Ska Band!

[Bubba924]

I play tenor sax for a ska band! Check it out. We are almost done recording and I have a lot of good solos lol. No music is up except maybe a song from one of our shows. I am in Dallas by the way so if you want when our next show is, this can keep you up to date.

http://musictx.com/users/busfive/index.shtml

[Eric_TGS]

Ooh a Ska band, awesome :) I love ska... I just bought several Less Than Jake Albums. I also happen to be in a ska band actually, we're based in Norman Oklahoma. We're called "Third Grade Scuffle" (hence the "TGS" by my name.)

http://www.thirdgradescuffle.com

Feel free to check us out~

[Mr.Matt]

Dude;
I play in a ska band (with no yet verified name) too.

I'm from Seattle, so, yeah.

Alright.

So, is there any sort of hints anyone would like to give about stage techniques or how to play well in a ska band?

[Eric_TGS]

-Always give the sax player a mic and turn it all the way up.
-Move around as much as possible, think of trying to be the center of attention always while on stage.
-The bigger the sax, the better.
-Have fun.

[Mr.Matt]

So,
it looks as if your band, eric, plays with some relatively well-known ska bands (Catch 22, Five Iron Frenzy, etc.), (the sort of bands that write songs that my band covers. Hey - we're high school kids. Cut us a break).

I was wondering if you have any suggestions on writing, or just getting your band to play effectively as a group. I mean, in mine, like 3/4 of our 4 horn horn section (alto, tenor (me), trump 1, trump 2) is all state or solo/ensemble winners and stuff, and most of the rhythym section is pretty good (the frontman plays on on-beats, but, whatever), but we still aren't sounding like Less Than Jake or Reel Big Fish or whoever else. It's like there's something missing. Chemistry, or something. Any suggestions on how to get gigs or overcome this lack of ensemble-sound problem?

[Mr.Matt]

So,
We just had our first gig. It was a community center gym, but it was still so cool to see 70 people dancing and being really happy after 3 pop/punk/rock loud bands.

Here's a picture (I'm the tenor player w/ the red star shirt and the spiked blond hair.)http://www.gdickinson.co.uk/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=RF1&id=014_G

That was a blast.

So, what's the key to getting your band to do tempo changes well?

[MBushaw]

Practice
Practice
and then, more practice.

It really is the only way. After many years of practice with different people you may reach the point where you can jump into a group and play with only a little practice, but that's only because you have spent so many years in practice with other groups.

[Mr.Matt]

Hey,
My ska band (Random Fact) recently got a website and a video from one of our shows up.

Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. The sound sucks since it's from a camcorder.

I'm the tenor player.

www.random-fact.com