In Defense of Ska Ep 72: John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats, The Extra Lens, The Comedians, The Bloody Hawaiians)
06/01/22 • 78 min
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When ska band Sad Snack recorded a ska version of The Mountain Goats' beloved "No Children," Mountain Goats singer-songwriter John Darnielle got so excited, that he invited the group to open for them at their San Francisco show. It was all hands on deck for Ska No Children. And during Sad Snack's performance, John and other members of the group got on stage and skanked. It was clear that it wasn't his first time skanking.
And indeed, he went to many ska shows and skanked during his formative years in Southern California, even though he was an artsy goth kid that made fun of the ska kids. Now as an adult, he can admit that he has a particular love for classic Jamaican ska and the 2 Tone bands like The Selecter, The Specials, Madness and The English Beat.
On this episode, we talk about all things ska with John Darnielle. He compares Lee "Scratch" Perry to Tolstoy, he explains why The Specials' "Ghost Town" is one of the greatest songs of all time, and he tells us about the "Fuck Art, Let's Dance" buttons that all the ska kids at his high school would wear.
But we talk about so much more, including Propagandhi, pro-wrestling, "Superman" by Goldfinger, Desmond Dekker, King Tubby's sound system, the beauty of heavy metal and why everyone wrongfully associates ska with horns.
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
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
When ska band Sad Snack recorded a ska version of The Mountain Goats' beloved "No Children," Mountain Goats singer-songwriter John Darnielle got so excited, that he invited the group to open for them at their San Francisco show. It was all hands on deck for Ska No Children. And during Sad Snack's performance, John and other members of the group got on stage and skanked. It was clear that it wasn't his first time skanking.
And indeed, he went to many ska shows and skanked during his formative years in Southern California, even though he was an artsy goth kid that made fun of the ska kids. Now as an adult, he can admit that he has a particular love for classic Jamaican ska and the 2 Tone bands like The Selecter, The Specials, Madness and The English Beat.
On this episode, we talk about all things ska with John Darnielle. He compares Lee "Scratch" Perry to Tolstoy, he explains why The Specials' "Ghost Town" is one of the greatest songs of all time, and he tells us about the "Fuck Art, Let's Dance" buttons that all the ska kids at his high school would wear.
But we talk about so much more, including Propagandhi, pro-wrestling, "Superman" by Goldfinger, Desmond Dekker, King Tubby's sound system, the beauty of heavy metal and why everyone wrongfully associates ska with horns.
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
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Previous Episode
In Defense of Ska Ep 71: Bruce Lee Band (Mike Park, Jeff Rosenstock)
During Skankin' Pickle's run, Mike Park had so many songs, he tapped Less Than Jake to record an album with him. He called it The Bruce Lee Band. This record was released in 1995. A decade later, The Bruce Lee Band returned with Beautiful World, this time backed by RX Bandits.
But then, nearly a decade later, The Bruce Lee Band became a solid group with Mike Park, Jeff Rosenstock, Dan Potthast and Kevin Higuchi (Though Mike Huguenor was involved in the two 2014 records). They've put out several releases. Last year they released the excellent EP Division in the Heartland. And on May 27th, they will release their full-length, One Step Forward. Two Steps Back--incredible, passionate and at times angry ska-punk.
On today's episode, we talk with two members of The Bruce Lee Band: Mike Park and Jeff Rosenstock. We discuss the two's origin story--Jeff's old band Arrogant Sons of Bitches tried to play at an event Mike threw at the Oakland A's parking lot, but Mike said no. We talk about the role Chris Candy played in the two becoming friends. And we talk about the mid-to-late-2000s era at Asian Man Records, where Mike had a vibrant selection of amazing punk bands like Bomb The Music Industry, AJJ, Lemuria and Shinobu.
We also discuss how drummer Kevin Higuchi went from San Jose bar band drummer to joining The Bruce Lee Band and Jeff Rosenstock's band, Mike Park smoking weed with Alkaline Trio, and the infamous Skankin' Pickle reunion shows in Japan. And of course, we dig deep into The Bruce Lee Band's excellent catalog.
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
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Next Episode
In Defense of Ska Ep 73: Dane Roberts (Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival)
In the summer of 2000, ska was on the decline in the US, but up in Victoria, Canada, it was as popular as ever. Local promoter Dane Roberts--who'd been throwing ska shows for a few years--decided to throw a full-on ska festival. It was in part a tribute to Mathew Bishop, the man that introduced him to ska (he'd died from a mountain climbing accident two years earlier), and it was Dane's final college assignment. If the festival made money, he passed. If it didn't, he failed.
The first year of the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival was a big success. Dane booked Chris Murray, The Scofflaws, King Django, and a reunion show for local favorites, Pressure Cooker. But the following year, ska died in Victoria, and attendance dropped. But Dane kept the festival going anyway, even paying out of pocket to do so.
He kept the Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival going no matter how popular (or unpopular) ska was. And he even expanded the festival to include acts rooted in ska and reggae. It's the longest-running ska festival in North America. Guests over the years have included Fishbone, Less Than Jake, The Wailers, Ozomatli, The Real McKenzies, The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, Mos Def, Neville Staple, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Itals, Ky-Mani Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Dr. Ring Ding, and Larry and His Flask.
The festival celebrates its 23rd year on June 22-26, 2022. We sit down with Dane to learn more about the festival's history, why he's so in love with ska, and get a glimpse of Victoria's local ska scene with groups like The Bombasts, Pressure Cooker, One Drop and Grossbuster.
Tickets can be purchased at https://victoriaskafest.ca
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
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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