Skunk Records 25th Anniversary

February 18, 2014

The label that started it all! We’re talking about the legendary California based record label Skunk Records, a label that launched the career of groups such as Sublime, Slightly Stoopid and Long Beach Dub Allstars; has announced the dates for their 25th Anniversary, with some special performances!

Label founder and former Sublime member, Michael “Miguel” Happoldt, will lead an all-star band that will include Opie Ortiz & Aaaron Owens of Long Beach Dub Allstars, Kyle & Miles from Slightly Stoopid, Big B, DJ Product & members of Unwritten Law, Perro Bravo and Jakob Nowell, son of the late Bradley Nowell, with his new band LAW and they will all perform a set of classic Skunk material for the fans. The tour will kick-off February 23rd in Solana Beach, CA and end with a special performance at The California Roots Music and Arts Festival on May 25th, 2014 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, CA.

Skunk Records was started by Miguel while he was in college for his former band The Ziggens. Shortly thereafter, Miguel linked up with Brad Nowell and Sublime and released two classic albums with 1992’s 40.Oz To Freedom and 1993’s Robbin’ The Hood. Throughout their 25 years in existence, Skunk Records has been home to legendary groups like Slightly Stoopid, Long Beach Dub Allstars and released some classic albums that truly embody the positive vibrations of the southern California lifestyle.

“The idea behind the Skunk Records 25th anniversary show started one night in Malibu, CA. My band, Perro Bravo, was set to play a show with the Expendables, so I reached out to my old school homie, Kevin Zinger (co-founder of Suburban Noize Records), to come out to the show and catch up,” says Miguel.

“The show was crazy, so as an encore we played ‘The Timeline’, which is this medley that takes you on a trip through my musical past from Falling Idols to Sublime and the Ziggens, and ends with the new material I’m working on now. Everyone went nuts and Zinger was kinda moved by this and said he thought fans would love to see us play the medley, live, with an all-star line-up. Flash forward a couple weeks, and Zinger was hanging out with Dan Sheehan from Cali-Roots fest and he proposed the idea of us doing ‘The Timeline’ live at the festival. Dan thought it was a great way to celebrate the impact that Skunk Records has had over the past two decades and was stoked to have us do it at the Cali Roots Fest. We’ve got some big things planned for the performance that will be revealed in the coming weeks.”

I’d be hard pressed to find a band in this genre that isn’t influenced by the body of work Miguel produced under Skunk Records. This came at a time before social networks, before Youtube, iTunes & I was always the kid growing up that was pushing this music on to anyone I met, leading to a more fitting role owning & operating, The Pier. The news of Skunk’s anniversary tour, leading up to Cali-Roots, will be a TRUE representation of what Cali-Roots embodies in it’s name. It’s a fitting stage to pay homage & tribute to Skunk Records & we hope as many of you are there to celebrate California’s roots with Skunk Records at the California Roots festival.

When I look back at my experience with discovering Sublime, The Ziggens, Slightly Stoopid & LBDA – Skunk Records was the movement behind all of that charisma. Skunk deserves more notoriety & respect for what they contributed to their success & the genre as a whole. If you look at the current Reggae-Rock genre today, its hard to imagine what it’d look like without Skunk Records early influence, especially following Bradley Nowell’s untimely death in 1996. What Miguel was able to help put together with Long Beach Dub Allstars, in my mind, set the tone of how the playing field looks today with artist collaborations & eliminating any genre dividing lines, while putting the Unity in Community and its a community we continue to celebrate today.

Much respect to Miguel Happoldt, Kevin Zinger & Dan Sheehan for making this work and it’s a long overdue tribute to one of the leading influential entities in the Reggae-Rock genre! View some of the tour dates below and follow Miguel’s new band, Perro Bravo, on Facebook where they’re doing contests for fans to win some classic Skunk Records releases!

SKUNK RECORDS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOWS:
Feb 23 @ The Belly Up Tavern. Solana Beach, CA
Feb 27 @ The Observatory. Santa Ana, CA
Apr 05 @ The Roxy. Hollywood, CA
May 25 @ California Roots Music & Arts Festvial. Monterey, CA