No American band has been more influential on ska than Fishbone. So, this week, we do our 2nd episode on the group. This time with bassist Norwood Fisher. (Our first was with singer Angelo Moore). The group formed in the late 70s in Los Angeles and influenced many genres: Funk-rock, alternative music. But their influence was most felt on ska. They showed that it could be mixed with anything—and played at incredible speeds. And they’re still producing interesting music. Their 2023 self-titled EP on Fat Wreck Chords is a collection of 5 (mostly) ska tunes. We cover a lot of the nitty-gritty of Fishbone’s surreal career with moments like opening for Gallagher, hanging out with Karate Kid star William Zabka and making a fan out of Sid Krofft of the TV production team Sid and Marty Krofft. Norwood tells us about meeting Dave Grohl in the 80s when he was in Scream, learning that Margaret Cho was a Fishbone fan, and how Questlove always seems to articulate Fishbone’s intentions so elegantly.  We talk about the group’s upcoming tour with GZA, and their connection to hip-hop. They’ve played with Run DMC, Whodini, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Beastie Boys, Schoolly D, Bytches With Problems and Ice-T. That last rapper, Ice-T told Fishbone that they inspired him to start Body Count. We talk about Kevin Lyman booking the group in the early days, insane mosh pits on their 1993 Lollapalooza tour and covering Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” in 2020 with the original lineup. Plus, we learn all about how, back in the day, a young Norwood mistakenly thought Fishbone invented a new genre: fast reggae. Walter Kibby informed him that it already existed, and it was called ska. 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.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy