Members:

Matt Malles - Bass
Jonnathan McCain - Drums, Vocals
Fred Reiter - Sax
The Sledge - Trumpet, Vocals
Rick "Chunk" Faulkner - Trombone
Jack Ruby Jr. - Vocals
Dave Waldo - Keyboards
Rob "Bucket" Hingley - Guitar, Vocals

Genre: Ska Two Tone

Site: www.toasters.org

Contact: bucket@toasters.org

Interview: Sep. 8 2002 by excA

The first (hopefully not the last) show of The Toasters on Mexican grounds was an explosion of energy from the stage to the audience and back. Jack Ruby Jr. kept asking people from the public to come up, helped by the security guards and thankful to one in particular, who he kept hi-fiving during the show. When the concert ended, he gave the guard his yellow yankees jersey. I had to borrow someone´s backstage pass to get backstage and stood on the side for half of their show. As the rudeboys, skinheads, skankers, and others leave Circo Volador, Bucket lays down his guitar on its case and kisses it. The energy and excitement has gone down, the place is almost empty, except for the roadies, members of the press, some lucious groupies that await by the door, and me (who had been bugging Bucket through emails since I found out they were coming to get an interview). I follow Bucket and as he dries his face, he asks what do I need to know. He looks tired, so I know he won´t stand for a lenghty interview. I don´t really have a lot of questions anyway so I turn on the tape recorder and start.

What did you think of the concert?

Great! I liked it a lot, it was a fantastic audience. We´re very happy to come here a be received that way so we´re very psyched about that.

Did you get to hear any of the bands from here?

I saw most of them. Pretty good I´m surprised how talented the bands are. I´m surprised that more bands don´t play more traditional ska. There´s a lot more skapunk than ska but I thought the bands musically were very proficient.

How hard was it to open NY to ska?

It was difficult and it took a long time and a lot of touring to make it happen. It took about 20 years really to make ska music happen.

Why did Moon Ska close?

We had to close two years because we ran out of money. A lot of distributors went out of business. But we´re gonna start something new called Megalith Records, we´ll see how that goes.

What is your advice for a growing scene like the one in Mexico to prosper ska?

You have to get the word out, get people to come out to the shows and support the bands.

Do you consider yourself a rude boy?

I think it´s what other people consider. I´m just a regular guy, I work hard, I play shows, that´s what I do.

What do you think of rudeboys and skinheads?

That´s great. I really like to support traditional forms of ska music so seeing a lot of those guys here tonight was really great. Seeing a lot of the skinheads digging some of the older tunes is quite rewarding. Cause a lot of the times when you go to the shows; all the kids know skapunk and that´s all they know. To see guys who appreciate some of the reggae and some of the traditional ska is great for us. We really enjoyed that.

When you were younger did you ever consider yourself a rudeboy or skinhead?

Well I was hanging out with the skinheads in 1967 so I guess I´d have to say yes to that. That was back in England, a long time ago.

How did you get interested in ska?

I bought my first record in 1964. It was a song called My boy Lollipop by Millie Small. My older brother was always into it, so I grew up listening to it. I was 9 years old when I bought my first ska record. I´ve been into it ever since.

What would you like to say to the Mexican public?

Thanks a lot for supporting the Toasters and if people are interested in what we do you can visit us at Toasters.org, or you can come see us when we come play in Mexico City next year.

A curious little detail about the re-edited Skaboom cover: it was designed by Andrew Blanco (AKA Blanquito Man of King Chango).