Photo courtesy of Rachel Harding via The World’s Afterparty Instagram page.
As little as three years ago, the New Brunswick ska music scene was dead. The strong, offbeat genre held origins in 1950s Jamaica, and made its way to the United States shortly thereafter. It held its place in New Brunswick for quite a few years, until the inception of the 21st century.
Enter 2015, and with it The World’s Afterparty — a band which, while not too keen on labels, calls itself a “punk ska band,” and cites musical influences that range from ska music and folk punk to heavy jazz and classical.
Giving credit to artists like Days n Daze, Snarky Puppy, Streetlight Manifesto, Leftover Crack, Bomb the Music Industry! and a strong nod to Berlioz, the band’s sound is an aggregation of music from all over the spectrum.
The New Brunswick-based band is comprised of seven members: junior Connor Egan, senior Evan Tsioni, junior Nick Wagner, sophomore Arif Ahsan, junior Kelvin Ayora, senior David Ingersoll and high school senior/future Rutgers freshman Ian Young, playing a collection of instruments, including drums, trombone, trumpet, saxophone, keyboard, guitar and bass.
Previously known as “One Night Band / No Label” for a day, the current group was formed last fall and was gifted the name by friend Tennessee Westmoreland.
Explaining the resurgence of ska in the area, Wagner comments, “There are a lot of new ska bands in New Jersey, like how New Orleans is known for jazz, New Jersey is kind of known for ska in the ska world I think.”
“We have Catch 22. We have Streetlight. Those are some of the biggest names in ska,” Egan continues.
In terms of their own music, they don’t want their eclectic sound to ever come off as pretentious. “We’re fun music to dance to. We’re dance music that’s heavy” says Egan, who is not eager to label the band as ‘ska’. “Our genre is good. Our genre is alright”, adds Wagner.
As a band, they truly only have one main goal. “All we ever really want is for them to dance,” agree Egan and Wagner. “I want positive, constructive aggression. I want it to be cathartic,” chimes in Ayora.
When asked what the band is best at, the group collectively agrees on their ability to create hype. When performing their songs “Orange” and “Stalk Syndrome”, they know the strong fusion of sounds are able to get the crowd going.
While the band is now averse to the ska genre, they continue to note it as a key influence. “We’re the fourth wave of ska,” jokes Wagner.
The group hopes to have their long-awaited EP out by this winter. Be sure to check them out when they play The J House in January, because this is one after party you don’t want to miss.
To keep up to date with The World’s After Party, check out their links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theworldsafterparty/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theworldsafterparty/
Bandcamp: https://theworldsafterparty.bandcamp.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/theworldsafterparty