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Interview with one of North America's Ska Legends - Bucket of the TOASTERS!! - Check it out!
| Message Board > Music Chitchat - Heavy > Interview with one of North America's Ska Legends - Bucket of the TOASTERS!! - Check it out! |
| ENIGMATICA ENTERTAINMENT User Info... | For those of you that want more information about the Toasters and Bucket who has been with the band for over 23 years through thick and skinny, check out the article below written by Dane Jackson of SKRATCH Magazine: ___________________________________________________________ Interview by Dane Jackson When thinking of "must-know" ska bands, The Toasters immediately come to mind. The Jamaican ska era had The Skatalites and Desmond Dekker; the English 2-Tone era had The Specials and The English Beat; the American extension of ska has The Toasters. They are by far one of the top five ska bands in the country, and you should be ashamed if you haven't heard of them before. They've been showcasing their 2-Tone inspired sound to the world for over 20 years now and show no signs of quitting anytime soon. Below is my interview with guitarist, vocalist, and all-around ska pioneer Bucket, who, besides being in a great ska band, once ran Moon Ska Records. Now he's ready to give another record label a shot and has started Megalith Records. SKRATCH: Now that Ska Summit is over, what's next for The Toasters? BUCKET: We're undertaking a short tour out to the Midwest to play the Skappleton Festival with The Skatalites, then back for spot dates over the summer. We'll be back out on the road to Canada in September and down to the Southeastern U.S. in October. SKRATCH: Speaking of Ska Summit, how did it go? BUCKET: Fantastic. It was great to see that many people (13,000) there just for ska music. They should do another one for next year! SKRATCH: You decided to release your new album on Asian Man. What drew you to Mike Park? BUCKET: I've known Mike for a long time, and he was one of the few who would consider a one-off deal for The Toasters instead of a multi-optioned lock-up sort of deal. At the time, [a one-off] type of deal was important to us because we wanted to leave as many options open as possible whilst we figured out what we really wanted to do. At that juncture, we were fed up with the whole business after having had to close down Moon, 9/11, etc., etc., so it was crucial to get this type of deal. Also, we thought it would be interesting to put out a ska record on what is essentially a punk-rock label. So far, so good. SKRATCH: Now that you're starting a new label, will The Toasters albums continue to be on Asian Man, or do you plan on releasing them on Megalith? BUCKET: Asian Man was a one-off release for ENEMY OF THE SYSTEM. We'll see where the next Toasters release comes out. I think people will be in for a surprise or two. The Megalith label will no doubt serve as a conduit for The Toasters' back catalogue. SKRATCH: What motivated you to give running a label another shot? BUCKET: Don't know, really...A mixture of being bored, necessity of re-releasing The Toasters stuff, and not liking any of the other offers. Also, the fact that nobody stepped in to fill Moon's shoes (which I found somewhat surprising) [...]. Just seemed like the time was right to start something off. I talked with Chuck Wren (of Jump Up! Records) about this a lot�and of course with many of the bands�so here we are, back with a bang; and we'll have 12 releases out by Xmas 2003! SKRATCH: How is Megalith different than Moon Ska? BUCKET: It will be kept much smaller�at least initially�and will be a subscription-based label until such time as we find a reputable distributor who will give us a fair label deal. We won't be going the indie distro route (except through Chuck at Choked), as this is simply a proven recipe to lose money. SKRATCH: The first release is a four-CD set. How did you go about picking which bands made the cut? BUCKET: Well, most of them picked themselves because the submissions were so good�so much so, in fact, that we expanded the originally-envisaged two-CD set to four. All in all, we had about 250 submissions. Some were declined because of pooey recording quality, some because we had too many submissions in the same sub-genre, others because we wanted to have a wide geographical spread [and] include Canada. Some artists that we wanted on there didn't manage to get songs in on time. So, all in all, it was a complex process, which in the end turned out what is, in my humble opinion, a great sampler of what's available in the U.S.A. ska universe of 2003. SKRATCH: Are these the essential ska bands everyone should know? BUCKET: Some are, and some will be. It's very exciting to see so many new names on this roster, as well as major names like The Mighty Mighty BossTones and Voodoo Glow Skulls pitching in to help this project. SKRATCH: The Toasters have been together for over 20 years. What are the keys to your longevity? BUCKET: Being crazy about the music. That's helped obscure a lot of the downside of the biz (like being away from home, not making a lot of money, etc., etc.). SKRATCH: Where does ENEMY OF THE SYSTEM rate amongst other The Toasters releases? BUCKET: In terms of what exactly? We tried to go back to an earlier Toasters sound�that is to say, straight ska�and stay away from an ultra-refined studio mix. The jury is still out on where that ended up. Sales-wise, it hasn't been the best, but it is still the early days in the general scheme of things, and I like a lot of the material that went into it. SKRATCH: One of my favorite tracks is "Sweet Hometown Jamaica". What inspired you to rearrange "Sweet Home Alabama"? BUCKET: Actually, it was a joke that we attempted to play on the county fair in Montgomery, Alabama, but they liked the song a lot and the joke ended up being on us. It's been in the set ever since. SKRATCH: Are there any other songs that aren't traditionally played as ska tunes that you think would make good ones? BUCKET: Yeah, tons. My wife keeps trying to get us to cover an Elvis tune, for example. SKRATCH: I know you probably get this all the time, but would you like to clear up the rumors on how you received the nickname "Bucket"? BUCKET: It isn't my name, in fact; it was the name of a certain piece of hardware I owned back in the days of the rough and ready lower east side. [It's derived] from "long shot kick de bucket." You figure it out. SKRATCH: Is there anything else left for The Toasters to accomplish? BUCKET: Haven't been to Australia yet, so I'd like to see that happening before we peg out. SKRATCH: If someone were to make a The Toasters movie, who would you choose to play you? What about the other members? BUCKET: That's easy: William Shatner! As for the others, I don't know!! SKRATCH: Any last words? BUCKET: [Go to] http://www.toasters.org if people want to check in and see what's up. You heard the man. For all tour dates and band info, check out their Website at http://www.toasters.org. Source of this interview: http://www.skratchmagazine.com - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 12:00am | ||
| Pierce User Info... | "They are by far one of the top five ska bands in the country, and you should be ashamed if you haven't heard of them before" haha.. and no i dont feel ashamed. Again..who are they? - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 9:11am | ||
| ENIGMATICA ENTERTAINMENT User Info... | I agree no one should feel ashamed if they haven't heard of them. But when many people do find out about them and hear them live, they are happy they did and they don't ever forget:) - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 10:14am | ||
| Nik Olaz User Info... | i'm sorry but ska will never be part of my life. ever. - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 3:01pm | ||
| Brandon User Info... | Good, we dont want you listening to ska. - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 3:04pm | ||
| Nik Olaz User Info... | yeah im glad i dont. i mean i can't stand these fucking white kids ripping off all the real ska bands. it's almost as bad as those dumb white kids who think they can rap. plus my ego is way too big for ska. it would explode or something. - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 3:35pm | ||
| ENIGMATICA ENTERTAINMENT User Info... | One of the premises of ska's short 40 some odd year history is that it's not about certain races ripping off the "real ska bands" white or otherwise. That's one of the beautiful things about the culture. The foundation of ska itself was black musicians that were inspired by American jazz and soul. And sure many of the musicians they took initial influences from in the US weren't white but very soon thereafter many of the influences were especially when a significant number of Jamaicans immigrated to England and began mixing their musical styles with the working class white in neighbourhoods around England in mid 1960s. That's where the term "two-tone" ska came from. It is the fusion of traditional ska and punk influenced soundsand also the mix of . Examples of such bands would be The Specials and the Selector. When the birth of reggae came shortly after ska, much of the Wailers music was marketed towards a sound that would be compatible with other audiences which included many of those that were white. That's why they called it "roots rock reggae" Many of those that say they hate ska because many of the bands aren't "real ska" are contradicting themselves to a degree because they imply if the bands were "real ska" bands they might be more tolerant of the genre itself. The fact of the matter is music progresses over time and mutates and expands as people contribute their ideas and elements of their culture into music that they love. Sometimes it is irritating to a music lover of a certain genre to see that genre be exploited by groups that may not give it justice because of lack of experience or musicial ability. In many cases, especially when talking about underground genres they are probably playing the music because they like it and respect it. If they are doing it for the wrong reasons then they'll soon get what is coming to them because it will usually show musically anyway or they'll lose motivation to create it when the going is rough. If they make it big especially in an underground genre such as ska and they are untalented they are mighty lucky because it is hard to even make a decent living playing the music (ska or other underground genres) even if they are very talented. This happens in the hip hop world all the time as well. It's so limiting to automatically put race limitations on who can play what and so on. I think musicians in general tend to listen to what people can play more than who is playing it. Toots Hibbert , Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Prince Buster (who was backed by the Aggrolites this summer at the Sierra World Music Festival in Nevada) or those in the Skatalites have white musicians in their groups often. They play with them because they are talented and can play the music well. When they do shows, people still dig it because the music still sounds good. Other white ska musicians such as Dr. Ring Ding are well respected in the dancehall and ska circles in Jamaica and the rest of the world because he is an extremely talented musician. If we were to stereotype and you listened to the album you probably wouldn't guess he was white or from Germany. I just thought I'd post this because it does make for interesting discussion. By the way, the Toasters play with many accomplished Jamaican ska music groups on a regular basis. Many of those musicians in bands such as the Skatalites, Justin Hinds and the Dominoes and others would not hesitate playing with them. Coolie Ranks played with the Toasters for many years and Jack Ruby Jr. - a excellent Jamaican vocalist and DJ is presently in the group and will be playing at the Central Bar & Grill on Saturday, January 10, 2004. - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 5:36pm | ||
| Brandon User Info... | well said man. - Tue, 30 Dec 2003 11:51pm | ||
| Mutilashawn User Info... | I dig ska. Anything that promotes racial unity is fine by me. I'm pretty sure the whole UK ska deal sprung up when Island Records moved there from Jamaica. But yeah thats pretty much been established. - Wed, 31 Dec 2003 9:42am | ||
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