Manu Janssens won’t hear any mention of his band, the Suppressors, taking over as Fresno’s new kings of ska. That spot is reserved for Let’s Go Bowling.
Always will be, he says.

“LGB have left a ska legacy in Fresno” says Janssens, the band’s manager and tenor sax player. “They were the first band I ever saw. And if I time it right, they’ll be the last.”

So, while The Suppressors may have growing popularity — they were named best band in our Famous Choice awards — “to be compared to LGB would be a crime.”

Decide for yourself. The Suppressors play this weekend at Smog City Roller Grrls bout against the Prison City Derby Dames.

Parents, don’t worry. You won’t have to cover any ears. They save the saucy stuff for the clubs.

The band used to be called Hobo Erotic. What was with the name change?

Basically, a lot of people hated our name, including newer band members. It was a tongue-in-cheek creation of mine that wore out its welcome. I guess that’s the best way to put it. But come on ... Hobo Erotic? Comedy gold! In the end, we thought getting away from a “joke” name might help us get taken a little more seriously. I think it has, too. We’ve played big venues all over California since.

When we ran our Famous Choice contest, it was impressive the way you “got out the vote,” so to speak. Lots of people (including me) assumed that Rademacher would be a shoe-in for favorite band. So, you must have a pretty large and loyal fan base, yeah?

Our fan base never fails to surprise us. We’re not rock stars or premadonnas. We’re just a bunch of dudes who like to get together to play ska and drink beer (mostly the latter). Who knew that such a laid-back approach to establishing presence in the local music scene could even be marketable?

But there is something crazily enjoyable about ska shows. It’s like an insta-party. Is that part of your guys’ success, do you think?

Yes, exactly. We’re not screaming into the mic, pretending we’re troubled and possessed. We’re not singing sad songs about childhood molestation. We’re not trying to scare anyone or make anyone cry. That stuff is played out.

Can you explain “the skank” or “skanking?” This is a serious question.

Yeah, it’s the funniest thing ever to watch people who don’t know what the skank is to try to dance to ska music. Even better when a couple of unknowing drunk socialites wander into a Suppressors show and try to dance freaky sexy ... not possible, sister ... entertaining as all get out, but not possible.

Ska seems to be very much rooted in history. How do you keep the sound contemporary, while embracing the roots of the music?

In the beginning, it was a constant struggle. With large bands, lots of musicians have lots of different ideas about how the music “should” sound. Now that the current lineup has been established for awhile, we are comfortable with our sound and each other’s contributions. It also helps to keep the roots music in constant rotation on your iPod.

So, how has the “scene” as such changed since the heyday of Fresno ska (whenever that was. I’m thinking 1990s, when there was a new ska band popping up every other week).

For some reason, these days it is harder than ever to get the all-ages crowd to give an ear to traditional ska music. I think we need to wear tighter pants or something. But ska’s popularity comes and goes in waves, and we’re confident that it will be on the upswing in the very near future.

So, does ska music have a place in the world of modern pop music?