Steve Ewing from legendary St. Louis ska-alt-rock band The Urge owns his own hot dog restaurant (Steve's Hot Dogs). On 11/26, they will combing the two greatest things of all time (Ska + Hot Dogs) into one big SKANKSGIVING party. If you live in St. Louis, make sure you go

My dude Miguel shouting out The Minutemen as an influence on his new album the other night, gave me a big smile

Cat who? 😜😜🤣🤣

This week I'm dropping some previously unreleased Supernova 2023 IDOS conversations to the IDOS Patreon (Link in bio). In this video, Flying Raccoon Suit's Andrew Heatron talks about being mistaken for Bad Time Records own Mike Sosinski. Check it out. There's audio and video!

Everyone keeps telling me about this Catbite band and I finally gave them a listen. I'll have to say. I like what I hear!

Discuss!

I'm working on the 2nd draft of my novel, Little Black Book of Death. I'm nearly done with the first act. So I take a moment to talk about the music reference just in the 1st draft alone. Full audio is on the IDOS Patreon (Link in bio) and on my Substack (Link also in bio)

GRATEFUL DEAD SKA CONNECTION Here is a photo of Berkeley ska legends, The Uptones in 1984. The person on the far left....that's their drummer Jay Lane. After his time in The Uptones, Jay would go on to playing in Primus, Charlie Hunter Trio, RatDog, Bob Weir & Wolf Bros and later, Dead & Company.

Thoughts on this reggae/ska tinged track "Violence in the Supermarket" by SF punk band Spiritual Cramp?

Supernova's very international lineup this year got changed to mostly US-based ska groups. I chatted with founder Tim Receveur about the trials and tribulations of booking an international SKA festival in 2025, the era of Trump 2.0. Give it a listen on the IDOS Patreon (Link in bio).

Someone please give Oscar Isaac my number. I will restart the In Defense of Ska podcast if he agrees to be a guest. Let's go!

I love ska. Ska is from Jamaica. Jamaica was hit hard by Hurricane Melissa. I visited Accompong in Jamaica in 2019 with my wife, possible because Mystic Bowie brought us. Mystic is playing a benefit at Fairfield Theatre on Nov 29. You can also donate directly on the event page. (Link in bio)

A little while back, I posted a video of (mostly) country band The Mavericks playing a ska original. Now here's a little taste of them covering "Simmer Down" by The Wailers (And then seamlessly transitioning to "Blue Moon" by Elvis). Brilliant band all around.

Ara Babajian has played drums in The Slackers for 20+ years. He was in the 1st iteration of Leftover Crack. He played in underrated 90s ska group, Agent 99. He wrote a memoir, which is coming out on CLASH Books in 2027. I did his first-ever interview on it. It's on the IDOS Patreon (link in bio)

We love baby D-Ray

New Orleans ska band Samurai Deli circa 2006

Hepcat drummer Greg Narvas made a cool zine series called "I was a teenage Filipino skinhead." It documented his time in 80s' LA ska scene, becoming a rude boy...mod...and finally skinhead. I learned a lot from these These zines are why I knew I had to interview Greg for my book In Defense of Ska

Big News! The Slackers drummer Ara Babajian wrote a memoir. It's getting released on CLASH Books in the summer of 2027. I got to read an advanced copy of it and LOVED it. He writes about his childhood, Agent 99, Leftover Crack and The Slackers. I spoke with Ara about it for the Patreon (Link in bio)

One of the greatest bands ever, Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, just released their latest album. It comes with a companion video game called Phantom Quests. If you play the game you might find this delightful little Easter egg.

I was a guest on the podcast Rock That Doesn't Roll, a Christian music podcast. I talked about...Christian ska! (What else?). The expanded 2nd edition of my book In Defense of Ska covers the Christian ska scene (link to buy in bio). Give Rock That Doesn't Roll a listen, wherever you get podcasts

Hey, I just began the 2nd draft of my novel, Little Black Book of Death. I also like to talk about it to the camera and say really obvious things! You can listen on my Substack (Link in bio) or my Patreon (link in bio)

The first New Orleans ska show post-Katrina was on Nov 6, 2005 with The Slackers, Captains of Industry and Fatter Than Albert at Maple Leaf Bar. The city was mostly empty and the National Guard was still in the streets. I covered this show in the 2nd edition of In Defense of Ska (link to buy in bio)

Holy Moly! Look at this lineup! If you are in, near, or willing to travel to LA on Wednesday, Nov 19, you should definitely check out this incredible ska panel discussion!

At my friend Greg's recommendation, I am reading the Nomeansno oral history. Enjoying it already

Jacob Collier ska album when?

REMINDER!

In Defense Of Ska is the worst ska podcast. not because they're bad, but because they're all too fucking good at thier interviews for the genre. Similarly Checkered Past: The Ska'd Cast has too good of bits

SKA-T TAKE

Name Kiefer Sutherland's band!

SKA IS DEAD w/ Voodoo Glow Skulls, Streetlight Manifesto and MU330 in Cypress Hall in Metairie, Louisiana in 2005 This show was booked by Alex Garcia of Shortbus Productions. I interviewed Alex for the 2nd edition of In Defense of Ska I just dropped his interview on the IDOS Patreon (Link in bio)

One more ska song with pop icon Julieta Venegas. This is Mexican ska band Los De Abajo's song "Skapate" (2002), which features guest vocals by Cheko Biloba (Gingo Biloba), Dr. Shenka (Panteón Rococo) and the one and only Julieta Venegas

Here's a clip of pop icon Julieta Venegas playing with Mexican ska legends Tijuana No in 2010 at Vive Latino. Julieta was in Tijuana No briefly before becoming a pop star. She helped write the lyrics to this song, Pobre De Ti (One of the greatest ska songs to ever come out of Mexico imo)

What's your ska opinion that has you feeling like this?

Who is going to skank to No Doubt next year at the Las Vegas SKAphere?

This week on the IDOS Patreon (Link in bio), I chatted with Alex Orange Drink (The So So Glows, Bright Eyes). The purpose of our conversation was so I could learn more about why Bright Eyes released a ska song (Hint: Alex was a big reason why). The "Tim" he refers to in this clip is Tim Armstrong

Hey guess what? I spoke with Bright Eyes bassist Alex Orange Drink about the Bright Eyes ska song for the IDOS Patreon. It's a fun story and Alex has some legit ska roots. Sign up to the IDOS Patreon to listen (Link in bio)

Iconic! A friend got John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats to sign his copy of In Defense of Ska. This is way better than getting me to sign it. Not even kidding.

I finished the first draft of my novel, Little Black Book of Death. My wife, Amy Bee, discussed it with me. Give it a listen on the IDOS Patreon (link in bio) or on my Substack (Link also in bio)

There's a McDonald's in the Pentagon *Ska music intensifies*

We now have three ska days: September 13, August 18 and now July 1.

Tim Receveur, founder of Supernova Ska Festival, chatted with me about how difficult it is to deal with Visa issues when booking international bands. And it's gotten MUCH worse in the era of Trump 2.0. Hop on the IDOS Patreon to hear our conversation (Link in bio)

Slow Gherkin played Supernova this year, and they killed! The reason they played was due to major Visa issues that prevented many of the non-US bands from playing the festival this year. I chatted with Tim Receveur, Supernova founder, about this. To listen go to the IDOS Patreon (link in bio)

We can all agree that Hepcat rule

Anyone else remember Bruno Mars' ska phase?

I just finished the first draft of a new book. 70,000 words. It's a novel called Little Black Book of Death. I'm very excited about it. Going to take a little break then begin the REAL work (editing 😭) In the meantime, enjoy this grocery list I found at the grocery list counter

Pitchfork reviewed Operation Ivy's "Energy," and of course In Defense of Ska gets a mention 😎

Do you like Country Ska? The Mavericks: Back In Your Arms Again

Look at this delightful photo of Hepcat drummer Greg Narvas in full skinhead mode in 1988 at Grand Central Station in Long Beach, CA I interviewed Greg years ago for my book, In Defense of Ska. Our first interview was almost two hours. It's on the IDOS Patreon if you want to hear it (link in bio)

Who did this? And will you send me one?

God just doesn't have good taste