The Witzard

"The world needs more Ska songs about skeletons and ghosts and stuff. 666th Wave Ska," reads the Bandcamp Bio of Berkeley, California-based Ska band, Grave Danger . Technically, Grave Danger have forged an entirely new genre for their releases: "Skath," which combines elements of both Ska & Goth, as well as Punk, Hardcore, and Rock. "The idea of a "Skath" band stems from a strange place: what would a Goth/Ska band sound like, one [that] combined The Misfits' aesthetic with Reel Big Fish's goofball schtick?" explains a Grave Danger press kit. Grave Danger is the brainchild of high school buds, David "Dave" Schwantes & Dane Erbach , who "spent the bulk of their gym class brainstorming fake bands with their friends, in an attempt to avoid whatever physical despair their P.E. teachers had in store for them that day." A selection of these faux groups included a "Death Metal" band called Throbbing Re...

Amerigo Gazaway is a Berkely, California-based producer, emcee, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ, who is known for his remixes/mash-ups, original instrumentals, and digital sampling. Gazaway is the son of internationally-known Jazz trumpeter, Gary "El Buho" (The Owl) Gazaway from The Ozark Mountains and Brazilian vocalist, Tatiana Mindlin; with his brother, Rickey Mindlin , Amerigo Gazaway formed The Soul Mates Project/Records as a vehicle to present his lush, conceptual collaborative efforts. Soul Mates are best known for their documentary-style conceptual collaboration albums, which have famously incorporated the music of A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, Fela Kuti, De La Soul, Marvin Gaye, Yasiin Bey FKA Mos Def, James Brown, OutKast, and many, many more. Said critically-acclaimed remixes and mash-ups have garnered Amerigo Gazaway guest spots on releases from the likes of Aaron "Son Little" Livingston, Blu, and Oh No, as well as a gig re-orchestrating Miles ...

By now, it's fairly widely known that Hemlock Ernst is the rapping alter-ego of Future Islands erratically-dancing frontman, Samuel "Sam" T. Herring. Herring is/was, also, a member of The Snails (as Sammy Snail,) Art Lord & The Self-Portraits, and Trouble Knows Me with Otis Jackson, Jr. AKA Madlib. Sam Herring has been an active member of Baltimore, Maryland-based Future Islands since 2006, but has, supposedly been emceeing for decades prior to joining the beloved Indie Rock/Synth-Pop quartet. Herring has been doing guest verses on other Hip-Hop/Rap artists and producers tracks as Hemlock Ernst for quite a few years now and has appeared alongside everyone from Height Keech to Busdriver. Ernst first came in contact with LA-based producer Kenny Segal while working on "Souvenir" from R.A.P. Ferreira FKA milo/scallops hotel's 2015 album, So The Flies Don't Come. It appears as though Ernst & Segal have secretly been chipping away at completing a ...

"Strictly Covered: Big D usually writes an EP in-between writing LP's, so that you can get the gears moving and begin your creative process. This time, however, we decided to do a covers record for fun. These are a collection of songs we have been inspired by though out the years." - David "Big D" McWane (@david_mcwane1) Strictly Covered by Big D and the Kids Table 1. "Dr. D" (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones) "I believe, "Dr. D" is the best example of fast, fun, spastic Skacore. It's a blast! The Might Mighty Bosstones began to play a Swing-style [version] of this song live, so we added parts of that at the end of the original. The Doped Up Dollies joined us for the Swing bit. I love this tune and it was prefect for the first track, as it has all the elements, later, found through out the record." Strictly Covered by Big D and the Kids Table 2. "Yellin' In My Ear" (Operation Ivy) "Operation Ivy would,...

For the latest installment of The Witzard's Punk/Hardcore On Wax , we're covering an upcoming split album from Richmond, Virginia-based Hardcore/Punk band Bleach Everything and Belgium/US-based Metallic Hardcore Punk band Integrity . Said release is entitled SDK x RFTCC , which stands for Septic Death Karaoke x Rocket from The Crypt Covers with a side each from both Integrity & Bleach Everything . SDK x RFTCC is, actually, based around a 1992 Japan-only 2x7-inch split from Septic Death & Rocket from The Crypt fittingly titled Two Seven Halves , which was limited to somewhere between 85-100 Pushead Fan Club-only copies. Integrity have previously covered a number of Septic Death originals on a handful of 7-inches and CD's including Integrity, Change, Taste of Every Sin, and Walpurgisnacht. INTEGRITY "SDK" x BLEACH EVERYTHING "RFTCC" by Integrity " Dwid [Hellion] & I first got to know each other many moons ago over sharing storie...

G-Pek & Brycon have returned with the latest spook-tacular installment of their annual Halloween mix series, There's No More Room In Hell . This year, Brycon & G-Pek recruited producer buddies Yelir, B.I. Lectric, The Architect & Baghead to join in on the ghoulish festivities. G-Pek & Brycon Present: "There's No More Room In Hell" (1) was quietly released on October 30, 2015 and only featured the production talents of series founders G-Pek & Brycon . For 2016's "There's No More Room In Hell II," DJ Eons One AKA Dan Lactose from SPAZZ was brought into the fold; then, 2016's "There's No More Room In Hell Part 3" boasted contributions from G-Pek, Brycon & Eons , along with newly-added beatsmith Yelir . Last year's submission, "There's No More Room In Hell Part 4" featured G​-​Pek, Brycon, Eons One, Yelir , and new-comer, B​.​I. Lectric AKA Big Shawn from Bored Stiff . For There'...

NO MOTIV were an Oxnard, California-based Punk/Post-Hardcore band originally active from 1995-2014. NO MOTIV were early pioneers of the sub-genres of 9second generation) Nardcore, Sadcore, and Emocore with five full-length releases issued on Vagrant Records/The Edge Recordz between 1996-2004. The band's primary line-up included guitarist/lead vocalist Jeremy Palaszewski, guitarist/vocalist Max McDonald, bassist Roger Camero, and drummer Patrick "Pat" Pedraza. Camero shifted from bass to drums, when Pedraza parted ways with the band to form his own group, From Satellite, around 2004. Jeff Hershey joined as bassist/vocalist at the time of the Pedraza/Camero shift with Dave Brandon contributing bass duties at one point or another, as well. Since releasing their "last" proper release, a 2011 EP entitled, Winterlong, NO MOTIV's members have been largely inactive ans assumed to be on an indefinite hiatus; their solo/side-projects include Monster Hand, Sea Greens,...