Geeky SKAturday: Oi-SKALL Mates and Les Testarudes

Today I continue exploring the best new ska and ska-adjacent music of 2025 and ways of connecting what I find to an RPG setting in which ska bands are time-traveling protectors of multiversal order.  If this is your first time joining me, welcome(!) and I hope you won't click away upon rereading that last sentence.

I have two songs I want to listen to today!  The first is "Terra de Secà" by Les Testarudes, an all-female trad band from Spain (specifically Catalonia).  They followed this one up with an EP (La Prèvia) with this plus five more songs that hit just as hard...

And the second is "Truly Madly Deeply" by Oi-SKALL Mates...a cover of the Savage Garden classic(?) performed by a really tight Japanese ska band that has apparently been around since at least the '90s...

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Now, what shall I pull from this for the adventures of the Agents of SKA?

Low-hanging fruit:  Ska is an international phenomenon.  I need to make sure that the time-traveling guardians are representing the world!

So, let's start creating the first official member of the team.  I like the idea of random generation for this, and since I don't have a d1000 Random International Ska Musician Generator, I'm going to turn to humanity's new overlord-in-waiting: AI.  Hey, ChatGPT...!!

Please give me a random selection from all of the countries that have produced ska bands.

Here's one way to approach it. Ska originated in Jamaica, but over the decades many countries have produced ska bands. For example, notable ska scenes have emerged in:

• Jamaica (the birthplace of ska)
• United Kingdom (home of the 2 Tone movement)
• United States (notably the third wave of ska)
• Canada
• Japan
• Spain
• Italy
• Australia
• Germany
• France
• New Zealand

Using this representative list, a random selection yields:

Japan

Japan has developed a vibrant ska scene with bands that mix traditional ska rhythms with local influences.

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Alright, cool, I like it.  It might be giving the US a little more credit than we deserve for the third wave, but...eh, who is there to argue with?  And, I didn't even prompt it to pick a country I was already focusing on!

Now, for a bit about the character...

Please randomly select female, male, or nonbinary, then give me a full name for someone of that gender at random from among the common names of Japan.

Haruto Suzuki

"Haruto" has been one of the most popular given names for boys in Japan in recent years, and "Suzuki" is one of the most common surnames.

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And then two more prompts to find out more about Haruto's musicality:

List all of the instruments (including vocals) commonly found on ska recordings.

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Now, please choose one of those instruments (including vocals) at random.

And with that, I learn that Haruto plays...

The trumpet!

(Not sure why I shouted that.)

Okay, thanks for playing along, all!  Now I've got to figure out exactly how characters will be made for this game and give Haruto some stats.  Hopefully next Skaturday...!?  Have a great week out there in the world!