At one of the first out-of-town shows that St. Louis ska band MU330 played, booking agent Steve Ozark, approached them, interested in working with the band. MU330’s members were excited and told him yes! But only if he agreed to book them as much as humanly possible. From Ozark’s perspective, it was a strange request, but one he was happy to meet. For much of the 90s, MU330 hit the road as much as they could. Even with these many stages they played, they still hovered at cult status, though they released some of the best ska-punk records of their time.
As MU330 was winding down, lead singer and guitarist Dan Potthast stayed very active, both as a touring act and in terms of his creative output. He released solo records, formed new bands, and in recent years, joined Jeff Rosenstock’s group. On this episode, Dan joins us to discuss different moments in his musical career.
Much of the conversation revolves around Dan’s time in MU330, but we also talk about his role on the SKA DREAM album, discuss what it’s like to tour people’s homes as a solo artist. And we get to hear the epic tale of how MU330 crossed paths with the band Crazy Town.
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If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music.
Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.
Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.
The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.