THE MiGGEDYS
"Miggedys were Rochester's premier Ska band. Made up of former classmates from suburban Pittsford, NY. They signed with Moon Records, and that was the beginning of the end."
– Dr. Awkward, host of WRUR 88.5 FM's Ska & Roots Emporium, 1997-2004

"The miggedy's were a band from Rochester NY, they have one cd out which you can order through moon, it is titled "informal gathering". The reason they broke up is because they graduated high school, a few of them are still together in a roots orientated band named "The Good Samaritones."
– Lil' Davey, host of WITR 89.7 FM's Ska On My Radio, 1993-1997

RimShoT! ska E-zine interview, 7/21/96

Conducted on the steps outside the since-demolished Wetlands Preserve,
161 Hudson Street, SoHo NYC, NY Saturday 21 JUL

Interviewer: Yuzo "I'll be there. Look for a 5'7" japanese guy in a two tone suit. :)" Watanabe
Participants: Nancy - Alto Sax / Jeff - Tenor / Doug - Tenor / Megan - Vocals / Tricia - Vocals / John - Guitar


Yuzo: So, you guys are playing first?
2/11/95

Miggedys: Yeah, opening.

Yuzo: How do you guys feel about that.

Miggedys: Fine, we're in New York City. We're not complaining.

Yuzo: Do you tour very much?

Miggedys: This is our first couple of stints out of town.

Yuzo: Now you use two female vocalists in your band. How did that come about?

Miggedys:
In the beginning of the band we went through a lot of singers, and I was there at the beginning. Then we were trying out a bunch of different things with different singers. Then we picked up Tricia, and it worked out because we'd trade off every once in a while and started working together a lot better.

Yuzo: How do you feel about falling in the footsteps of other dual female vocalist bands.

Miggedys: Like Dance Hall Crashers?

Yuzo: Well, Deltones as well.

Miggedys:
- I've made sure I never listened to any of them.

- I've listened to them occasionally, but it just kind of happened that we have two singers. It's a hefty load of people to have an extra singer. But it works out because we both come from different backgrounds in terms of taste and singing.

Yuzo: So basically you're not trying to copy anyone's style or..

Miggedys:
We found out about DHC _after_ we started with two female vocalists. And then we got to see them and said, "Oh wait, there are other bands do this. We're not so weird."

Yuzo: When did you guys start?

Miggedys:
- Four years ago.

- Well, three years.

- Three years, really strong.

skank til ya boot!
Pittsford's Hottest Ska Band in thick local freepaper
by R.J. KINGSTON III, June '95 edition
Yuzo: Well, it seems you have two different styles in a lot of your songs. You have happy tracks like "Swingin'", and heavy songs like "Mr. G's". Is this the result of two different styles in conflict? Or harmony?

Miggedys: It depends on what day you ask us. Conflict or harmony.

Yuzo: Well, are there two different camps that say, "We want to do hard" and "We want to do soft"?

Miggedys:
- People come up with what they feel, and bring it to the band.

- We listen to all kinds of stuff. We're starting to delve into first wave and 60's music. We want to cover the first through third wave.

Yuzo: Cool, if you could cover any song, what would it be?

Miggedys:
- "Every Day" by Buddy Holly

- "Perfidia" by Phyllis Dillon

Yuzo: Any funky gig anecdotes?

Miggedys:
- Tricia is a big Snoopy fan. She had a huge 6' tall Snoopy doll, and we brought it up on stage for one of our last shows in Rochester before last summer. Then a bunch of guys in the middle of song ran up on stage and started dancing on stage. Then they started tearing the ears off Snoopy. Tricia got very upset at that.

- Oh, oh, blue paint story!

- We were playing with this band from Buffalo, and we thought it'd be really cool if we took a picture of ourselves backstage with our names spraypainted on the walls at a local club where we play. So we brought spraypaint back and did it. But when we hit the stage a bunch of guys were hanging out backstage with the spraypaint, and then other bands started spraypainting, it became mayhem and the place almost burned down. The paint dripped into the radiator and there was smoke coming out.

Yuzo: Did you ever play there again?

Miggedys:
- Yeah, we had to volunteer to paint the whole place afterwards, but they let us play there again. We never ended up painting it, and they were kind of mad.

- You can still go backstage and see it.

- Yeah, all over the wall. There was blue paint everywhere, the guys were painting writing their names. They spray painted the toilet totally blue. We got into a little trouble for that.

Yuzo: I can imagine. Hey, are groupies a big problem; or benefit in your line of work?

Miggedys: - Uh, I want one!

- The guys want one.

- Yeah, I don't have a girlfriend, so anybody can.. you know (girls preferably).

[Ed: His name is Doug].

Yuzo: So it's not like a big problem then.

Miggedys: - We don't exactly get hoarded as we leave the club.

Yuzo: Heh, I think that's pretty common with ska bands in general. When I interviewed Let's Go Bowling they just left after their show.

Miggedys:
- It's weird though, some of our friends talk about normal things with their other friends like college and stuff. And then they'll go "Hey Tricia!" and I'll go "Hi" and I'll talk about normal things. Then all of the sudden, they'll ask "How's the band doing?" and "When do I get to see you play?". They become your fans almost, instead of your friends.

Yuzo: Let's see.. some frivolous questions. What do you guys do in your spare time? Do you guys have day jobs?

Miggedys: - I'm a janitor in Foster's Freeze.

Yuzo: Isn't that like a "hygenie engineer"?

10/8/94
LETTERING & STUFF
by ERiC, Sept 94
Miggedys:
- Yeah, I'm actually a "cleaning technician".

- I work at Champ's sports.

- I'm a "food service administrator" at small restaurant.

Yuzo: Don't you mean a "food distribution outlet"?

Miggedys:
- Yeah

- I just mow lawns and landscape.

- I do software testing.

- I do secretarial stuff.

Yuzo: So what exactly is a Miggedy?

Miggedys:
Well, when we came up with the name, it didn't have any meaning. We used to call this guy named
Eric Mearns "miggedy mearns." I guess we stole it from his nickname. However, Adam (the drummer) now claims that Miggedy is a Scottish word that means "annoying little child". I don't know if this is legit or not, but that is what Adam claims.


Yuzo: And how do you pronounce it?
Miggedys: Well no one can. That's why our next album will be entitled "Destined for Mispronounciation." However, since you ask: migg rhymes with fig, e is like eh, dys is like the plural letter D's. Accent is on Migg. Thus: MIG-eh-dees

Yuzo: The big question. Which do you prefer, boxers or briefs?

Miggedys: [resounding] BOXERS!

Yuzo: Any briefs fans?

Miggedys:
- You have to adjust too much with those [Tricia]

- What the hell are you talking about? [To Tricia]

Yuzo: Yeah, what do you have to adju.. er.. never mind. Plug your next album!

Miggedys:
The album we're gonna start recording soon and hopefully we'll have a song on Moon's next "drinking compilation" [Ed: It's gonna be called Skalcoholism!]. They're doing a bunch of drinking songs and asked us if we wanted to be on it. So we wrote up a little ditty that we're gonna record.

Yuzo: Are you planning on any national or regional tours?

Miggedys (all): - HAWAII!

- Yeah, Europe in '97!


FIN.

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Yuzo Watanabe is the fearless leader of the RiMSHOT! ska e-zine. He just recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and has joined the rat race working for the Sony Electronics Megacorp. He DJ's the re-born "Skank Some More!" radio show on KZSU 90.1 FM (SAT 3-6pm) and plays a mean game of pinball in his spare time. He really likes burritos.
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This interview © Copyright YW & RimShot! e-zine 1996.
Reproduced for historic purpose only.
<< Return to Rochester's HP#2

CTB#5
DS#6
this show never happened
8/16/97
Destined for Misspelling
an offer they can't refuse...

MR103 "Mispronounciation"
finally released 2 FEB 2004
Pierre asked Emmanuel 'Manu' Jaussely to produce a ska compilation. At the time, he used to do a French ska-reggae zine and had tons of contact in the scene. "Let's Skank!" featuring 20 bands from all around the world (Jamaica, France, UK, USA, Japan...) came out in December 1996. That's basically how Patate Records Production / Belleville International was born. Almost ten years, they've re released over 25 CD's, a few LP's and a bunch of 7"...

Miggedys went international via this inaugural release, with their non-album track "American Girl" (scheduled for that second CD). Here's what the liners read: "the result of a bunch of kids looking to have fun on weekends. Self-described as 'The Brady Bunch' of Ska! Well, sort-of Ska."

in HP7 re: LETS SKANK #2

Let's Skank 001
dual
deeper than mere
500 people!
500 people!
dual
deeper than mere
500 people!

Rude #48, Berkshire UK, April 1996
Howdy, Andrew Oyer here. On behalf of my fellow bandmates, I'd like to thank all of the fans, DJ's, and Zine guys who have written to us in response to our appearance on "SPAWN." We (The Miggedys), were close to breaking up. After the onslaught of mail we all sat down and worked out our differences. So to everyone who wrote us....THANKS!!!!! You each played a huge part in keeping the band together. Look for a tour and a new album this summer...... Thank you THE MIGGEDYS, 1/2/96

duke.edu/~nem1/miggedys.html used to work (1995-99), but instead
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