This Friday, New Tone ska trailblazers Bad Operation will release a split EP with ska-punk veteran Joe Gittleman of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Avoid One Thing for Bad Time Records’ Wavebreaker split series. Ahead of the release, we’re premiering one of Bad Op’s tracks, “Grandma’s Car,” along with its video. It’s a fun, brief, upbeat ska song that the band says was inspired by The Chinkees, and it comes with a black-and-white performance video filmed inside Humidity, a skate shop in the band’s hometown of New Orleans. They told us more about the song and its video, doing a split with Joe Gittleman, and more in a short Q&A with trombonist Daniel “D-Ray” Ray and bassist Greg Rodrigue. Read on to watch the video and see what they had to say.
Bad Operation are also gearing up to play a stint of dates on the Bad Time Records Tour, which is being co-headlined by We Are The Union, Catbite, and Kill Lincoln and being filmed for the upcoming concert film/documentary This Is New Tone. Bad Op talked a bit about the tour and film in our Q&A too. All upcoming dates (including NYC’s Brooklyn Monarch on July 1) are listed below.
We’ve got an exclusive white vinyl variant of the Bad Op/Joe Gittleman split, and you can pick that up in the BV shop.
What kind of impact has Joe Gittleman had on you as artists/musicians/songwriters/etc and why were you excited to do a split with him?
D-Ray: It’s almost impossible to overestimate how ingrained Joe’s music is in my/BAD OP’s collective paths. The horn line for The BossTones “The Impression That I Get” was the first horn line I ever EVER attempted to learn on trombone. This was even before I fell head over heels in love with other punk and ska bands. It was just because it was the “fun song” on the radio. Similar to No Doubt in that way, Joe’s musical influence is embedded in my brain because it transcends out of the genre. It’s just good solid pop song writing.
So the idea that that shy kid in the corner of his friend’s garage, trying to learn a horn line so he can hang with the cool guitar player kids gets to release music with one of the songwriters of that song and so many other hits…is just bonkers. I don’t really know what else to say! It’s like you work so hard at something more than half your life and to see an opportunity like this come before us is stuff my fairy tales are made of. I mean The BossTones formula of verse-chorus, punk part straight into ska horns, still influences ska bands today. In my mind, they set the bar and changed everything.
What can you tell us about “Grandma’s Car” in particular and its video?
Greg: For the instrumentation the song itself is kinda a melding of two song ideas I had smashed into one, and refined to just the essential elements. I think the song clocks in at a minute and 57 seconds. Just meant to be a bouncy ska song with some rhythmic breaks, akin to something like what Mike Park’s band The Chinkees would write I guess. The idea for this music video was pretty simple, just play a DIY live show inside our local skate shop & film it.
Humidity has been a pillar in the skating community here in New Orleans since 1996. It’s been located in the same spot in the historic French Quarter since they started. Phil Santosuosso (who owns and runs the shop) is an advocate for skateboarding & giving back to the youth in our city. Plus he’s an amazing skater. It was his idea to throw an all ages show in the small space, and to be honest it felt like a dream come true to be able to make that happen. The shop feels like a beacon of creativity + skate culture. I can remember walking in there to buy boards and shoes as a teenager, and even today almost 20 years later I still make a point to buy my shoes from them to support the shop. To set up DIY and play in there was sick. The energy in the room was great.
Many thanks to Mitch Wells for filming + editing, to everyone locally who came out, and of course to Phil + Humidity + crew to make the video happen.
This is the fourth installment of the Wavebreaker series. From your perspective, what makes this series so important for the ska community?
D-Ray: Until the Wavebreaker series, there was always this disconnect between the influential legacy ska bands and whatever newer generation of ska bands were happening. Outside of the occasional opening slot on a local show or short run of tour dates, there was no lasting through line or documented shared support for one another. Bad Time/[label founder] Mike [Sosinski] has created such a rad collaborative opportunity for these bands and fans of these bands. For the older bands, it offers their new music to fans of New Tone bands while giving their stamp of approval to their fans who might not have heard of Bad Time or New Tone. For New Tone bands, it’s a huge honor to have that stamp of approval and to be out in front of an audience of folks like us who grew up on that music. It also allows us a chance to pay honor and appreciation for those who came before us.
Greg: It’s an honor to be able to be a part of the Bad Time Records family / record label and this Wavebreaker series with Joe. BTR is uniquely positioned to be able to make something like this happen. The label has put in the hard work to within less than five years build a strong enough roster and following to not only spark excitement amongst new listeners for ska music, but also rekindle a passion for this music amongst folks that have been listening to it all their lives. The Wavebreaker series is a tangible representation of that I think.
You’re playing some upcoming dates on the Bad Time Records tour, which is being filmed for the This Is New Tone film. What are you most looking forward to with both the tour and film?
D-Ray: Honestly, with both the tour and the film, I’m most looking forward to experiencing and spreading some joy in community with others. For me, I think of New Tone as a joyous retaliation of the white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy that oppresses all of us. So a huge part of these live shows for me is providing a place for all of us to shake loose the trauma we hold in our bodies. You have to release that negativity somehow or it’s gonna burn you and affect everyone you interact with. Dancing and singing and shouting and moshing are a great communal way to move that energy through yourself. I really hope that people walk away from these shows and the eventual film feeling like this collection of artists has provided a safe, accepting place for anyone to be their best, most vulnerable self.
This will also be the longest tour our band has ever been on. I’m super stoked to spend all that time together. Even though we’re all in New Orleans, I’m always wishing we had more time to hang out. Same goes for the folks in We Are The Union, Catbite, Kill Lincoln and the This is New Tone film crew. All of us are working so hard in our own corners, it’s going to feel great to come together and celebrate what we’ve built and document it in the film.
Greg: I am going to stage dive on tour as much as possible. Can’t wait. The film I think will help serve as a document for these bands and this sound for years to come. There is no real way to tell now in the present moment what type of impact such a well-organized film will make in the long run. It seems likely though that this movie will stand the test of time. For us to be a part of it is so incredibly special to me, and I’m quite thankful.
Bad Operation — 2023 Tour Dates
6/24 – NEW ORLEANS, LA – TIPITINA’S BLOCK PARTY 2023 %
6/26 – ORLANDO, FL – THE SOCIAL %
6/28 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – UNION STAGE %
6/29 – ASBURY PARK, NJ – H OF I %
6/30 – BOSTON, MA – CRYSTAL BALLROOM %
7/1 – BROOKLYN, NY – BROOKLYN MONARCH %
7/2 – PHILADELPHIA, PA – UNDERGROUND ARTS %
9/1 – LOS ANGELES, CA – KNITTING FACTORY
9/2 – BERKELEY, CA – 924 GILMAN – BTR 5 YEAR
9/16 – FORT MONROE, VA – SUPERNOVA SKA %
w/ WATU + CATBITE + KILL LINCOLN = %
Tickets for all dates here.
