Even though Ithaca-based reggae/soul act J-San & the Analogue Sons just released its third album, One Sound, last month, the band will bring plenty of previously unheard music to its next gig in Rochester.
The group, which comes to Dub Land Underground Friday, Aug. 28, has "almost another new album's worth of new material to play," says guitarist/vocalist Jason Spaker, aka J-San, who was born in Rochester and says he likes performing here because of his "affinity for the city and the people."
In addition, the band, also featuring Mike Stark on bass/organ Lee Hamilton on tenor sax and Lars Burrgren on drums, has two new members — Wil Mckenna on guitar and John Petronzio, Jamse Ward, and Angelo Peters on D6 clavinet/hammond.
We talked with J-San recently about the band's new album, new video and new side projects.

What are your thoughts on One Sound, compared to your first two albums? Were you trying to do anything different?
I'm happy with One Sound. I can actually listen to this record still and enjoy it, which is not easy after a year of mixing and production. I liked the process with this record more, as it was done all live and with a reel-to-reel tape machine ... I have a great respect and reverence for Jamaican music, and to be able to explore deeper into that territory was interesting to me; the first two albums were more of a hybrid approach.

You recently shot a music video for the song "One Sound," which can be found on your MySpace page. How was that experience?
This was my first video, and it was nice to create a visual storyline for that song. We used real video film and shot it in the wonderful gorges of Ithaca and also (on) the high school track ... I felt like one of those whiney actors ... it was frigid and I was to "act" natural, as if it was summer [laughs].

Where do you draw inspiration from in your songwriting?
Life writes the songs. I'm learning that the best songs are a connection of humanity ... I like to visualize in my mind that the song is already composed and sitting in a crate of records. In my imagination I go to that crate and choose the song, placing it on the imaginary turntable, and what I hear in my head I write out. Strange but effective.

Tell me a little about your current side project, Duppy Killer73.
DK73 is a stealth live electro dub project. It's dubbing or remixing with separate tracks at the show. Something amazing happens when the art is reinterpreted; it hangs in suspension and takes on a new spirit. Add vintage tape echo and the ghost in the machine is awakened ... The name is from Jamaican folk culture, "duppy" being (a) wicked spirit. '73 is my birth year and, OK, the numbers look cool together.

You recently contributed to 10 Ft. Ganja Plant's new album.
I was asked to sing and write a track, called "Too Much Gun a Bust." It was tons of fun and a very relaxed environment to create.

How did you feel to know that the 10 Ft. album was No. 11 on the Billboard Reggae chart?
This is wonderful news and indeed a blessing. It's funny how in life what seems like just a little creative energy can manifest into something much more far-reaching than imagined. The journey continues to inspire and surprise; that being said, patience is the way.