It's another Ska Pod crossover! CP/SC welcomes on In Defense of Ska book author and podcast host, Aaron Carnes to discuss Mike Park's The Chinkees. First, Rob and Joey did a brief pick it up before talking to Aaron about his Checkered Past, the new edition of his novel and the early days of his podcast. Then the trio dig in on The Chinkees from their post-Pickle origins to their touring years as part of Asian Man Records to their brief reunion in the studio. It's all capped off with the...

Time for a companion piece to CP/SCs Blue Meanies episode... a primer on the Ska scene in the American Midwest from 1990-2010! First, Celine regales Rob and Joey with her trip to Italy before the trio run through 15 tracks of the weird, the trad and the punk. Rob builds the playlist focusing on the scenes in Chicago, Detroit and Chuck Wren's Jump Up Records. Expect tracks from Hot Stove Jimmy, Gangster Fun, Deal's Gone Bad and more! Hosts: Rob, Celine and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor:...

Checkered Past heads to Illinois to talk about the TV Smashers themselves: Blue Meanies! For the discussion they bring along return guests Aaron, Eric and Justin of Western Mass genre band: PWRUP! They talk about local shows in Edmonton, Eric's Checkered Past and the angular Chicago music scene before diving into the meanies from their stoner, jam band roots to their million-mile-an-hour heyday in the 90s to their strange major label finale in the 00s. Its all capped off with an equally high...

It's time to take a breather from the Heptember bracket to dig in on another dark ages Ska cult classic, Zox! Rob and Engineer Joey do a quick pick it up before digging in on Zox's 00's discography from their ska heavy first album to their Side One Dummy sleeper hit to their indie rock inspired final album. Oh and they have a violin!  Hosts: Rob and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor: Cutman Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk International Merch: www.checkeredpast.ca/merch Patreon:...

The quest to determine the greatest Reel Big Fish cover song finishes with return guest and podcaster extraordinaire, Jordan Morris! The CP/SC crew kicks off with a quick pick it up before chatting with Jordan on his new graphic novel Youth Group, Christian Ska and 90s YA Horror Comedies. Then, Rob, Celine, Joey and Jordan all dig in on both the Semis and the Finals to crown the ultimate winner. PLUS a return of the Checkered Rob Invitational and RBF round of Big Five! Follow along with the...

The quest to determine the greatest Reel Big Fish cover song continues with first timers, Bad Mary! The CP/SC crew kicks off with a quick pick it up before chatting with Bad Mary on the formation of their band and their new EP Better(er) Days. Then, Rob, Celine, Joey, Amanda and Mike all dig in on the next 4 matchups of songs whittling down to the semifinals in preparation of next weeks finale. Follow along with the Heptember Bracket all September long at...

The quest to determine the greatest Reel Big Fish cover song continues with fan favorite guest, Devon Kay! The CP/SC crew kicks off with a quick pick it up before finding out what's new in the world of Devon Kay and is Ska-djacent project The Solutions. Then, Rob, Celine, Joey and Devon all dig in on the next 8 matchups of songs whittling down to the quarterfinals. Its filled with hot takes, upsets and no shortage of ties! Follow along with the Heptember Bracket all September long at...

It's the continuation of the annual Heptember bracket! This year, CP/SC is on the hunt to determine the greatest Reel Big Fish cover of all time, pitting 32 songs in mortal combat. In Part 2 of Round 1, it's just the Checkered Past Crew as they run through the final 2/3 of the bracket, eliminating tracks as they go. They go on Vibrato Watch, discuss the bands style-emulations and decide on the songs they think will go the distance Follow along with the Heptember Bracket all September long at...

It's the debut of the annual Heptember bracket! This year, CP/SC is on the hunt to determine the greatest Reel Big Fish cover of all time, pitting 32 songs in mortal combat. In Part 1 of Round 1, it's just the Checkered Past Crew as they run through 1/3 of the bracket, eliminating tracks as they go. They also discuss the Heptember Miracle, lay the ground work for the next 4 weeks and discuss what it is they are looking for in an ideal song. Follow along with the Heptember Bracket all...

If you're still walking on sunshine then this episode is for you! Rob and Engineer Joey sit down to do a full blind listen of the first two albums by modern metallers Ice Nine Kills! Both have only heard the Reel Big Fish song and are going in completely unaware as they listen to the entire Pop-Punk-Ska years compilation and INK's official debut, Last Chance To Make Amends. All the while they comment on the bands evolution, their love of a schtick and their long hard journey to...

Hot off their Top 10 episode of 2023, Joystick returns to continue chatting about the one and only Voodoo Glow Skulls! From the airport on their way to a tour of the UK, Bex and Duck share their thoughts on the crowdstrike crash, mall shopping and bad tattoos before diving into VGS for a second time. They discuss the bands next era from their funk and hiphop influenced Symbolic to their ripping Victroy debut Steady As She Goes to the muddier Addicion. After, in the studio, Celine, Rob and...

Heptember is BACK for 2024! Rob, Celine and Joey sit down to prepare for another month long bracket to determine the best song by a band! In the pre-show they go through this year's band's side projects, other bands and the songs that didn't make the cut to mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming challenge. Which band will it be? Which guests will storm out in anger? Which song eliminations will cause listeners to fly into a violent rage? Tune in to find out! Hosts: Celine, Joey and...

Don't be scared by the title! In light of the controversies surrounding Bosstones singer Dicky, Rob makes an impassioned plea to reconsider the scene contributions of the bands legacy. First, Rob and Engineer Joey pick it up with a conversation about he carnival and IMAX movies before doing a shallow dive on the Coles Notes history of MMB from their heavy metal early days to the coining of the term Skacore to their blockbuster success. All the while, Rob plays clips, shares some historical...

It's a very special episode of Checkered Past! On this episode we invite in the man who was the first ever to wear the famed Banana Suit and dance at Ska shows: The Real Banana Man H! He walks through the early days of the scene, his business making banana juice cleanses for celebrities and his tragic relationship with Jackfruit. Then, he brings with him the original recordings of famous Ska songs with their original banana themes still intact. It's all capped off with a fruit themed game of...

What is Post-Third Wave you ask? Why it's a subgenre coined by Checkered Rob of course! It's a regional Ska-Punk boom that existed between 1999 and 2005 after the death of mainstream Ska and before the advent of the true Dark Ages. It consisted of bands that were in high school or college, made rough studio recordings and were highly influenced by the Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and the Bosstones. This primer is for those that remember the days of Winamp, Limewire, Myspace, Soulseek, Turn...

Hey elitists from the internet! Checkered Past is finally tackling one of the most requested subject bands: Big D and the Kids Table! To help with the discussion, Rob, Celine and Joey welcome Saxton of Prog Ska Midwesterners, Runaway Ricochet! They dig into Saxtons history with Ska, the evolution leading to their new record Diminishing Returns and the various influences that went into it. Then, they all dig in on Big Ds early era from the party atmosphere of their debut to the in-your-face...

Take a deep breath, cause we are heading to the Mile High City to drink, fight and play the bagpipes! That's right CP/SC is talking about Dark Ages Ska-Punksters, The Potato Pirates! Rob and Engineer Joey kick off the episode with a rare sports talk and the hockey atmosphere of Edmonton. Then, they dig in on the Potato Pirates' ska discography from their bagpipe heavy early days to their punk-and-dgaf middle period to their modern anthemic sound. Hosts: Rob and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor:...

It's the third part of a three part series detailing Checkered Past's trip to SPI Fest 2024! On the third episode, it's a return of the fan favorite back alley interviews from SPI Fest 2023. This year the featured interviews include The Marijuana Brass, Bad Mary, The Ska Mailman, PWRUP and The Best of the Worst plus some very special drop in guests. PLUS, Rob is solo in studio to do bumpers and is subjected to rapid fire questions from the discord in a reversal of fate. Hosts: Rob Engineer:...

It's the second part of a three part series detailing Checkered Past's trip to SPI Fest 2024! On the second episode we play our Day 2 Live performance featuring The Ska Mailman and Mega Infinity along with a Getting Witchy with Michi, games and some audience questions! Then we move to the studio where  Rob and Engineer Joey discuss the second day of the fest, the epic afterparty and the sightseeing day around CT. Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor: Joey and Cutman Skassociate...

It's the first part of a three part series detailing Checkered Past's trip to SPI Fest 2024! On the first episode we play our Day 1 Live performance featuring The Skabadook and Common Sense Kid along with banter, games and some audience questions! Then we move to the studio where  Rob and Engineer Joey discuss the lead up to the festival, the trip from Canada to the US and everything that went down on the first day!

Things are about to get irie as CP/SC tackles the low energy vibes of Reggae Rock! Rob and Joey do a quick pick it up on bicycles before going through the mainstream rock meets reggae scene from its creation in the early 80s to the wide spanning influence of Sublime to its surprisingly vast fanbase in the modern era. All the way they play a game to guess how many streams the songs have on Spotify. Hosts: Rob and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor: Joey Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska Punk...

It's the leather year of Checkered Past: The Ska'd Cast! For this very special episode, Celine, Rob and Joey welcomes long time guest Kayleigh of KMoy and first timer Javi of The Marijuana Brass for a long form interview. They cover a range of topics such as the state of New Tone, their individual journeys in a DIY scene and the culmination of hard work that led to SPI Fest 2024. It's a very different CP/SC experience! Hosts: Celine, Rob and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor: Cutman Skassociate...

Things are about to get hyper as CP/SC tackles the high energy mania of Japanese Ska Punk! Rob and Engineer Joey do a pick it up about pinball before diving into the world of J-Ska from the mid-90's to the modern day. They go through its Third Wave influenced beginnings to its proliferation on MySpace to its penetration into the Japanese mainstream all while carving out its own unique sound and niche. Hosts: Rob and Joey Engineer: Joey Editor: Joey Skassociate Producer: Chris Reeves of Ska...

CP/SC concludes its thrilling Ska-ified Dungeons and Dragons real play with this the final episode! Large-oh Hotstepper, Xena Stefani and Whydthey Clocksard face their final challenges to save their idol from the clutches of a devious fiend. A Battle of the Bands! A Final Boss! Bathrooms! It's truly a finale to remember! Go back and listen to episode 0 and 1 to get all the background you need! CP/SC will be performing LIVE at SPI Fest 2 in Connecticut May 17-18! Tix at...