In Defense of SKa Ep 108: Vic Ruggiero (The Slackers, Sic & Mad, Stubborn All-Stars, The Silencers)

In Defense of Ska

The Slackers formed in New York in 1991. The band, fronted by Vic Ruggiero, played a bit of everything. But eventually, Vic realized that they needed to focus, and suggested they stick with the ska and reggae tunes and drop the other stuff. It suited the band. Though The Slackers signed with Moon Ska and then Hellcat Records, they were always a smaller band during the 90s Ska Boom. That changed in the 2000s when ska became a dirty word and many of the bands broke up or changed their sound. The Slackers carried on and became ska scene leaders. And they continue to be so in 2023.

Today we speak with Slackers frontman/keyboardist Vic Ruggiero. We go deep into Slackers' history and talk about their early years, the long journey to signing to Hellcat and we break down the song "Statehouse" from their new album. (Though the song dates back to 1998. Rancid played an early version of it called "Wrongful Suspicion" on their Life Won't Wait Album.

Vic also fills us in on the short-lived Silencers project he had with Tim Armstrong, and even tells us why he quit Tim's other band, Transplants, after "only 10 seconds." Plus Vic tells us about the time he met The Wu-Tang Clan, which was one of the funniest stories ever told on this podcast. Not to mention, we even circle back to an early episode of this podcast and get Vic's memories of playing The Crack Shack in Tuba City.

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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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