What are the Slackers? When I interviewed them in 2003, they told me they were ¡°Brooklyn soul.¡± They don¡¯t use that label anymore, but their sound is so unique it¡¯s hard to name.

With influences ranging from ska, reggae, soul, jazz, to rock influences, the band has a solid sound. ¡°If anybody¡¯s accused of playing heavy metal solos, it¡¯s me on the saxophone, dude,¡± Hillyard adds.

Although their sound is very traditional, they don¡¯t see themselves as a retro band in the same vein as a band like the Aggrolites, who limit their influences to a short span in the late ¡®60s. ¡°You listen to the music the djs are spinning and you like it more than the bands you are seeing play,¡± Hillyard explains, ¡°so you learn a bunch of songs off all those old records.¡±

¡°Our songs tend to be very personal,¡± Hillyard says. ¡°We¡¯re not writing about secret agents, you know, skanky rue boy guys, rasta this and rasta that.¡±

¡°I tend to favour more rootsy stuff over the distorted punky stuff,¡± Hillyard admits. He¡¯s not a fan of ska-punk. ¡°Most of it¡¯s crap. Fishbone was good and a couple other bands had good songs. 98% of it is shit as far as I¡¯m concerned. It¡¯s depressing to listen to sometimes.¡±

Of all the ska-punk bands he can name, the only one Hillyard is comfortable enjoying is Fishbone. ¡°Well, Fishbone, number 1, they have some pretty good songs, and they¡¯re really good live,¡± Hillyard says. ¡°Most people don¡¯t even know about Fishbone as much now. Whether they know it or not, most of the third-wave ska pop bands are little versions of them.

¡°The Bosstones had a couple okay songs, then they had a lot of crap, and they¡¯re good guys too so I hate saying that. Even when I get into which bands I think are good, it¡¯s like Let¡¯s Go Bowling which I think is more of a two-tone band. Bim Skala Bim is another third-wave band that had some good songs; they don¡¯t really have the punk beat happening. Operation Ivy had some songs, I don¡¯t see what the big deal is.¡±

Lately, Slackers lead singer Vic has been doing a lot of projects with Rancid, the west coast punk band known for delving into ska rhythms sometimes. ¡°I think Rancid had some good songs where they do ska where they sound like the Specials are pretty good,¡± says Hillyard. ¡°They¡¯re alright but I think their punk songs are probably better.¡±

Things have changed a lot since when the Slackers were a young band. Back then, you¡¯d hear ska-punk at college parties, and at punk shows they¡¯d be listening to Moon Records albums. There was very little crossover.

¡°We¡¯re almost past that now, the third wave thing,¡± Hillyard says. ¡°We¡¯re into another generation, and so the other generation¡¯s gonna see things that we see as being opposite as being the same. Maybe they see the commonalities we don¡¯t.¡±

¡°I think nowadays there are less divisions in the scene,¡± Hillyard observes. ¡°For better or for worse it¡¯s all considered part of the same thing, which is kind of strange to me because I don¡¯t really see us as sounding much like Reel Big Fish or anything like that you know.¡±

¡°Sometimes you¡¯ll come across towns in the States where they¡¯ll be like ¡®Oh there¡¯s no scene here, there¡¯s no shows.¡¯ Well you know, get them together then, book the shows man--you know, make them happen--you know, start the bands. If you be proactive and make your own scene, it¡¯ll be a lot stronger and a lot healthier, and then other people will be attracted to it and it¡¯ll start to snowball.¡±