In Defense of Ska ep 183: Should Mosswood Meltdown book ska bands?

There’s a lot of great punk festivals in the US these days. Punk Rock Bowling, Fest, No Values. Most of them book at least a few ska bands. But one of the best—Mosswood Meltdown—has not! This week, we take a field trip to Oakland’s Mosswood Meltdown to grab some on-site interviews and to ask the people if ska would be a welcome addition to next year’s lineup. 

Mosswood began in 2009, originally called Burger Boogaloo, inspired by the lo-fi garage rock sound of Burger Records, which shut down in 2020 after the label owners were accused of creating a toxic environment among its artists and shows that enabled men to take advantage of women and underage girls. The organizers of the festival, Total Trash Productions, unaffiliated with Burger Records, changed the name and also emphasized safety at the event. 

This year’s lineup was awesome. It included B-52’s, Big Freedia, The Mummies, Pansy Division, Pure Hell, Gibby Haynes & The Paul Green Rock Academy, and of course host John Waters, who hosts every year. Though not a single ska band was on the bill, it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine one hopping on stage and fitting right in with the fun, inclusive environment of the festival. 

Were we right? Listen to the episode and find out! 

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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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