Mighty Mighty Bosstones Dancer Ben Carr Opens Up About Skanking to VICE's Noisey

For some reason, the Noisey music blog, powered by VICE, decided to chat it up with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones's dancer Ben Carr.

The Bostonian is no stranger to bad music, as he used to work at Harmonix, creators of the video game Rock Band. So it becomes of interest how he got his start skanking for a living. He added in a few bits on how he used to be a roadie as well.

"A club said you gotta be 21 or in the band, so the guys were like, 'He's in the band!' and they said, 'Well, you gotta get up on stage now,' and I just kind of went with it," said Carr on his beginnings with the ska punk band. "I knew all the songs, I would go to every practice, so I sort of got up there and jumped around and sang some backup vocals just so I could stay in the show and not get kicked out."

Carr met member Joe Gittleman and original guitarist Nate Albert in late middle school. He maintains that Dicky was the one who encouraged the band to practice and become an actual band. Carr continued to be the band's personal dancer through high school, but maintains he never had any formal training.

"The Bosstones is my first and only girlfriend," explained Carr. "I do a fair amount of winging it. In fact, one of my signature moves is the 'Hoof and Wing Step.' Picture a quick shuffle into a rotating bunny hop."

The job comes with its fair amount of injuries, including taped ankles, blisters and the occasional twisted ankle or pulled hamstring. He thinks his dancing is necessary, however, to take pressure off Dicky.

"Nobody else has to jump around — really, I'm jumping around for them. They can all concentrate on their instruments and I take that pressure off," he explained. "Sometimes I just end up spacing out and I don;t even realize I'm doing what I'm doing anymore."

Carr traces the skanking dance revolution back to Jamaican Rude Boys of the 1960s and the English Two-Tone movement of the '70s. As far as today, he credits Less Than Jake and Streetlight Manifesto. He ignores the criticism and now even does tour management for the band. No word on what is in store for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Here is a clip of Carr dancing: