Syracuse Ska Forum

Look, in response to all the stuff about BRE.......and also to BRE

Most High school bands that actually play shows are not that great. The ones that exist now in aren't really that great either.....and i'm saying NONE OF THEM. Some of them have some stage presence, but that's about it. All the high school bands have out of tune spots with the horn......places of trouble in the rhythm.....and even if they do have in tune and tight horn section, its not gonna be even as tight as you want it to be, High school musicians don't have a good sense of tone and blend.......(ie horn sections sounding like one section rather than threee players). So, for the people that bash any of the high school bands......get over it, high school musicians only get better with experience, and that includes the stage presence, so for now most of them aren't that good, but some of them, if they continue that is, will get much better as they transition into college. And even if they do suck.....if you just go along with it....don't leave early if they're last....maybe even dance.....its grealy appreciated and gives a lot of spport and inspiration. This is the only way they're gonna get better, and who knows, you might even like them. For the bands who get on the defensive...or all the bands in general......get over it......you are not that good (and don't tell me i'm bashing the other bands, because i'm actually in one of them), and the only way you're gonna get respect is taking the shit now.....then you'll get the respect later........you put in the work....you reap the benefits.

I know this is reminiscent of what danny has already said.......but it needs to be reiterated........

In response, I give you a high school band, Hobo Slobo & the Strong Armed Jugnuts. They are really good musicians, play well as a group, and have incredible presence.


Also, Skavoovie & the Epitones recorded their unbelievably awesome album "Fat Footin'" right out of high school.

The lead singer was still in high school when that was recorded, actually.

That all said, those are ABERRATIONS. Most high school bands aren't that good.

Oh, I know that. Believe me, I definitely know that. But she was seeming to me to be saying that high school bands aren't going to be any good, so why bother trying? I was trying to point to bands that do/did it REALLY WELL, and give the others something to aspire to.

I agree with that. Just Passed was an AMAZING high school punk band in our area for years (they broke up when they graduated).

Definitely a goal for every young band.

For the most part that is true, however I can think of some exceptions.

The Scholars. Their CD was recorded when they were all out of HS, but I've heard some early recordings, and they were really, really good.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Tomas was in high school when Keasbey Nights was written and recorded.

Locally, someone already mentioned Hobo Slobo, however, I would also add Mechatama from Buffalo. Those guys are freakin' awesome.

These bands are for the most part lucky........they found people who were not only cool to play with, but also musically talented......and people who actually wanted to play in a band........I mean.....most people who are really good on horns, and not complete dicks...are hard to come by.....that's just from my perspective though.......i could be totally wrong

Those bands aren't lucky. They are talented and hardworking.

Tomas was 17 from what I know when the Gimp demo was recorded which I believe would have him out of HS when KN was recorded. I think he may have been in high school when it was written (which kind of leaves the Rules of the Game demo up in the air as to whether he was in HS or not), but as far as I know KN was recorded after Tom was out of HS. He left because the band wanted to make it a full time thing and tTom wasn't willing to give up school...

But, thinking about it, from what I know, Josh left because of a scholarship to Rutgers, so perhaps he was in HS when KN was recorded. I'll look more into it when I have time and am less sweaty...(just got back from playing basketball and thinking my shower is more enticing than this message board...)

I found an old demo of theirs the other day searching through my tapes.



As said before, musicians mature. Being a talented musician isn't even what makes a band sometimes. If you can pull it off and sound good and have a great presence live anyone should be able to over look it. If a horn section seems to be playing as one horn so be it. Give them time to learn because with high school bands it's usually a first band for all the members so they are getting to a point of comfort with it all. Once they can become confident in what they can do they can work on learning more about their instrument and music and see how to make themselves better. You may not like it but you still should cut young bands some slack. Let them work out the kinks and hope they can turn into something great.

In order to have that you need talented and hard working individuals to come together.......doesn't always happen.....

Yeah, I agree. I mean, at least at ESM, there are lots of kids who want to be in bands, but aren't necessarily great musicians. Or you have really great musicians who are just jerks and don't really want to be in a band. We have some AMAZING musicians at ESM, but only a few of them aren't overly egotistical or just plain impossible to tolerate.

I, personally, would LOVE to be in a band. But I'm the type of person who wouldn't want to be restricted. I would want to play ska, jazz, blues, punk, and maybe dabble with some indie, emo, and rock type stuff. And I wouldn't want to be stuck with one instrument; I'd want to be able to move from guitar to bass to sax to flute to whatever. My horrible musical ADD, put together with my insane schedule, terrible seriousness about anything I'm passionate about, and it just doesn't work..

Right, so I don't think that last thing I wrote had anything to do with this thread, but hey, it works.

At any rate, yes, Jon, I agree with you completely.

iirc, Operation Ivy lived their whole life as a band when they were in high school, and if anyone wants to say they weren't talented, they're wrong

Quoted.

only bitches talk shit