Skank For Choice 2020: Bigger, Ruder, and Nationwide
To the uninitiated, “skank” is a derogatory term for a woman deemed trashy or promiscuous, but to the multicultural fringe world of ska music, it’s a dance that has gone through many variations since the 1950’s as ska moved from Jamaica, to England, and the US. Although the terms are unrelated, the name of the ska dance is ironically being used to empower women through one of their most central and polarizing issues today: reproductive rights.
Skank for Choice is an annual charity musical event that raises money for reproductive rights organizations. Since 2014, the event has been a live concert with a few bands, but will now be done through live-streamed pre-recorded performances, music videos, and live acoustic songs from 23 acts on the SFC Facebook page tomorrow. The participants are mostly from the Rio Grande Valley and other parts of Texas, but also from the East and West coast.
The format of full-band remote recordings was partially inspired by the viral video of an online rehearsal by a high school mariachi band from Roma, Texas. Another inspiration were the performance videos by veteran ska band Goldfinger. “Someone posted that mariachi video in the band group chat and we were like ‘Dude! We should do that!’ Then Goldfinger posted their videos and now those kinds of videos became a thing,” says Ruben Farias, who plays guitar in local ska band Los Skagaleros who is playing for the event.
The announcement of the event came at a time when Texas banned most abortions due to the coronavirus containment measures and resource reallocation. “How many clinics do they think there are? They’re not using up much resources to begin with,” says Farias, in regards to the 22 clinics available in all of Texas. The ban has recently been lifted, but the legal ramifications of it are ongoing.
Los Skagaleros includes the leader of the SFC committee, Denni Arjona, who plays baritone saxophone. They have performed and headlined every SFC concert, and will do so this year alongside San Antonio’s Piñata Protest and Florida’s Ska Tune Network. Arjona’s connection to Jeremy Hunter’s Ska Tune Network has been a boon to her band and this year’s event.
Hunter’s youtube channel has over 160k subscribers and consists of ska covers of songs from different genres, media, and eras. It also includes occasional video blogs. One video titled “10 Ska Bands you NEED to be supporting in 2020 (and beyond)” included Los Skagaleros after he came across their 2019 music video for their song “2 Tales of the Working Class.” He also invited Arjona to join his live band for a gig in connecticut. She also played with his other band We are the Union, which includes the tour managers of Goldfinger and MxPx.
This new exposure to a global audience allows her more opportunity as an activist after years of establishing herself while remaining in the RGV. “Before Skank for Choice, I tried to find a seat at the table as a budding activist.,” says Arjona. “I was either located too far away from organizations or didn’t have enough experience. Creating Skank for Choice has given me that experience and has really rooted me more deeply with the community.”
Arjona has high praise for her team this year and has plans for next year’s committee, as her team continues to grow with skilled members and aims to hire interns next year. “I feel very fortunate that we have some really great artists and media wizzes on board, particularly this year,” says Arjona.
Last year’s SFC took place at McAllen’s Yerberia Cultura and raised nearly $2000 before including sales from their Bandcamp album, and their second event in San Antonio. It included seven bands, a tamal-eating contest, and many vendors that shared part of their sales for the cause.
This year, money will be raised through a raffle and sales from a compilation Bandcamp album featuring the participating musicians. The raffle prizes include a $200 gift card to Best Buy or Guitar Center for first place, $30 Netflix card and $25 Grubhub delivery code for second place, and a mini Nintendo Entertainment System for third place. The funds will be donated to South Texans for Reproductive Justice, Frontera Fund, and West Fund.
Click here to learn how to donate and enter the raffle. Click here for the Skank For Choice Facebook page. The event begins at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Below is the band’s post-concert message and photos from last year.