Cali Treez

The Faded Republic

Artists BZ Bwai, Adam Willis, and Alex Puente are on the path to set a new musical standard once again. They are ‘Cali Treez,’ a fusion of Reggae, Rock, Hip-Hop, and RnB. These talented musicians have been formulatin new wave of music, called ‘Mash-Up.’ Combining the elements from each artist, they bring together a continuous movement into a newly formed empire. At nearly 3 years of being together with their most recent musical release entitled ‘No War’ out on all formats, their is no telling how far they will get. 

Adam Willis

Already considered by many to be an extremely gifted guitarist, his ability to span the musical spectrum from explosive to soulful has earned him the nickname ‘Baby Hendrix’. Whether it’s playing lead guitar for Nas or showcasing his talents in Kendrick Lamar’s music video ‘I’, Baby Hendrix’s melodious prowess shines through with every note he touches.

BZ-Bwai

This Belizean vocal dynamo is well-known for his diversity. Traversing all styles, this genre-bending singer expertly raps, reggaes, croons, hips or hops his way to make any project a musical dream.

Alexander Puente

Unifying all the elements that is Cali Treez, drummer Alex has also been producing with Far East Movement and T-Lopez. He masterfully asserts his bold and unique rhythms to seamlessly stitch
together rock, pop and latin soul into an exquisite cacophony of sound.

Cali Treez is a group of young musicians sharing similar struggles with diverse and authentic musical behaviors encompassed together. They are sound of the Golden State. From Compton, CA to Belize. Adam Willis and Alex Puente first met in a Latin Jazz music program. While BZ Bwai, originally born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Belize, crossed each others destiny 3 years ago. With over 60 shows together including performances in Russia, Bahamas and Mexico, the Dynamic trio newly named ‘Cali Treez’ have made a musical impact in the Reggae, Rock and Latin Blues genres.

Cali Treez is here to stay, hitting the big leagues with humility even after all the opportunities of world travels and accomplishments. They have performed in festivals such as the 311 Cruise 2013, Cali Roots 2014, back to back Kubana Festival 2013/2014 and the Unity Fest AZ 2015. They have shared the stage with many great artist such as Rebelution, 311, Ziggy and Damian Marley, Wu Tang, System of a Down, Matisyahu, Tech 9, Jboog, Fishbone and Anuhea. They give thanks and priase to the many talented artists who showed them the ropes on the BIG STAGE.

Each member of Cali Treez has lived through the struggle of being an independent band. They are very thankful for the opportunity to live their dreams. Their goal is to show their appreciation and RESPECT to those that have paved the way. Cali Treez currently has a few music videos in the works for “NO WAR” and ‘Just Humans’. They are also working on some international collaborative projects with artist from Latin America, Hawaii, Jamaica and New York. Their latest EP, ‘No War; is out on all music platforms. There’s even Cali Treez merch and memorabilia in development which is scheduled for a late 2015 release through their exclusive distributor, www.musiconashirt.com.

You can catch Cali Treez at their next show at the Mint in Culver City, California as they join New Kingston on their ‘Protect Me Tour’.

Irie Magazine is proud to present Cali Treez as our October 2015 Cali Edition featured artist. As
a bonus, Irie Magazine subscriber’s can download a free copy of the title track, ‘No War’, in digital format for their personal listening pleasure courtesy of Cali Treez! Nuff Respect!

The Interview

IRIE. How did Cali Treez come together?

Cali Treez: We were originally in a band called Krooked Treez. We were always close, touring together, creating music, always looking out for each other. When we made the move to separate from our previous band, we went into the studio and just started working on creating music and within 2-3 weeks we came up with a whole album. We all agreed to push that album and so we then focused on a name for ourselves. We wanted to keep Treez in our name because we created something very big with it. And since we are from California, Cali Treez became our new identity.

IRIE. What is ‘Treez’ symbolic for?

Cali Treez: It’s symbolic for our music… which to us, is like planting seeds and growing it into something positive.

IRIE. Your sound is like a whole new genre of music. Who do you contribute that influence to?

Cali Treez: Our music influences include Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Marley, Gregory Isaac, Steel Pulse, Tupac, Joe Satriani, Sade, the oldies, Heavy mMetal music, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Spanish Rock, Afro-Cuban bands, Jazz and funk, Rolls Royce, Earth Wind and Fire, Parlament and George Clinton (the list goes on). It’s a variety. That’s what makes this group so special. There are so many different influences that help us create our own genre.

IRIE. In August, you released your debut album, No War. Why the name, No War?

Cali Treez: We came up with the name, NO WAR, for the album title because we feel like the world is so screwed up right now with greed and poverty overtaking our society. We feel that these are the reasons for the wars we have. We feel like our music is a way to destroy the idea of war. Our instruments is the weapon against these war. We are soldiers with our music. There are a lot of people in this world that are so lost. We shouldn’t be suffering as people. There is too mush selfishness that continues this negative trend.

We are discovering that our music is impacting those lost souls while also opening up the minds of our youth. The other day at a festival, a guy came up to us and said “My mom talks about you guys. If my mom talks about you guys, then I have to come shake your hands!”

We had no idea that our music was touching the lives of others. We found out that our music helped someone get through the loss of his dad. Listening to our music helped him cope with the loss of his dad. That’s big, real big to us!

IRIE. What is your ultimate goal musically with the release of NO WAR?

Cali Treez: Our goal with NO WAR is to take our individual wars and bring them together through our music so that we can reflect on them. We are all in the same boat. No War for us is a storyline of our life. It isn’t intentional, it’s reality. And people forget about reality. You can make so many songs and tell so many stories. That’s great in all but then at the same time, that ‘s what makes it artistic for us. We want to make something where people can listen to our music and feel like, ‘Hey, they’re going through that too?” Or, they feel the same way we feel when we wrote this song or how we played on stage. You can definitely see that.

IRIE. You refer to your music as being Mashup Music. Define Mashup Music?

Cali Treez: Mashup music is anything mashed up. In our music, you hear a little bit of jazz, a little bit of hip hop, a little bit of r&b, rock, reggae rock and roots reggae. You’ll hear everything in one song. Our love for all different types of music is reflected in our own music.

IRIE. What do you expect the fans to feel when listening to your collaborative music of NO WAR?

Cali Treez: We want them to feel healing from our music; to help them with their own struggles. We want them to feel motivated to make a positive change in our world. We really want them to join us in making this world a better place. Use our music and let’s address the issues that plague our world. We want our music to touch them positively. This motivates us everyday!

IRIE. What do you have lined up for shows in 2016?

Cali Treez: Setting up tour dates as we speak for 2016, hitting the islands heavy, and doing some collaboration with some dope reggae bands you guys may know! Its a secret lol.

IRIE. Is there anything you would like to say to the IRIE Audience?

Cali Treez: Hope you guys enjoy our music, stay tuned for the album and hope to meet each and every one of you soon! Stay grateful, work hard, love life, NO WAR. Boom!

IRIE. Much Respect!