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Many San Diegans don’t relate their town to being the birthplace of California Reggae music. In the year 1994 East San Diego’s own Big Mountain had the whole world singing “Ooh Baby I Love Your Way”. They arrived to the world stage as a product of a vibrant reggae scene that kept San Diego nightclubs packed throughout the 80’s and 90’s. They would go on to sell over 3.5 million records and tour in over 30 countries around the world. It’s a tremendous feat for a band that chose to play reggae partly as a protest against the homogenized music scene that enveloped the United States in the 1980’s. “You don’t start a reggae band in hopes of becoming a pop star,” states Joaquin “Quino” McWhinney, who shares the lead vocals in the band with his brother James, “We were just a group of musicians that insisted on playing the music that inspired us”.
The group was part of a reggae wave that captivated the world music scene in the 90’s. Acts like UB40, Inner Circle and Maxi Priest along with Big Mountain would become the first generation of reggae artists that were readily included in play lists of mainstream radio. While looking back fondly upon the international touring days what Quino really likes to talk about is the early days of his career and the exciting music scene that he witnessed. “I wish I would have been paying more attention. I didn’t realize at the time that we involved in something so special. All the local reggae bands were really getting off on the whole experience and learning so much about music, spirituality, politics, we were having a lot of fun.”
By 2004 things were changing in the Big Mountain camp, the members were maturing and life on the road was becoming more and more grueling. “I was really missing living a regular life” says Quino, “I also had other goals that were too difficult to focus on while Big Mountain was still busy.” One of those goals was being a teacher. Quino started going to college in pursuit of a degree in Literature. He had just completed his transfer credits and began planning his next move when an opportunity came across his plate he was forced to take seriously. “I don’t many marketable skills beside producing music,” says Quino, “then someone offers me a job teaching kids how to record music”. The Sweetwater School District had begun program teaching high school students digital audio recording. There was a need for someone that could bring the program to fruition. “I couldn’t pass it up, it wasn’t what I had been studying but I had the experience to make it happen and something told me that this is where I needed to be right now.”
In 2008 Quino collaborated with journalist, Laura Castaneda to compose and sing the lyrics of "Te llevo En Mi Corazon", a song about the undocumented victims who died in the recent San Diego Wildfires. The documentary is called, The Devil's Breath and can be seen on You Tube as well as UCSD-TV, and PBS affiliates in San Diego, Tucson and Chicago this fall.
Email Joaquin
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