Local 913, Episode 69: The Hang Lows
Pittsburgh’s The Hang Lows have performed and recorded a brand of 3rd-wave-ska for about six years:
“The first wave of ska was the pre-cursor to Reggae; the official island ska. The second wave of ska came around in the 90’s with Reel Big Fish and when the ska-punk scene was huge when I was a kid. The third wave is what’s now. We’re kind of just making our own genre now and going wherever we want with that by adding banjo, keys and hip-hop. There are still the roots of reggae and ska in there.”
That’s Dominic Bartolomucci, front man for The Hang Lows who have just released their fourth album titled Mixtape. These days, the band has become more studio-focused rather than live-performance focused:
“It’s been a tough journey that’s led us more into the studio to work with that different canvas. The band feels that too, with everyone getting older and having kids. Playing out gets tougher and tougher. The fact that I can play banjo, guitar, keys, program drums and do it all myself is pretty cool. I can’t do that live.”
