In Defense of Ska
Aaron Carnes
Key Metrics
About the Show
Ska no longer needs to be the butt of every joke. IDOS is flipping the narrative on this style of music that they love dearly.Hosts Aaron Carnes (author of "In Defense of Ska") and Adam Davis (Link 80, Omingone) chat with people in and outside of the ska scene to tell its stories, show its pervasiveness in culture, and defend it to their last dying breath.
Partnership & Audience Signals
Regularly hosts outside guests
3 of recent episodes transcribed
270 episodes — long track record
Production & Distribution
Feed Capabilities Podcasting 2.0
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Recent Episodes
The Exit Interview with Sammy Kay
Oh, wait a minute! We have one more episode. Three-time IDOS guest Sammy Kay couldn’t let us walk away from the podcast without doing a proper exit interview. So this week, Sammy asks Adam and Aaron…
S4E228 The Final episode w/ special guest Mike Park
Well, folks, this is it. You’ve made it to the end of the In Defense of Ska podcast. Nobody can say it wasn't a great four-and-a-half-year run of interviews, discussions, laughs, and hard-hitting ska…
S4E227 Why Fishbone Matters with W. Kamau Bell
Are Fishbone the greatest band of all time? Perhaps. But no matter how great any single person thinks the group is, it’s a fact that Fishbone is a super important, very original band. And they still…
S4E226 Felipe Esparza on Voodoo Glow Skulls and all things ska
Comedian Felipe Esparza may have won Last Comic Standing in 2010 and is currently touring theaters. But probably the most important thing to know about him is that he loves ska. We’re talking…
S4E225 1 in 3000 nerds can’t be wrong: Interview with Janitors Against Apartheid’s Lodge Worster
There were a lot of ska-punk bands in the ’90s. Perhaps, none were more out there than Northern CA’s Janitors Against Apartheid: A wild group that played hyper-fast ska and had a singer who sang…
S4E224 The Mozzarella Stick Ska Meme: Its history and impact on ska
They said it couldn’t be done, but In Defense of Ska laughs in the face of such faithlessness. It's with great pride and honor that the crew unveils this week's episode -- a lengthy discussion and…
S4E223 Ska Punk International: An interview with Chris Reeves
Eras of ska are, in part, defined by the ska labels. This week on In Defense of Ska, the crew chats with the head of one of those labels helping make the modern age of the genre -- Chris Reeves,…
S4E222 The story of Ska in New Orleans post-Katrina: A live panel at Hey Café
New Orleans had a surprisingly big ska scene in the late 2000s. This caught the attention of In Defense of Ska host Aaron Carnes after he wrote the first edition of his book on the genre (also…
S4E221 The beginning of a global trad ska revival: Potato 5
In England, two-tone ska was absolutely huge -- but only for a brief time. By the early ’80s, the country had moved on to other sounds in pop music, and most of the two-tone bands broke up or moved…
S4E220 Japan’s finest: Hey Smith singer Shu
This week on In Defense of Ska, the gang travels to the ska-loving country of Japan to interview the amazing ska-punk group Hey Smith. Listen to the band's singer and primary songwriter Shu and…
S4E219 Touring in a Ska Band: Life on the Road
This week on In Defense of Ska, host Adam Davis takes the spotlight to detail his time touring with his ska band Omnigone. The act hit the road back in March, and along the way he interviewed a whole…
S4E218 Punching Nazis: A True Gilman Punk Rock Story
There’s a piece of Gilman (the legendary underground venue) lore that involves a huge fight between punks and nazis in the late '80s. Thankfully and expectedly, the punks kicked the nazis' butts. So…
S4E217 From Eurovision to the Bosnian War: A conversation with Dubioza Kolektiv
At the moment, Dubioza Kolektiv are one of the biggest ska bands in Europe. The Bosnia-based group melds ska, reggae, hip-hop, and alt-rock, fusing it all with traditional Balkan elements. This week…
S4E216 The Sound of Ska in Denmark: The Chains
Let In Defense of Ska introduce you to The Chains, a new ska band out hailing from Denmark. Their sound leans heavily into traditional ska, rock steady, and boss reggae, and they put out a killer…
S4E215 WTF is Crack Rock Steady?
This week on In Defense of Ska, the crew asks a question that has been on everyone's mind: What the hell is crack rock steady? Along with author and fellow ska-enjoyer Jeff Burk, the crew discusses…
S4E214 Ska as Pop Music in 2025 w/ Catbite and Sarah Tudzin
When people say they want ska music to come back, what they’re really saying is that they want ska music to once again be a part of the pop music world. If that were to happen, though, it likely…
When Smash Mouth Was a Ska Band
Back in the mid '90s, ska was on the rise in the United States. Ready to ride the wave, a new band formed in San Jose, California, that specialized in ska-punk and pop-punk tunes, and they called…
Why is Bob Marley more popular now than ever? A conversation with Roger Steffens
For most of his life, the legendary Bob Marley was actually something of a cult artist. After his death in 1981, though, his popularity only grew and grew. Now, he stands as a bonafide icon. On this…
The Precure album returns: Kayleigh Malloy & Anj Capizzi discuss the reissue of Kmoy's Precure album
Kayleigh “Kmoy” Malloy released The Precure Album in 2021. It’s a brilliant, ska concept album that could be described as “Laptop Ska.” That’s changed. Now Kmoy is a full band with guitars and drums.…
Political dance music: A conversation with Sergio Rotman from Argentinian ska band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
At this point in their career, perhaps it’s unfair to call Los Fabulosos Cadillacs strictly a ska act. The band blends the genre with reggae, wider rock, and various Latin rhythms. However, when they…
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