In Defense of Ska Ep 150: Nick Wiger (Doughboys, Get Played)

Doughboys is an extremely popular podcast. On it, hosts Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell discuss chain restaurants, while also chopping it up with different weekly guests, many of who are comedians. Doughboys is kind of a food podcast and kind of a comedy podcast. And it’s a lot of fun to listen to. It’s perfect because who doesn’t have strong opinions about chain restaurants like Taco Bell, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Arby’s, and Outback Steakhouse? 

Avid Doughboys listeners have noticed ska pop up on the show occasionally. That’s because Nick has a ska past. So, we brought him on the show to discuss it. When he was a teenager, he played sax in an Orange County ska band called My Other Brother Darryl (A Newhart reference). Nick also went to high school with Reel Big Fish members Tavis Werts (Trumpet) and Danny Regan (Trombone), so he got to witness Reel Big Fish’s rise to the mainstream from a unique, inside angle. 

We talk about this, and the various ska bands he likes (No Doubt, Let’s Go Bowling, Save Ferris, Aquabats) and find out what the chances are of him ever attending a ska show again. We also talk about how Mighty Mighty Bosstones frontman Dicky Barrett nearly appeared on Doughboys, Nick’s history on the clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone, and we determine what is the official ska fast food. 

Plus, we talk about Taco Bravo (our favorite shitty restaurant, located in San Jose, CA), Nick’s love/hate relationship with Jack In The Box, and Comedy Bang Bang host Scott Aukerman’s ska connections. We break down a few Funny or Die skits Nick made back when he worked there (The Monster Fuck, Jar Jar Binks Gungan style). We also talk about Pears’ love for Doughboys (And their connection to ska band, Bad Operation), and go into detail about PUP’s brilliant performance on a Doughboy’s livestream: a food parody version of their song “Reservoir.” 

Plus, we make a plea to former IDOS guest Jordan Morris to take Nick to a ska show. Help us Jordan. You’re our only hope! 

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.