In Defense of Ska Ep 195: Zac Carper (FIDLAR)

Earlier this year, while FIDLAR were on stage opening for Oliver Tree in Philadelphia, lead singer/guitarist Zac Carper told the crowd, “I think we are becoming a Ska band.” It’s an ongoing joke, but one rooted in a dash of truth. This week, we bring Zac on the show to understand just how much ska shaped his musicality. 

Zac comes from Hawaii, a state that loves ska and reggae. Zac tells us what it’s like to grow up around so much “Jawaiian” music. He says he even writes a lot of FIDLAR songs on the ukulele and generally starts out giving them a ska or reggae groove. We talk about his early punk years and learn which ska bands he got to see in Hawaii. 

We break down a few FIDLAR songs. One was inspired by Fishbone. Another by The Impossibles. Which songs, you ask? You’ll have to listen to find out. But in addition to all that, we talk at length about his Sublime tattoo. Both he and The Frights’ singer Mikey Carnevale have matching Sublime tattoos. 

We also talk about Jonah Ray, Dune Rats, and a weird hyperska song Zac collaborated on with Kamiyada+.

Listen to Zac Carper's conversation, and make sure to like, review, and follow the series wherever you get your podcast. Don't forget to check out all the Consequence Podcast Network series here.

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.