"We have all been friends since we were kids on the Big Island," says Iration on its website. Band members live in Santa Barbara and northern San Diego.
The band released a video for their track "Hotting Up" in June 2016, with an acoustic album released at the end of the year, Double UP.
Spring and summer 2017 found the band playing the Reggae Rise Up Festival, Jackson Hole Rendezvous, and the California Roots Music and Arts Festival, as well as touring with Slightly Stoopid on their Sounds of Summer 2017 Tour, featuring J Boog & the Movement and kicking off June 8 in Glen Allen, VA.
Their summer 2017 single "Fly With Me" debuted at number 1 on the iTunes Reggae Songs chart. A Heatseekers Winter Tour kicked off January 18, 2018 in Bakersfield, CA and concluded February 8 in Flagstaff, AZ, with opening support from the Movement and Tyrone's Jacket.
A self-titled album was released May 2018 via their own Three Prong Records. The 17-track album, the band's sixth full-length, features guest appearances from Slightly Stoopid, J Boog and Tyrone's Jacket and the singles "Hit List," "Fly With Me," "Danger," "Borderlines," and "Press Play," all of which were added into rotation at alternative radio stations.
Their 43-date Live From Paradise tour with locals Pepper kicked off April 24, 2019 in Albuquerque and wrapped August 25 at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
A new single debuted in May 2020, "Right Here Right Now," featuring Rebelution's Eric Rachmany and fellow locals Stick Figure, released in advance of their seventh studio full-length album Coastin'. The song's video celebrates essential frontline workers with guests Rebelution's Eric Rachmany and Stick Figure. The people of the pandemic are saluted in fan-submitted photos and footage of Iration filmed in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Hawaii, along with Rachmany's contribution from Guam and Stick Figure filmed in LA.
"We made this video to honor those who have stepped up and gone above and beyond during the last few months to ensure the health, safety, and prosperity of their communities," shares the band. "In times of global uncertainty and civil unrest, we all must realize that we are stronger together, and that starts in our own communities. Regardless of your beliefs, everyone eventually needs a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on, a compassionate ear to listen, or a voice of reason to guide us along our way. Thank you to everyone out there who is striving to be part of the solution, Right Here and Right Now."
Coastin' was recorded at Santa Barbara Sound Design and East West Studios, was produced and co-written by David Manzoor (Lupe Fiasco, Cam, Method Man) and engineered by Will Brierre (Imagine Dragons, Chris Isaak), who were both behind the boards for the band's previous albums Iration and Hotting Up, and features mix engineers including Jimmy Douglass (Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z), Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, Saint Motel), Niko Marzouca & Rob Marks (Eminem, Usher, Rebelution) and Lars Stalfors (Cold War Kids, Foster The People, Massive Attack). It also includes guest appearances from Common Kings on the R&B-tinged track "If You Only Knew" and Hawaiian-based female reggae vocalist Eli-Mac on "Guava Lane" as well as orchestral strings on multiple songs.
A single for "Move Forward" was released in June 2020. "'Move Forward' is a song about growing up," says singer-guitarist Micah Pueschel. "It's about overcoming struggles in life and coming out on the other side more complete and more in touch with yourself and your surroundings."
A video for "Right Here Right Now," the lead single from Coastin', celebrates essential frontline workers with guests Rebelution's Eric Rachmany and Stick Figure. The people of the pandemic are saluted in fan-submitted photos and footage of Iration filmed in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Hawaii, along with Rachmany's contribution from Guam and Stick Figure filmed in LA.
(Photo: Dane Hodgson)