Don’t Be Scared…of Chaka

Published December 23rd, 2024 at 10:07 am, Last Updated December 26th, 2024 at 10:54 am

From playing Minor Threat covers in high school battle of the bands competitions, to touring the world with bands such as The Shins and working at Sub Pop — the legendary record label of Nirvana and Soundgarden fame — Dave Hernandez, singer and guitarist for the 1990s Albuquerque punk band Scared of Chaka has one hell of a musical resume. Fresh off a tour date in Mexico City, he reminisces with The Paper. about the band’s history, remembers the challenges and dangers of playing in the ’90s, imagines the future possibilities for punk rockers in the 21st century and looks forward to reconnecting with old friends at The Launchpad on New Year’s Eve. 

Is it fair to say this is a reunion tour?

Sure, yeah. We’ve done a handful of reunion shows. We did a show with Dillinger Four in Seattle in the summer, and that show sold out in like five hours, so we had to do another one the next day. We’re really looking forward to Albuquerque. We’ve known [Launchpad owner] Joe Anderson forever. We went to Europe with him and Scared of Chaka, we also went to Mexico with him. He’s just been like a good solid friend this whole time. And of course, when we were ready to come back to Albuquerque, he was the first call.

When was the last time you played Albuquerque?

I think the last time I personally played in Albuquerque I was in this band The Intelligence from Seattle that I was in for like 10 years — we were on In the Red Records. We were the kind of band that would play with The Osees and Ty Segall and all that. Before that, was probably the show I played when I was touring with The Shins. We did the El Rey forever ago, but Scared of Chaka, bro, I can’t even track it.

What’s your connection with The Shins? 

I was an original member in the late ’90s when James [Mercer] was breaking up Flake Music and he was running demos for his new solo band. He needed some people to help play live. That first lineup was me, Jesse [Sandoval] and Marty [Crandall]. I did the baseline for “New Slang.” Then I moved to Brooklyn for a minute while they finished the album Oh, Inverted World that got on Sub Pop [Records]. Me and James never lost touch, we just kept talking. When it was time to do the second album, he just brought me back in. And the majority of the 2000s was me in the band just doing those records and touring everywhere.

Are we going to see the original lineup of Scared of Chaka on New Year’s Eve?

To be honest, our very, very, very first lineup was with our original drummer Jeff, who was with us for the first couple of singles and our first full-length album. That was in like 1994. But right after that first album, we started really working hard and putting out a lot more records, a lot more singles and touring a lot more, and that was with our current drummer. His name is Ron Skrasek. He’s a Santa Fe kid in origin. It’s pretty much the OG band since like 1995, 1996 something like that.

Why did you decide to get back together in 2024?

I don’t know, man, something happened this year where I thought, “I’m gonna think about saying yes to some things.” I talked to Dameon [Waggoner, drums] who lives in L.A. now, and he’s like, “I don’t know about touring on that dumb nostalgia shit,” then he jokingly said, “I don’t know, dude, call me when you have a new single,” and he hung up. And so I wrote a new single, I went to my friend Ryan’s studio, and we recorded it. It’s the single “Bated Breath.” It’s on Slovenly Records and I think it’s on Spotify now. I don’t know man, it’s just been kind of fun. Mexico was a trip, dude.

How was Mexico City? 

Mexico City was really, really wild, and it’s pretty supportive. I think the kids and the crowd there appreciate and hold a different regard for a band that comes from the states. There’s a lot more energy, a lot more people asking you to sign stuff, and a lot more people asking you for set lists, etc. 

When I was a teenager, my half-brother, who lived down there, took me to The Ramones in Mexico City. Holy shit. At that point in my life, it was the scariest thing I’d ever been to. Mexico City punks are real punks. It’s not like trust fund kids that are trying to not shower and pretend to be crust punks. These kids are like huffing paint and their families aren’t letting them back in the house. They have to be like Mad Max Road Warrior shit.

How does the punk scene in the ’90s compare to the scene now?

Albuquerque in the ’90s was amazing for underground music. It felt like we had the best band in any category at the time. We had the best hardcore bands, we had the best garage rock bands, we had the best Sub-Pop-grunge-style bands, we had the best new wave-style bands. The Drags, Word Salad, Big Damn Crazy Weight, The Rondelles, there was so much talent, and as a result there was a lot of energy. I remember a band called Smashed Hands — the best name of any band in the history of the universe.

There were clubs like Club Rec that were just gnarly, real punk clubs run by real punks. You couldn’t even go to The Frontier back in the day without a buddy. The heights punks would fuck with the valley punks who fucked with the Westside punks. It was like this real thing, but what it created was like this survivalist strength. If you wanted to do this, you had to really do it. And I think there was a grit about it that created this amazing community in the ’90s. Everyone that was in bands in the ’90s all knew like, “Okay, we’ve struggled. We’re here for a reason.” I think growing up in Albuquerque, you have a different kind of backbone, so you were able to interact with pretty much anybody.

Are you friends with any of the bands that you’re going to be playing with on New Year’s Eve?

Yeah. Get Action has a buddy of mine that I’ve known since the ’80s: Ashley Floyd. We go back forever, it’s cool to be able to play with him. Roadside [Memorial] is cool because the singer of Roadside is my friend Ray Cordova. We have known each other literally since second grade. He and I were in each other’s first punk band together. We were called Static. It was sick, our first show was a high school battle of the bands at Rio Grande or Manzano. We did a couple of Minor Threat covers. Ben Levine (drums, Get Action) and I worked at this steakhouse in Old Town, I don’t know if it still exists today. It was called Barons and then it changed its name to Antiquity. He and I worked there when I was like 16. It’s gonna be crazy playing with these bands, dude. It’s gonna be so fun.

Have you noticed a resurgence in interest in punk rock today?

Yeah, I have. And it feels like it’s opened up a little more. It’s a little less restrictive both with musical style and with fashion and attitude. The truth is, back in the ’80s and the ’90s, punks were fundamentally kind of tough or kind of scared. We didn’t really want to go out of our lane. We didn’t really want to go outside of our identity because it was scary back then to walk around in a Bad Religion t-shirt. You’d get your ass kicked by a jock. These days, it’s a lot kinder, it’s a lot more understanding. But in a way that kind of allows for way bigger freedom.

I interact with so many new bands these days — and when I say “new” bands, I mean dudes in their late 20s or women in their early 30s, and to me they’re kids — but there’s new, awesome, exciting bands all the time. It’s fucking rad. It’s never gonna stop. I could see them easily just annihilate a stage in the mid ’80s, and watching their crowd, it’s clear that tons of kids are super excited by that kind of creativity and that kind of edginess. It’s interesting watching kids get interested in older punk, that trips me out. We had a drummer that we would tour with when Ron wasn’t able to tour and he’s in his early 30s. We were practicing one of our songs from back in the day and he played it great. I did the math and I was like, “Bro, I wrote this song when you were in diapers.”

What’s next for Scared of Chaka? Are you guys gonna keep doing it?

This has been such a fun surprise this year, and all these opportunities. We have a few offers on the table for next year that we’re not really talking about just yet, but I’m definitely interested in exploring it, and I definitely have a bunch of songs in the bank right now that I’m ready to start demoing and recording. It’s gonna be interesting doing this stuff into the future. I’m really excited.