My roots with Ska music take me all the way back to South Florida, skanking in a crowded room of a small venue called Anonymous Guitars in Pompano Beach in 2014. I was in college, and my (now) husband and I would frequent this venue on many a date to watch one of our favorite local bands, Funkman’s Inferno. I know you’re probably wondering if you’re reading the right article but stay with me on this.
I kept up with my favorite local band, which means I kept up with a very talented musician (JER of JER band) as they embarked on more projects in which their musical prowess was on full display. Projects like Skatune Network, where JER created Ska covers of popular cartoons or shows we’ve come to love, like Scooby-Doo and Steven Universe.
It has been so incredible to watch JER blossom into the artist they are today, having their own band now on tour along the East Coast, playing their own music that is heavily rooted in Ska, Punk and truly any genre that they wanted to include to best represent their message.
If you haven’t checked out their most recent record Death Of The Heart or Unbothered/Bothered I highly recommend you check them out. The upbeat music is met with incredibly disruptive messaging that demands you listen. JER does an incredible job in their music calling out current political power structures while advocating for minorities and the LGBTQ+ community. You truly cannot get more Ska/Punk than that, their music and platform is the definition of the genre in its totality.
If you haven’t listened to JER I highly recommend checking out their records, and catching them on tour! Shows will be spanning mostly the East Coast of the US, from Pittsburg to Atlanta and Ohio.
