SoCal ska band Half Past Two have a lot of great songs. But there’s something particularly special about their track “Heather.” It’s a simple track about lead singer Tara Hahn’s aunt, Heather McNeil. Heather played a fundamental role in Tara’s life. She introduced her to ska. In the late 90s, she started lending Tara her ska CDs and eventually started taking her to ska shows. Without Heather, Tara may not have become a ska superfan, and likely wouldn’t now be singing in Half Past Two. 

It’s a relatable story for many of us. Most ska fans have that person in their lives that introduced them to ska and made them fans for life. On this episode of In Defense of Ska, we peel back the layers of Half Past Two’s tune, “Heather,” and hear both Tara and Heather’s side of the story. And in the process, we get an intimate glimpse of the OC ska scene in the late 90s. 

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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