Aaron Carnes - Author of the book In Defense of Ska
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Aaron Carnes loves ska. He loves it so much, that he has dedicated the last 7 years of his life putting together his soon to be released book, In Defense of Ska. The book is a love letter to the genre, diving very deep into the music's history and cultural impact. In the book, Aaron takes us from the dancehalls of Jamaica to the working class neighborhoods of London and over to the orange groves of Anaheim as he delivers tales of the various groups of bands that helped to showcase the music since the 1950's. There is an entire chapter dedicated to defending Reel Big Fish, a great story about how a little known band in the East Bay area that was a HUGE inspiration for the lads in Operation Ivy & Rancid, along with the story of how Let's Go Bowling avoided being gunned down in their van after a gig. It's really a great book that anyone that appreciates ska would enjoy. Aaron has written for the likes of Playboy, Salon, Bandcamp Daily, Sierra Club, Sun Magazine and is the music editor at Good Times Santa Cruz weekly newspaper. He spent several years as a the drummer for the hyper ska punk band Flat Planet, and has toured with the likes of Skankin' Pickle and MU330 doing merch and roadie duties. The book comes out in May of 2021 via Clash Books (clashbooks.com) and is available to pre-order now. You can follow Aaron and his activities via his website - https://aaroncarnes.substack.com/p/coming-soon. To hear some of the music mentioned on this and our previous episodes, check out and follow this playlist on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3oI01ZU Question The Answers is co-sponsored by The Bad Copy and Sell The Heart Records, be sure to follow them as well to stay up to date on music news, reviews, and to check out the releases on our label. Sell The Heart Records - https://www.selltheheartrecords.com | @selltheheartrecords (IG) The Bad Copy - https://www.thebadcopy.com | @thebadcopy (IG)
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