Iration is a reggae-rock band hailing from Isla Vista, CA. The members are originally from Hawaii, but the group formed after reconnecting at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Their most recent album, Automatic, was released in 2013 and landed a spot on Billboard’s Top 200 chart. The band creates an original sound by fusing traditional reggae music with bits of acoustic, rock and pop.

 Iration returned to Wilmington Wednesday, April 29th, at the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater as part of their Tales from the Sea tour. Micah Pueschel, lead singer and guitarist for the band, spoke with The Seahawk to discuss the band’s beginnings, new music and the upcoming show.

The Seahawk: It’s been almost 10 years since the band released their first EP, New Roots. How has the band changed in that time period?

Micah Pueschel: It really doesn’t seem like it’s been that long but the band lineup and sound have both changed drastically. When we first did the EP, it was because a friend offered us free studio time as part of her senior project and we recorded three songs. We had no idea what we were doing.

TS: So this isn’t something you guys originally planned to do, it was more of a hobby?

MP: Yeah, it started out as a hobby– something we did just for fun. We played college parties for free, then started getting paid gigs and at some point after that we sat down and started taking it seriously.

TS: What drew you guys to the reggae genre?

MP: We grew up in Hawaii where reggae is one of the main styles of music. All the local music is a blend of reggae, country and pop, something called jawaiian. It was imbedded in us to listen to it and we all loved the music.

TS: So why bring in all of these other sounds from the pop and rock genres instead of sticking to traditional reggae?

MP: The way that we write, we don’t ’write just strictly reggae. We let the song dictate the sound; we don’t try to force the style into the song. If it wants to be a reggae song then we let it be, but if its sounds better rock then we do that.

TS: You guys announced last week that you’ll be releasing your fourth full-length album toward the end of this year. Is there anything you can tell us about this album? Any new sounds on this one?

MP: It’s a lot more up tempo, a lot more beat and rhythm driven. We worked with different producers and studios this time. We worked with hip hop producer David Manzoor, who has worked with people like R. Kelly and Lupe Fiasco. This album is a lot more upbeat and danceable.