Matamoska

MATAMOSKA were formed in a bedroom in Montebello, California around November 2000 at the time when the ghetto punk/ska movement was still in it's infancy. Matamoska was a band made up of people with very diverse tastes in music. The band was a mix of sounds, influences and languages, singing both in English and Spanish. As a result of this, the band played numerous backyard gigs, and small club shows with many punk, metal, hardcore, sXe, crust/grind, psychobilly, garage, reggae, rock en español, and ska bands.
After developing a small following, Matamoska released their Demo CD in April 2001. This CD got the band a spot on LATV live and shows in better known venues like The Whiskey A Go-Go, the Coconut Teazer, The Roxy, and shows outside of L.A. like in Orange County, San Diego and as far as Mexicali. During this time the band also appeared on the Keeping the Spirit Alive and Backyard City Rockers Compilations. Later the band was approched by OBSCENE RECORDS to record an E.P.
"DE VERDAD" was recorded in 2002 but not released until early 2003. This e.p. contained 5 songs plus 1 extra. The first 200 had an all red cover which was due to an error in printing. These became the limited edition e.p's and contained a sticker. This CD got good reviews in many fanzines and webzines. It also got the band more shows in more places and some plays on internet radio shows based in Texas, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and other parts of California.
Late in 2003 the band was approched by Smelvis Records to record a split with South Bay punk band DEFIED. This split was a part in the ska/punk split series that Smelvis Records was doing. The MATAMOSKA/DEFIED SPLIT was released in early 2004. Later that year the band released a very limited edition DVD entitled 1095 DAYS LATER/1095 DIAS DESPUES which included video footage of the early days of the band along with the music video to the song "de verdad".
In early 2005 Matamoska recored and released the PROBLEMA SIN SOLUCION single. This was an enhanced CD that included interviews with fans, footage of the band on the road and a music video for "chucky tiene chamba". That same year the band's original singer Jose a.k.a Padilla left the band.
The band continued on into 2006 with new members and a more experimental sound due to the addition of the keyboards/synth and the many different musical influences within the band. During this time, Matamoska played most of their shows outside of L.A. even making out to Chicago. A whole album full of material was recorded during this time, but because of disorganization and outside interests of the band members it was never released. The band went on permanent vacation in early 2007.