SPIll Your Guts: A Ska Punk International Fest interview with Sgt Scag

Features, Interviews

Ska Punk International‘s will return for another weekend of ska and ska-punk in 2024. This year's event taking place on 17 May and 18 May, has relocated to a new, all-ages venue known as 25 Central Street in Windsor, CT. Tickets can be purchased here. The annual festival will feature Catbite, Mutiny, Stop The Presses, PWRUP, Call Me Malcolm and our interview guest, Sgt. Scag. Check out what vocalist Steve Lonergan has to say below.

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! You are gearing up for SPI Fest in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to individual artists like yourselves? 

It means a lot, the only reason we are back together as a band (since 2018) was because we were asked to play Supernova International Ska Fest. We were lucky enough to play it again in 2023 at the same time we released our new record At Least More Than Halfway Dead back in September. Our ability to play out is pretty limited, as this isn't how we eat. Trying to get on these festivals is a huge focus. A huge ego boost. A sad depressing reality sometimes. Humbling. Exciting. All of the emotions.

I won't call it a ska revival because ska is something that's never gone away, but there is a massive rejuvenation of the scene with We Are The Union, The Kilograms and Catbite.  What is going on out there that has gotten so many people back on their boards to ride this latest wave of ska?  

We stopped in late 1999, but bands like Big D never stopped. A ton of these “new” bands that are getting lots of love aren't really new. They have been doing it since the early 2000's. The reality is the scene, the sound, the energy is super appealing to young people, and I just think it was time for another cycle. It is a welcoming genre (more so than any other at least) and I think it just makes people feel good to be a part of.

What does have planned for us beyond SPI Fest? 

Well, you mentioned the festival circuit. Beyond SPI we are lucky enough to be involved with the Buffalo Ska Fest (playing the pre-party) and the Ninguid Records Festival in St. Louis this summer. Our schedule outside of a few shows is pretty light so we are really hoping to get back to writing. We hit a stride towards the end of making “At Least More Than Halfway Dead”. Songs like “No End Theory,” “Everest” and “401BK” were among the last ones we wrote so we want to jump back in to making music.

What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What's been the most unexpected? The weirdest?

I will stick to since 2018 and we have been back at it. Definitely releasing a record and kicking off the Saturday session at Supernova last year. Our hometown record release show in October at Space Ballroom in Hamden, CT was pretty magical. We also got to open for Fishbone at the Gramercy Theater in NYC last year to a sold out house. Those were all pretty cool reminders of how fun and magical this music stuff can be. What's been the most unexpected? Honestly, probably just the fact that no one has brought up stopping this time. Truly. Also, pretty unexpected to hit it off so well in Austin with Cool Chris and SPI. We went out there (thanks to Mark from Madaline) to play Ska by Skawest and struck up a convo with Chris. That really solidified that we were going to actually finish making a new record in modern times. The weirdest? All of this is very weird if you think about it too much.

Speaking of live shows, what are you most excited to bring to the SPI Fest audience? What do you want those in attendance to take away from your set? 

It is very cool that we are playing so close to home for SPI Fest. I am really hopeful that lots of folks locally who have been supporting us for literally decades are able to make it out. I know SPI as a community and all of the other bands are going to bring a ton of people who are way less familiar with us to the party too. Seeing that blend all in the building should be pretty cool. I think we may be the oldest people on this damn show…so hopefully the audience can take away that we still got it and we aren't a nostalgia/legacy act.

We've all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn't take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician? 

Look you can't play them all but we have had to say no to some damn cool shows. For this one I will take you back to the 1990's. We passed up an opportunity to sign a management deal with some pretty big players circa 1997. Ska was hitting the charts of course and these guys essentially had a slot in the machine for us. We weren't really ready and we were pretty difficult to work with and eventually (after tremendous efforts on their part…one of the guys got a urinary tract infection from the stress) they correctly gave up on us. I didn't think about that much back then because we were very content being a DIY band, but did wake up a few years ago at 3am kind of angry at us for not giving that a chance. We might have gotten on MTV once or twice and been a little higher on the SPI Fest billing.

The ska scene gets a lot of flack from every genre of music (including ska itself) but is also almost always at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes.  What is it about the scene that attracts such a welcoming fanbase?  What is it about ska that leaves itself so vulnerable to mockery in the music world? 

Look, there were lots of silly ass acts in the ska scene in the 1990s. It was a silly time. We did some very dumb, ignorant or goofy things ourselves. I do think some of the mockery stems from jealousy. Hardcore kids wish they could have that much fun. It's why there are so many hardcore bands that are ska adjacent. It is lovely to see so much of an effort to ensure the modern scene is inclusive and safe. Having been there in the 1990's, it sure wasn't perfect, but I do think it gets a bad rap from many folks who weren't there. It's about getting better, growing, learning and leaving room for improvement.

We are living in a “just deal with COVID” world and everything about this timeline is some level of completely fucked, and the upcoming election sure as shit isn't cooling any temperatures.  What impact, if
any, does the current cultural and political landscape have on the band and the scene in general? 

We are all living in it, so we are all impacted. Our crew is not necessarily aligned on all topics, and that has to be okay for us to move forward. There are no simple answers and people love to oversimplify solutions. All I can tell you is that no one in this game has it perfect. We can all improve and there is a difference between those truly trying to improve things v. those climbing on the backs of others.

SPI Fest this year is nearly a hometown show.  What should those of us traveling from out of state be looking forward to in Connecticut beyond the show?  Where am I getting the best pizza from? 

We love where we are from. Connecticut is consistently rated as one of the better places to live in America for a reason. Sometimes we confuse people on our pizza stance. We do not vouch for CT pizza as the best in the country. We vouch for 5 or 6 places in/around New Haven as the best in the country. If you have time, I highly recommend you go to New Haven for Sally's, with Modern and then Zuppardi's as your backups (again these are the opinions of Steve, you may get 6 other votes elsewhere in the band….but they are wrong).

You guys took an 18 year break, but since returning you've been pretty active.  What's changed? Did absence make the heart grow fonder? 

We only want to operate when Ska is big again!!! (joke joke joke). We stopped back in 1999 cause we weren't getting along and we had interests outside the genre. I wish we were smart enough to predict that us getting back together would coincide with a “resurgence” of sorts, but that had nothing to do with it. We had some songs to write and missed playing shows and maybe even missed each other a little. Again, no one has discussed stopping.

There's a karaoke machine at the SPI afterparty, what song are you playing? 

My go to is “Since U Been Gone”. It used to be “I Believe I Can Fly” but we can't be doing that anymore.

SPI Fest is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see? 

I can't believe all the bands that are going to be there. Our goal is always to put on a better show than everyone else we play with. We better eat our Wheaties.

Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers? 

Thanks for having us!