A few weeks ago, the Perro Bravo camp had a slight scare when it was discovered that someone had printed a bootlegged album of what is now primarily unavailable music. Awareness of the bootleg came about in the Facebook group, STP, also known as, Skunk Trading Post, where Skunk Records fans come together to trade knowledge and memorabilia.
The perpetrator had everything well thought out and even made a fake Facebook profile in order to remain anonymous. The name of the profile was “Skankin’ Ape,” and the posts contained humor relating to the persona of the ape that ultimately caused a spike in interest for the profile and the albums.
There were 75 bootlegged albums made, and each one is hand numbered. The surface of the compact disks are white and contain a small red graphic that says, “Cuidado: Perro Bravo.” The sleeve of the compact disk is made out of simple carton and contains the “Tecate” version of the band’s logo on the front, and the track listing on the back. Under the track listing, the name “$kanking Ape$ Record$” appears in bold. There was also a red stamp on the back of the sleeve that had the letters “PB” surrounded by the text, “Well Qualified To Represent The LBC.”
The Skunk Records Camp went to work immediately after learning of the bootlegged album’s existence, trying to figure out who was responsible for this unauthorized release. Within hours, with the help of one of the sister label’s owners, Jeff Smith, from Long Beach Records, the identity of the Skankin’ Ape was discovered. At this time, the owner of Skunk Records wishes to withhold the identity of the Skankin’ Ape.
Miguel Happoldt, who is the owner of Skunk Records and front man of Perro Bravo, shed some light into how the Skankin’ Ape acquired the tracks for the bootleg. Happoldt mentioned that all of those tracks were at one point available on the band’s MySpace. Skankin’ Ape was one of the very few people who would actively check the MySpace page for tracks, and as new tracks became available, they were downloaded to create the bootleg. This must have taken quite some patience, since the band was notorious for only having a few tracks online at a time, and the time in between updates sometimes easily reached months. As of today, the only track available on Perro Bravo’s MySpace is, “Electrified Tonight (Featuring Sinful)” which coincidentally, is a slightly different version than the version that appears on the bootleg.
By the time the Skunk Records camp had reached out to the perpetrator, more than 40 albums had already been sent out all over the world. The Skunk Records camp asked for the remainder of the albums to be shipped to Happoldt in Long Beach; a request that was successful. The goal of the perpetrator was to get the band’s music heard, and no ill will was meant, which was a direct statement sent to the label. The perpetrator was informed that there would be new music coming out soon, which was news that was received with excitement.
Although the line was clearly crossed by having this bootlegged album printed, Happoldt said that it was a sign that the band was going places, given the fact that a fan would go through such great lengths in an attempt to spread the music around the world. Altogether, it gave Skunk Records a good sign that people cannot wait to hear more Perro Bravo music. Perro Bravo is due to release a new album later this year, most likely during the Spring as mentioned in our 2015 Most Anticipated Albums feature.
Related Links:
Perro Bravo Website
Perro Bravo Facebook
Perro Bravo Mypsace
Skunk Records Website
Article By: Juan Barragan
Photo By: Patrick Trimble
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