Who are you and where do you come from?

[skaisyourfriend]

This discussion is a chance for you to introduce yourself and talk about your scene. I'll start it off...
Hello, I'm Andy, creator of this network and SKAspot.com. I live in SW FL and I'm a transplant of the Gainesville, FL ska scene (Less Than Jake, The Know How, The Usuals). We don't have much of a scene where I currently live which is probably why I do so much online. Some of my favorite bands are Buck-O-Nine, LTJ, The Johnstones, MU330, The Specials, [spunge], Hepcat, The Dragonaires, Toots and the Maytals, and there's too many more to mention. I'm a graphic arts teacher at a local middle school and in my spare time I work on projects like this, podcasting, and drawing/ painting.

[Ryan Motkowicz]

My name is Ryan and I'm also from SW Florida and actually go to 90% of my shows in St.Pete. I'm into pretty much any Ska I can get my hands on but my Favorites are defiantly Streetlight Manifesto, Reel Big Fish and Mustard Plug. Also I play guitar and Alto in my currently forming ska band, The Brasstards.

[Jess Titmus]

I'm Jess in England and ska runs in my family - first my mum, then my older bro, now me. When I was younger/in high school i tried to be different/make a stand and stated that 'ska sucks' but as I heard more ska songs/bands and that I couldn't resist and it soon became my favourite type of music overall!

[Lisa]

I'm Lisa. I live on Long Island, New York and I love Ska and enjoy nothing more than a good Ska show. I play the Alto, Tenor and soon to be Bari sax, but alto is my major. I enjoy a good laugh and a good skank. I enjoy performing circus type things like walking on stilts, making balloon animals and playing with chinese yo-yo's. Skank on!

[Vanuch]

I'm Vanuch (VaNooch). It's a nick name, but no one calls me by my first name. I'm also from Long Island, and I play the Alto Sax and sometimes sing in The Old Fashioned Oyster Crackers. I discovered ska when my cousin from Florida showed me Reel Big Fish, and ever since then I've been hooked. I love everything about it, I love the whole ska "scene" and I feel at home when I'm at a ska show. Jeff Rosenstock is my hero.

[▀▄▀Paco▄▀▄]

Im Jesus know as Paco. i live in San Diego, CA. Our Ska scene is growing. last week Buck-O-Nine played here and local San Diego ska bands played. Some of my favorite ska bands are local bands like The Skank Agents, Straight Trippin, Mike Pinto and The Mashers and lots of other bands. I'm a high school student at Point Loma High.

[Your Face]

I'm Matt and I'm from Houston. Now I go to college at the University of Oklahoma. Not much of a ska scene here as you can imagine, but there are some cool bands up here. I play bass and was in a band in high school. One of my favorite Houston bands is Dumbarton. Other good Houston bands are the Rudyments, Brains for Dinner, and Secret Agent 8 (but they broke up).

[Eleanor]

I'm Eleanor, rudest girl the the great state of Maine. My parents are reggae fanatics and that's what a grew up on, so ska was a pretty easy jump. I really got into it in High School because of two Southern Maine ska bands, the Taxis, and The Skatistics (they both played their last show as a dual event December 2002). From there ska obsession has only grown more every day. I'm more of an "old school" ska girl, all the great 60s and 70s tunes. But there's lots of good stuff going on these days as well. Back in May I went down to Three Floors of Ska in New York City and had a blast at that. One of my major goals for the next year is to see a Slackers show.

[Bunny]

Hi everybody, I'm Lisa, aka Bunny, aka Mom. I'm in Connecticut, on the shore. I go to all-ages shows with my kids once or twice a month. There is a great ska scene in CT. Discovered ska later in life, really having fun hearing new music and meeting great people.

[Faraz Alli]

I'm Faraz. I'm from Lon-Guy-Land. and I play the lead bass for Old Fashioned Oyster Crackers (along with Vanuch). I've been listening to ska since I was born, my parents being from Guyana (about 20 miles south of Jamaica) were HUGE first wave fans, like Toots & the Maytals, The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo, Desmond Dekker, you know the deal. I came to the US when I was six months old, the summer of 1992, and my brother and sister went to their first days of middle school; the rest is blurry in my mind, but my sister said she brought home No Doubt's first CD (Self Titled) and she played it all the freakin' time. And I loved it, I guess. So a couple of years down the road (I still listened to ska, my first ska show being the Bosstones, Catch and Voodoo Glow Skulls at 8 years old) I bought a bass, met Vanuch and I joined his band. Come September, I'm going to be a junior at Farmingdale High School and I basically pwnt noobs in World of Warcraft.

[Michelle Manifesto]

Hello I'm Michelle and i'm from San Antonio, Texas. I don't really like living here just because the majority of the ska scene consist of kids that don't know how to skank. I enjoy shows alot but now am learning just to really go to the good ones. I play Trombone in my school band and enjoy it very much. As soon as i turn 18 and graduate i plan to move to Virginia and or Boston. I guess you can say i'm a hippie (Vegetarian, and Tree hugger)

[Jarred Lopez]

Im Jarred and im from san diego...i really got into ska when i joined the high school band where i play the baritone*low brass!!* but before i would just listen to it whenever...our ska scene is growing extremely fast and it is awesome..right now me and my friends are trying to get a band together but we cant decide on who will play what

[Jake]

My name is jake. i'm also from the San Antonio, Tx Ska Scene. I first got into ska 2 years ago by the Streetlight Manifesto. And now i can't get enough of it. I love the Ska bands here in SA. Such as the Uptown Creepers and Time Of The Month. I get a lot of shit from my friends cause they like grindcore stuff. which is aiight but not my thing. But whenever i'm around them i freakin blast that good Ska stuff. Just graduated and on my way to college. I play the french horn which is the coolest instrument. cause its all swirly and its fun to trace it from the mouthpiece to the bell.hahhaa.yeah i'm pretty much the most randomest kid ever. oh and i'm asian :].