Riverside

From backyard shows to the stage

Before they had a club stage, Voodoo Glow Skulls played backyard parties in Riverside. Singer Frank Casillas later recalled that these were the gigs available to the young band. As they learned their instruments and built a set of songs, they began playing at Spanky’s Café, sharing bills with touring groups.

Frank and his brothers Eddie and Jorge formed the ska-punk band in Riverside in 1988. The brothers had moved from East Los Angeles; Frank later remembered the parties and open spaces of their new surroundings as part of the environment that shaped their music.

Their debut album Who Is, This Is? opens with “Insubordination”. The narrator answers a charge of having a bad attitude and challenges an authority figure who can write him up or send him home. Guitar, horns and a ska rhythm give the argument its momentum. The album also includes songs in Spanish, including “La Migra”.