In Defense of Ska Ep 147: Dan Ozzi (Author of Sellout)

Author Dan Ozzi’s 2021 book “Sellout” brilliantly profiled 11 punk/hardcore/emo bands that signed to a major label in the 90s/2000s (Green Day, Against Me, Jawbreaker, At The Drive-In). He showed minute details of the scenes these bands came from, how and why they signed to a major, and ultimately what impact making this jump had on them. What’s interesting is how differently each band was impacted by releasing a “sellout” record. 

We brought Dan Ozzi this week to search for signs of ska in his book. While no ska band was profiled, the genre comes up occasionally on the sidelines. Plus, we learn that Less Than Jake (and their “sellout” record “Losing Streak”) was considered as one of the profiles for his book. 

But we also talk about Chris Farren, Jeff Rosenstock, Glenn Danzig, Catch 22, Jersey ska band Professor Plum, and we explore all the connections between Jimmy Eat World and Less Than Jake. Plus, Dan also tells us wild Gilman stories that came up in his research. 

We also talk about Blink 182’s connection to ska, how many times people brought up Reel Big Fish to him while he was promoting his book, and we discuss new genres that are over all our heads (Indie Sleaze). 

Plus, we talk about a brilliant 90s Star Trek-themed garage band called The Vulcaneers that featured Gerry Lundquist and Lars Nylander of Skankin’ Pickle. Amazing group! 

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.