In Defense of Ska

Latest Episodes:

In Defense of Ska Ep 30: Dan Potthast (MU330, Death Rosenstock, The Bruce Lee Band, Sharkanoid) Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

At one of the first out-of-town shows that St. Louis ska band MU330 played, booking agent Steve Ozark, approached them, interested in working with the band. MU330’s members were excited and told him yes! But only if he agreed to book them as much as humanly possible. From Ozark’s perspective, it was a strange request, but one he was happy to meet. For much of the 90s, MU330 hit the road as much as they could. Even with these many stages they played, they still hovered at cult status, though they released some of the best ska-punk records of their time.

As MU330 was winding down, lead singer and guitarist Dan Potthast stayed very active, both as a touring act and in terms of his creative output. He released solo records, formed new bands, and in recent years, joined Jeff Rosenstock’s group. On this episode, Dan joins us to discuss different moments in his musical career.

Much of the conversation revolves around Dan’s time in MU330, but we also talk about his role on the SKA DREAM album, discuss what it’s like to tour people’s homes as a solo artist. And we get to hear the epic tale of how MU330 crossed paths with the band Crazy Town.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music.

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 29: Mystic Bowie (Talking Dreads) Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

In 2019, My wife and I took a week-long trip to Jamaica. It wasn't just a tourist trip to Montego Bay or Kingston, we went a few hours into the mountains to the small village of Accompong and experienced the Maroon Festival. Every year, on Jan 6, this village of roughly 600 balloons up to 10,000 people to celebrate hundreds of years of Maroon independence. It began in 1759, when the Maroons signed a peace treaty with the British, establishing their independence, something that would not happen for the rest of Jamaica for many years.

The festival is an amazing gathering with loud music, fantastic food, and ice-cold Red Stripes, but it is also contains important ceremonies for Maroons all over the world to remember back to when their ancestors fought the British and won, refusing at all cost to be enslaved.

The person that took me to the Maroon Festival is reggae musician Mystic Bowie, who sang in Tom Tom Club for many years, and who currently fronts Mystic Bowie's Talking Dreads, a band that combines Mystic's passion for reggae music with his love of Talking Heads songs. It's an incredible experience that steers clear of being a gimmick, even if the juxtaposition seems odd at first.

Mystic, our guest this week, explains the sincere place in his soul where Talking Dreads emerged from, and he also tells stories from his childhood, when he hung out around Chris Blackwell's famous recording studio, Compass Point Studios and met a bunch of famous musicians, like Keith Emerson, Ringo Starr, and his future Tom Tom Club band-mates Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. And of course, Mystic and I discuss the 2019 Jamaican trip. I do my best to recall what was one of the best experiences of my life, while Mystic gives the detailed history of the Maroon people.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 28: Jason Navarro (Suicide Machines, J. Navarro & The Traitors) Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

Many of the 90s ska bands signed to major labels were based out of sunny California. Then there was Detroit ska band The Suicide Machines, the only band in their area to ink a big deal. And there is nothing sunny about The Suicide Machines. Taking influence from the city’s gutter punk and lawless hardcore scene, while also pulling elements from local chaotic ska legends Gangster Fun, Suicide Machines were the most punk rock band of the ska major label feeding frenzy. And their debut Hollywood Records album Destruction By Definition is a timeless masterpiece.

Our guest today is Suicide Machines lead singer Jason Navarro, who joined the band shortly after its inception and remains its only consistent member. Jason gives us the history of the band signing to Hollywood Records and the recording of Destruction By Definition. We talk about the band’s 2020 release Revolution Spring. We also get into the time he met Kelsey Grammer, and discuss how Nick Offerman worked on a 90s Suicide Machines video. Jason doesn’t even know who Nick Offerman is because he doesn’t watch TV.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 27: Laura Jane Grace (Against Me) Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

It’s been a rough year and a half. This past April—in response to our collective trauma—Laura Jane Grace tweeted that the “current ska revival is a sign of just how emotionally vulnerable we all are after the past year.” A perfect sentiment for the moment we’re in. While a lot of people have been using ska as a cheap punchline, her tweet honed in on just how meaningful and earnest the music is, and why it is matters to people in dark times. Clearly a true ska fan.

That wasn’t her only recent ska tweet. There were a few about Operation Ivy in there too. So, we needed to bring her on the show and talk about the genre. Her history with ska goes back to her early days in the South Florida punk scene where rude boys and rude girls co-mingled with punks, skinheads, and every other alternative subculture.

On this episode of In Defense of Ska, we go deep into her ska history, learn about which ska bands made the trek down to Florida, which didn’t, and we hear about which band gave her mixed feelings about the genre. We also talk about We Are The Union and geek out on Operation Ivy for a while. And of course, we discuss why an Op Ivy reunion would be so healing for everyone after 2020.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 26: Marc Wasserman (Ska Boom, Bigger Thomas, Rude Boy George) Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

The US had a healthy, diverse underground music scene in the ’80s. Among the goths, art-punks, and lo-fi freaks were plenty of rude boys and rude girls. And yet for some reason, the story of ska in the US is nearly wiped clean from the oral history of American music during the ’80s. You even had bands like Fishbone—who mostly played ska at the time—and The Untouchables signed to major labels! Not only are these ska stories an important piece of the musical landscape, but they also help explain how ska seemingly popped up out of nowhere in the mid-90s—it was bubbling just under the mainstream for a decade and a half.

Our guest today, Marc Wasserman wrote the book Ska-Boom!: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History, which chronicles this lost decade of ska music. His book, which you can order here, is exhaustive in its research and plentiful in its interviews and tells the origin stories of several key US ska bands during the 80s—some familiar like The Toasters and Bim Skala Bim, some obscure like The Boilers and The Boxboys. His incredible book will show you not just that ska was popular during this time period, but that it was an amazing scene.

In the episode, we talk to Marc about his book, which includes a mindboggling and short segment on Cyndi Lauper’s debut album (It started ska!) And lots of other interesting, unlikely cameos by folks like Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits. We also talk about Marc’s musical projects, including his collaboration with Sal Polichetti, the guy that wrote and sang the viral hit, “Jesus is My Friend.” There was even talk of doing a split release with the evil ones themselves, Mephiskapheles. But that never happened. What a shame!

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 25: Catbite (Tim Hildebrand, Brit Luna, Chris Pires) Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

Philadelphia 4-piece ska band Catbite have only been together a couple of years, but for a lot of people—and I’m one of them—they are one the top new bands currently in the genre. This is largely due to how incredible their debut 2019 album turned out. The band seemingly came out the gate, fully formed, with a unique approach to ska that incorporated power-pop, soul, and garage-rock elements, with amazing songwriting, killer musicianship, and fantastic vocals.

But now a couple of years later, Catbite has finally released their sophomore full-length, Nice One. It is absolutely a better album, both in terms of songwriting and production value, and that’s saying a lot. The record will release on Bad Time Records on August 6th. You can pre-order it right now.

On this episode, we chat with Catbite about their new album. But we also get the full story on how they found Mannequin Pussy’s stolen van, we learn about Tim Hildebrand’s old band, The Snails, and how the Future Islands guys basically forced them to stop using the name (Not cool dudes!). And of course, we dig into the two alternative versions of Catbite’s debut album: The hardcore version (Catfite), and the Yee-Haw version (Catlite). But unfortunately, they wouldn’t tell us which style they’re going to do next!

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 24: Nick LaVallee (Wicked Joyful) Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

Many of us collected action figures as kids. And guess what, it’s OK to keep on collecting them, especially if you’re buying the offbeat variety that you can't find at Toys r us: Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze’s Chippendales dancers. Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Will Forte’s SNL character Macgruber, or Bill Burr’s Star Wars character, but with a heavy emphasis on his Boston accent (Wicked Awesome!) These unique and creative custom action figures are the work of Nick LaVallee (Wicked Joyful). They are awesome! Some even go to absurd lengths, like Eminem’s “Mom’s Spaghetti.”

On this episode of In Defense of Ska, Nick walks us through his life as a ska musician turned comedian turned custom one-of-a-kind toy designer. Wicked Joyful has gotten a lot of attention in the past year, with several celebrities purchasing or even specifically requesting Nick’s figures. If you follow him on Instagram, you can easily see why. We also talk about his weird contribution to the Big D and the Kids Table universe, how he got Adam to start wearing shirts that were too tight, and what pro-ska joke he used to tell on stage back when he did comedy.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep 23: Chuck Askerneese (The Untouchables) Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

In Los Angeles, in the early ’80s, you would see rows of scooters on the street outside of ska shows. Inside the clubs, kids would be dressed in their best suits. And there was a full-on mod revival happening. At the heart of this local scene was The Untouchables, one of the best bands in the US ska scene at the time. And one of LA’s biggest bands in the ’80s. Unfortunately, they never made it to that next level. But in the DIY world at that time, they were huge.

The Untouchables played a unique blend of 2 Tone inspired ska, poppy reggae, and upbeat Northern soul. Their love for scooter and mod fashion was front and center, so much that they wrote an early song called “Ska mods.” Their history is particularly interesting. They appeared in several low-budget films, most notably Repo Man. At one point they were managed by Ramon Estevez (Emilio and Charlie Sheen’s younger brother) and even played some birthday shows at Martin Sheen’s house in Malibu. And while they could not get any interest from any US label despite incredible success in the indie world, UK label Stiff Records showed up at one of their shows and signed them.

On the episode, we chat with The Untouchables lead singer Chuck Askerneese. We dig into The Untouchables’ unique history as part of the American DIY musical landscape in the ’80s. He tells us all the crazy twists and turns of their career. And we also discuss Chuck’s post-Untouchables career as a Hollywood property master. He’s worked on several Adam Sandler films and currently works on the TV show This Is Us. He even plays in a band with Adam Sandler. But the real question is…does Adam Sandler like ska?

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep 22: Elliot Babin (Touche Amore, Dad Punchers, Warm Thoughts) Jun 16, 2021

Show notes

Touche Amore drummer Elliot Babin wasn’t always a post-hardcore kid. In Fact, he spent many of his formative years on the Aquabats forum in the early 2000s. He’s even an official aquacadet. And for Elliot, t’s not just the Aquabats. He’s a big-time ska fan and he’s not afraid to shout it from the mountain tops, no matter what the rest of his music peers think of the genre.

Elliot joins us on this episode of In Defense of Ska to lay out—in full detail—his ska roots. We learned that the Aquabats forum played a major role in his life, and even led to him landing the gig as Touche Amore’s drummer. We also talk about his friendship with Joyce Manor’s Barry Johnson, his solo project Warm Thoughts (Formerly Dad Punchers) and we learn what ska band he plans to show his Touche Amore bandmates the next time they hit the road. It’s not going to be Aquabats this time around.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In Defense of Ska Ep. 21: Tara Hahn (Half Past Two) with her aunt Heather McNeil Jun 09, 2021

Show notes

SoCal ska band Half Past Two have a lot of great songs. But there’s something particularly special about their track “Heather.” It’s a simple track about lead singer Tara Hahn’s aunt, Heather McNeil. Heather played a fundamental role in Tara’s life. She introduced her to ska. In the late 90s, she started lending Tara her ska CDs and eventually started taking her to ska shows. Without Heather, Tara may not have become a ska superfan, and likely wouldn’t now be singing in Half Past Two.

It’s a relatable story for many of us. Most ska fans have that person in their lives that introduced them to ska and made them fans for life. On this episode of In Defense of Ska, we peel back the layers of Half Past Two’s tune, “Heather,” and hear both Tara and Heather’s side of the story. And in the process, we get an intimate glimpse of the OC ska scene in the late 90s.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

Support In Defense of Ska by checking out StubHub: https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/DLXVmMB
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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