The Have Nots are a Ska punk

Ska punk

Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...

 band from Boston, Massachusetts, consisting of Jon Cauztik (guitar, vocals), Matt Pruitt (guitar, vocals), Jameson Hollis (bass), and Steve Patton (drums).

History

The band was formed in 2006, combining members of local bands Chicago Typewriter and Stray Bullets. Before ever releasing an album they played shows with Boston ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

 legends such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...

 and Big D and The Kids Table

Big D and the Kids Table

Big D and the Kids Table is a ska punk band formed in October 1995 in Allston, Massachusetts when its members converged in college. Their first release was on their own Fork In Hand Records label, but have since teamed with Springman Records and SideOneDummy...

.

The band originally released a demo before recording their full length debut album, 2009's Serf City USA. Initially a self release, the album caught the attention of Vinnie Fiorello

Vinnie Fiorello

Vinnie Fiorello is an American drummer, lyricist and founding member of the ska punk band Less Than Jake. As a child, Vinnie's family owned a dog named Jake who was "treated like a king" according to the band's website FAQ page. As a result, everything in the house became "Less Than Jake",...

 of Paper + Plastick Records, after Steve Foote of Big D and The Kids Table gave him a copy of it. Paper + Plastick put out cd and vinyl versions of the album, while the band offered free copies of it in the form of an mp3

MP3

MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...

 download.

After the album was released the band was selected to play in that years WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble

WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble

The WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, begun in 1979, is a Greater Boston "battle of the bands" competition co-sponsored by WBCN-FM and its local music show Boston Emissions....

, and went on tours with the Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St....

, Street Dogs

Street Dogs

Street Dogs are a punk rock band originally from Boston, Massachusetts. The band's current line-up includes Mike McColgan, former lead singer of Dropkick Murphys, Johnny Rioux, Marcus Hollar, Tobe Bean III and Paul Rucker.-History:...

, and Swingin Utters. In fall of 2010 they did their own tour of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

In May 2011, the band released their second album Proud. The album was produced by Teen Idols

Teen Idols

The Teen Idols were a pop punk band originally from Nashville, Tennessee. They were formed in 1992 by Phillip Hill and originally broke up in 2003...

 drummer Matt Drastic, and engineered by Descendents

Descendents

The Descendents are an American punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. As of 2011, they have released six studio albums, three live albums, three compilation albums and three EPs. The Descendents broke up and reformed several times over the years, sometimes with different musicians...

 guitarist Stephen Egerton

Stephen Egerton

Stephen Patrick O'Reilly , better known as Stephen Egerton , is an American guitarist, best known for his work playing with The Descendents and All....

.