Local Ska Band Suits up in Style
One especially chilly Tuesday night, The Statesman had the opportunity to catch up with Logan’s own ska act, Viewers Like You. Though when in full swing the band is comprised of six members, The Statesman took a three-pronged approach and interviewed the three longest-standing members of the band. The self-described ska/rock/jazz/reggae/Latin fusion band told us just what they are all about.
US: So, Viewers Like You. Let’s start with roll call. Here we have Devin Felix, vocalist and saxophonist for the band.Devin Felix: Here.US: Next we have Mike, or “Fathead,” the drummer.Mike Hylton: Do we really have to take roll?US: Yes. And next we have Jer, the guitarist.Jeremiah Graves: Howdy.US: And there are also other members of the band who aren’t present, correct?DF: True.MH: There’s Spencer Jackson, the trombonist.JG: And Zac Taylor, who plays trumpet, and Patrick Park, who plays bass.US: And have you switched band members before?JG: Yeah, Devin and I are the only ones who have been in the band the whole time.US: What is the whole time, exactly?DF: May 2004. That’s when we wrote all of our songs and had our first gig.JG: That’s a long time.US: Is there an album in the works?JG: We’ll have an album out by summer 2008.DF: Watch for it, kids!US: Who does the song writing?DF: We all do.JG: I usually cover the chords and guitar work. While I do that, Devin comes up with a melody and lyrics.JG: And our music major Fathead, here, helps with chord progression and finalizing.DF: Then the horn players put together the horn lines to go along with everything. And then the bassist comes up with the bass lines.US: What seems to be the fan’s the favorite VLY song?JG: Probably a heavy-swing song called Krimzon.US: And what would you say are your key influences as a band?DF: I would say our initial influences were a few local ska bands from the late ’90s, when we were in high school: The Solutions, My Man Friday.MH: Also, bigger bands like the Aquabats. Reel Big Fish. There was a lot of ska going on in those days.US: There’s a saying, “Ska is dead.” What do you guys have to say about that?MH: It’s only dead if you let it be dead in your heart!JG: Some people would say it went back to where it belongs- “underground.”DF: The problem with saying anything is dead is that it implies that for anything to be “alive” it has to be accepted by the mainstream audience. And that’s simply not true.MH: There are pockets of really good ska bands out there, too. We did a show in Salt Lake, and quite a few people showed up. There is enough of a following that we can still play really fun shows.US: Where would you say is your favorite place to play?JG: The Walnut Room on campus.DF: And Night on the Quad is fun.US: When is your next performance?JG: As far as we know, the next Day/Night on the Quad, April 18.US: Has anything embarrassing ever happened to you on stage?JG: At the very first show we ever played, I got a bloody nose.DF: And one time when we performed a version of Michael Jackson’s “Black or White,” I flipped around at the end of the song and hit my face on the microphone.US: What’s your favorite song to cover?DF: Probably “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure. Also, we got a good response to “Lady in Red” at Homecoming one year.US: Good songs. And tell us about your Lite-Brites.JG: Well, our goal is to bring the fun out of people at our shows, so we like to display our band name across stage with Lite-Brites. We have 15 of them.US: Impressive. And you dress up for your shows, right?JG: Yes, it’s a tradition to dress up in suits and ties for a ska crowd.MH: That is one of our unique traits.JG: We like to have a good time – we’re a party band.MH: When people hear us, they like to dance. That’s the best part about performing for me, at least, seeing people with smiles on their faces getting excited about our music.
If you want to be one of those smiling, excited people, you can find Viewers Like You at myspace.com/vly and listen to a medley of their songs. You can also contact them at vlyska@gmail.com. And don’t forget to watch for that album this summer.
If you are a sax machine and would like to be interviewed, contact Kelly at Kelly.green@aggiemail.usu.edu.