Steve Purves

Steve and I met up at his office in Sacramento. He sang for Logan based Model Citizen. We talked about his band being apart of a larger Utah ska scene. He said "Our first big show was with Skankin' Pickle at the skate park in Provo. I remember thinking, 'we get to go to a Skankin' Pickle show for free.' We where excited to play the show, but were just happy to be there. I think that was kind of our attitude throughout most of Model Citizen, we were just happy to be there. "

Toots

This week we were incredibly blessed with an interview with the legendary Frederick "Toots" Hibbert. He moved to Kingston at the age of 16, where here formed to gospel vocal trio The Maytals. Backed by The Skatalites, The Maytals saw much success in the early 60's. After changing their name to Toots and the Maytals, they recorded a number of albums which included a single entitled "Do the Reggay." In the interview, Toots said, "I started with ska. A few years after that, the good musicians in Jamaica created the rhythm. No one really knew what to call it, until I recorded this song called "Do the Reggay." People started to call me from all over the world and say, "I know what the music that you're playing is named. It's reggae and you are the inventor."

Skaquel

Raquel played a vital role in the local ska scene throughout the 90's. Under the name Skaquel Productions, she produced and managed numerous local shows. Notably, was the 4 day Ska Patrick's Days festival. Along with many local acts, the festival also featured performances from Buck O' Nine, The Aquabats, Reel Big Fish, Mephiskapheles, and Mustard Plug. She said, "Ska was getting pretty big in Utah right around that time. All these bands knew that Utah would be a fun place to play."

Along with doing promoting, she is also a talented photographer. We spent some time going through her large collection of negatives, which she was kind enough to share.

Gus Chin

Gus grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Some favorite songs in his youth included Israelites and Shanty Town by Desmond Dekker and The Aces. He also enjoyed the music of The Dragonaires and The Skatalites. Of his favorite music he said, "It was played quite regularly, especially in the heart of downtown, in the Kingston business district. You had a lot of little shops and bars that had jukeboxes, that would be open and played [the ska] from mid morning till late midnight."

English and Kelly Brooks

English and Kelly Brooks created and hosted a show on KRCL 90.1 called Huzzah for Ska. On Saturday nights, they would spin ska tracks from both local and national bands. They also interviewed local and national artist including King Django and Dr. Ring Ding.








We talked about the local ska scene the year they ended the show. Kelly said, "I think in 2004, even though ska had simmered down quite a bit, there was still a lot of fans. When we left, we heard from a lot of people that were bummed because it's still really good music."

Dave Hillyard and Vic Ruggiero

I was able to get an incredible interview with Dave and Vic of The Slackers. They freely shared insights from their first exposure to reggae, to being mentored by Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook, Lloyd Knibb and Lester Sterling of The Skatalites. They also talked about continuing on for over 15 years.
Vic - "The Slackers were lucky, because we never fit in, ever. And it's always been good for us."
Dave - "We had to find out own path, and that's what we encourage other bands to do. Instead of relying on the scene we just went out and played...In the long term, it payed off."

Caleb Chapman

I met with Caleb Chapman at The Music School in
American Fork. Caleb founded the private institution back in 1998.

He also played alto sax in the band My Man Friday. He stated, "I remember playing at the last Stretch show at club Omni...it was a packed house with thousands of people. As My Man Friday took over...we gradually built up that fan base...and were back playing for two and three thousand people at shows."