In Defense of Ska – Details, episodes & analysis

One of the first ska bands to really pop off on the radio in the '90s was a humble little act called Goldfinger. Bolstered by hits like "Here in Your Bedroom" and "Superman," the band became one of the best-known projects in the scene. This week on In Defense of Ska, Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann joins the podcast to chat about the band's history, legacy, and more. Listen now.

Feldmann runs through the history of Goldfinger, from the early days to singing with Mojo Records to penning radio hits. He touches on the band's workhorse mentality, playing 385 shows within one year, and the many bands he's produced for (like The Used, 311, Avril Lavigne, Blink-182, Good Charlotte, and 5 Seconds of Summer).

Listen to Goldfinger's John Feldmann all of this and more, and make sure to like, review, and follow the series wherever you get your podcast. Also be sure to enter for your chance to win tickets to Supernova Ska Fest 2024 by filling out this entry form, following and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, and/or subscribing to the In Defense of Ska Patreon. The contest ends September 9th, so don't miss out!

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.

Enter to win tickets to Supernova Ska Fest 2024 by filling out our entry form (https://bit.ly/supernovaska), following and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, and/or subscribing to the In Defense of Ska Patreon. There will be winners selected from each entry method and the contest ends September 9th, so hurry and enter now for your chance to win!

Ska might seem like a somewhat insular scene, but in reality, many non-ska musicians have a deep appreciation for the genre. On this episode of In Defense of Ska, the crew examines the ska roots of Peal Jam’s Eddie Vedder, as well as the metal band Ice Nine Kills. Even better, Ice Nine Kills frontman Spencer Charnas joins in on the fun! Listen now.

Both Vedder and Ice Nine Kills have recently released songs that expose their love for ska music; Vedder covered The English Beat's "Save It for Later" (which appeared in Season 3 of The Bear) and Ice Nine Kill dropped a ska-infused cover of "Walking on Sunshine," for which they enlisted the help of Reel Big Fish.

Also joining the conversation this week is author Marc Wasserman, who gives insight into how Vedder's history intersects with ska music. Listen to all of both his and Charnas' insight!

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.

Did you know that some of our friends are also podcasters? For this month’s bonus episode, we wanted to bring on the fine folks from the Bothering The Band podcast. Their format is this: They bring on musicians and comedians and then proceed to BOTHER them with weird and silly questions. It’s a lot of fun. They’ve even had host, Aaron Carnes on one episode. So, we brought on Ryan and Abby and then BOTHERED them with our own weird and silly questions. 

Sign up to the IDOS Patreon to listen to the entire episode. 

Then, follow the series wherever you get your podcast and don't forget to check out all the Consequence Podcast Network series here.

You can also support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition will be released in Oct 2024.

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. 

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.

Beloved Australian comedian Aaron Gocs has appeared in the Netflix film The Merger, hosted videos for Vice and appeared in numerous Australian TV shows. But his roots are punk and ska.

He discovered the music from Mighty Mighty Bosstones' hit single, "The Impression That I Get," but soon learned about local ska bands. His first-ever show was Melbourne-based punk (and sometimes ska) band The Living End and local Brisbane ska group Wiseacre. But soon, after diving into the music, he discovered Less Than Jake, who became his all-time favorite band. And he would follow them all over Australia when they'd visit, even if that meant he would get any sleep.

Today we speak with Aaron Gocs about ska, Australia, and where these two worlds meet. We talk about Warped Tour's first venture to Australia in 1998, Aaron's favorite local ska program (Ska Trek, every Thursday at 8p!), why he's retired his skanking boots (And semi-retired from stage-diving), and his deep love for The Mountain Goats.

We also discuss several Australian ska bands like The Resignators, The Porkers, Area-7, Allniters, and Strange Tenants. He explains what a "stitch-up" is to us. Plus we discuss some unique Australian food and animals. Cane Toads, anyone? 

We also find out what Mr. Bean had to do with Aaron getting kicked off of Twitter! 

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.

The Slackers formed in New York in 1991. The band, fronted by Vic Ruggiero, played a bit of everything. But eventually, Vic realized that they needed to focus, and suggested they stick with the ska and reggae tunes and drop the other stuff. It suited the band. Though The Slackers signed with Moon Ska and then Hellcat Records, they were always a smaller band during the 90s Ska Boom. That changed in the 2000s when ska became a dirty word and many of the bands broke up or changed their sound. The Slackers carried on and became ska scene leaders. And they continue to be so in 2023.

Today we speak with Slackers frontman/keyboardist Vic Ruggiero. We go deep into Slackers' history and talk about their early years, the long journey to signing to Hellcat and we break down the song "Statehouse" from their new album. (Though the song dates back to 1998. Rancid played an early version of it called "Wrongful Suspicion" on their Life Won't Wait Album.

Vic also fills us in on the short-lived Silencers project he had with Tim Armstrong, and even tells us why he quit Tim's other band, Transplants, after "only 10 seconds." Plus Vic tells us about the time he met The Wu-Tang Clan, which was one of the funniest stories ever told on this podcast. Not to mention, we even circle back to an early episode of this podcast and get Vic's memories of playing The Crack Shack in Tuba City. 

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.

Austrian ska-metal band Russkaja came to the US for the first time in 2022 and opened for Flogging Molly. Every night on that tour, they blew tons of minds. The band, who formed in 2005, is a blend of many influences. They mix intense metal with ska, polka and Russian folk music. They sing in multiple languages and have members from Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Russian and Austria.

The group is well-known in Austria. They are the house band for the comedy show Willkommen Österreich. And they have several albums out on Napalm Records. Their latest, Turbo Polka Party, releases on February 3. 

Today, we speak with Russkaja's guitarist/songwriter Engel Mayr. We talk about the band's history and the Ska/Balkan music scene they emerged from (And outlasted). We talk about their biggest song, "Energia" (2013) and the excellent video that they made for it. And Engel even tells us which songs he wanted to cover for the new album but didn't get to. (Hint it's Psy's "Gangnam Style" and ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man.") 

Plus Engel tells us how the band addressed Russia's war in Ukraine while they toured the US--it started a week before they came over! 

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.

Is 2023 the year ska comes back? Oh I know, you've heard that one before. But it does seem like there's some great things happening in ska in 2023, and we thought we'd talk to one of the leaders of the new ska scene (JER of Skatune Network and We Are The Union!) about what this all means for the future of ska!

To listen to the entire episode, sign up for the In Defense of Ska Patreon! 

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.

Supernova International Ska Festival started in 2013 as a house show that got so big, it was moved to a local brewery. Though it took a few years before it got the name Supernova, and that first show wasn't even a festival; just a kick-ass show with Chris Murray and King Django.

Every year, Supernova has grown. 2023 is looking to be the biggest and best version of the festival to date with acts from all over the world like Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Fishbone, The Dualers, Don Letts, Stranger Cole, The Planet Smashers, Catbite, Out Of Control Army, and so much more.

Today we talk about all things Supernova with co-founder Tim Receveur (He founded the festival with his wife April) and creative director Mike DeMatteo. We talk about the festival's history and dig into what people can expect at this year's festival. We also chat about some fun stories from Supernova's previous festivals. And there are plenty of fun stories there!

We talk about Derrick Morgan's epic 2017 performance, 2020's quarantine edition (fundraiser for Alpha Boys School), and how Taylor Morden managed to film several interviews for Pick It Up - Ska In The 90s at the festival in 2018 during a storm. We also talk about Hepcat playing the festival (Their first east coast concert in decades!), the creation of the Rude Girl Revue and Tim lets us know how he managed to get Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra to headline this year's festival. 

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.

Actor John Ross Bowie is best known for playing Barry Kripke on the hit TV show Big Bang Theory as well as Jimmy DiMeo on Speechless. But when he sat down to write his memoir, No Job For A Man (released in 2022), he focused a lot more pages to his formative shows going to punk, hardcore and ska bands in New York's vibrant live music scene than he did being on the set of these hit shows.

Today, we speak with John and he surprises us with quite a few details about New York's ska scene in the 80s. We talk about seeing CBGB ska matinees, The Toasters, New York Citizens, The Boilers, Second Step and Bigger Thomas. And John also tells us about going to college in Ithaca in the early 90s, where he interviewed several musicians on his radio show, including Joe Gittleman of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Marc Wasserman and Robert Apollon Jr. of Bigger Thomas.

We also talk about his band, Egghead meeting One Eye Open on the road, his love for The Ramones, The Dickies and The Toy Dolls, the hyper-specific and bizarre hardcore subgenre known as Krishnacore, and why Chris Gethard insists that John is his comedy mentor. 

And most importantly, John gives me advice on how to record the audio book for In Defense of Ska. Thanks for the pointers, John! 

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 May 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.

Indie rock band Minus The Bear created a unique sound that blended a multitude of genres: math rock, emo, pop, prog, and yes, ska. Well, at least, the bass lines were informed by ska and reggae. Bassist Cory Murchy grew up obsessed with ska music. And when it came time to write interesting and moving bass lines, he often drew inspiration from the bass masters in reggae and ska bands. Besides, who plays bass better than ska and reggae bass players?

Today, Cory joins us to talk about the secret ska influence of Minus The Bear. We break a few songs that lean the heaviest into ska territory ("My Time," Memphis & 53rd," "Pachuca Sunrise"), and we also talk about Cory's ska formative years growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He even discusses his high school ska band, Soulskats.

We talk about the impact seeing Mealticket live had on Cory, we discuss a few of the key New Mexico DIY spaces, and we talk about the Seattle indie rock scene that Cory joined when he got a little older (and its connection to Animal Chin)! We find out why Suicide Squeeze's David Dickenson has a "Cory Murchy" tattoo and we learn what ska tattoo Cory has on his body. 

And during the interview, Cory casually drops a huge reveal on us. His mom used to babysit Kurt Cobain! 

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.