Wed. April 19, 2023 at 7pm

For additional details on the show visit: gatewaycityarts.com/event/ badfish-tribute-to-sublime/