For those of you not into the whole emo/screamo deal or the indie thing, there is something refreshingly different and much more laid back. Sure they’ve been around for a while, but ska and reggae are still strong and there are some very solid bands still churning out records today.

Two of those bands, The Supervillains and Slightly Stoopid, are heading to Empire this Sunday to give Sacramento what will most likely be an awesome show. Miles Doughty, lead singer and guitarist of Slightly Stoopid, gave us insight to the band and its upcoming show.

You guys just released a new CD, Chronchitis, how does it compare with your previous efforts?

I think that each time we make a record we just try to grow and have our music grow. Basically each record for us is always different; we kind of change up a lot of styles for each record just because we like so many styles of music. I think the direction we were going (with was) we just tried to make a pretty chill vibe record on this one.

Which CD of yours is your favorite?

I don’t know. I like them all. Each CD has its own flavor. From “The Longest Barrel Ride” to “Chronchitis,” all those records are completely different so I don’t really have a favorite. I mean, I think some of our first styles, you know, the way we first played was probably more out in “The Longest Barrel Ride” and that was like ten years ago, but as musicians we just like to try so many different things so I don’t really have a favorite. I’d say “The Longest Barrel Ride” has got a lot of cool stuff on it though.

What’s the best tour you’ve been on?

There’s actually a few. We went on the Roots Rock Reggae Tour with all the Marley brothers and it has like Ziggy, Julian, Damian, Stephen, Ky-Mani, so that was pretty insane. It was kind of the closest thing you’ll ever get to seeing Bob Marley is all the brothers on-stage together.

Also this tour we just did this summer was one of the funnest tours we’ve ever done, the Summer Haze tour. That was with G. Love and Ozomatli. Man it was just a lot of fun. The whole time everybody was friends and we were just hanging out and partying, having a good time. Really, it was just like an arsenal of music rolling into town pretty much. All the bands would play together each night so it doesn’t really get much funner than that when you’re out there with all your boys.

You guys are about to go on tour with The Supervillains right now. Are they a good band to tour with?

It’ll be good; they’re our boys from Florida. They’re on Law Records with Pepper, so it’s going to be cool, Pepper’s taking out The Expendables for their fall/winter tour and we’re taking out The Supervillains.

So you’re trying to help bring them along and make them bigger?

Yeah, they’re from South Florida so a lot of people don’t even know who they are.

Any crazy stories you can share with us?

When you’re on tour crazy shit happens every day so it’s kind of hard to pinpoint a situation. You know what was pretty dope though actually? Last year we were doing the Jagermeister Music tour, and it was us and Pepper, and we did this Halloween show and I think we were in St. Louis or something. And we were all dressed up like Jedi monks and Pepper was dressed up like all the Ali G characters like Borat, Ali G, and the other guy…

Bruno?

Yeah, yeah, so that was pretty funny, that was kind of a crazy night. We took some funny pictures and the crowd was kind of like what the fuck?

Do you guys do tours in other countries?

Yeah, yeah, no we’ve been to Europe a couple times all over the place there. We’ve been to Australia, Japan, Guam…we’re just trying to get everywhere…the Bahamas, Dominican. We go wherever we can play.

Are people as stoked to see you guys there as they are here?

We’re building the fan base up there, but they’re completely nuts which is awesome. Over there it’s just like a whole new thing. It’s like starting out again over here but now you’re trying to get the vibe of all those other cats (there). Both times I’ve been over there I thought it was great, even when you’ve got like 500 people out there just raging. I mean, it’s totally different because in the U.S. there’s like thousands of people and you go over there and it’s kind of like playing those small bars again. They’re really huge fans of music over there; they really want to rage and just have fun with the band and make it kind of the best experience for anybody really. I loved it personally.

It’s more intimate than that huge crowd.

Yeah, when you’re playing that 500 capacity bar it’s more like a backyard party really.

So the fans can feel like they’re more into the show?

Yeah, yeah. Of course I mean they’re like less than five feet from us, more like almost two feet away from you when you’re playing those kinds of bars.

Who’s a good up and coming ska band?

I don’t know about an upcoming ska band, but I think honestly The Expendables and The Supervillains – they’ve both got records coming out and they’re starting to get into that game where they’re doing the 500-1000 person venues on their own across the country and I think it’s only a little bit more time before they’re doing, it keeps building and building.

What’s on your iPod right now?

I’ve just got some Led Zeppelin. I listen to some Tchaikovsky, like some classical stuff, Pinchers, I listen to some Guns N’ Roses. I’ve got some hip hop in there, like some Notorious B.I.G., N.W.A., got a little bit of everything in there.

Do you think people would be surprised to hear that you listen to classical music?

I don’t know, maybe they would. I like to put it on when you’re just kind of chilling in the pad and keep it at a nice little low level. It’s kind of therapeutic. And I also like the sounds of nature. I download all the sounds of nature and I’ll put it up in the pad, get the buds or something and we’re kind of just relaxing and you can hear birds and waterfalls and s— going. It’s pretty rad.

Luke Soin can be reached at [email protected]