Band says it's 'the Rat Pack of ska'

The band puts on a very entertaining show, the singer said.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Promises have been made by Reel Big Fish singer-trumpet player Scott Klopfenstein regarding the band's Saturday show at The Cellar.
"We're the Rat Pack of ska," declares Klopfenstein, calling from Colorado. "We're funny, we're engaging. You'll laugh, maybe your heartstrings will get plucked and then you'll hear some great music. We like to put on a full show because we've seen a lot of bands that were great musically but you see them live and you're [expletive] bored out of your mind."
While such hubris may belie the youthful and rambunctious image of this SoCal ska/punk band, Klopfenstein doesn't stop there.
"We're going to provide a show that most bands, whether or not they choose to, I think are absolutely incapable of providing, which is a completely well-rounded entertaining show," said Klopfenstein. "We're not just talented musicians but we're clever individuals and we like to talk to people."
For over a decade, this pogo-inducing act has grown an underground following based on its numerous albums that appeal to the Vans Warped Tour-audiences, which, in case you haven't noticed, have not aged. That is, a steady influx of junior high school kids -- fulfilling this de rigueur new millennium rite of passage into adulthood -- annually discover the playful ways of Reel Big Fish.
MTV success
Back in the day, you know, the mid-to-late '90s, the Huntington Beach, Calif. band briefly flirted with MTV success on its hit single "Sellout." However, the fickle alternative nation winds quickly changed, forcing Reel Big Fish to earn its keep by incessant touring.
"You just kind of do what you're supposed to do and hope for the best and accept the worst when it happens," Klopfenstein said. "I try not to look too far into the future. Lower expectations helps with greater acceptance."
For the first time ever, the members of Reel Big Fish find themselves as music industry free agents, having finally left Jive Records after years of pleading with the label for the freedom.
"It's kind of nice to have all of the control," Klopfenstein said. "Business people do what business people do, but they don't really understand the way the artist works and what the artist's agenda is so when you have business people trying to make something happen together, it can be a calamity."
Reel Big Fish's first order of business as independent artists was to release the concert double CD/DVD "Our Live Album is Better Than Yours." As far as its current tour, Klopfenstein said it's just a normal outing with the set list featuring plenty of fan favorites, obscure tracks ("Alternative Baby," "Everything is Cool" and "Skatanic") and even a few covers (a-ha's "Take on Me," Sublime's "Boss D.J." and Morrissey's "We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful").
Island-based influence
As members of the third wave of ska, which also includes No Doubt, Sublime and a slew of other acts now lost in obscurity, Reel Big Fish holds on tightly to its island-based influence. It's for this reason that the singer feels the band remains alive and well in 2006.
"I think a lot of it has to do with luck and also that we tried to hold onto our integrity," Klopfenstein said. "We've tried to hold onto the label of a ska band. A lot of bands that were ska bands tried to get rid of that word, that label and that title. We haven't."
He added, "It's where we come from. It's a major important part of what we are, and to turn your back on it is kind of ridiculous."