LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE! The 1st Annual Ska-POW! Battle of the Bands is going down TOMORROW NIGHT at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, MN, hosted by emcee Ben Crew from local hardcore band In Defence. The throwdown is going down at 8 pm and the cover at the door is $5. The show is 18+ and Tallgrass Brewing will be there with beer specials (with ID). The winner of the Battle will win the coveted title belt (see pic) and bragging rights for the year.
The bands will be playing a 3-song set (Original, Instrumental, Cover) and a 4-song set of Band Favorites. In the halftime between the sets, there will be a crowd-participatory Skank Dance Off judged by Koo Koo Kanga Roo and DJ’ed by Aaron Porter.
Show off your dance skills, win prizes, drink on the cheap, and enjoy some high-caliber local ska!
MNSKA’s own Aaron Porter recently traveled to Jamaica and took part in some ska-related adventures. Aaron sat in on a rehearsal session for Ska Rebirth (aka The Young Skatalites) playing their version of “Ska-ing West”. Ska Rebirth is comprised of recently-graduated players from Alpha Boys School, led by Alpha bandmaster Sparrow Martin (on drums).
MNSKA’s own Aaron Porter (The Prizefighters) took a recent trip to Jamaica and was able to meet many legendary ska and reggae artists in person. Hopefully we will be able to chronicle some of Aaron’s adventures here on the site, but for now we can share this video. The video shows Aaron in ska legend Derrick Morgan‘s home studio in Clarendon, accompanying him on guitar while he sings his 1962 ska hit “In My Heart.” Enjoy!
Legendary MNSKA band Umbrella Bed returned from their hiatus to open for the big MNSKA Double Album-Release Party at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis last Friday night. Here’s a video of the band, featuring special guest guitarist and former band member Aaron Porter, performing their song “Cap’n George.” This was the band’s first show with new bassist Frankie Guerra. Big thanks to Cameron Klos for the video!
LA’s premiere dirty reggae band The Aggrolites are bringing their gritty sound to the 7th Street Entry at First Avenue in Minneapolis on Thursday, October 20th! The band is currently on tour to promote their Unleashed Live: Volume 1 collection of live songs. Also playing this show are Roots Of Creation and local Wisconsin reggae-rockers T.U.G.G. MNSKA’s own Aaron Porter (The Prizefighters) will be spinning Jamaican 45s in-between sets to keep the party rocking all night.
MNSKA band and Megalith Records artists The Dropsteppers are planning to release their debut full-length album Get Up In It! very soon. So for your viewing pleasure, here is what the cover art, designed by MNSKA’s own Aaron Porter, looks like.
The Dropsteppers have planned a CD release show at The Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis on Friday, October 21st with The Prizefighters, who will be releasing their new vinyl, and the return of Umbrella Bed. Stay tuned for more details.
Check out the tracklisting for Get Up In It! after the jump.
During this past year, we have seen a few changes on Rude Radio, the weekly ska radio show on Radio K (KUOM University of Minnesota). We said goodbye to DJs Reverend Evan and Citizen D and welcomed DJ Dylan to helm the ship. Now, after a long absence, you are able to stream podcasts of Rude Radio!
Right now you can stream the April 17th episode, which is the beginning of the station’s pledge-drive. To mark the occasion, Dylan invited MNSKA’s own Aaron Porter (The Prizefighters) to spin his personal collection of Jamaican 45′s for an all-vinyl episode.
MNSKA band The Dropsteppers have been hard at work these cold winter months to bring forth their debut full-length album. The album is being recorded over the month of February at Shock & Audio Studios off Lyndale and Lake in Uptown Minneapolis with Andrew Zoellner engineering the project and The Dropsteppers and Aaron Porter producing the project. Mixing will happen in March with the release happening some time in May of this year. Interestingly, they will be mixing the entire album down to tape instead of digitally to achieve a more vintage sound. The album will also be Monophonic instead of Stereophonic which is another vintage recording technique. The album will feature 9-10 songs. So far, 9 songs are completed as of now with some minimal overdubs and vocals left to finish. Lead singer Tom McDowall has told me how amazing the album is coming along and I am quite excited to hear how it turns out.
Let’s face it; some people are long on complaints and short on motivation while others have the drive and desire to get things done. Aaron Porter, co-founder of MNSKA.com, fits nicely into the latter category. Aaron heads over to Courtney’s house and chats about a former ska scene in limbo and his actions to create a website and community for music fans to rally around. It’s a great conversation for those who are interested in fostering a local music scene. The guys also talk about the countless number of bands and musical projects he’s been a part of as well as the brand new website for his rocksteady bandThe Prizefighters.
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You can download this episode HERE or subscribe to the show on iTunes.
MNSKA band The Prizefighters recently posted online that they are heading into the studio to record a grip of songs for a much anticipated release. The reggae-soul band have booked time over at local recording studio Shock and Audio for this weekend. Frontman (and MNSKA cofounder) Aaron Porter posted the following on the FORUM:
This weekend, the Prizefighters are going to begin recording their first official release at Shock and Audio Studio with Andrew Zoellner and General Moses (former host of Rude Radio). We plan on tracking 10 songs or so, with the eventual release of a CD and possibly a 7″.
This has been a long time coming for us, so we’re all very excited to get the best of our work over the past several years onto tape. We will try to provide updates as we wrap up the recording/mixing and get closer to releasing the new material.
Thanks to everyone for their support over the years that helped us get to this point!
You can check out The Prizefighters on Saturday, February 20th at Eclipse Records in St. Paul for the big Birthday Show for Adam Degross of Degross Punk Photography.
