Scared Of Chaka

A strong and diverse indie rock scene grew in Albuquerque in the 90s and Scared of Chaka were arguably its most prolific band. Created in 1993 by frontman and songwriter Dave Hernandez and bassist Dameon Waggoner, they recorded their first single with drummer Jeffery Jones and created a local stir playing a Buzzcocks-meets-The Mummies hybrid of screamy garage pop. Their fanbase grew from local to coastal, then to national thanks to their first LP and tour in 1995.

In 1996 Ron Skrasek became the permanent drummer and they recorded another LP that was "self titled" to give the band a fresh start. This kicked off their most well known and active period, 1996-2001, with tours all over the US Europe and Japan. Between these tours they managed to release five more LPs and ten more singles. 

702 Records, Empty Records, Hopeless Records, Johans Face, Bad Man, and Dirtnap have all released/distributed their music. They&#39;ve shared stages with <a href="spotify:artist:5E2rtn57BM2WPjwak4kGd5" data-name="At The Drive In">At The Drive In</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0rIOnBirvFkIILkTCGc7N0" data-name="The Murder City Devils">The Murder City Devils</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YAN46l70QV0PGXlMg0iHi" data-name="Dillinger Four">Dillinger Four</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:191rVxQbbZ05wcICUSvLkz" data-name="Turbonegro">Turbonegro</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4PKAg3S6JyEG8N9wgjD0fu" data-name="Smoking Popes">Smoking Popes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4bcaz6nXnH8LTRiXALe8XV" data-name="Jawbreaker">Jawbreaker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4wDDRTuUAWHiYtrvYsU0kp" data-name="Nomeansno">Nomeansno</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0O1weoUEd0dewmd4zEx5Us" data-name="Los Crudos">Los Crudos</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6xTk3EK5T9UzudENVvu9YB" data-name="Rancid">Rancid</a>.

Other Albuquerque bands of this period included <a href="spotify:artist:6M0EQknyW71qUzKErHJOlL" data-name="The Drags">The Drags</a> (Skrasek joined them to drum on their last album and tour) <a href="spotify:artist:4twF3ELHVQn0u8HzbTDiBt" data-name="The Rondelles">The Rondelles</a>, and the band that evolved into indie rock stars <a href="spotify:artist:4LG4Bs1Gadht7TCrMytQUO" data-name="The Shins">The Shins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6hBY5Lh8jDraauB9148Ub5" data-name="Flake Music">Flake Music</a>.


Joining in 1998 Dave Hernandez was the first bass player for <a href="spotify:artist:4LG4Bs1Gadht7TCrMytQUO" data-name="The Shins">The Shins</a>, writing bass lines for <a href="spotify:album:6tMeipxbqiKnp7F368cwsi" data-name="Oh, Inverted World">Oh, Inverted World</a> including <a href="spotify:track:2cP37n7TZEe0oBxCbZu0KA" data-name="New Slang">New Slang</a>. From 2003-2013 he recorded and toured as the guitarist and bassist of The Shins.