In Defense of Ska Ep 188: Jon Natchez (Skavoovie & The Epitones, War On Drugs, Beirut)

Skavoovie & The Epitones were one of the most unique ska bands in the ’90s. Fast, youthful tunes that blended ska and jazz, with lyrics about comic books and bizarre sci-fi adventures and all done with unusual melodic structures. The ten-piece group formed in 1993, still young teens and quite proficient on their instruments. They released 3 albums and broke up at the end of the ’90s. They will play their first show in 24 years at this year’s Supernova Ska Festival. So, this week, we talk to sax player Jon Natchez. 

Since Skavoovie broke up, Jon has carved out a successful career playing bari sax, organ and other miscellaneous instruments in indie rock bands like War On Drugs, Beirut, Phosphorescent, Father John Misty and Passion Pit. For this episode, we dig deep into Skavoovie lore, but also looks for signs of ska in the indie rock world. The ska connections are plenty. 

We talk about Isaac Green, signing to Moon Records, working with producer Victor Rice, and getting to meet Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. We talk about not going over well at a Steady Beat trad ska show in Los Angeles, and of course we hear the many stories of their touring van, Mr. Sucks. 

Plus we learn Skavoovie’s number 1 band rule. No songs about ska. 

Listen to Jon Natchez for more above, and make sure to like, review, and follow the series wherever you get your podcast. 

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon! 

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

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