Twin brothers John and Marc Beaudette formed Destroy Babylon with their friend Chris Moran during the summer of 2001 in Hudson, New Hampshire, before attending college. The band name was taken from a song by the Bad Brains. They began writing music influenced by the energy and DIY ethics of punk rock and the rhythms of Roots reggae and Dub music. The band relocated to Boston in 2005 and released their first full-length, Oligopuzzled, in 2006 on their own Music ADD label. Rob Carmichael joined the band on lead guitar and they released two EPs, sEParation and The Shadow Army. Jon Mercer then joined the band on keys and live dub effects, and after some national touring, released a live full-length, Backyard Babylon.
Destroy Babylon gained national airplay with their 2009 single, “Culture Pirates”, released on a 7″ vinyl record packaged with a 28-page art book. In January 2009, the band started a “Dub of the Month” series, releasing a new song once a month for a full year. Each song debuted on WMBR’s Pipeline! show. The 12 songs were collected and released as Dub of Ages, Vol. 1 in 2010. DB toured and supported the likes of Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Wailers, Eek-A-Mouse, Bad Brains frontman HR, plus contemporaries like The Slackers, The Aggrolites, Dub Trio, and Westbound Train, among others.
The band worked with Craig Welsch (John Brown’s Body, 10 Foot Ganja Plant) on their latest full-length, Long Live the Vortex. Both Jon Mercer and Chris Moran left the band before the album was released. John Beaudette switched to bass and Casey Gruttadauria joined on keys. In August the band completed a short tour with the Easy Star All-Stars.
Check out some cool videos below on the making of the ultra-detailed LP packaging, and be sure to grab a copy for yourself before they are gone!