Syracuse Ska Forum

Hey guys i'm from germany and currently i'm interested in visiting america for one year or so.
our school is exchanging a lot of students at the moment (i'm not sure if they want to give us away or something ) and so i came in touch with some americans. i'm glad that at least one of them was a big ska fan (at least he knew the word ska and some bands and a festival).

So my question. Where do you think is the best place to meet the ska loving people in america?

I've quite some time before i'm able to fly over to america. still missing some money
Even though it's not sure if they want me there due the strict anti-terror laws (green card it is, right?)

I think some of this got lost in translation ...

Overall, ska is a lot more popular in Germany than in the US. That's just a fact. Ask any of the American ska bands that have played Germany or the handful of German ska bands that have played America. No comparison.

But regardless, if you do come here for any reason, I'd direct you to Los Angeles for the greatest quantity and quality of ska in America. Some of the best trad ska in America, some great ska-punk and everything in between, including a vibrant Latin-ska scene.

haha! I was only joking.
I love Germans. My bestest foreign exchange fwiend from Germany!.. or Russia. don't remember.

Well bestest guy foreign exchange friend from Germany.

Humor doesn't translate well. It's hard enough to be funny in one language, but easily misunderstood when switching to another language. And that goes both ways -- I think our German friend was trying to be funny originally and Rob's humor came across as just being a jerk.

Ah, the intracacies of international diplomacy.

oh sorry. i probably noticed a horrible mistake in my post.
someone noticed it before (and...well...misunderstood).
i gonna rewrite this soon.

i'm thankful for your answer skadanny. so you'd say ska is less popular in comparison?

ska is kinda big in germany, but the scene is still under-ground. there are a lot of yet unknown bands.
lately some popular bands joined with ska-p for example and played in germany or tv shows added some ska background music.

you cannot be sure about it. i believe it's easier to get in touch with ska in the usa, because of all the little clubs everywhere. you have at least one local band playing somewhere near and this is what germany or at least the town where i'm living is lacking.

Well, your English is probably a lot better than my German.


It's mostly underground in America too. And the vast majority of bands no one outside their city has ever heard of.


Well, it appears you live in Duisburg in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. And if that's correct, your city has almost 500,000 people. The City of Syracuse in the state of New York has 140,000 people, though I suspect the better comparison is Onondaga County, which has 458,000 people. The state of New York has almost 20,000,000 people and North Rhine-Westphalia almost 18,000,000. So, I suppose in a way there are comparisons to be made there.

But while we are in the state of New York, we are 247 miles (almost 400 km) from New York City, which generally seems to shock Europeans. I recall Skaladdin from Switzerland telling me they'd catch a taxicab from JFK Airport in NYC and come right up to Syracuse, which made me laugh very hard, as it'd be a super expensive cab ride.

From what I can see, the state of New York (141,299 km2) is a bit larger than the country of Greece (131,957 km2). But we are simply one of 50 states total. The entire country of Germany (357,114 km2) is significantly smaller than our state of California (423,971 km2). But from New York City, New York to Los Angeles, California is 2,788 miles -- 4,487 km.

Lastly, we have a strict 21 year old alcohol policy and that messes up our shows considerably. Most shows are either all ages and no alcohol -- which means the band gets paid strictly from a portion of door ticket sales (which is why these shows can be expensive to attend) -- or a bar or club show that is usually 18 or 21 years old to get in and the band gets paid a portion of the alcohol sales (and why these shows often have no entrance fee -- they want patrons to buy alcohol instead). My understanding of Germany is that officially your drinking age is 16 years old, but that it's rather loosely enforced and that nearly all concerts are basically all ages and most everyone drinking to their heart's content and therefore the bands get paid rather well compared to our all ages shows here, for example.

Sorry to the Americans to go on and on about this, but I know a lot of Europeans seem to lurk this site and they need the information.



BTW, I'm glad you apparently deleted the previous reference to the Tenacious D movie, as I haven't seen it and apparently, neither did most Americans, so I didn't understand the reference made.

Okay, so if I get this correctly now, you're thinking of becoming an exchange student from Germany to America? Does that mean you're in Gesamtschule (which we call "high school") or in University? Both do exchange programs, but they work very differently. For example, a member of a local ska band called Magic Goat recently did a university exchange and attended the Technical University of Munich (Technische Universität München), if I recall correctly.


A "green card" is for employment. They're rather hard to get, honestly and I doubt you'd qualify. I think you'll be looking for a student visa, which are rather easy to get, but you have to do it through your school and Bundesländer (state). It merely allows you to study here for awhile. The anti-terror laws are another thing altogether.

Ah i see. Everyone has a wrong image of something he had never seen before.
Pretty good research on this dude. These are the facts i needed.

Thanks to Great Britain for our new policies. Since two years they tighten measures for us. The age for drinking beer or wine will change to 18 years soon due European laws. It's just a matter of time.
Okay, it's not that strict in Germany. There are plenty of ways to get drunk and no one cares. And this won't change in the next ten years or more. *laughs* I'm glad we don't need paper bags even though it's not recommended to take some bottles with you on the street. Hm...wasn't there a law for..ah against it too..?

However, i don't see any problem with 'all ages' except the payment.
Someone told me it's like you have a band, ask a barkeeper (or the owner of this bar) to rent the location and have to go out to get some people or else you have to pay or something. You might tell me a little bit about this.

There was something else on my mind. Never mind! I'm interested your answer
(It seems like the rest of this community is almost dead, is it?)

P.s.: I mixed up freaking Los Angeles with Hollywood, forget about it. Blame and shame >-<
BUT if you ever have the chance to watch this movie (Tenacious D: The Pick Of Destiny) go out and watch. It is hilarious
Gesh this surprises me a little bit.

Pretty good. Absolutely correct!

No, it is not Gesamtschule. Recently i'm at the Gymnasium (it has nothing to do with a sports gym), but you it's comparable to high school too. It's for the students, who are usually a bit better in learning or have rich parents and so on, anyway it's far from a (german) private school, where you have to pay or it's a boys/girls only school, or what you would call boarding/residential school (not sure about how you call it).

I had a conversation with a friend. He said it's possible to leave Germany for one year (or more, not sure) and get paid for doing something. Don't remember it very well. It would be different from a student exchange program. If my marks ain't good i have to wait a year or more to study the subject i want to. In the time between i have the chance to do whatever and that is where this 'project' comes in.

Another question. You are definitely f*cked up if you cannot drive huh?

No lie, this is probably the most interesting conversation I've seen on this board in a long time.

And Danny, there's no need to be modest. I'd go so far as to say that, aside from all the major metropolitan ares like NYC or LA, Syracuse might have one of the best scenes, for a city of its size at least. I could very easily be wrong, but credit where credit is due.

First off, I'm glad at least Jake is enjoying this.


No problem. Maybe you can return the favor at some point.


Yes, to do an all ages show, someone has to essentially rent the space where you have it and then charge admission to get that money back and hopefully have something left over to pay the bands. If you can supply 21 year old drinkers, then the bar or club will do the show for free admission and still pay the bands. So, bands here make a LOT more money playing bars than all ages shows. There is more to it than that, but that's the basics of it.


It runs in cycles. Right now is slow, but it's also mid-winter and we have no big shows to discuss at the moment. But you and I can liven it up a bit right now.


Not really. I doubt most Americans realize either, but Hollywood is a section of the City of Los Angeles, like St Pauli is a section of Hamburg, Germany. But Hollywood is so well known that most people assume its a separate city, but it's not. It's kind of midway between downtown and the Westside.


I know most students in Germany attend Gymnasium, but our public high schools are comprehensive, which is why I used that German term instead. Our private high schools are more like your Gymnasium.


Depends mostly on the city you visit. New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and most other large American cities have good public transport. But most medium sized cities -- which would include Syracuse NY -- rely almost exclusively on buses. And smaller cities may not even have that.

Los Angeles is a special case. It does have public transport, but its not very effective beyond the downtown and Westside areas. And most people and shows are not in those areas, which would leave you stranded, which is why most Angelinos have cars. However, a decent size motorscooter or motorcycle (like at least 150cc engine) actually works better in most cases in LA than a car and that's how I used to get around there.

And to make this more interesting, if you get a "vintage" scooter (like an old Vespa or Lambretta), there is actually a very active scooter/ska scene you can tie into. They're mostly into trad ska and vintage scooters, but they are the trendsetters in town, by far. That's because the early LA ska scene was started primarily by mods with scooters and that's just never gone away. It's a fun scene, although a bit snobbish, to warn you.



The Untouchables -- early ska pioneers in Los Angeles

I gonna quote some stuff from your post from now. It will be easier to read for other people.


I try, even though we are drifting little bit from the topic


I see. It's easier for band here in Germany or at least in the town i live, which by the way became a suburb of Duisburg. Homberg has around 15,098 inhabitants and a area of 7,14 km².
You can talk to the owner, give him/her a demo of your stuff and wait for an answer. Usually as a band you get drinks for free in smaller bars and some bucks depending on the entry fee (0€ to ~10€). At the moment a friend of mine is trying to arrange something. I may ask him for further details.

More to come tomorrow or later. I'm a bit tired and hey it's weekend
Have Fun!

P.s.: You might want to read my introduction in the meantime

Yeah Jake, we seem to be holding our own pretty well, I'd agree with that.

Really? Let me know where these free shows are. Although I guess maybe that's just more bands that I wouldn't be willing to pay to see...

And yeah, you can sometimes make more money at bars, but damn are all ages shows a lot more fun (usually). We played a punk house show here a month or so ago, and it was the most fun I've had playing in years. I mean, crowd surfing in the living room. 'Stage' diving. In the living room. It was nuts.

http://www.kingstonbeat.com/

There are so many bands with a big potential. A lot third wave makes it attractive for the young generation. It seems that Germany has some two tone old schoolers