Hey everyone.

I was just thinking that Im working on 2 cds right now.  One with the Rocksteady 7 and one with the Blue Greens.

Its stressing me out a little bit.

So maybe we could all share our knowledge about what we like and dont like about different recording techniques and different final products; cds, vinyl, tapes, and mp3s.

I guess Ill start off with what not to do.

My first studio recordings were with the Donkey Show in 1988-89.  We had no one in the band with serious recording experience so we were starting from scratch knowledge wise.

Basically, we put ourselves in the hands of studio engineers who tended to listen to Hair Metal, Classic 70's Rock, and Funk.  They were more experienced, so we often deferred to them when it came time to press record.

We were using 16 track tape in 1988 and then we went to 24 track tape in 1989.  Mixes were done by a committee of 3 members out of a 9 piece band.

The prevailing recording style of the time that we were told to do was this; 1)get as many people in the band together in the room but make sure all the sounds are separated.  then make the basic recordings.  2)throw out everything except for the drums and possibly the bass.  everything else could be overdubbed later with "more precision" we were told. 

As you can imagine this style was slow and we only were able to lay down 6 songs in numerous recording sessions over a 3 year period. 

It also led to stupid mistakes.  For example, our guitar player recorded over his plain rhythm track to do a "cool" distorted track.  Unfortunately, there was a drop where he had to play by himself and without having the rest of the band there he couldnt get the timing right.  Guess what?, the drums were doing an idiosyncratic fill, that was cool and natural, but by not "being there" he couldnt duplicate it.

This was back in the day where you were trying to conserve tracks so that you could only have 1 rhythm guitar track.

We had nice live guitar skanks and organ skanks that we redid for no particular reason. 

We did ridiculous amounts of horn tracks that did serve a purpose.  We could have done fewer if we knew how to arrange the horns better.

I think the most lively track we did was Mr. Brown, which I think included as much live playing as possible.  At least the rhythm section was live.

In retrospect too, the studio engineers were brusque and arrogant.  They were annoyed to be working with 18 year old kids with weird clothes and weird hair cuts.  They didnt teach us basic stuff about eqs so as to maintain their superiority over us.

They also were in favor of cheesy digital effects instead of all the vintage compressors and other tape effects they had sitting around.  They wanted to get as much digital stuff as they could into the mixes.  The warm analog sounds were old fashioned.

We also didnt know much about spreading out harmonies, layering rhythm tracks, etc etc.  In short, we were super green.

But we thought we were rock stars.  Hell, didnt 500 people come see "our" last show at the Country Club in Reseda? 

So anyways, we had much to learn and no one to teach us.  Next up.  Some more recording stories.

Hi everyone,

so just got back from Indiana where I was producing an album for the young, up, and coming band, the Green Room Rockers. 
It was fun to work with these guys.  They are gonna be playing NYC this saturday, Nov 1 at 3 floors of ska if you havent had a chance to check them out.

Getting ready to go on the road with the Slackers.  We have 3 weeks planned in europe.  Self medication just came out in Germany, on moanin records.  check them out at www.moanin.de   Its a very cool label.

We also have a bunch of vinyl in production.  hopefully that should be ready by december.

We also have a super special Slackers holiday song that should be out on my space in about a month!

As for Rocksteady 7, Ive been working on mixes of our new recordings.  Trying to get the songs where I like them.  Had a fun consultation with Victor Rice about the sounds.  He is a big advocate of placing the bass below the kick drum sonically in the mix.  So we nerded out for a couple hours.

I guess Ill get a song up on myspace soon so people can see what Im up to.

With the Blue Greens, Ive been also working ..ing mixes in anticipation of a forthcoming album.  This is the favor I have to ask of all of you.

If anyone has some time and could donate some layout skills to my cause it would be much appreciated.  I have some ideas of what I want I just dont have the technical expertise to do this.  SO...anyone want to help a graphically challenged musician out there?

Still trying to find a label for this project and rocksteady 7 as well.

So....more work and more work.
Thanks for your support and friendship.

Dave

to check out my music go to...
www.myspace.com/theslackers
www.myspace.com/davidhillyardrocksteady7
www.myspace.com/thebluegreens

I was watching fox new's rememberance of 9/11 this morning and I was amazed at what I saw.  They were showing the footage of the people jumping from the twin towers.  They were showing someone's relative jump out of a building.  How would the newscasters feel if it was their family member?

That thought went across my mind as they talked about how hard it was "to report the news on that day" and I just got angry.  Is this country so oblivious?

This country is on the brink of making a grievous error.  What is this? Electing John McCain to the White House and bringing the republican party back into power.

The republican party has blown every foreign policy decision it has had to make in its occupation of the executive office and it has the gall, to resort to sheer emotionalism to make us forget that. 

Bush has blown the war on terror in afghanistan, allowed the creation of a taliban state in pakistan, fought an unnecessary war in iraq, alienated a potentially helpful iran, made a powerfully bad example with North Korea, alienated most of our allies,  and was just bitch slapped by Russia.  In general, america's power has drifted and been dilluted.

Perhaps, more importantly bush has undermined the main reason for America to fight.  That we are a country that has at its essence something worth fighting for, a constitutional system of government.  That gives rights to its citizens that protect it from other citizens and from its government.  That governs through consensus.  That believes that average people have enough intelligence to make decisions about their lives.

By creating places such as guantanamo. By subverting constitutional checks at every junction.  By appointing hacks like Roberts to the supreme court.  The bush administration has show it doesnt care about the constitution.  Its about a "homeland."  Its about blood and myths.  Not about laws and rights.

But back to foreign policy.  Barack Obama was for prosecuting a war against terrorists.  He saw that as the main threat to the american constitution as I do.  He saw that suspending the constitution only plays into the hands of america's enemies.  If we become the "evil empire" they say we are, what are we?  How are we going to win?

He realizes constitution and the bill of the rights of the united states are much bigger than what we actually have accomplished so far as a nation.  They are ideals that we should aspire to. 

Much like the bible...the constitution and the bill of rights are better than we can behave.  But like the bible...and the ten commandments specifically...it would help us all if we could behave like that.

Now Im not naive about the actual execution of the American nation.  The USA has much in common with the "settler's republic" of South Africa.  That is our worst impulse.  That was the america of the confederacy.  The america that committed genocide against the native peoples.  The america of Jim Crow. 

But the thing was.  Lurking underneath the ugly facade were the beatiful words that begin with, "we the people, in order to form....."  These words demand to be applied to everyone.

But Obama is not just an idealist.

Obama also has a grasp of strategy.  He saw that Iraq was an unnecessary war.  Unlike Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, or John McCain, he saw that the lead up to Iraq was a sham.  Hmmmm.  Who has the sharpest perception of foreign policy options?

Come on now.  I saw the Weapons of Mass Destruction thing as bull.  I think that everyone else else did too, its just that certain people decided it was in their political interest to go along with it.  The result being a 5 year war that has not ended yet.

Obama also understands that.  Now that we are in a disaster of a war.   Even if we get the troops out tomorrow we will have hemoraged several hundred billion dollars.   Im not giving an exact number because the bush administration has hidden Iraq war costs in other parts of the budget.

Every time, McCain talks about "victory" I want to cringe.  It is the most meaningless talk in the world.  Does he mean victory when the current shiite regime in Iraq that is closely allied with Iran cements its power over the nation? Does he mean victory when the Sunni Awakening councils declare "autonomy" for the regions that they control?  Does he mean victory when the Kurds drive out the other nationalities and make a bid for a unified kurdistan?  What is he talking about?  That we leave with a parade instead of evacuation helicopters on the roof of the US embassy in Bagdad? A fig leaf of respect when the world collapses around us.

Obama's plan is simple.  It involves leaving Iraq and letting them sort it out themselves.  It is honest and forthright.

As for afghanistan and pakistan.  Bush squandered the goodwill the US had after 9/11 by invading Irag.  Afghanistan was forgotten about and as a result was ripe pickings for the Taliban.

Bush never stood up to Pakistan and as a result we have a taliban state in Pakistan.  The conservatives mocked Obama when he talked about going after terrorist there.  That says that the conservatives dont care about the war on terror.  For them, the war on terror was just an excuse to have a civil war on their enemies in the United States. 

Obama is talking about actually going after Bin Laden and the conservatives oppose him.  John McCain is strangely silent.

But hey. McCain wants to.."bomb bomb bomb bombiran!"  Iran in the late 90's was making headlines about how its progressive youth were rising up against the oppressive mullahs.  By invading Iraq, we gave the conservatives in Iran all the  domestic ammunition they needed.  We actually have friends in Iran and if we give them hope, they can bring down the Ahmenjad government. 

When Obama talked about talking to Iran he was mocked by McCain among others.  But what is bush doing now? Setting up an US interest section in Iran! Hmmmmm. 

Probably one of the worst travesty's of the Bush administration was its handling of North Korea.  By negotiating with NK it basically said, "if we really think you have nuclear weapons, we wont invade you, we will negotiate"!!!  The flip side to Sadaam was, "if we really dont think you have nuclear weapons, WATCH OUT!"

Of course, this connects with our relations with China who are our major trading partners!  A country that wants to supplant us in the world!  GOOD CHOICE GEORGE!

China is NK's protector.  NK is the crazy guy that China cant afford to be anymore.  Their craziness gives China diplomatic clout.

Who is China supporting in the American elections?  THEY SUPPORT MCCAIN!  Enough said.

Well, I dont need to tell you how America has alienated most of its allies.  Well, maybe I do come to think of it.  In 2002, I was performing in Texas at a morning TV show.  The anchor of the show came out and asked us about how we were were treated when the Slackers were in Europe on 9/11.  He was shocked to find out that Europeans came out of the woodwork to support us and that so many friendships were forged on that day.  He thought the europeans had been "against us" from the beginning.  AND THIS IS A FOX NEWS ANCHOR?  shocking.

The USA has alienated Europe and Japan which are our natural allies as they share the same committment to democracy.  For that matter, our imperial attitude towards Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, South Africa, and other countries, that are striving towards a similar system to us, hasnt done us much good either.

Obama wants to rebuild these relationships.  Of course, McCain is opposed because we are the baddest boys and the block and we dont need friends.  Good idea Mr. McCain.

Of course that leads me to my last foreign policy point.   Russia.  The USA with such renowned Russia experts as Condi Rice just got bitch slapped in Georgia.  Why is that?  Because the US supported Georgia but didnt give them the military or diplomatic support to actually withstand a full court press by Russia.  Russia was sending a message through Georgia to the Ukraine, the Baltic States, Moldavia, and anywhere else there are lots of pro-Russian regions...the message that is, dont think about breaking ties with us!

 Obama was criticized for not being supportive enough.  Because he supports strengthening Georgia while at the same time letting Russia know its overstepping?  McCain would rather have another disastrous cold war than try to settle differences with Russia.

Vote for Obama.

Contrary to popular belief, foreign policy, not the economy is the strongest argument to vote for Obama.  I support Obama on the economy too for that matter.  And his plan to end the USA's dependence of fossil fuels is connected to foreign policy. 

I dont have a great conclusion other than every Republican plan for the last 7 years has ended in disaster.  Obama is focused on the issues at hand.  McCain is focused on getting elected by exciting enough conservatives that enough indepenedents decide to go with the "winning team."

love to hear what you think.

Dave Hillyard.

I hope you forgive any typos.  I have no idea how to spellcheck in myspace. 

So its come to this.

I got to write about the state of "ska" in the present day and where its likely to head.

I've been arguing throughout these blogs that you got to look at ska as meaning a lot of different things in the USA.  That it started as a small mostly 2tone inspired movement but then these small beginnings in the early-mid 1980s grew into a diverse musical universe by the mid-90s.  That it wasnt just one band or one record label that broke things.  That it wasnt just moon records, it was also Jump Up, Asian Man, Hellcat, Steady Beat, and countless others.  That there were hundreds of musicians all over the country working with their own definitions of "ska" that brought us to where we are today.

I think that its also clear that I hold great ambivalence about the musical quality of much of American Ska.  I really dug the first Fishbone ep when it came out.  I used to listen to their unreleased demos that were being passed around southern california.  I really liked the Untouchables first ep.  I still like Lets' Go Bowling, music to bowl by.  I like all the Jump With Joey albums.  There are a lot of songs that I still dig by various american ska bands.

At the same time, the great majority of American Ska I cant stand.  The happy clownish vapidity of the lyrics.  The on-ze-beat march of the basic rhythms with this spastic off beat in contrast.  The john philip souza squaresville horns.  The wonderful heavy metal breaks.  The fact that I've had to hear it day in and out on every other gig i've played for the last 15 years.

Its not that I think all my albums are golden either.  I have my favorite songs and musical moments but a lot of it I cant stand listening to.  Im usually not happy with the tuning, the songwriting, the editing, the execution,  and a million other reasons.  I guess I can live with about half of the stuff that I've been involved in recording.

Its frustrating being in the minority opinion on stuff.  I was just playing in Victoria in British Columbia (Yeah, I know this is in canada, I have deliberately avoiding writing much about canada's scene primarily because I dont know enough about it, but also cause I think canada's ska history is distinct and more anglophile than the american scene.  so just indulge this anecdote) 

So anyways, I was playing in Victoria.   I was hanging outside by the bar.  Killing time before my set.  These 3 guys walked by.  One asked what kind of show was going on.  One of the others replied, "ska....its like punk" and crinkled his nose.

Now I dont know what kind of music these guys were into but its clear to me that once again my music was not being given a chance to stand on its own.  But those are the breaks.  There's probably many more people who took a chance listening to my instrumental rocksteady 7 record, playtime, because I had played with Rancid, a punk band.  Shit, Tim armstrong gave me the money to make the record. 

Without punk, I probably wouldn't have a career.  It was the punk movement that paved the way for 2 Tone and to a lesser extent for people being interested in ska in the United States.

So I dont want to come across as being ungrateful to punk, its just that it gets old when every show is a "punk" show.  That when you are playing mellow reggae somebody wants to stage dive and kick the other members of the audience in the head.  That you can only play so many upbeat ska songs without watching a 5 foot girl get elbowed in the head from behind by a 6 foot slam dancing guy.

Its not that I dont want anyone to ever slam dance or stage dive.  Its just that every show doesnt have to be a punk show. Doesnt anyone want to get groovy anymore?

Its also like I feel like I never got to present my musical vision to people cause their minds were already made up before they heard it.

So the current state of the ska scene?  Well, there are still hundreds of ska bands kicking around the states.  Do a myspace search with the name of an american city and the word ska by it and you will find a local band.

There are still only a handful of bands that play anything influenced by 60's ska and 2 tone.  Most bands play some version of 3rd wave ska that comes to resemble 2 Tone less with every passing year.

For the future of those bands that have serious roots in Jamaican music like Westbound Train or the Slackers or the Aggrolites?  I think that there is always going to be a cult following for this music.  Now that labels such as soul jazz have released a bunch of ska there will always be nerdy musical cognoscenti hipsters that try go back to refer to it.

Its possible that a song could get wider exposure but it would take some luck.  it would require a song in a film or a popular you tube skit.  Hey, you never know.

Ska and reggae are standard parts of the soundtracks of kids tv.  Same with commercials.  You hear it all the time.

As for the 3rd wave stuff its likely that as we go along through the years and the gathering "90s" revival is likely to gain more steam that music by No Doubt, the Bosstones, Sublime, and Rancid is going to get played once again.  This will probably inspire some new bands to reference it.  It will be similar to what the 80s revival has done in the UK.  In the states, 80s revival meant new wave pop.  In the UK, the 80s revival included ska. 

The bosstones are already back together and have put out a nostalgic song about "desmond dekker is just fine" or something.  So the storm clouds are gathering.

There are also likely to be bands playing some sort of mix of reggae and punk that refer to ska as well.  I know they're canadian, but a band with a style along the lines of Bedouin Soundclash could probably get somewhere.  Bands like the Police that mixed rock and reggae had huge hits in the US and probably could again. 

There will probably be ska influenced songs that aren't recognized as such cause the lyrics are in spanish.  There's a big punk explosion in latino communities through the USA and ska/reggae is occasionally thrown into the mix.

There was a lot of ska that was made in the 90s, most importantly by Jump with Joey, and later by Hepcat or Yesska that mixed in cuban and puerto rican rhythms with ska.  Ska is partly cuban in origins to begin with and these songs just took it in different directions. 

But I suspect most of the stuff that is gonna become popular in the future is gonna be spanish lyrics with a punk/ska rhythms similar to Rancid or the Voodoo Glow Skulls, or a band from spain like Ska-P.

There will probably also be ska songs that arent recognized as such because they are played by rock bands.  American audiences never really recognized the Beatles' Ob-la-di-ob-la-da for what it was.  Thought Eric Clapton wrote I "I shot the sherrif."   Never noticed "werewolves of london" 20 years later or "la vida loca" ten years after that.  So the general public, whatever is left of the major labels, and the critics wont notice the next ska song coming down the pike unless the band is clearly labeled "ska" for them. 

For some people the title/classificiation of the band is more important than the beat obviously.

Its like the scene in Pulp Fiction when they find out that a Cheeseburger is called a "royale with cheese" in France.  Y'know what is the most important thing....is it that a piece of meat with cheese and bread is called by different names in different places? or is it more profound that its the same damn crappy meat, cheese, and bread all over the world?  acccchh!

Regardless.....

We've basically gotten away from 8 years ago when there was outright hostility to ska bands from a lot of sources.  There is still some of that but for the most part the new generation of under20 somethings has an open mind about ska.

So what am i gonna do?

Im gonna keep on hustling.  Trying to make music that I will still want to hear a week after I record it y'know?  Trying to get people to listen to it. 

And yeah, while I have ambitions about making american jazz, boogaloo, and rnb albums and tunes, Im still gonna write ska/reggae tunes too.   

Im like the old Saturday Night Live skit, "ska music been bery bery good to me."  So Im gonna try to be good to it.

So there you are.

Its sad and pretty funny that I can sum up most of the ska scene for the last 7 years in 1 chapter.

Basically, the "ska" scene hit bottom between 1998 and 2002.   "Ska" was a 4 letter word to many booking agents, nightclubs, local dyi promoters. 

But the networks that had been built up in the previous 15 years took a long time to disintegrate.  Even in the most rock bottom years for Ska there were still "ska" bands playing gigs in almost every American city.

Slowly.  Starting sometime around 2003 things began to change. The irrational hostility towards ska began to disipate and it began to be a normal kind of music again.  A lot of people still talked about "back in the day" but that time became more and more irrelevant for most of the bands kicking around.  They were making their own history.

Some bands who had come out of the Ska scene like No Doubt had crossed over so much that they were able to continue having hits.   Although most of the stuff they do is rock, pop, or dance music they occasionally referred to ska/reggae with their Rocksteady album a couple of years back.

Vic came up with a great improvised version of that "you're really lovely underneath it all" by No Doubt.   Just sing to the same melody..."You're really ugly underneath it all...you're really nazis underneath it all...george bush is a nazi underneath it all." 

Most of the ska bands playing over the last 6-7 years play some version of the sound put together by Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish increasingly crossed with Emo, pop-punk, and the various alternative rocks of the day.  Bands like Streetlight Manifesto, the RX Bandits, and Catch 22 continued to draw decent crowds and put out cds.

I just flicked through these bands myspaces.  Many of them proclaimed themselves "rock" bands.  I could hear no traces of 60s ska and only vague references to 2 tone.  We truly are in a brand new era.

Speaking of 60's ska....

The "traditional" scene of Los Angeles floundered for a while after Hepcat broke up.  There weren't any bands that could fill rooms until the Aggrolites came along.   Calling the Aggrolites a "ska" band is a misnomer.  What they play is reggae from 1968 to around 1971.  The uptempo reggae that was exported from Jamaica to England via the Trojan record label.  Some people call it 'skinhead reggae' because a lot of its white fans were (and still are) skinheads.  

Like most labels thats a bit of a misnomer.  It makes is seem like the skinheads were the ones creating the music when in fact it was the jamaicans exporting it to england.  Its the same with 'northern soul.'  Its american soul music not english. But it was english fans who discovered and kept these lost obscurities from the American R&B era from disappearing from the earth.

In the wake of the Aggrolites there has been a wave of bands trying to play some sort of 'skinhead reggae.'    Most of them have been European but some bands like the Uplifters from San Francisco have popped up in the US.

But regardless, a lot of people group Aggrolites into the 'ska' scene either through they dont know the roots of the music or its because the Aggrolites are getting the "well, they are playing reggae of some sort, but they dont have dreads, they have short hair...hmmm....must be some sort of ska" treatment.

They sound like Symarip, if the group had grown up in Southern California.  They are the 'skinhead reggae' band that never happened in the 60s for some reason!  One of the most important bands to come up in the last 4-5 years.

Another important figure in the LA scene is Chris Murray.  by starting the Bluebeat Lounge and having regular gigs every week he helped get the LA scene back off the ground.  In addition, his Chris Murray Combo is a formidable band.  Sometimes Chris sounds like a folk singer singing over traditional ska rhythms. 

There still is a significant la traditional scene kicking around.

Elsewhere, a handful of bands like Westbound Train from boston, Go Jimmy Go from Hawaii, Deals Gone bad from Chicago, and the now defunct Stingers from Austin, Texas kept experimenting with 60's ska/reggae mixed with different bits of american soul, rock, and jazz.

I guess in this day and age,  through attrition, the Slackers have managed to make some sort of impact on the scene.  We were the guys that stayed out on the road and continued to tour when most other ska bands couldn't or wouldn't.  We were able to build up a network of promoters/clubs that believed in us or simply just saw that we could make them some money.  So we got our own circuit together.

I think we still feel like oddballs in most scenes.  Most of the time, we are grouped with 3rd wave ska bands whom we dont feel much in common with.  At the same time, we aren't so traditional that we dont incorporate rock, rnb, and soul influences into our music.  I think I pointed out that "Traditional" in this day and age means lack of distorted metal guitar solos.  Sometimes I feel like with our mix of jamaican and american elements that the Slackers are recreating 2 Tone.

Regardless, I still notice that most people like what we do when its presented to them in neutral setting.  In 2001, when ska was at a low point, people heard our NPR broadcast and the next week we were in the Amazon top ten for pop/rock sales.  All pop/rock sales.  It shows you that the music has a lot of unrealized potential if anyone ever got the bright idea to put money behind the promotion.

Another area where ska continued on was in the latin/ska area.  In the last couple years, it seems like whole scenes playing some sort of ska/punk have sprung up in Latino communities accross the country.  Flipping through myspace once again, it seems like a lot of these bands take Rancid and some of the other hellcat/epitaph bands as their role models, also mexican bands like Maldita Vencidad and Cafe Tacuba.  Bands like La Resistencia, Viva Malpache, or Matomoska.   I dont know any of these bands personally but there sure seem to be a lot of them.  I dont know who's big or not. 

  Its interesting too that the punk/ska/latin bands have developed their own scene in places like Los Angeles that doesnt really fit into the usual "3rd wave" categories.  it wouldn't surprise me if one of these bands gets big enough to have some sort of 'crossover' popularity.

It also seems that there are some punk/ska/latin bands playing out in Queens in New York.  In San Antonio, Texas.  In florida.  All over really.

A last figure to mention who doesnt fit into the usual categories of Ska is Satori.  He makes this sensitive ska/reggae sound that isnt exactly traditional but also isn't full of distorted guitars.  He sings in a plaintive earnest voice.  It has some commonalities with Emo but seems to be less annoying to me.  Less whiny.  He seems to have found some middle ground between ska/reggae, folk/rock, and singer/songwriter stuff.  I got to say he's one of the more intriguing guys out there right now.

Next installment, Im gonna sum things up.  Thanks for reading.

So Im writing this on a break before a show, so I better be more concise than I usually am.

I want to make clear that these blogs are about music that is called "ska" in America and dont comment more than in passing on the UK, European, Japanese, other Asian, Australian, or Latin American scenes.  Ska is a world wide phenomenon.  Its something that started small and modest but somehow has grown into something larger and more long lived that its Jamaican inventors could have imagined.

So back to 1998 and the fall of ska. 

Here are some of my memories from the late 90s when ska was "dying" or "dead."

The irony is that 1998, the year that Ska died, is the first year that the Slackers really had any sort of significant success.  Its the year that the question came out.  Also, in early 1999, I think it was, we had a video for Have the Time coming out and it got 4 plays on MTV.  Each time it played we sold 1,000 cds.  That was the first thing we had resembling a "break." 

But for the most part, outside of california, chicago, and a handful of other places we were playing to really small audiences.  Lots of shows to 100-150 people.

We weren't alone in this.  Between 1998 and 2001, bands like Less Than Jake, Catch 22, or Big D and the Kids' Table bucked the trend and actually grew in popularity.  They did lots of touring both big and small and still found lots of receptive audiences.  Let me point out that these bands have almost nothing in common musically with the Slackers.  Absolutely fucking nothing.  But....they were also bands that were associated with "ska" and were growing during what was supposed to be a downtime.

But we were swimming upstream.  It was tough to book anything associated with "ska" during this time period.

It got even tougher after the Slackers booking agent, ariel, now of ariel publicity, unceremoniously dumped us. 

It was probably for the best but I was pissed at the time.  Ariel had picked us up during when we did the skamob tour.  She came up booking during the ska package days and still thought that way.  She booked us, skavoovie, and king django for a tour down south and that bombed.  It took us years to get some of those promoters back. 

She told me ska was finished and it was too much work for too little money.  I think she got annoyed when I would point out how much we drew at shows, and how come we weren't getting more money the next time around?  I saw growth and she saw stagnation. 

So I started booking the band myself.

I didn't see that slackers as part of the "third wave ska movement."  We were out on our own.  Especially as bands like Hepcat broke up and the Pietasters touring slowed down. 

So I thought that since we were out on our own, why not do our own shows.  Focus on having personal relationships with clubs.  Try to play with any sort of band, punk band, rockabilly band, reggae band.  Avoid any ska package tours like the plague.  That's why I was pissed that Ariel talked me into doing the tour with Skavooive and Django, even though they are my friends.  It just made for bloated overhead on a tour that the Slackers alone could probably draw about the same amount of people.

Perceptions are crucial.

People might think that "ska is dead" but they needed to know that Slackers can still draw.  They can still have good shows.  We needed to make our own history.

The basic assumption is that the music we were playing was good.  If people heard it they would like it.

Of course, this was a constant struggle with local promoters and club owners.  There is this one fucking guy that still pisses me off when I think of him.  He's a fucking douche bag.  He was booking Lupo's in providence.  Whenever I called him, he would tell me how we did a show there and no one showed up.  WELL...HEY ASSHOLE...WE NEVER FUCKING PLAYED THERE...IT WAS THE FUCKING SKOIDATS WHO OUR OLD BOOKING AGENT ARIEL USED TO BOOK....but it wasnt the Slackers.  Nothing against the Skoidats.  They were pretty good.  But that guy.  We didnt play providence for something like 5 years because of him.  Piece of shit.  I hope he has a miserable life.

But that guy was typical.  I had to constantly fight to keep our money even.  Constatly fight to get into new venues.  We used to do a lot of southern tours between 1999 and 2002 and wow, those southern bar owners are stingy, cheap, annoying, ignorant...did I say cheap?  motherfuckers who want to charge you for water.  Think they are doing you a favor if they give you a warm pitcher of flat bud lite at the end of the night.  Piece of shits.

Yeah, so I did a lot of booking in the US.  The other thing that kept the slackers going was that we had a foothold in Europe.  Europe was different in that we werent so much in the "ska ghetto" like we were in the States.  We could play festivals like Lowlands in Holland or Pukkelpop in Belgium where we could play to diverse audiences that were coming to see the bigger bands at the festivals like the Stooges or Franz Ferdinand. 

But yeah, so we developed a basic stategy it just took a while for it to pay off.

One of the most annoying things about the "dark days" after the fall of ska, was having to listen to motherfuckers talk about about back in the day...when things were great...when ska was big...etc. etc.  I think one of the reasons that Im writing this blog is to point out that its not so cut and dry.  There were small shows in the mid-90s and huge shows in the late 90s.  The individual trajectories of bands varied a lot.

The funny thing about "back in the day" talk is now I hear talk about a ska show that was "back when ska was big" and it was in 1999 or 2001.  I think also individuals perceptions of ska vary a lot.  To a 16 year old kid in 1999 at a big ska show, this was what was happening. 

And one more kick in the balls, was that fucking "living the vida loca" song by Ricky Martin.  Its a fucking 3rd wave song.  There's even checkerboards in the goddamm video.  Listen carefully and you'll hear a toasters style skank hidden underneath the synths.  Fucking horrible song.  But I remember trying to book the slackers.  Being told that ska wasn't popular anymore.  And at the same time, those small minded fucking promoters with stone deaf ears, were oblivious that the MOST POPULAR FUCKING SONG IN THE USA AT THE TIME WAS A 3rd WAVE SKA SONG!  I dare anyone to prove me wrong on that count.  Ricky Martin had the most popular ska song on the US charts!

So I guess I getting towards the end of my blog.  I dont want to be repetitive.  So Im just gonna write 2 chapters about american ska post 2001. 

thanks for all the comments.