Augusta Koch’s first band was called The Blue Bananas, a ska band. They had a few originals and performed a Choking Victim song. They didn’t last long. She’s since gone on to play in some incredible non-ska bands like Cayetana and Gladie. And she even sang vocals for the fictitious group DUH in the horror-comedy film Uncle Peckerhead. But ska has remained important to her. During the pandemic, she found comfort in revisiting some of her favorite bands from when she was younger. RX Bandits have been a particular favorite for her. 

Augusta talks with us, not just about her ska roots, but also what it’s been like for her the past couple of years, creatively and personally. We discuss a blog post she wrote about starting smoking again during the pandemic and she also tells us about Jeff Rosenstock asking her to contribute to SKA DREAM by screaming on a few tracks. We discuss the Sparks cover she made with Mike Park, and we also get into a discussion about what her favorite Mountain Goats record is. And most importantly, we try to understand why the ska scene just feels so much better to be a part of than other “cooler” scenes. We come up with a few theories. 

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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