Local Talent: The Pietasters

General Manager

Once I decided to come to D.C. for college, I recognized one of the perks was the local music scene, specifically the ska scene.

The D.C. ska scene jumped off in the early 1990‰’s with bands such as The Checkered Cabs, Boy O Boy, The Skunks and of course The Pietasters. Concerts at George Washington University and Georgetown University helped promote these bands and visits from New York bands such as The Slackers and The Toasters also promoted the local scene. The Pietasters are one of the bands from this era that are still around. And for good reason.

The Pietasters started out in 1990 as a group of friends all attending school in Virginia and originally called themselves The Slugs. However, much like their first label Moon Records, the band realized that “The Slugs” was already taken and had to change their name to “The Pietasters” — British slang for a fat person. Moon Records had to change their name to “Moon Ska Records” because another label held the rights to “Moon Records.”

The Pietasters started playing regularly in D.C. bars and small venues and in the summer of 1993, went on tour. Traveling on a school bus, the band had a rough tour and only two of the original members stayed in the band after this tour.

The band reformed and caught the attention of Bucket Hingley, who fronted The Toasters (the original ska band) and also owned Moon Records. He helped The Pietasters put out their 1995 album Oolooloo. Later while on tour in Los Angeles, the band met Tim Armstrong (punk icon, member of Operation Ivy and Rancid) and signed to his label Hellcat Records which put out their next two albums, Willis and Awesome Mix Tape vol. 6.

The Pietasters went on to continued success, releasing three more albums a DVD of them live at our very own 9:30 Club and even performing as a backing band for James Brown at a sold out show here in D.C.

The Pietasters endured continued success and did not die out in the 1990‰’s because they have such a timeless sound. Even though they play ska, which may seem like a limited genre on first appearance, their sound is exceedingly diverse. There are obvious influences from such artists as Bob Marley and Otis Redding in their work and they also covered The Rolling Stones as well and Tom Petty after they attended a concert of his.

D.C. has a great deal to offer with regards to music, whether the band got their start here in the 1990‰’s or in 2012. However, The Pietasters are better seem live and experiencing one of their shows then just merely listening to their songs. Unfortunately y’all just missed their Oct. 20 9:30 club gig, but keep a look out for future tour dates, including a Feb. 1, 2013 Black Cat show.

If you make music, live in D.C. and want to be featured on WVAU.org in our Local Talent column, please contact [email protected] with a link to your music.

By Nick Looney