Skalloween, a yearly Halloween ska show, has been a staple of Wilkes-Barre all-ages venue Cafe Metropolis for the past eight years. This year’s Skalloween show, celebrated on Nov. 1, features the ska bands The Big Green, Fridge Full of Popsicles and No Service Project. The show will feature the return of No Service Project to the Metropolis stage after the band had not played at the venue for several months.
No Service Project members Joe Conrad (bass), Tim Fairchild (drums), Joe Oakum (guitar), Drew Donavanik (keys and percussion) and Adam Witner (vocals and guitar) have a bond and a chemistry that is undeniable, and that may be why No Service Project has survived now for seven years.
“We have been together since October of 2001, so that’s over seven years now,” said Witner. “Will we stay together? Well, I quit the band twice a year, but I’m still in the band. Despite the many, many hard times we’ve been through, I have nothing but complete confidence in this project, especially now with the new members (Oakum and Donavanik). The chemistry between the five of us is indescribable. We all love it!”
In the band’s years together, No Service Project has not become stagnant by releasing the songs with the same sound and feel. According to Witner, the band’s sound had changed quite a lot, and he explained why that is.
“People tend to become attached to the way a band sounds the first time they hear it, so a lot of people get upset when a band that they like changes,” Witner. “But imagine wearing one shirt for the rest of your life, you either outgrow it, get bored with it, or both. As a band and as individuals, we have matured dramatically in the past few years, and our music is the catchy soundtrack to all of it.”
But despite changing its sound, music made from the heart is a constant for the band. No matter what the songs sound like.
“Well, the music and the lyrics are two separate beasts,” explained Witner. “Every member has a unique yet incredibly vast taste in music. The music-making process is somewhat of an orgy of creativity and art. Lyrics are usually my way to get things off of my chest. Anything meaningful to me that I’ve experienced, and held onto, tends to find its way in.”
Originally from the Hazleton area, No Service Project has moved to Philadelphia, and the band feels that the move has helped it by leaps and bounds.
“We did in fact originate from the Hazleton area, but most of us have been living in the Philly area for the past few years,” said Witner. “Relocating the band here was simply the intelligent thing to do. This town just makes more sense to me. Is a comparison between the two places really even necessary? I mean ... really?”
Despite moving from the area, the band still finds Cafe Metropolis to be one of the best places to play because of the fans who attend the shows. And it’s a place where the band has some of its best sound thanks to the venue’s very own in-house soundman.
“We’ve always thought of Cafe Metro as our home turf. Even though we’ve moved, it still holds that nostalgia for us,” said Witner. “The people that come to our shows there are some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic people we’ve ever had the privilege to perform in front of. I consider them all friends. Plus, Metro has one of the best sound guys in the world, Mr. Donald R. Hosey Jr.”
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Skalloween, w/ No Service Project ,The Big Green, and Fridge Full of Popsicles at Cafe Metropolis (94 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre), Saturday Nov. 1. Doors 7, show 8 p.m. $8 at the door, all ages. Info: myspace.com/noserviceproject,
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