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Interviews

Less Than Jake are currently celebrating their 20th anniversary with having nightly parties with clowns, ponies, and snorting pez off midget stripper’s bodies. No, honestly….They have just released an EP in February called “Seasons Greetings From Less Than Jake” and just finished up a US tour. They have some sporadic dates this Spring and will head to Jolly Ole England in June. In the meantime, you can check out a quick interview with JR:
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Taj Motel Trio

Interviews

1) The Taj Motel Trio formed around the height of the ska craze in the late 90’s. What was it that made you want to start your own ska punk band?
I’m not really sure what made us want to do this, we just like making music I guess. We didn’t intentionally start a ska punk band, it was an accident. When we started, the plan was just to be a band with horns. We didn’t even know what ska was. We wanted to be like Cake w/ more horns. Eventually we became a ska band.
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Pepper

Interviews

Having formed in 1997, Pepper has since become one of the premier rock/reggae bands the lands have seen. Their fusion of punk, rock, reggae and dub has helped them sell more than half a million records worldwide independently on their own record label LAW Records. The band is a touring machine and they have been so kind as to take a few minutes out of their busy schedule and constant rocking to answer a few questions for ReadJunk.
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Mike Park

Interviews

2011 marks the 15th Anniversary of Asian Man Records, an independent record label based in Northern California, that is the epitome of DIY. Asian Man Records has released albums by Less Than Jake, Five Iron Frenzy and Alkaline Trio to name a few and genres that you will find on their roster range from ska punk to psychobilly and just about everything in between.
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Screaming Females

Interviews

There is a video floating around on YouTube of a young lady on stage with Ted Leo and The Pharmacists performing a cover of “Since You’ve Been Gone.” Ted Leo’s personal rendition of the song had already been widely popular but in this version he left all the vocals to their female guest, Marissa Paternoster. She is the singer and guitarist for Screaming Females. While on tour with Ted Leo & The RX, someone heard Paternoster singing the tune backstage and insisted she perform the song that night. “They didn’t even rehearse or anything. It all happened during the show,” said Screaming Females drummer Jarrett Dougherty.
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Carbon Leaf (Barry Privett)

Interviews

It’s no secret that Carbon Leaf is one of my favorite bands. They are a hard-working, independent folk/rock band that never stop touring, and just make incredible music! Their last full-length album “Nothing Rhymes with Woman” has been played on my iPod at least once a day and now they just released a digital EP on their own called “How the West Was One,” which you can order here. The ReadJunk staff (Bryan, Kristen and Matt) decided to send some questions over to frontman Barry Privett to answer, here’s how it went down:
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The Menzingers

Interviews

The Menzingers have a brand new album “Chamberlain Waits” out NOW, and have been touring the country in support of it. Definitely check out their live show because it can get insane! Their new album is awesome as well! While out on the road, singer/guitarist Greg Barnett answered some questions that Adam Coozer and Bryan Kremkau sent his way. Check out what he said after the jump:
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Authority Zero (Jason DeVore)

Interviews

Just in case you don’t know already, Authority Zero have a brand new album coming out called “Stories of Survival.” It will be released on June 22nd on Viking Funeral. You can pre-order the album here. For a whole week, we’ll be streaming one of their tracks from the new album called “Liberateducation.” You can listen to that on the website’s sidebar in the “Featured Music” at the top.

Adam Coozer and I had the chance to send some questions to AZ frontman Jason DeVore, who answered questions about the new album, his singing style, the current state of Arizona and what’s the band’s signature dish if they opened up their own restaurant. Read what he said below:

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Brighton, MA

Interviews

ReadJunk recently teamed up with Chicago’s indie band Brighton, MA for a ticket giveaway to their upcoming show with Quieting Syrup and The Good Life at Subterranean in Chicago. In anticipation of their show, we interviewed lead singer/songwriter Matthew Kerstein. Be sure to enter the contest for a chance to win tickets!
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The Ovni Sound System

Interviews

The Ovni Sound System are a 4 piece ska, punk reggae band from Cocoa Beach, Florida. The band were desperate for an interview on ReadJunk.com but I would imagine they wouldn’t be desperate anymore after answering these questions. Ovni Sound System took 2 minutes out of their busy lives of playing retirement homes and thinking of Mel Gibson’s ass to answer our stupid questions. Here’s what they had to say:
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