New Jersey band The Waffle Stompers have posted a new music video for their single “We’re In For A Long Night.”  The band played in Minneapolis last summer with Mustard Plug.  Enjoy!

You can check out the video on YouTube HERE

Mustard Plug are celebrating their 20th year as a band this year! These ska-punk veterans hail from Grand Rapids, MI and make a point of bringing their upbeat sounds to the Twin Cities annually. The band released In Black And White in 2007.

Moving To Pluto is an MNSKA band have been playing their alternative style of punk, pop, and ska-reggae in the Twin Cities for quite a while. The band is celebrating the release of their latest EP!

The Waffle Stompers are making the trip from New Jersey to kick it with the MNSKA scene! This band is busy playing shows and bringing their pop-ska sounds to all that will hear.

Stop Drop is the latest music project from MNSKA band 2 Tone Runts. This band brings raw energy in the form of folk-punk anthems. Check out their latest single “Caffeine Culture” on their website

Mustard Plug
Moving To Pluto
The Waffle Stompers
Stop Drop

The Red Sea
316 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Doors 5pm | ALL AGES | $10

Our friends over at Community Records has just released a new compilation to benefit the Gulf Restoration Network to mark the anniversary of the BP Gulf Disaster.  It is entitled Head Above Water: A Response To The BP Drilling Disaster and features 36 songs, including previously unreleased tracks from Mustard Plug, Bomb The Music Industry!, Sonic Boom Six, Stuck Lucky and A Billion Ernies.

The compilation is FREE to download HERE, but please donate what you can.

One of the coolest places in all of Minneapolis is the dive bar/music venue known as the Triple Rock Social Club, so it was Courtney’s distinct pleasure to head down there for this week’s episode.  Michigan ska veterans Mustard Plug chat backstage at their 1,480th show and talk about the sexual healing powers of Fishbone, why Big D and The Kids Table are the “Beatles of ska,” and the benefits of being a weekend warrior band.  It appears that the secret to their staying power is to have an all-time designated driver and release music one song at a time.  To find out more about the Mustard Plug guide to touring, check out this week’s Flyover Ska Show!

This show is brought to you in part by MNSKA.com, Minnesota’s Ska Community and the Fancy Pants Gangsters podcast network.  Become a fan of the show on Facebook, follow Courtney on Twitter, or email him at FOSS@fancypantsgangsters.com.

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You can download this episode HERE or subscribe to the show on iTunes.

The Michigan ska-punk veterans Mustard Plug are making their way back to the Twin Cities this Friday!  Head down to the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, MN to see them headline with special MNSKA guests Rocksteady Breakfast and Zero’s Heroes.  The 18+ show starts at 9pm with tickets running $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

You can get tickets in advance at the Triple Rock, Red’s Savoy Pizza in Uptown Minneapolis, and Eclipse Records in St. Paul, MN.  They are also available online HERE.

Also, if you head 2 blocks down to The Nomad in-between sets, The Prizefighters and The Dropsteppers are playing a FREE 21+ show while Miss Upsetter spins some reggae vinyl.  MNSKA is taking over Cedar-Riverside!

Recently formed LA ska band HaSkaLA played a series of Vans Warped Tour dates on the “Ska Parade Stage” in Southern California this month as part of the 20th Anniversary of Ska Parade.  Each band performs 1-2 songs of historical importance to the development of ska and HaSkaLA decided to go with the classic Fishbone tune “Party At Ground Zero.”  To help them out, the band invited Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, along with members of Monkey, Mustard Plug, Knock-Out, Tazy Phyllipz of Ska Parade Radio and more!   Big ups to Don Adams for directing this video.

You can check out the Vans Warped Tour 2010 when it rolls through Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN on Sunday, August 1st.

Coming this summer as a joint effort from Asbestos Records, Underground Communique Records, and the nice folks at Skaisdead.com will be an amazing little project that combines our obsession with dead genres and dead formats. Each series will be a set of 6 split 7”s from some of our favorite bands that **gasp** have the audacity to still play ska, and ska influenced punk rock in the year 2010. Available by subscription only, every other month you will receive two brand spanking new 7” records featuring both established, and up and coming acts including Reel Big Fish, Mustard Plug, Big D & the Kids Table, Bomb the Music Industry!, The Slackers, Sonic Boom Six, and more! So get out your dad’s old suit, and your mom’s old turntable and get stoked for the best 7” club of the year!

Please Note: this is a PRE-ORDER and your first installment will not ship out until late July/Early August.

You can PRE-ORDER the series HERE.

I received an email recently from Mike Park (ex-Deal’s Gone Bad, Lord Mike’s Dirty Calypsonians) to announce the creation of a new musical project he’s involved with.  The Crombies are an All-Star, 2 Tone styled side project of Deal’s Gone Bad guitarist Dave Simon.  The band will be making their big debut on July 10th at The Beat Kitchen in Chicago with MI ska-punk vets Mustard Plug.

The all-star lineup includes:

Stay tuned to MNSKA.com for more updates for this new band!

Michigan ska vets Mustard Plug have posted their first new original song, entitled “Aye Aye Aye” since they released In Black And White in 2007.  According to bassist Rick Johnson, the band recorded it themselves in his Cold War Studio and had it mixed at Bill Stevenson’s Blasting Room Studio (the same place Mustard Plug recorded 3 of their last 4 records).  Mustard Plug will soon offer a free MP3 download of “Aye, Aye, Aye” to coincide with their April UK/Europe tour, and Groezrock music festival.

You can check it out on YouTube

After several technical difficulties, I was finally able to sit down with  Dave Kirchgessner to talk about all things ska.  For those who don’t know, Dave is not only the frontman for Mustard Plug, he is also the architect of the popular Ska Is Dead tour, the founder of Dashiki Clout Records, and the manager of Deal’s Gone Bad.  Strap in for a nice, hour-long conversation filled with funny stories about the Warped Tour, the ska boom and bust, and the importance of supporting the local music scene.

Track of the Day: “Hit Me! Hit Me!” by Mustard Plug from the album In Black And White

This episode is brought to you by the Fancy Pants Gangsters, a Twin Cities netcast network and MNSKA, Minnesota’s Ska Community.  If you are in a ska or reggae influenced band and would like to be featured on the show, email Courtney at MSM@fancypantsgangsters.com

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If you would like to download this episode or subscribe to this podcast via iTunes, please CLICK HERE