AMERICAN group Audiopharmacy kicked off its tour of Fiji at Nadi's Farmers Club on Thursday night with local musicians also taking part in a masterclass workshop hosted by the band.
The group will conduct workshops for aspiring musicians in the country as part of the US embassy's American Music Abroad exchange program, which allows local musicians to learn more about new genres of music, especially those borne out of America.
Typically a reggae hip-hop band, Audiopharmacy played a string of reggae beats infused with modern day hiphop, much to the delight of local artists.
About 50 members of the Western Musicians and Entertainers Association in Nadi turned up to the first of five masterclass workshops to be held by the group and the US embassy.
Western Musicians and Entertainers Association's Homer Fare said local musicians would benefit greatly from the program.
"It's a great opportunity for local musicians to not only hear but also learn a new style of music and new ways they can reinvent their own music," said Fare.
"Audiopharmacy is a great group to be doing this masterclass workshop for local music because it is a reggae group and for us here in Fiji, reggae is like a favourite type of music to listen to. But the new and great thing about them is that they include hip-hop in the songs which is something that we can adopt.
"They also have access to new technologies, which we in Fiji still have to get. They also include a bit of the Spanish guitar in their reggae music which is something we hardly hear," said Fare.
He said the American Music Abroad program needed to be conducted more in Fiji as it would allow more international artists to come and share their knowledge with local artists.
Audiopharmacy has performed domestically all over the West Coast and New York. Internationally, the band has taken the stage at festivals, concert halls and clubs in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, France, the UK and Japan.