Hans Gruber and the Die Hards came out of the pandemic swinging and ready to take over the ska scene. The band formed in 2014 in Austin, Texas, went through some lineup changes (A big lineup change a few years ago!) and then released their excellent record, With A Vengence, in May 2022 on SPI Records. They want to get the word out and have been touring as much as possible.

The group mixes ska with furious hardcore, cumbia, silly singalongs, and whatever else they feel like throwing in the mix. And they bring a stage show filled to the brim with bizarre antics that involve sock puppets, conga lines, copious guest horns and exercise classes. Today we speak with three members of the group: Chris Thompson, Rosey Armstrong and Kurt Armstrong.

We talk about Die Hard lore, and whether the film is in fact a remake of A Christmas Carol. We talk about their long tours and the methods they employ to save money (Forage for nuts in the forest, get free cheese from members of The Best of the Worst). We also talk about Kurt's blackeye and why the band members are the undisputed Gods of Dairy.

We also talk about the squirrels in Adam's backyard and Christian rock groups like Lust Control, DC Talk, One Bad Pig and Rich Mullins. We talk about Hans' experience being on the Ska Parade tour a few years back. And they talk about The Slackers, Slackfest and missing veggie trays. 

Plus we talk about a very controversial topic: Kurt's underwear

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon! 

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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