| MISSION: SKA |
Who is Melissa (nickname to be substituted later)?
I'm gonna start off by saying I depend on spell check way too much. I'm also fond of typing in all lowercase.
That being said here's my bio.
I was born in the year of our lord 1980. Fast forward. I went to high school during the ska explosion of the late 90's or what they call the third wave of ska. I refuse to try to define ska or get into a discussion about semantics. I just know what I like and I like ska. Scratch that, I love ska. I'm sure everyone has that moment when they discover a band or musical genre that they can relate to so wholeheartedly that it confirms their reason for living. For me it was ska. Specifically ska/punk. Sadly I only had one friend who liked the same kind of music and she lived in Hialeah, a city which, back then, my parents treated as butt fuck Egypt. I lived in Kendall. Sufficed to say we didn't get to hang out every day. Most of my friends didn't even know what ska was. Nor did they care. That has not changed to this day. But what got me through the days and introduced me to a world of wonderful music was a little radio show called ONE STEP BEYOND hosted by Mark Del Campo on WVUM. I used to sit on my bed with my boombox and a blank tape every Tuesday night and listen to the entire show. I went to shows, but not as many as I could have. Less Than Jake, Goldfinger, MU330, Bum Ruckus, The Vacant Andys, RBF, are some of the ones I can remember. When you think back on all the acts that came down here....geez I could have seen so many more. But when you're a kid you're dependent on your parents or your friend in Hialeah and lets just say it doesn't always work out.
After high school I went to Miami Dade (back when it was still a community college). I had a radio show there but was forced to play rotation. bah. By that time things had started to calm down. The wave had pretty much passed. Soon after I went Boston for college where I had a radio show there as well. But they never wanted to give me a specialty show. I guess no one at that school liked ska/punk. So I had to play rotation yet again. I ended up living in Boston for 6 yrs. Boston is an awesome city. Every band comes to Boston. Problem was, I had no one to go to shows with up there either. But I guess musically I was spoiled up there because when I moved back to Miami in 2007 I found myself having a massive reality check. Not only was there no scene that I could see, I didn't even know where the young people were. Everywhere I turned I saw older people and non english speaking people. Maybe I'd lived in Boston for too long but in high school I remember A LOT of people who spoke English and listened to rock music. What happened? Did they all move away? Did they go into hiding? When it comes to music I feel like a fish out of water here. I don't know where my people are, I don't know where the bands are, where they're playing. So instead of just accepting my defeat, I decided to do something about it. A lesson in futility? Perhaps. But what can I say? I'm a dreamer.
Oh yeah I should mention I have a degree in Audio/Radio, one in Digital post production, I do voice overs, I make videos, and I also make Tshirts. None of these make me any money. Neither does this site or this mission. But when you're passionate about something it doesn't really matter.
A MESSAGE TO BANDS
If you need any help with putting a show together down here, I'll help anyway I can. From promotional stuff to practical stuff. I'll be your friend in Miami.
That being said here's my bio.
I was born in the year of our lord 1980. Fast forward. I went to high school during the ska explosion of the late 90's or what they call the third wave of ska. I refuse to try to define ska or get into a discussion about semantics. I just know what I like and I like ska. Scratch that, I love ska. I'm sure everyone has that moment when they discover a band or musical genre that they can relate to so wholeheartedly that it confirms their reason for living. For me it was ska. Specifically ska/punk. Sadly I only had one friend who liked the same kind of music and she lived in Hialeah, a city which, back then, my parents treated as butt fuck Egypt. I lived in Kendall. Sufficed to say we didn't get to hang out every day. Most of my friends didn't even know what ska was. Nor did they care. That has not changed to this day. But what got me through the days and introduced me to a world of wonderful music was a little radio show called ONE STEP BEYOND hosted by Mark Del Campo on WVUM. I used to sit on my bed with my boombox and a blank tape every Tuesday night and listen to the entire show. I went to shows, but not as many as I could have. Less Than Jake, Goldfinger, MU330, Bum Ruckus, The Vacant Andys, RBF, are some of the ones I can remember. When you think back on all the acts that came down here....geez I could have seen so many more. But when you're a kid you're dependent on your parents or your friend in Hialeah and lets just say it doesn't always work out.
After high school I went to Miami Dade (back when it was still a community college). I had a radio show there but was forced to play rotation. bah. By that time things had started to calm down. The wave had pretty much passed. Soon after I went Boston for college where I had a radio show there as well. But they never wanted to give me a specialty show. I guess no one at that school liked ska/punk. So I had to play rotation yet again. I ended up living in Boston for 6 yrs. Boston is an awesome city. Every band comes to Boston. Problem was, I had no one to go to shows with up there either. But I guess musically I was spoiled up there because when I moved back to Miami in 2007 I found myself having a massive reality check. Not only was there no scene that I could see, I didn't even know where the young people were. Everywhere I turned I saw older people and non english speaking people. Maybe I'd lived in Boston for too long but in high school I remember A LOT of people who spoke English and listened to rock music. What happened? Did they all move away? Did they go into hiding? When it comes to music I feel like a fish out of water here. I don't know where my people are, I don't know where the bands are, where they're playing. So instead of just accepting my defeat, I decided to do something about it. A lesson in futility? Perhaps. But what can I say? I'm a dreamer.
Oh yeah I should mention I have a degree in Audio/Radio, one in Digital post production, I do voice overs, I make videos, and I also make Tshirts. None of these make me any money. Neither does this site or this mission. But when you're passionate about something it doesn't really matter.
A MESSAGE TO BANDS
If you need any help with putting a show together down here, I'll help anyway I can. From promotional stuff to practical stuff. I'll be your friend in Miami.
