In Defense of Ska Ep 83: Vi Viana (Gutless)

In Defense of Ska

Earlier this year Vi Viana released her first ska song in years. The song, "Burning The Bridge," (by her band Gutless) is a serious song about coping with trauma and abuse and features Jer on horns. One of the reasons she wrote the song was to push back on people's (false) idea that ska is silly music.

Vi has been a fan of ska since she was a child. She was born and raised in northeast Brazil. Her mom introduced her to the music via The Specials and Brazilian bands like Os Paralamas do Sucesso. At 10, her family moved to Miami and she got into bands like Aquabats and Less Than Jake. But eventually, she would discover a great local scene at the Talent Farm.

On today's episode with Vi, we discuss ska in Brazil (Abraskadabra, O Leopardo, Móveis Coloniais de Acaju), Jer's early ska band "Funkman's Inferno," why she sings in English and Portuguese (and how Less Than Jake's Vinnie Fiorello suggested she do it!), and we talk about the brilliant community on Ska Twitter, and new artists like Kmoy, Tapegirl, We Are The Union, Best of the Worst, Half Past Two, Catbite and Eichlers.

We also discuss how her music was influenced by her identity as a Brazilian, an immigrant and a queer person. Oh, and we even mention her old ska-punk band Sluggage.

If you’d like to support us and listen to early access, ad-free episodes with bonus content, check out our Patreon!

If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music.

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024.

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023.

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

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