DO THE DOG BANDS

SKYLAR

Skylar hail from the South Coast city of Southampton & were formed in March 2004 by members of well known UK ska/punk bands Howards Alias & Identity #1. Their current 4 piece line up consists of Nick Horne (keyboard & vocals), Matt Reynolds (guitar & vocals), Peter Miles (bass guitar & vocals) & Robert King (drum set). Skylar started as an outlet for Matt to use material he was writing that wasn't suitable for the other band he plays in. After playing many solo gigs, he decided that his thing is playing with other people, not by himself & so Skylar was born.

Skylar play an incredible brand of laid back reggae & upbeat trad ska with very soulful vocals. Low-fi, raw & rootsy tunes straight from the heart in the mould of Chris Murray or Bedouin Soundclash are very much the order of the day on their debut self titled album, which was released by Do The Dog Music in April 2006. Skylar recorded the album live in 11 hours after just 6 months of being a band & having played only 7 gigs! The band hit the road in May & August 2006 around the UK to promote the release of the CD.

SADIES DOLL

Sadies Doll's 4 piece line up of Dan (guitar & backing vocals), Lew (drums), Jack (lead vocals & rhythm guitar) & Bob (bass) hails from the South West city of Bristol & have been playing gigs, parties & other events for about 6 years all around the UK. Though their laid back beach bum reggae/ska vibe has often been favourably compared to US legends Sublime, the band actually deliver a richly diverse sound that also features frantic 3rd wave ska/punk leanings in the mould of Ednas Goldfish & radio friendly white reggae/pop catchiness along the lines of The Police.

Sadies Doll released a 4 song CD EP on Crucial Records in 2004, which brought them to the attention of Moon SKA Europe Records. They headed out across the UK alongside Chris Murray, Zen Baseballbat & Catch It Kebabs on the Moon Records' Summer Of Ska Tour & recorded their debut album for Moon in 2005. However shortly after this their deal with the label fell through. On the brink of splitting up Sadies Doll sent a copy of the CD to Do The Dog Music who immediately agreed to sign the band. The 16 song self titled album was released by Do The Dog Music in August 2006.

3 MINUTE WARNING

Formed in Mid Wales in the summer of 2002 from a shared love of all things punk & ska, 3 Minute Warning boast a 4 piece line up of Billy (guitar & vocals), Harold (drums), Matt (bass) & Chuzz (keys & vocals). Soon after their formation they quickly established themselves throughout Mid Wales with their blistering live shows. With influences ranging from The Specials & Madness through to The Clash, Rancid & The Bouncing Souls, 3 Minute Warning's sound is centred on storming streetpunk ska with great shoutalong choruses & catchy keyboard melodies.

After self releasing a debut CD EP, titled "Eating Ain't Cheating", the band then had their track "Faithless" included on a punk compilation released by Complete Control Music in 2004. After playing numerous shows with Smoke Like A Fish & Catch It Kebabs, the band caught the ear of Do The Dog Music & signed to the label in late 2005. 3 Minute Warning's debut full length album, titled "Tramps Jackpot", was released in April 2006. The CD picked up excellent reviews from the International ska & punk press & lots of radio airplay, including several spins on Radio 1's flagship punk rock show, The Lock Up. Since the release of "Tramps Jackpot" 3 Minute Warning have gigged extensively all across the UK & also further afield in Europe.

THE SCRUB

Bristol based 7 piece outfit The Scrub have been building a strong local following around the West Country for a couple of years now. They have notched up support slots with the likes of RX Bandits, Shootin Goon, Fishbone, Howards Alias, Adequate Seven, Babyhead, Long Beach Dub Allstars & King Prawn in the process.

The band self-released their debut CD EP, titled "Nantastico" in 2002 & followed this up in 2003 with another self-released CD EP titled "Not To Be Confused With Spunky Rub.com". The Scrub play a highly addictive & uniquely dark take on the old skool 2 tone ska formula, with moderate lashings of hip hop & skacore thrown in for good measure.

Their scorching new CD EP, titled "Lifes Torn The Tuna Out And Left Me For A Bread Roll", was released by Do The Dog Music in February 2005 to coincide with the band heading off around the UK for a tour with fellow South West ska crew Skankt.

PAMA INTERNATIONAL

Fronted by Finny & Sean Flowerdew (ex-Skanga, Special Beat & The Loafers) & with a rhythm section boasting Fuzz Townshend (Bentley Rhythm Ace & Pop Will Eat Itself drummer) & Ernie McKone (Galliano bassman), Pama International were formed in 2001. The band released their debut album on Jamdown Records in April 2002.

The disc received critical acclaim the world over with DJ's in Venezuela, USA, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Australia, France & the UK (including David Rodigan on Kiss 100, Radio One and XFM) all regularly spinning Pama's eclectic soundclash of soul-injected ska & reggae sounds. 2002 saw headlining slots for Pama at London's Camden Underworld & Soho's Blow Up night club plus an appearance at London's Respect Festival, whilst 2003 brought them to an even wider audience with shows around the UK alongside 2 Tone legends The Beat & Japanese skacore crew Rude Bones. The year was rounded off in fine fashion with a Pama International Radio One session being broadcast on Mike Davies' Lock Up show.

Not content to keep their sound to the music world alone, the band have also contributed tracks to 6 film soundtracks. The most successful of these, the Flowerdew penned 'Truly, Madly, Deeply', is featured on the British gangster classic "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels". 2004 saw Pama release their second studio album '"Too Many Freaks Not Enough Stages", again on Jamdown Records, & sign deals for album & single releases in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland & the States. They also appeared at Glastonbury Festival & completed tours of the UK, Switzerland & Italy.

In November 2004 Pama International put out their third studio album, titled "Float Like A Butterfly", as a split release between Do The Dog Music & Jamdown Records. The disc see's the band being joined on guitar & vocals by The Specials' Lynval Golding & also features a guest appearance on 2 tracks by Madness' Lee Thompson. To promote this unstoppable release Pama toured the UK once again, this time playing alongside the likes of The Skatalites, Zion Train, Rico Rodriguez & The Pietasters.

SPLITTERS

Straight from the cutting edge of the new ska movement come the Splitters from Leicester. This 7 piece outfit's distinctive style draws heavy influence from the original Jamaican ska sound of the 1960's & fuses it with a contemporary British feel reflecting the band members' experiences & personalities.

The result of all this shenanigans is a bouncy uplifting trad ska & reggae sound that appeals to a wide audience range. Vocally Ted's tuneful harmonies sit comfortably above the warmly rasping bark of mohawk-sporting frontman Braidley.

The Splitters' horn section of Tom & Steve boasts a wide variety of special dance moves & brassy tricks, while the dual guitar presence of Ted & Al compliments the rock solid rhythm foundation laid down by Fez on drums & bassist Jay.

In the live arena the Splitters have toured all over the UK, as well as making several trips to Ireland, Belgium & Holland. The band's debut self titled album, second album "International Smugglers" & "Look Away" CD single were all put out on the Splitters' own Blue Line Order label. The Splitters' 3rd CD album, titled "Good Time Trouble", was released by Do The Dog Music in December 2004.

THE SUPATONES

The Supatones were formed as a 7 piece outfit in mid 2002 & hail from Hull in the north of England. Drawing on the influences of their favourite bands: The Specials, Madness, The Beat, The Clash, Bob Marley, Bad Manners, The Police, No Doubt, Glen Miller & Sublime, The Supatones quickly set about creating their own sound, mixing powerful third wave ska with reggae, pop, 2 tone, swing & rock stylings. Over the next 2 years the band's line up evolved to a 6 piece that is fronted by the formidable female vocals of Nicky Garton & also includes a super tight rhythm section & powerful 3 piece brass section.

Soon after their formation The Supatones became slaves to the road, performing regularly live at venues all across the UK, as well as playing festivals in Germany & Austria & even touring Israel. Along the way The Supatones have shared stages with the likes of The Beat, Neville Staples, The Stranglers & Spunge & even pop bands East 17, So Solid Crew & Fast Food Rockers! The band also tour regularly with Bad Manners, with whom Supatones' bassist Pat & guitarist Jo actually played with for a short time. In between touring & sleeping The Supatones began recording their debut CD release at Hull's Digital Hit Factory in 2002. 18 months later the 8 song mini album, titled "Unity Avenue" was completed & released by Do The Dog Music.

CATCH-IT KEBABS

Fuelled by the need to skank, several rejects from around the country descended on the unsuspecting town of Barnsley to study music technology. Shortly after their sentence had begun they decided to start up a ska band to bring a little joy into this town of insanity. Formed in April 2001, Catch-It Kebabs have since built a strong live following through regular gigging around the Yorkshire area. They have shared stages with many illustrious names from the UK & international ska scenes such as The Toasters, Lightyear, King Prawn, King Django, Rude Bones, The Slackers, Pama International, Zen Baseballbat, The Splitters & Smoke Like A Fish.

Having developed the skill of entrancing audiences with a frantic live stage show & super catchy songs, word of the Kebabs began to spread fast within the UK ska scene. April 2004 saw the band make the jump to national recognition with the release of their debut full length album, “Skankin’ Sausages” on Do The Dog Music, backed by a full UK tour. Their 9 piece outfit consists of 2 vocalists, a rhythm section of drums, bass, guitar & keyboards, and a 4 piece brass section. The Catch-It Kebabs’ sound ranges from blazing ska/punk & peppy 2 tone to surging 3rd wave ska & sassy swingcore. Bringing to mind a rampant fusion of Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Porkers, The Pietasters, Cherry Poppin Daddies & The Scofflaws, their big, bold, brassy melodies & highly contagious live swagger look set to garner this Barnsley crew many more fans across the UK & global ska scenes!

THE BAKESYS

The Bakesys were formed in early 1990 by a group of friends in the Berkshire town of Newbury. The band’s formation was inspired by the European third wave ska scene of the late 1980’s and the exploits of such outfits as The Loafers, Hotknives, Busters and No Sports. After establishing a strong local following by 1991, the band began playing shows all around England, appearing alongside the likes of Intensified, 100 Men, The Skanxters, Special Beat, The Selecter, Maroon Town and Newmatics in the process.

In the summer of 1992 The Bakesys crossed the Channel for the first of four highly successful visits to Germany, which culminated in October 1994 with a 14 date national tour of the country (where the band played to a total of over 4000 people). The Bakesys have contributed songs to 13 international ska compilation releases from 7 different countries and in 1997 their fast paced brand of 2 tone and third wave ska mixed with power pop and reggae was at last captured on a 10 song self-titled debut album, which was released by Do The Dog Music.

HONEY SHOP SCREAMERS

Honey Shop Screamers existed between 1998 and 2001. Initially forming as a three piece with Paul Rafferty (guitar and vocals), Paul Stearne (bass and vocals) and John Wallace (drums), the full line up was completed in 1999 with Joe Tucker (keyboards and vocals), Tom Wilson (trumpet) and Alex Foresee (trombone).

The band played their brand of 2 tone influenced ska with a new wave sensibility whilst gigging around the North West with notable bands such as Zen Baseball Bat, Slow Gherkin, The Slackers, Lubby Nugget and The Propagumbhis. Their song “English Motorways” was played extensively at the Ritz in Manchester earning them a modest following in the city. Honey Shop Screamers split in 2001 leaving Paul Rafferty, Paul Stearne and Joe Tucker to form Victor FME. John Wallace currently plays drums for Zen Baseball Bat. A collection of Honey Shop Screamers’ songs, titled “Going Out Dancing” was released in late 2002 on Do The Dog Music.

REBELATION

Rebelation are a 7 piece band from Kings Lynn, Norfolk that play a smooth brand of authentic ska, 2 tone and rootsy reggae. Their sound is highlighted by a powerful brass section & soulful dual male & female vocalists. Rebelation were formed as a 4 piece outfit in late 1994 and their initial sound was heavily influenced by the likes of The Clash, Specials & The Beat, plus Jah Shaka and the other big Engish dub reggae sound systems of the time.

After gigging locally around East Anglia for 6 months they began playing shows further afield and have been mashing up venues all across the UK ever since. Rebelation have graced the stages of many events on the UK festival scene, including Greenbelt in 1995 and Strawberry Fayre in 2002 (where they headlined the reggae stage). In 1998 they crossed the Channel to tour through Belgium & Holland for the first time. They quickly established large followings in both countries and continue to play regular Belgian & Dutch club and festival dates. Rebelation’s first demo tape was recorded in early 1995. This was followed by the release of their “Rebel” EP in 1997, “Steppas” album in 1998 and “Where Is Your Soul” 4 song EP in 1999. All three of these CD’s were self-released by the band. After signing to Do The Dog Music, Rebelation released their second album “Yo Swing Dat Mama” in 2002.

SMOKE LIKE A FISH

Smoke Like A Fish originally formed as a 6 piece outfit in 1994, inspired by the sound of 2 tone ska bands The Specials and The Selecter and late 1970’s era punk troupes like Stiff Little Fingers and The Ruts. The band built up a huge following gigging regularly around their local mid Wales scene for the next 3 years before line up problems caused them to split up in 1997. After a number of personnel changes Smoke Like A Fish reformed in 1998 with their current 8 strong line up and have been taking venues by storm all across the UK ever since.

The Smoke Like A Fish sound revolves around fast moving off-beat rhythms, brass splattered riffs, catchy choruses and social comment, all wrapped up in an unstoppably infectious 2 tone ska/pop/punkish package. A great respect for what has gone before shines through in their music, and this is reflected by the likes of The Beat’s Rankin Roger and Papa Sax and Jamaican 1960’s reggae legends Dave Barker and Dennis Alcapone joining them up on stage for some memorable renditions of past glories at a number of their gigs. Smoke Like A Fish self-released  a couple of 6 song CD’s, “The Punktured Shark EP” in 1998 and “Kippertronix” in 2000, and contributed a number of songs to the European ska compilations “Stay SHARP vol. 2” and “Only For Ska Addicts” before finally putting out their debut self-titled album on Do The Dog Music in 2002.

TOO MANY CROOKS

Too Many Crooks were formed in 1992, when Alan Perry and David Watts met Dave Cook and Marlon Johnson at a Bad Manners gig in Brighton. They all felt ska needed to be dragged kicking and screaming into the next millennium if it was ever going to haul itself out of the underground, where it had been left to fester since the 2 tone era. The Crooks soon earned themselves support slots with the likes of The Selecter and Desmond Dekker and a loyal following who welcomed their new and exciting brand of ska. In 1996 the band released their debut album “Bounce” to great critical acclaim within the ska world. This in turn led them to being signed by T-Leaf Records & to releasing 2 further killer EP’s, “Plague” and “Baby Lotion” and a second full length CD “Inside”.

A huge UK & European tour to promote the album saw Too Many Crooks appear alongside the likes of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones & The Levellers. Moving on to 2002, the band signed to Do The Dog Music and released their third long player “Spanish Fly”. With this release Too Many Crooks once again confirmed their position as one of the UK’s finest purveyors of quality 2 tone ska/pop. 2002 also saw the band approached by Phantom Pictures to provide some soundtrack music for the British gangster film, “Baby Juice Express”, which was co-written by and stars Nick Moran of “Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels” fame.

APB

APB hail from Leeds & were formed in the summer of 1998 by Jim D on guitar & vocals, Jim P on bass & Steve on drums. Their current line up has between then and now been completed by Rachel on keys, Kev on synth drum & Chris on guitar. With influences ranging from The Clash, The Specials, Citizen Fish & Operation Ivy to Lee Scratch Perry, Bob Marley, Irration Sound System & King Tubby, APB’s sound is an eclectic mix of 2 tone ska, reggae & dub flavourings underpinned by strongly anti-establishment lyrics & incredible bubbling reggae keyboards.

APB have played many gigs in the North of England including the Northern Green Gathering Festival, the Cavern Club in Liverpool with Link 80, Capdown & Lightyear and the Josephs Well in Leeds with King Django. Last summer they also played a short tour with Bobby Six Killer. APB’s debut mini album, Karoshi, was released by Do The Dog Music in Spring 2003.  

DAVID HILLYARD & THE ROCKSTEADY 7

Tenor & soprano saxophone player David Hillyard is a current member of The Slackers, one of America’s top ska bands based out of New York. His roots go back to 1986 in San Diego, California where he founded one of the earliest US third wave ska bands, Donkey Show. After Donkey Show’s split in 1990 David played with Hepcat, Los Angeles’ premier authentic ska crew, recording on their classic debut CD, “Out Of Nowhere”.

Leaving Hepcat in 1992, Hillyard moved to New York. Here he joined The Slackers with whom he has since recorded 5 superb full length albums & toured all across the globe. He has also become one of the busiest saxophone players in ska music, performing & recording with the likes of Rancid, Skinnerbox, Judge Dread, Stubborn All Stars & of course his very own amazing solo project band David Hillyard & The Rocksteady 7. The Rocksteady 7 are very much a NYC ska supegroup with a killer line up that also features The Slackers’ keyboardist & main songwriter Victor Ruggiero, plus former Stubborn All Stars members Sheldon Gregg, Eddie Ocampo & Dave Hahn.

They specialise in smoking authentic ska/jazz/latin/reggae instrumentals that will appeal to all fans of top quality old school Jamaican music. David Hillyard & The Rocksteady 7 released their debut album, “Playtime”, on Hellcat Records in 1999, while their second album, “United Front”, was put out in the UK by Do The Dog Music in Spring 2003.

DUFF MUFFIN

In 1998 five Surrey school kids got together to form a band & like most bands formed by kids, they were pretty terrible. Luckily, these kids didn’t realise quite how bad they were & continued to practice week after week. Slowly, they got the hang of how this whole band thing worked & found themselves a drummer. They got themselves onto a workshop run by legendary bass player Herbie Flowers & got their first chance to play live. Now a band can’t go on stage without a name & after rejecting loads of choices they settled on Duff Muffin.

In 1999 they recorded their first demo, which in turn got them a place on a year long band development project (called Live & Direct). This gave them an insight into the music industry as well as helping develop their song writing & performance skills. Since then they have grown & grown as a band & played shows all across the South East of England, sharing stages with the likes of Ye Wiles, Shootin Goon, MDS, Big D & The Kids Table, Caeser Soze & 5 Knuckle. In early 2003 the years of practice & song writing came together with the recording of the “Eagle Eyes” mini album, which was released by Do The Dog Music in October 2003. To describe the band to those who’ve not heard them, Duff Muffin sound like Liberator scrapping against Mad Caddies with Lets Go Bowling gone big band as referee! This all adds up to fast & furious 2 tone, 3rd wave ska & ska/punk tunes, highlighted by very cool rapid fire vocals & an awesome 3 piece brass section.