It all started innocently enough, with a slight curiosity that has since escalated through fascination, infatuation, obsession, and finally, love. The relationship that began late in eighth grade germinated and blossomed into complete maturity in May of my senior year. I will never forget that cold Friday night that I was kept warm by the one thing I realized I would miss the most while away at college in the fall. The melodies drifted through the crisp night air and danced in my ears as I fully began to understand that which I held so dear to me: my first love, the underground Connecticut music scene.
Connecticut, sandwiched right between Boston and New York City, has profited greatly from its location. In fact, chances are, if it had not been for these two large cities there might not be a scene in Connecticut at all. Kids from Connecticut are more than willing to travel to these not-so-distant locations to see their favorite local bands and it was only a matter of time before the music surrounding Connecticut began to penetrate it.
The 70’s were a decade of turmoil and this was finally reflected in the music, not of pop-culture, but in the “underground”. With the rock-and-roll era of the 50’s resting in faded glory, having grown disgusted with cliché ballads of the 60’s, and with the ever-growing threat of disco many young musicians took it into their own hands to express their contempt for society via the punk movement. With all the mindless music of the times, punk set out on a mission: to either change this all, or destroy it trying. Fresh sounds from the underground began to emerge not only in the US with bands like The Velvet Underground and The Ramones but also in the UK with the sneers and jeers of The Sex Pistols and The Clash.
While The Sex Pistols tormented the Queen and spat or urinated on the crowd The Ramones got on stage at CBGB’s with their fast, hard, three chorded songs that were both catchy and relevant for the audience of passionate youth in the audience. Cries of “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” rang through the small New York club and continues to ring in what would be the history books of punk if there were such a thing. It became a sort of rallying call or battle cry for those setting out to defy tradition and authority in any means they could.
Punk also began to show up in other places, Boston develops a huge scene. The Boston scene slowly started to evolve into what is known as “Oi!” music, which is a variation of punk often times referred to as “working class punk”. From this came the skinhead movement that admittedly does not have the best reputation but for the record is rather misunderstood.
Digressing from the politics of it all there are now established two fairly large punk scenes within driving distance from Connecticut. With these two scenes close by, bands from their respective scenes travel to the other with great ease to play, thus passing through Connecticut and picking up more and more followers on the way. The two scenes began evolving on their own, playing off the other but still remaining somewhat segregated. Punk began to get harder, faster, and louder.
This new strain of punk gradually became known as hardcore punk and after the realization of the late 70’s and early 80’s that they no longer needed to sound “punk” the sounds expanded into what has simply become known as hardcore. The hard guitar of punk mixed with the upcoming, full-bodied, robust sounds of metal that were beginning to gain ground in the 80’s. Many kids would make the trek down to NYC to catch the famous hardcore Sunday matinees at CBGB’s.
As hardcore developed both in NYC and Boston the straightedge movement began shooting out roots from the Washington DC scene and taking hold in the NYC scene. The band Minor Threat coined the terminology straightedge through their music that rebelled against the cliché rebellion of self-destructive youth. The idea of not polluting one’s mind with sex, drugs, and alcohol was embraced by some and shrugged off by others. Straightedge became somewhat of a sub genre of hardcore and thus a mini-scene of its own. Boston started to pick up on it as well.
With the straightedge movement there were those who were hardliners, straightedge, indifferent, and dead set against. Hardliners were those who were straightedge but to the point of being militant about it. Straightedge kids were just that, following the straightedge ideals but not forcing them upon others. Some people took hardly any notice of it at all and just enjoyed the music for what it was, not necessarily some of the corresponding ideas. Unfortunately there were sometimes incidents of violence perpetrated on straightedge kids and bands by those who did not care much for the movement.
Meanwhile, by this time, Connecticut had managed to not only supply a fan base for NYC and Boston based bands but came up with their own bands, shows and venues. The first clubs in Connecticut sprang up in New Haven with long established and still active Toad’s Place and the now extinct Anthrax. The Anthrax was little more than a hole in the wall juice bar but it was the perfect setting for some wonderful local hardcore shows. While the Anthrax was based almost purely in the underground, Toad’s Place was much more diverse in its musical acts which could explain why it is still around today.
So while punk moved in and began to grow up on the streets of Connecticut another troublemaker came lurking over from Jamaica by way of England: ska. Ska originated in the 50’s and 60’s in Jamaica consisting of calypso inspired music with horns and syncopated guitar parts that utilized a plethora of upstrokes for that special “ska” sound. This first wave of ska, or traditional ska (trad for short) as it became known as, was spearheaded by The Skatalites in their suits and ties and solo act Laurel Aitken. They were the original “rude boys” and it was this new genre of music that inspired modern reggae. Rude boys and rude girls would do the “ska” in the streets. The “ska” was a form of dancing that eventually became known as skanking which consists of something like the motion of running with alternating leg and arm action that somehow still defies definition but can be seen even as the ska shows of today.
However, as popularity of ska music declined in its native homeland it had two choices, die off completely or adapt and migrate. Fortunately it opted for the latter in the 70’s and made its way across the Atlantic Ocean to merry old England. This second wave of ska took the roots of the product of traditional ska, added a dash of the punk vibes that were prevalent at the time, and then a little more for flavor, and spiked it up with an emphasis on unity. With the mixing of trad ska and its “black” roots with the “when Anglo met Saxon white” punk scene in England the new wave of ska became a beautiful array of checkerboard that became known as “two tone” ska. Much of the music has anti-racism themes from bands like The Specials, The Selector, Madness, The English Beat, and many others, including Laurel Aitken from the earlier days of ska.
Laurel Aiken is today still known as the Godfather of Ska. I remember seeing him play at Pearl Street in North Hampton, Massachusetts; I still have the ticket: January 29th 1999, Laurel Aiken with the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, $8.00. Seeing the date and doing the math I suppose I was still just a freshmen at the time but I can still remember that night so vividly, it was absolutely amazing. Local Connecticut band Sidekick7 opened the show with a little bit of laughter, “Hi we’re Sidekick7 and we’re from Connecticut. There it is kind of tradition not to dance for the first band because they suck, but its okay because we don’t suck so you should dance for us.” And they were right; they did not suck. Being my second time seeing them, The New York Ska Jazz Ensemble played a great set; my father who had chauffeured a friend and I to the show sat listening and commented to me, “That just totally rocked didn’t it?” And it did. But of course the evening was not memorable just because of those bands; it is not every day that one gets to see the Godfather of ska. As the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble once again took to the stage cheers arose as Laurel Aitken leapt onto stage to sing all the classics backed by the NYSJE. The small room was packed with people and the heat was almost unbearable, possibly the only warm place on a January night in New England. The air was humid and moist with sweat from the dancing but somehow the crowd did not even seem to notice. I stood there hypnotized by Laurel Aitken on stage. I lost all control over my limbs and found myself skanking up a storm through the entire set along with the rest of the crowd. There was hardly room to stand but everyone moved together in such a way that there was plenty of room for everyone to dance their hearts out. I do not know how long he played and I do not remember all the songs he sang but I remember as he left the stage, obviously exhausted, he was gone only a few moments before answering the chants of “Lau-rel Ait-ken” for and encore. He took the stage and I will never forget his words to the cheering crowd that night, “Do you know why we come back? We come back because we love you.” I almost cried when he said that; I come close to crying even when I remember him saying that. His words were simple but yet, so beautiful and so representative of the underground scene as a whole; the music is about love. He then proceeded to play the song “Skinhead” and left the stage as the crowd continued to cheer and I was left breathless and in awe of his amazing performance.
But of course I never would have seen Laurel Aitken had it not been for a third wave of ska that found itself in America. This third wave grabbed the East Coast of by the throat and integrated itself into the preexisting underground music scene taking everything that had come before it and adding in aspects of rock and roll American style. This is where I come in, literally so to speak. In 1983/1984 Moon Ska NYC Records was born, and so was I. As the founders of Moon Ska, The Toasters became the first American based ska band in this new wave and they are still playing music today. Sadly though, Moon Ska is no longer around as they closed in 2001; and as Moon Ska went, so did the third wave of ska, with few exceptions. But the tombstone years are not what made the difference, it is the time that ska spent alive and well.
Ska fever began to sweep the nation and struck a chord with hardcore undertones in Connecticut with the band BiG MiSTAKE in the late 80’s. BiG MiSTAKE’s unique sound and flaming trumpet made them legendary throughout Connecticut. They influenced many bands and caused the ska scene to flourish and spread like wildfire. Local ska bands began springing up across the state, speaking of springing, possibly Connecticut’s biggest band, Spring Heeled Jack USA was extremely influenced by BiG MiSTAKE. The friendship and admiration ran so deep as to have Spring Heeled Jack produce covers of two BiG MiSTAKE songs: “Electric” and “Pop Song [Green]”. The first of these, “Electric” was put out on Spring Heeled Jack’s first full length CD, Static World View, distributed by Moon Ska Records. The second was released on Spring Heeled Jack’s second CD, Songs From Suburbia, on Ignition Records.
Spring Heeled Jack’s Static World View quickly became a personal favorite of mine. From the first time I heard it I was hooked; it was at camp the summer prior to my freshmen year of high school and a friend of mine was very into the local music scene and he allowed me to borrow some of his CD’s to listen to at “rest hour”, or so it was called. This was the CD he told me that I absolutely had to listen to so I put that in my Discman first. In my headphones I heard a voice, “Lets get into trouble baby” as the CD started. The first song, “One Way”, although far from the best song, had me hooked in an instant with the proclamation, “There’s only one way to skank and its universal and if you don’t like to skank then you’re just not my friend.” I sat awake in my bunk listening to the CD all the way through, a feat I rarely accomplished at that point; each song was better than the next and left me wanting more, in more ways than one. As the final song ended the CD continued to play and I sat in long anticipation for the hidden track to start, fearing that if I were to fast-forward the CD I would either miss it or possibly scratch it. Well, after much anticipation a voice piped up, “You’ve just fast-forwarded a half an hour for nothing. How do you feel?” Well quite frankly I recall exactly how I felt, I came close to throwing my Discman across the cabin but instead settled for wild arm failing and violent looks. That was the deal sealer. When I confronted my friend about this he laughed at me and I laughed at myself. Since then it has become one of my favorite hidden tracks and I have made sure to include it, and all its silence, on various mix tapes I have made for friends just to get from them the same reaction I had.
With all these up and coming ska bands Connecticut needed new places for kids to go. In the early 90’s the Tune Inn on Center Street in New Haven met this need. It became a sort of “home base” for many local Connecticut acts, including the afore mentioned Spring Heeled Jack; it was at this tiny dive of a club that they filmed their music video for their song “Addicted”. Fernando Pinto, the owner of the Tune Inn also played the role of head of the record label associated with the Tune Inn, Elevator Music. The Tune Inn was mostly dedicated to the underground sounds with very little mainstream music. It basically consisted of a blocked off bar area, a small sitting area, a basement-esque room which contained all this and a stage and a side room where all the bands would stash their gear and hang out where I got to hang out with the guys of Big D & The Kids Table on my 14th birthday.
New Haven was not the only place catering to Connecticut’s underground needs, the Webster Theatre in Hartford also began giving shows to local bands and having more widely known bands tour there as well. With more venues opening up to local music ska continued its rise to glory. By the mid 90’s ska was becoming popular not only in the underground but in the mass media as well. Ska influenced bands like Sublime and No Doubt were hitting it big and so were various other ska acts. The Mighty Mighty BossTones and Reel Big Fish started to become household names. The BossTones’ “The Impression That I Get” could be heard on virtually any radio station along with Reel Big Fish’s “Sellout”. This acceptance of ska in pop culture was a mixed blessing in a sense. It inspired a slightly fading Connecticut ska scene by encouraging more bands to start and more kids to attend shows. However, like the Reel Big Fish song, this was the start of the “sellout” debates. It virtually became a crime to have your music played to the masses because it meant that you had sold out. Granted, this was a lot of nonsense but many bands took a lot of insults for it. Unfortunately however, when the trend died out in pop culture it started the decline of ska. The ska scene had started to become cliché and played out. Many kids had gotten sick of people crowding their tastes in music and interest began to dwindle and eventually the bottom dropped out.
This was about the time I “discovered” the ska scene. The Incognitos were basically just a local, run-of-the-mill band, nothing special to too many people; but they changed my life. Pam, a friend of mine, had a brother in the band. One day in eighth grade she asked several people if anybody would want to buy one of their CD’s. Having had my curiosity sparked by the radio’s versions of ska I was curious to hear the real thing. The Incognitos’ Hold On Amigos is still in a prominent place in my CD booklet and I still listen to it on a regular basis. The week I got the CD it did not leave my CD player once. I had all the words memorized and would listen to it on repeat while doing my homework in sheer ecstasy. I just could not get enough of it. It was not until they played a reunion show in my junior year that I was finally able to fully experience them.
The day after the Incognitos broke up I went to my first show. It was sponsored by Moon Ska NYC: an all day outdoor festival in Westford Massachusetts on the afternoon of Saturday August 22nd 1998. This was the big Second Annual New England Ska Fest. It was only after much coaxing, begging, and pleading with my mother that I was allowed to go. My mother and her friend piled in the little blue minivan that I now drive myself to shows in, along with my friends. We were all restless and excited to finally be going to our first show. That day I had the privilege of seeing some of the best bands I have ever encountered (appearing in order of appearance): Metro Stylee, Big D & The Kids Table, Kicked In The Head, New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, Edna’s Goldfish, Pilfers, Skoidats, Skavoovie And The Epitones, Allstonians, Dropkick Murphys, Planet Smashers, Spring Heeled Jack U.S.A., Mephiskapheles, Amazing Royal Crowns, Mustard Plug, and Hepcat. It was here that I bought probably about 8 CD’s from various performers of the day as well as recommendations from some friends. It was here that I feel completely in love with the live music of the scene.
Various shows came and went during my days in the ska scene but one of the best shows I can remember was the beginning of the end of it all. I had never gotten to see BiG MiSTAKE as they had broken up before I even knew who they were; this was the big night where I would get to finally see them. They played that night of December 29th, 1999 at the Webster with my favorites Sgt. Scagnetti and Spring Heeled Jack. It was the absolute essence of Connecticut ska. Something in the air that night must have been too perfect to be true or maybe it was just a sign that the time had finally come. Although the coming of the year 2000 did not end in apocalypse, the ska scene of CT was shattered by the breakup of two of its best bands: Sgt. Scagnetti and Spring Heeled Jack. After this ska was pretty much officially considered dead in Connecticut, even so much to the point as an add for a remaining ska band, The Flaming Tsunamis, read, “Ska is dead but at least we can make sweet love to its rotting corpse one last time.”
With ska already being dead, the recent events of 2002 have served to heap more flowers onto the memorial. After ten years of business in the underground music scene Fernando Pinto closed the doors of the Tune Inn for good. He took the sign from above the door down and in that single act it became more of a symbol of the actual end of an era. But more tragically in early April of this year Dave Karcich, the old drummer of Spring Heeled Jack who had remained active with various different bands, suffered a brain aneurysm and passed away. I had only met the man once and gotten his signature on a Spring Heeled Jack set list but when I heard the news my eyes filled with tears and they overflowed into my hands as I sat in shock for about an hour. Connecticut music will never be the same.
While the Tune Inn closed its doors recently the El-n-Gee in New London has become a local hot spot for the reemerging hardcore and the new emo craze. Emo is short for emotional and its derive from post-hardcore and indie rock influences. There are all sorts of different styles but emo is most distinct in its lyrics. The songs are less about being played and more about being felt. These feelings tend to be confusion, frustration, and sadness often caused by members of the opposite gender. My personal theory on the veritable emo explosion in Connecticut is as follows: all the ska kids were sad when it died so they all started crying and writing songs about it and thus the emo scene. This of course is to be taken in jest but nonetheless; it does seem a little conspicuous.
Emo started in the late 80’s as hardcore started to fade in popularity. Bands like Rights Of Spring took the passion in hardcore and made it more soft and melodic. The lyrics changed from pure anger and aggression to more poetic thoughts. The standard “punk” 3 piece of guitar, bass and drums made room for a second rhythm guitar that was often accompanied by a keyboard or synthesizer that became the “emo sound”. Not all of emo broke away completely from its hardcore roots. Although the instrumental parts became more melodic the vocals remained ardent screams and this sub genre became known as emo-core or more familiarly, screamo.
As recently as this year, emo has been getting much exposure in the mainstream media getting radio airtime, MTV recognition and even articles in TIME magazine. For some old bands like Jimmy Eat World and Saves The Day their hard work is finally paying off and others just hoping on the bandwagon are hitting it big without paying their dues. This growing craze and/or trend is quite similar to the brief ska-craze of the 90’s and chances are the results will be quite similar. The emo scene has already taken in many new comers care of stores like Hot Topic who market the underground. I personally enjoy the store, as it is a place where I can go to pick up many CD’s I have trouble finding elsewhere but at the same time the blatant profiteering makes it a bit hard to swallow. The more mainstream it becomes the harder it is to draw the line between emo, indie, and pop-punk.
These days in Connecticut emo and pop-punk tend to go hand in hand with little differentiation between the two. Bands have become hard to classify exactly and as a result some minor conflict has arisen. There is always a bit of elitism to the scene with kids having an “I’m more ska / punk / emo / indie / hardcore / etc. than you” attitude. This can be discouraging to newcomers of the scene. This of course is a problem for the scene as a whole. Many newbies are labeled “posers” and are never really given a chance by the “scenesters”. Unfortunately the newbies tend to look up to the older, more experienced scenesters and emulate their actions, thus perpetuating the cycle. To speak demographically this attitude and behavior prevents the "birth" of scene supporters, this severe decline in birthrate is devastating to the scene as the older, more experienced generation of scenesters gradually fall or move away. The decline in birthrate and raise in the death rate leave the scene with virtually no support and it withers and dies.
But despite the negative impression so far it is all done with good intentions. First, many involved in the music of the scene see the music as something special to them, something that sets them apart, not higher than others, but different. The underground music is like their little secret, something they share only with their closest friends, something that makes them feel special and gives them a little extra edge on life with the experiences that come with it. They are reluctant to allow more people into their world; they fear that the involvement of others will detract from the uniqueness of the music. And second, many are afraid of repeating what happened with ska. They know the public is very fickle when it comes to musical trends and they would hate to see emo get “dumped” so to speak (as emo as that would be).
Some of Connecticut’s best-known emo exports include Hot Rod Circuit and Dashboard Confessional (solo artist and West Hartford native, Chris Carrabba) via the Sunshine State. Current local acts include quite possibly who may become the next Chris Carrabba, formerly known as Wishlist and currently known as Savior Complex, another West Hartford native Greg Wood performs his solo acoustic act when he is not playing guitar, singing, and “spinning”, no not the turntables, just himself, for West Beverly.
From the falling ashes of a dying ska and punk scene, made up of various members of different bands including Nigel Six, The GlueSeaSpiders, Sidekick7 and, Not My Ritchie formed a side project that arose to become “Connecticut’s premiere pop-punk band”, as they are known today: West Beverly. They have been playing their brand of emo-tinged pop-punk since 1998. Since then of course they have gone through various line-up changes and other issues, delaying their full length CD release about three years just recently becoming available; it is entitled It’s Gonna Be Awesome 1998-2001 Anthology, available on Asbestos Records.
Asbestos Records has become home to many of the higher profile bands of Connecticut with mostly pop-punk acts but several hardcore bands as well including the above mentioned West Beverly, Endless Mike, Slackjaw, Saveface, For All Its Worth, A Heart Fades Forever and many others. Thus it was a great surprise, shock, and honor to me when I found out that many of these bands were willing to play a simple High School Battle of the Bands I was put in charge of planning on behalf of the National Honor Society.
After a month of chaos, confusion and somewhat last minute planning, the first, and hopefully annual, Windsor High School National Honor Society Battle Of The Bands was held on the windy Friday of May 3rd 2002. What started off as a small project where we hoped to be able to find even five bands willing to play ended up a huge, five hour long, nineteen band, two staged, outdoor music festival. In the weeks of planning over forty local bands expressed interest in playing this show in response to an email I sent out to many of the bands in the scene. I was overwhelmed and touched by the tremendous outpouring to play a show on a high school football field and probably not even get paid for it. After narrowing the bands down and making sure to include the Windsor High School bands we were left with twenty bands and all sorts of worries. After several attempts by the administration to cancel the event, last minute band changes, cancellations, and time adjustments, sleepless nights and countless pessimistic remarks from friends, the show went off without a hitch. Bands that played include (in order of appearance) Faunahead, West Beverly, A Chase Worthwhile, Life In Your Way, Suburban Heroes, Endless Mike, Surrender, Everyday Heroes, Salvation Over Struggle, Switch Stance, Faulter, Sugarfist, Into The Unknown, Elvis McMan, The Drunkin’ Beernuts, Slackjaw, Outside Vegas, Sometimes She Burns, and Adult Swim. Upwards of three hundred people showed up to listen to the bands, many of whom I have never met before and who probably had never even heard of the town of Windsor prior to that.
The night was so amazingly rewarding for me: after all the years I had spent going to shows I finally put one on. I got to meet all the bands and talk to them. I got to see some of my favorite bands play all together, on the very same football field I have had gym classes on. It struck me as so odd that many of the bands thanked me for letting them play the show when I was the one who was showering them with thanks and praises for agreeing to play. For me that night was one of my crowning achievements of my high school career. The love I felt was all encompassing and I was left awe-stricken with the simple beauty of it all. That night was a living definition of what the Connecticut scene is all about: playing music out of love for music itself as well as the kids who listen to it; it is like a family, dysfunctional as it may be, but still like a family.
Since that night I seem to have become known as “that girl from the Windsor show” and I find that pretty cool that people and bands recognize me, just an added emphasis on the family vibe. The banners with each band’s name on it that a friend and I made for the Battle of the Bands have made several appearances at various local shows that I have attended which of course made me nothing short of ecstatic. Getting comments like, “Hey I know you! You’re Katie!” make me feel like such a part of the scene that I have grown up in. On my way to Southington to see Endless Mike play their official last show they passed me on the highway in their van. They waved to me, curious as to whether I was just driving that way by chance or if I was going to the show. After following them the whole way there I hopped out of the van and walked over to them, “Who needs directions when you can just follow Endless Mike to the show?!” The scene gives such a sense of community in the shared common bond found in the music.
That was such a bittersweet night. The bands that played were amazing; I got to see old friends from years ago and new friends from recently all in the same night. But it was the start of an end of an era. Endless Mike, Connecticut’s longest running pop-punk band (1997-2002 RIP), played practically every song they had ever written for well over an hour until about one in the morning. They concluded their set with a heartfelt speech thanking everyone for just being there and supporting them. I could not believe that Endless Mike was actually ending. I almost cried. Plunging the knife deeper: Slackjaw, another long time staple in the local scene (1999-2002 RIP), has also recently announced their breakup, almost within a week of Endless Mike. It seems that when bands go, they go all at once, for some reason I am very reminded of the Spring Heeled Jack and Sgt. Scagnetti breakups. Both breakups were very unexpected and will be a severe blow to the scene. They are leaving big footprints to fill and a big hole in the heart of the Connecticut scene.
Likewise, as I leave Connecticut to venture out to Southern California for school, there will be a Connecticut music scene shaped hole in my heart. I expect to find much joy in returning home on breaks to go to some good ol’ fashion Connecticut shows and meeting up with old friends that I have made through the music. I have made countless friends at shows; many of my dating relationships have started much in the same way. The underground Connecticut music scene has helped to shape me into the person that I am today and I am so thankful for it. I will be sad to leave it behind me but I will never forget it, even as I move to the somewhat more active in the Los Angeles area. Although a little piece of home will be following me to the opposite coast as West Beverly is planning to tour out that way in the fall. Who knows, they may just end up sleeping on my dorm floor because, after all, what are friends for?
