Skazette, 02/03 1998

In the last issue, Buck ranted and raved against the tyranny of Babylon and all the snarky people who talk too much and do too little in the ska scene. Did you really think one page was enough? Didn’t think so! Here is the second and final installment straight from the spleen of Moon President and lead Toaster Rob Hingley, with Editor & Label Figurehead chiming in behind him…

Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence. The only limit is the extent of your imagination.

3) Selling Out.

If people play the music they believe in, especially if they’ve been doing it for years for no reward other than a good night’s sleep, then I have no beef at all with them becoming financially successful (and l include myself in that). A lot of people use the term sell out’ without knowing what that means. People changing their style, or burning their former compadres, in a shameless grab for the moolah (or sometimes just for prestige, on the total egotistical musician tip,) now that’s a sell out.

As far as MTV is concerned there’s two things to say. First, it’s the only way that a vast majority of younger kids can ever get to see bands at all. Why should they be left out because it’s more important (and selfish) to keep the ska scene as some exclusive club for the cognoscenti (what we used to call the in-crowd.)
Second of all, I’m damned if I’m going to let corporate ska misrepresent to the kids and not do anything about it. I’m going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to real ska music and if that means putting Moon bands onto the box to combat the bloodsuckers then that’s what we’re going to do. (Big Abby says “puh-powl!” – Ed.)

It’s silly to pretend that MTV is not a medium by which contemporary youth culture is steered. Let’s make it a tool by which we can get. our point of view across. And let’s face it – I’d rather see Reel Big Fish on the box than Nirvana. If you don’t want to watch that’s up to you. Personally, I try not to watch TV at all, it’s bad for your brain. But to deny the power of MTV is to be like the ostrich that my father ran over with his Landrover back in Nairobi in ’62. It had it’s head in the sand, too.

Conclusion: It’s a Puff Daddy world, we only live in it!

Seriously though, anyone who thinks MTV is a serious threat to ska should think for a minute: did MTV kill grunge, or did unloyal, poseur fans who built up the music tear it down when they got bored of it? Sure, ska has taken on a few trend hoppers in 1997, but I can assure you by early 1998 they will have hopped again. Ska has been here since around 1959ish, and regardless of MTV, we’re going to be here. A Skaturday here or there is not the end of the world, it’s just MTV apologizing for trying to convince you that “Electronica” was the next big thing!

4) Siren Six & King Pin Records.

When I was eleven years old living in Singapore I used to play Mah Jongg with this old Chinese lady. She called the shuffling of the tiles the “twittering of the sparrows*. Personally I don’t care what people say about me, it’s a free world. Talk all the crap you like, and I’m glad you have the time to have an opinion either way – it’s not a catastrophe to me. What I do have a problem with is no-names trying to get over by totally dissing a scene that has allowed them the platform to put out their record in the first place. I’m not going to support that. As far as I’m concerned, there is still such a thing as loyalty to the scene. Blood is still thicker than water, but in the case of the Siren Six it’s obviously not thicker than a cheap publicity stunt. Taking personal shots by way of third party interviews for the transparent ulterior motive of self-aggrandizement is lame. I don’t owe Siren Six doody squal. Moon is my label and I can distribute, or not distribute, whatever I like. Django’s response hits the nail on the head –

“Grow up, kids.” -Django (Jeff Baker)

There are really only two reasons today why
Moon wouldn’t carry a ska release – one is that there is so much, we have to limit ourselves to the best possible releases. Two, if the band itself is one of these
“ska” bands who insist that they are “oh so much more” (which really is not a crime after all) AND decide to diss others to prove it (which in our book is.)

Some bands fall into both categories….

-Bucket (Rob Hingley)