MARIO RUBACALBA

(OFF!, RFTC, Hot Snakes, Clikatat Ikatowi, Black Heart Procession, Earthless, 411)

Listing this mans accomplishments is no small feat. He has been pounding the skins since I can remember. People want him to be their drummer, constantly. He somewhow manages to be able to be in some of the best past and current bands I can think of. I wasn't even aware of his drumming when I was young. I knew Mario as a professional skateboarder. Yeah that's right. Dude was a pro skater, amongst being in some amazing bands. Hell, the list above isnt even all of his bands. But needless to say, he ripped a skateboard AND the drums, and well... a little Mario Ruba-plichta was born. I first got into his music from the the Union video, an old skate wheel company which featured the post-hardcore sounds of 411. I believe my age at the time was a harsh 13. But all I had was the song from the video. Living in PA for a small stint, finding music outside of a Sam Goody was a hard task. So it wasn't til a few years later, on the Outer Banks, that the pieces of this mans talent started to come together for me. Lit Records was a revelation, as he already had the CD in stock when I moved back home. And it starts from there really...the man beats the hell out of his drums, he rips the shit out of a skateboard, and he's a really really nice guy. But the longer you sit here and read this as I blow smoke up his ass, the longer it takes for you to research the amazing talent of Mario Rubacalba...musically and shredding a fucking skateboard. The dude is a bit of an idol to me. Could you tell?