Much rust can accumulate over nine years. And a packed house isn't exactly the place to work out the kinks. Riddled with fear and anxiety, Magadog frontman Ed Lowery gulped down a couple strong drinks before performing Sept. 15 at WMNF's 28th Birthday Bash in Ybor City.
His band reigned as Florida's foremost ska revival act during the 1990s. The Tampa group was on a national label and even appeared on MTV. But all that ended in '98. Would Magadog 2.0 honor its considerable legacy — or embarrass itself before friends and family?
When the eight-man ensemble took the stage around 10:30 p.m., the Cuban Club ballroom was packed with loved ones, pals and skankers of all ages.
"Needless to say, I was shitting a brick," Lowery says.
He laughs and then takes a long pull from his pint of Guinness. It's shortly after 6 p.m. on a Monday, and we're at New World Brewery, just around the corner from the Cuban Club.
Magadog's 60-minute performance there in September proved an unmitigated success. The band had rehearsed about 10 times prior to the show and arrived ready to match the audience's high expectations. Offering a traditional ska sound marked by classic "one drop" reggae rhythms, punchy horns and Lowery's demonstrative vocals, which include more than a hint of an affected Jamaican accent, Magadog elicited a roaring response from the familiar and fresh faces in the crowd.
"It was good times," Lowery says. "We lucked out and sounded good. Karma was with us that night."
The current Magadog lineup features original members Lowery, Jim Pedigo (keyboards, vocals), Dave Akright (bass) and Keith Bartlett (guitar). They are joined by Carlos Velez (drums), Brian Aulisio (trumpet), Dave Russell (trombone) and Joe Terrana (sax). The band headlines the Florida Ska Fest Sat., Dec. 1, at Crowbar. Two weeks later, on Dec. 15, they join local Soukous legends Amandal Tunesmith for a gig at Skipper's Smokehouse that should draw hundreds. And they recently released a new CD titled Sunrise. So yeah, Magadog is back — even if the frontman isn't exactly sure about the group's goals.
"I don't know," he says. "Y'know, just have fun, make killer records and tour, but nothing major."
Magadog already had its "major" run at stardom. The band formed in 1992, back when Gainseville's Less Than Jake was still a punk trio. Third Wave Ska had emerged from New York and California in the late 1980s but was still several years away from its mid-'90s peak, which found bands like No Doubt, Sublime and Mighty Mighty Bosstones dominating MTV.
Magadog's self-titled debut album came out in 1995 on the venerable Moon Ska Records. The Toasters' Robert "Bucket" Hingley formed the label. It operated from 1983 to 2000, releasing ska records exclusively by bands such as The Slackers and Hepcat. Hoping to cash in on third wave mania, the label had Magadog shoot a video for "Monkey in the White House," the lead-off track from the band's debut disc. It appeared on MTV's 120 Minutes — but didn't blow up like, say, "Just a Girl." (Yeah, that Gwen Stefani's tough to beat).
In a bid to build a grassroots fanbase, Magadog toured the nation to the tune of about 200 shows a year in 1995 and '06. Maagdog's 13-passenger van was a far cry from The Starship — but it got the job done. Lowery and company played to thousands of screaming skankers and opened for some of their musical heroes.
"We did a stint with the Skatalites that included a House of Blues show in New Orleans," Lowery recalls. "It was our first really big out-of-town tour. It was quite a thrill."
Lowery takes a drag from his Camel Light.
"It was kind of neat to get drum lessons from [original Skatalite] Lloyd Knibbs."
Magadog issued two albums on Moon. The second, DUI-N-I, came out in '96. Despite favorable reviews, it failed to sell, and the band was dropped from the label.
"It was weird," Lowery says. "We did our first record on our own with distribution from [Moon], and it was a sweet deal. There were not as many ska bands at the time.
"But then we signed a deal with Moon for our second record," he continues. "And by then there were like 20,000 ska bands. Ska had really gone belly up. Moon started going out of business and we got lost in the shuffle."
And so it goes. Magadog split in 1998 after self-releasing the odds-and-sods collection Daze. In the liner notes Lowery wrote: "What had started as a laugh became a national legacy and an extended family of lifetime friendship. Seven guys and a chick, who hardly knew how to play their instruments, from Florida, influenced Ska music's third wave forever."
Talking to Lowery, one doesn't detect a trace of bitterness. He's a "30-something," affable guy who smiles and laughs often. The singer/percussionist and songwriter drives a red Vespa and likes to spend time with his 8-year-old daughter and fiancée Cindy Sexton, who joins us during the second hour of the interview.
"By '98, at that point we were in so much debt from touring, and because ska got so oversaturated, everyone just lost ambition," Lowery says.
From 1997 until last year, Lowery played drums in the Unrequited Loves. The rock trio was led by guitarist singer Mike O'Neill and also featured Magadog guitarist Keith Bartlett. One of Tampa Bay's most respected singer/songwriters, O'Neill committed suicide at the age of 41 by jumping off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge last July.
"Yeah, I saw it coming," Lowery says. "Mike went on a yearlong freak-out bender. I tracked him down. His family got involved. It seemed like he was cleaning his act up — but depression doesn't fade away. The last couple years have been really tough on Keith and I."
Reassembling Magadog was a no-brainer. Considering the success of contemporaries like Less Than Jake, it's clear that there's still a substantial audience for third wave skankers, especially for a band that pretty much started the movement in Florida.
"I got tired of going out and having people ask me when Magadog was getting back together," Lowery jokes. "It was getting to be a pain in the ass."
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2007.
