Get familiar with the name, these boys are just getting started with a long and successful career rockin the globe.

Growing up together in Columbia, Joshua Swain and Jordan Miller spent time jamming in various high school bands together. Swain, a multi‐instrumentalist versed in guitar, bass, and drums, left for Florida’s Full Sail University in 2001, while Miller honed his freestyle rap, guitar, and keyboard skills in Columbia. Upon returning in 2002, Swain reconnected with Miller, and the two began writing songs in Swain’s garage using a drum machine and musical influences that range from Sublime to Tupac to Pink Floyd. The Movement was born.

Early incarnations of the band found them as a trio. It was Swain, Miller, and DJ Jon Ruff. They developed a loyal following as a trio and went on to release their first full length album, entitled On Your Feet. That album, recorded and mixed in 24 studio hours, was released in March of 2004 and continues to be well received by new fans worldwide.

Fast forward to 2008. The band had been on the circuit touring the Southeast nonstop building a loyal following and opening for nationals such as Steel Pulse, Blues Traveler, Slightly Stoopid, The Wailers, Ludacris, G. Love, Common, Long Beach Shortbus, The Wu Tang Clan, 311, and Rebelution. Things were good, but stale. The band wasn’t breaking any new ground and the members began to lose interest. DJ Jon Ruff left the band to pursue a family and Josh and Jordan were at a crossroads. Enter producer Chris DiBeneditto (G. Love, Slightly Stoopid, the Expendables), who had seen band a couple of times and was looking for a new band to work with. The Movement quickly teamed up with him at Philadelphonic Studio in Philadelphia to begin work on what would become Set Sail. It was a creative tsunami. Josh and Jordan knocked out 18 songs in about a week. The next thing to do was solidify the lineup. Josh and Jordan had made a commitment to move up to Philadelphia to give the project a real chance to blossom. Chris DiBeneditto suggested a local drummer named Gary Jackson. They jammed once and asked him to join. Gary said he knew of a bass player that would fit the vibe and walked in with Jay “Smiles” Schmidt. They were the only 2 guys that needed to try out for the band. It clicked right away. The vibe was on. The Movement was reborn!

The live music took on a power that it never had with a looped beat. The band have been touring almost nonstop since the new year to promote the new album and it is starting to pay off. Set Sail reached number 7 on the top 100 Itunes reggae albums in May of 2009. All of the hard work is starting to pay off, but this is only the beginning, The Movement is about to Set Sail!

 

Call them rock‐reggae. Call them reggae‐hip hop. Call them alternative‐hip hop.

Call them what you will, just call them The Movement.