Who are you(names and instruments of the members)?
Beaming" Ben Klingberg - Guitar
Tony "Brother" Calarco - Alto Sax
Glen "Dr. G" Saunders - Bass
Brian "Buford" O'Sullivan - Trombone and Vocals
Jerica Rosenblum - Keyboards
John "Soul Jondo" Soldo - Drums
Richard "Sammy" Brooks - Tenor Sax and Vocals
How and why did you form?
Glen suggests going to the bands webpage www.scofflaws.com to get the fullest answer, especially Richard's bio. He started the band.
What are your major musical influences?
Definately the Skatalites. Especially in the earlier days of the band, the influence was very apparent. Years ago, before I joined the Scofflaws (I'm Glen, and I've been playing bass with the band for about 3 years), I saw the Skatalites in New York City at S.O.B.'s and thought to myself, ahhh, that's where this unusual style comes from! These days the band isn't quite as traditional as it used to be, but compared to most contemporary ska acts, we're still pretty roots oriented.
What are your non-musical influences(movies, religion, literature, etc.)?
Movies for sure. We've played quite a few movie themes, such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "The Man with the Golden Arm", and "An American in Paris" to name a few. Literature would be the beat writers, particularly William Burroughs. Way out. You might be getting the (correct) impression that we're fans of 50's and 60's era culture.
What are the future plans of the band?
We JUST finished mixing a new studio CD. All new material. That one should be ready for release in the summer.
What do you think of the current ska scene and bands?
Now that there's real commercial viability in ska (I'm just telling it like it is) the level of quality is really jumping. A few years ago there were just a few pro level bands playing ska, and a lot of the other bands were made up of young people who were just learning their instruments. That's fine. Ska is great music to learn how to play. Most of us "older" guys got started playing in rock bands. But now there are many bands that are putting out imaginative music that is very well played. Skavoovie and the Epitones and the Skalars are a couple of young bands that are sounding great.
Why did you decide to do a live CD? Because there's nothing like a Scofflaws show! Until you hear the band live, you don't really know how much energy and impact the Scofflaws can have. The live CD shows a different side to the band than the two previous studio CD's. It also was a way to get something out while we prepared new songs for the new CD.
What is your favorite or most memorable show?
Well, while playing in Caracas, Venezuela it was quite a trip to see people singing along with our tunes. I didn't even know they knew us down there.
What song would you most like to cover?
Send in the Clowns, but nobody else wants to do it. ; )
When is the new studio album slated for release?
Oops, I guess I already answered that one.