This week on In Defense of Ska, it’s already been established on this podcast that ska is huge in Mexico. The evidence is the gigantic all-ska festivals in Mexico City. So today, we bring on the man who put on the first big ska festival in recent history and showed everyone that Mexico City is the capital of ska. Jose “Deals” Olan is a longtime musician and promoter in Mexico. He has played saxophone in several bands (Bad Manners, Tijuana No, The Toasters, Maskatesta), and he fronts his own group, Out Of Control Army, which he formed in 2015. Right around that same time, he booked his first big ska festival: Non Stop Ska in 2016, which drew tens of thousands of people. Though ska was quite popular in Mexico during the ’90s and early 2000s, there was a decline in the music around 2005. But Deals knew the audience was still there. He convinced his boss (OCESA) to let him book a huge all-ska festival in 2016. They did, and the people came. Now big ska festivals are the norm in Mexico. In this episode we also trace ska’s history in Mexico. We discuss the role that bands like Maldita Vecindad, Tijuana No, Panteon Rococo, Inspector, Sekta Core and Nana Pancha played. We talk about the “Father of Mexican Ska,” Pepe Lobo, who was the only person investing in many of these bands in the early/mid-90s. he sold their tapes at El Chopo in Mexico City. Years later, many of these bands were signed by major labels and had huge hits on the radio. We also get into the nitty-gritty of the distinct subculture that is MexSka. We talk about why fans are called Skatos and Skaceros, why there are very few trad ska bands in Mexico, and why corrupt promoters made it hard for ska bands outside of Mexico to play in the country. And how Deals helped correct that. Plus, we hear about the Earthquake that forced the 2nd Non Stop Ska festival to be postponed for 6 months! Listen to "Deals” Olan talk about all this and more in this episode of In Defense of Ska above, and make sure to like, review, and follow the series wherever you get your podcast. Fans can also get early and ad-free episodes by joining the IDOS Patreon, and don't forget to check out all the Consequence Podcast Network series.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