While nationally there are tours entitled “Ska is Dead,” one Eau Claire ska tradition is still alive: Ska Fest. The event now has stretched a decade.

This year, I Voted For Kodos is headlining the event which is coordinated by UAC concerts. There will be three opening acts, Umbrella Bed, Catch of the Day and Urisen.

“We wanted some regional acts with some notoriety,” said senior Dusty Schoepke, co-chair of UAC concerts.

The four bands are from Minnesota and Wisconsin, but have a sizeable following here, he said.

UAC tried to get Mustardplug, a national act that played last year, but it was in the studio.

Schoepke said he doesn’t think the lack of a national act will hurt attendance.

“I think Ska Fest will be good,” he said. “People come to see the genre, not a particular band.”

I Voted For Kodos is an unsigned ska band based out of Madison, with two self-released albums under its belt – “Close Enough for Ska,” and “Not Penis Cream.” It has a third on the way.

Although regionally based, the band has gone on three national tours.

Rick Bisenius, singer and trombonist for the band, said the latest album, which is still untitled, will show how its sound has grown.

“We’re making this more of a pop album … We’re trying to make it something that any music fan can sit down and enjoy,” he said.

The sound change reflects the band’s desire to expand its sound to include more types of music, he said.

“We listen to a wide range of music, and we wanted to take a wide range of influences and have that come out in our music,” Bisenius said.

The band will debut six to seven songs on its upcoming album at Ska Fest X, he said. It also plans to play fans’ favorites from the first two albums.

Due to many national ska acts breaking up, like the Mighty, Mighty Bostones, or just leaving out the horn section in its releases, like Less than Jake, Schoepke said he feels that ska has been losing popularity.

“I think it has been on the decline since 1998,” he said. “It had its peak at about 1996 to 1997.”

He said that he thought people had moved on to different genres such as hardcore or emo.

Bisenius disagreed, and said he feels that it has started to make a comeback in the last few years. He went to see the “Ska is Dead Tour” last Saturday in Chicago.

“Four ska bands sold out the Metro – 1,100 people,” he said.

He also said there are a lot more ska festivals going on than a few years back.

Although Bisenius admitted many people who listened to ska now listen to emo, he said they still enjoy ska.

He also said he didn’t view it as a competition between ska and emo. He said ska, emo, punk and pop punk are related genres competing together with other forms of music.

Despite feeling that people had moved on, Schoepke said that Ska Fest X still has wide appeal.

“There is still nostalgia in ska,” he said. “… and it’s fun, happy, good time music.”