1 AudioCommunique#38 - 29th May 2005: OCG and Ska in the late 90's
1.1 This show is an oral history, experienced first-hand by yours truely as well as two guests calling in from NJ.
1.1.1 Voicemail from Viva PodcastGreg.
1.1.2 The scene is NY/NJ/PA in 1997, when the third wave of Ska rose accross the country.
1.1.3 I was there, playing horn for none other than One Cool Guy (OCG) and it was crazy days.
1.1.4 Mike, former OCG singer, and Tom former Catch22 singer and current font man for Streetlight Manifesto, speak about those days and what it was like.
2 Mike talks about creating a culture where different was good
2.1 Growing up, high school in New Jersey was extremely harsh as kids were judged for what they had and what they liked versus who they were
2.2 Bands like OCG, Catch22, Midtown, Bigwig, Toasters, and all those older guys, made it cool for kids to literally "be wierd"
2.3 Mike also mentions how accessible we were, we'd often invite fans out with us or go to their parties.
2.4 The wierd impressions people had of us, like we were rich and successful, when in fact we were broke and small.
3 Tom from Streetlight Manifesto(ex-Catch22) talks about how the 3rd wave in Jersey was random
3.1 But that NJ was/is fertile ground for new music, while NY is more for the older crowd NJ is for youth.
3.2 The ones who did survive, enjoy a steady following today around the world.
4 Epilogue; I wanted to live in France, I left the band.
4.1 Everybody had other plans for life, the band dissolved.
4.2 Lots of mixed reactions, especially the backlash as kids were angered by our departure.
4.3 Fanmail still comes in demanding a reunion.
5 Cya.