While it's an undeniable fact that most musicians have ska roots, Tom May of The Menzingers has an entire, elaborate ska past. Before forming The Menzingers in 2006, Tom spent a solid 4 years playing in the Scranton, Pennsylvania ska band Bob and the Sagets. During the early 2000s, Bob and the Sagets (and another band, Lester) were the big local ska bands in Scranton.

Tom speaks to us this week about Bob and the Sagets. We talk about the Scranton scene, including venues like Cafe Del Sol and Sessions Skatepark, as well as other prominent bands from the scene (Including Tigers Jaw!). But we also discuss The Menzingers and search for signs of ska, which includes a cover of The Specials' "Gangsters" they used to do, an old song called "Dark Side Of The Poon," and Tom joining Worriers on stage to play ska guitar for their cover of Rancid's "Old Friend."

We also talk about playing with ska/reggae producer Curtis Irie (ie Irie Idea), how Against Me influenced The Menzingers' sound, touring with Jeff Rosenstock, meeting Brendan Kelly for the first time at Fest, his feelings on The Hard Times' Menzingers articles and getting to see Catbite for the first semi-recently. Plus he talks about some of the most amazing DIY shows he's seen back in the day, including Frank Turner, Gaslight Anthem and Paint It Black. 

And, as a special treat, Tom explains to us what the Receipt Scam is! 

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If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

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