About

Rocksteady TNT - Ska, rocksteady and reggae musician Kelly Marshall with many of her instruments

About - Rocksteady TNT

Hello, I’m Kelly Marshall, the musician behind Rocksteady TNT—a solo project rooted in ska, rocksteady, and reggae. Based in Glasgow, I’m a multi-instrumentalist who writes, records, and performs everything myself, moving between bass, guitar, keys, saxophone, clarinet, melodica, violin, accordion, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, tambura, percussion, and occasional vocals.

One of my favourite genres of visual art is naive art from Croatia. It is folk art created mostly by self-taught artists, but it is full of style and creativity. I know that a lot of my music is a bit primitive and, indeed, naive, but I love it as a creative outlet. I sincerely hope that one or two other people in the world can appreciate at least a couple of my songs. I know that not all of them will be to everyone's taste.

I'm pretty good with a few instruments, but many of the instruments I work with I can barely play. I had four years of piano lessons as a kid, and we had a piano, organ, guitar and banjo in the house while I was growing up. I was what you'd call a "latchkey kid" and had a few precious hours by myself after school before my parents came home from work. I would generally get up to all kinds of mischief.

I used to love pulling out all the pots and pans, arranging them in a row from smallest to biggest, and banging on them with wooden spoons. Or I would open up the top of the piano and bang on the strings with butter knives. Little did I know that there were actually instruments in Hungary, Greece, and elsewhere that made just those kinds of sounds! When I wasn't doing that, I'd play "tennis racket" guitar and sing along to my ABBA records while jumping up and down on the bed.

I didn't buy a real guitar until college in 1989, and that started a flood of other musical instrument acquisitions. By the time I finished college, I had bought an Aria Pro II electric-acoustic guitar, a couple of cheap Casio keyboards, and an alto saxophone from the Sears catalogue. It's been a lifelong addiction ever since. Instruments have come and gone, and I regret ever parting with anything I've ever owned.

I only had about a month of saxophone lessons. Otherwise, I practised along to Diamond Life by Sade. My college roommate played jazz tenor sax and taught me a few things as well, introducing me to jazz. But I was—and still am—a novice.

I bought my first electric bass in 1994 and had about a year of lessons. A couple of months after buying the electric bass, I bought an upright bass and had lessons on that concurrently with a different teacher, although only for about a month. Just enough to get me started.

Everything else came after that, and it's all self-taught. I can't improvise on the spot or solo very well, so what you may hear on my recordings is mostly Logic Pro looping trickery. I just noodle around until I come up with something I like. Don't ever ask me to play it again.

Rocksteady TNT began in 1999. I made the early recordings on a cheap Tascam 4 track recorder and later I recorded nine songs with just me in a real studio using multi-tracking, but the project has since evolved into a fully home-recorded setup using first Cubase in early 2000, then Apple's GarageBand around 2005 and eventually upgrading to Logic Pro around 2014.

At the moment I use purchased drum and percussion loops, primarily from Big Fish Audio, though I hope to someday have a small drum kit. The loops I rely on most often are Reggae Brawlers: Ska & Rocksteady Kits and Babylon: Roots Reggae. Or once in a while for my recordings I just bang on plastic buckets and tin lids full of loose change.

I could write a whole epistle about the pros and cons of AI, but for me, I love using it occasionally as a source of creative inspiration for lyrics and I always use it with quite meticulous intent. Most of my music is instrumental, though, and I don't want it playing my instruments for me. I don't judge anybody else's opinions or tastes.

I did really enjoy using AI to create artwork to illustrate my songs that I was releasing out through DistroKid, but unfortunately that led people to assume that everything about my music was AI generated slop. I've since just used plain old covers with my Rocksteady TNT logo on them. I can draw and paint a bit, but I'd rather have fun just making music.

My Instrument Collection

I have a deep love of musical instruments, though I try to keep the obsession in check by hunting down inexpensive or second-hand gear. Some of the most cherished pieces in the Rocksteady TNT arsenal were picked up for next to nothing—or even free.

Previous Bands

I've been fortunate enough to have played with some really fun and amazing groups over the years. I only play at home these days, but I sure do miss it sometimes.

One Night Band

I played upright bass in this all-girl bluegrass band in New York City around 1995. We called ourselves that because we were only supposed to have one show. We ended up having three.

It was so much fun. Our banjo player, Amy, was fantastic and studied in person with Tony Trischka in NYC. I left when I moved to Northampton, Massachusetts.
Moonstompers

This was the first ska band I played bass for after moving to Western Massachusetts in 1996. They were based in Worthington, and I only played with them for about a month. I was the oldest member at 26, while everyone else was still in high school.

They were absolutely ska-obsessed, though, and incredibly knowledgeable. We only played one show, at The Metro in Northampton, and they all had to bring their parents because they weren't old enough to get into the club.

I was also mortified when almost all of my mature work colleagues from my new job unexpectedly turned up at the gig.

Never tell your day job about your nighttime extracurricular activities.

Moonstompers

Around 1996
Skaface

Another of my first ska bands after moving to Northampton in 1996. I played bass guitar and sometimes upright bass, and our singer was Lord Russ. Look him up. Your mind will be blown.

I'm actually quite lucky this was one of my first bands because the other members were serious musicians. I learned a lot from them, got plenty of stage experience, and became used to performing—which sometimes involved wearing a feather boa and leather pants.

Mostly that was Lord Russ.

But occasionally it was me.
S.M.A.

Yet another Western Massachusetts ska band around 1996. I took over for the original bass player after he left for college. This one played the most shows and required a bit more commitment, so I had to leave the other two bands above.

I was also quite lucky to have landed in this band as the horn players and drummer were all music majors and schooled in jazz. I learned how much easier it is to write songs in B flat if you're gonna have horns.

We eventually got a booking agent who landed us gigs at colleges and universities, and we toured around New England quite a bit. Some of the bands we shared stages with are still going strong today.

I also played electric upright bass on a couple of songs, inspired by Lloyd Brevett. In hindsight, those two songs definitely weren't worth hauling a second instrument to every gig.

I remember one show where I was happily playing bass guitar when my electric upright toppled off its stand and crashed into our drummer Jonny's cymbals.

Sorry, Jonny.

S.M.A.

Around 1996
Longshot

Eventually S.M.A. became Longshot after guitarist Brett Robinson joined the band. Not to be confused with the million other ska bands called Longshot.

We actually got some rather nasty emails from another ska band in California demanding that we change our name—but only after we'd already spent hundreds of dollars printing T-shirts. I think there's even another Longshot in Massachusetts now.

I was in this Longshot .

In any case, we didn't last too long, and I eventually left to move back to Maryland.

Longshot

I wanna say this was around 1998. We weren't really in a box. It was Photoshop.
Eastern Standard Time

It really is all about who you know.

By a complete fluke, I was asked to fill in on guitar for a European tour when E.S.T.'s usual guitarist, Matt Fry (a.k.a. Digital), couldn't make it. After the tour I stayed with the band for another few years, playing guitar and occasionally singing in my own self-conscious way.

This was probably the most established band I was ever part of, and I learned an enormous amount. I toured Europe three times with them and made memories I'll cherish to the grave.

I eventually left when I became hopelessly obsessed with Balkan and East European folk music and found myself in the bands below. The connection between bluegrass, ska, reggae, Balkan and a lot of other folk music is a focus on the upbeats and a chance to do something fun with the bass.

Eastern Standard Time

On tour with Schwarz auf Weiß and Spitfire in winter of 2000.
Šarenica

This was a Croatian, Serbian, and Macedonian tamburica ensemble in Maryland, where I played prim for several years. I joined while I was still learning the instrument.

We played folk dance evenings, festivals, and had a regular residency at Cosmopolitan Grill, a wonderful Balkan restaurant in Northern Virginia.

We were paid in food and the fellowship of the ex-Yugoslav community around Washington, DC.

It was absolutely worth it.

Šarenica

Around 2003 or so
Balkanto

I also played prim in this ensemble, which included many of the same musicians as Šarenica along with a few others.

We played a broader mix of Klezmer and East European folk music at folk dances, church events, and bar mitzvahs, often dressed in traditional folk costume. I only had the one blouse and am thankful I still have it.

Balkanto
Struna

I played prim in this strictly tambura band. We played parties, Serbian and Croatian clubs throughout Pennsylvania, and Croatian Day at Kennywood Park—often dressed in matching Hawaiian shirts.

Struna

Playing at Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, PA around 2005
The Ambitions

Around 2006–07 I briefly played guitar with Caz Gardiner's soul group.

Despite not really being too knowledgeable about soul music, this was one of the most fun bands I ever played with. I bought a few '60s mod dresses for those shows, and I really wish I still had them.

We played around Washington, DC, and throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

The Ambitions

Playing guitar sometime around 2007
The Forthrights

I probably loved the music of this band more than any other.

I played bass with The Forthrights for a little over a year. Jack taught me a lot about lyric writing and the art of keeping a song simple.

I learned all those lessons.

I've since thrown most of them out.

In 2010 I moved to Scotland to do a master's degree in IT and still live here and I haven't played in any another bands. It would have been hard to top this one. So now I just play by myself.

The Forthrights

Playing at a scooter rally in Brooklyn in June 2009. I don't have that bass, or that dress, or that headband, or those flip flops anymore. I miss all of them. And I miss that band.