Rude Squad is an American

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

band founded in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States, in 1997. The final and longest running band line up are: Eric Best (vocals & guitar), Lee McElhaney (sax), Rusch Young (trumpet), Kyle Sokol (bass), and Adrian Baptist (drums). Rude Squad have cited

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative ...

The Toasters The Toasters are one of the original American Third wave ska, third wave of ska bands. Founded in New York City in 1981, the band has released nine studio albums, primarily through Moon Ska Records. History Englishman Robert Hingley relocated ...

, Goldfinger and

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

as inspirations for their work. They are the longest running active ska band in the

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

area according to

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of an arts and culture news and events newspaper/magazine. The company historically published a weekly publication that once had a 160,000 weekly circulation. While Creative Loafing is no longer p ...

. Rude Squad has formed their own legacy by playing as a subset, using the sax, guitar, drums, trumpet and lethal vocals as the combination needed to create the elements in the ska genre. They have performed with multiple bands such as Rancid,

the Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone (song), Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Bus ...

Suicide Machines The Suicide Machines are an American ska punk band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan. During the course of their career, the band has released seven full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records, Side One Dummy Records and Fat Wre ...

the Used The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, formed in 2000. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Steinec ...

, The Pietasters,

Voodoo Glow Skulls Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, by brothers Frank, Eddie, and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played at backyard parties and later at Spa ...

Matisyahu Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American singer, rapper, beatboxer, and musician. Known for blending spiritual themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing sounds, Matisyahu's 2005 sin ...

, and 311. They have also taken part and participated in events throughout the state and beyond such as

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...

'04, 97X's Next Big Thing, 98 Rock's Livestock, and numerous local events throughout the Bay area. Rude Squad signed a record deal with Octave Match Records in 2010. Rude Squad has reformed after their recent reunion show on November 23, 2013 to a sold out crowd at the Local 662 in their hometown of

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. Rude Squad also signed to Citrus Records on 16 October 2014 after being released from their old contract with Octave Match Records.

Band line-up

Current Line-Up

* Lee McElhaney - Sax (The New Rulers) * Rusch Young - Trumpet * Kyle Sokol - Bass (Nasty Savage, Nocturnus AD, Astronomica, Apeiron Bound, Blackkout, Messiaxx, Eric Best Solo) * Eric Best - Vocals, Guitar (Brosef Skalin, Solo) * Adrian Baptist - Drums (Pig Pen, Slade and the Wasters)

Former members

*Steve De Cosmo - Back-up Vocals *Chip Manger - Bass *Alex Trellu - Bass *Paul De Cosmo - Drums *Matt Hollingsworth - Drums *Alden Kooken - Sax *Jason Rodriguez - Drums

Discography

*Self Titled EP - 2000 *No Practice - 2002 *Unwrapped - 2004 *On the Edge of Failure - Octave Match Records - 2010 *Closer Than You - Florida Ska Compilation - Citrus records - 2014

References

Other sources

* Rude Squad with Voodoo Glow Skulls co-headlining sho
"Rude Squad with VooDoo Glow Skulls"
September 26, 2017. * Official Press Release for Rude Squad Record Deal Signin
"Official Press Release Rude Squad Signs Record Contract"
March 10, 2010. * Closer Than You Florida Ska Compilation featuring Rude Squa

2014

External links

Articles

Rude Squad Reunion Show!
from
State Theatre Concerts
'
Rude Squad at the Free for All
from
Tampa Bay Online
'
Great Music You've Never Heard
from
The St. Pete Crew
'
Floridian: In Your Own Backyard
from
The St. Pete Times
'
Creative Loafing: Rudesquad takes it to the Edge, St. Pete ska-punks release fourth CD
from
Creative Loafing
' American ska punk musical groups Third-wave ska groups Punk rock groups from Florida Musical groups from Tampa, Florida American ska musical groups 1997 establishments in Florida {{US-punk-band-stub