Behind the veil: Mass Ska Raid turns five
Q&A with ska-fest founder Austin Benedict
- Tyler Capehart/Apocalypse Productions
- MASS SKA RAID 2010: Chilled Monkey Brains rock the house
Back in 2008, 19-year-old Atlanta skanker Austin Benedict, inspired by the high-energy and now defunct Ska Weekend festival in Knoxville, set about the task of pulling together a myriad of ska bands under one roof in the ATL.
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Celebrating five years this August, the annual Mass Ska Raid at the Masquerade (get it?! Say it out loud: Mass-Ska-Raid, Mas-Que-Rade) has grown into one of the largest annual gathering of ska bands in the country, and the only one of its kind still kicking in the Southeast.
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A long-time bassist for disbanded Atlanta ska band 50:50 Shot, Benedict took some time to talk about the spastic evolution of Southern ska, 50:50 Shot’s Mass Ska Raid reunion, and where the ebbing genre may go from here.
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Plus, he taught me how to skank.