Ska is the Michael Myers of music: No matter how many times it appears to be dead and buried, it pops right up again. For 20-plus years Boston’s Mighty Mighty Bosstones have been an integral part in keeping the ska scene alive, even if their punk- and metal-influenced brand of ska-core bears little resemblance to the two-tone sounds of bands like the Specials. And the loudest of the band’s growls have always come from its frontman, Dicky Barrett. Underneath the clashing plaid suits he’s known for, Barrett wears another fashion statement: sleeves of ink. When getting tattooed, he fully understood the art would be there forever, so he didn’t go about it haphazardly. “Once I realized I was going to do that to my arms, it wasn’t enough to just go, ‘Okay, shamrock; okay, now skull.’ It had to be more meaningful than that.”

In 2004, Barrett left Boston for sunny L.A., where he has a day job working on Jimmy Kimmel Live!—but this has done nothing to stop the band. In December 2011, the Bosstones released their eighth album, The Magic of Youth.

We talked with Barrett about the perils of writing an album thousands of miles away from the other band members, having to explain his tattoos to his daughter, and the recent successes and failures of the sports teams he lives and dies with.

INKED: How did The Magic of Youth come together?

Dicky Barrett: The pressure was on, and I feel great relief now that it’s done. I’m always worried we’ll put out a new album and the longtime supporters of the band will come up to me and say, “You know, not quite this time.” Luckily, like always, this one seems to be their favorite. You can now get the immediate satisfaction through the social networking to know what people think about it right away. That’s kind of nice for an old guy like me. It’s cool to use the new technology to learn that people still like the music you make. On top of that we are getting the best [critic] reviews of our career, which is real, real nice.

You talk about the immediate response from fans—isn’t it true that the album leaked a few weeks prior to when it was going to be released?

[Laughs.] I think that was a planned leak, a strategic leak. A guy named Jon Pebsworth, who you may know from Buck-O-Nine, has been helping us with the release. So I think that release was a little more calculated than, “Oops.”

The Bosstones have always had a strong connection to their hometown of Boston, but nowadays you are living out in L.A.

We’re all scattered to the wind. We make our way all around. Although Boston is the greatest place on earth, it is a great big world and there are plenty of places to experience, and we recommend that.

After years of suffering, Boston has had a wealth of sports championships in the last 10 years. Which was the most meaningful for you?

It’s a bit tough to pick just one, but it would probably have to be the Red Sox in 2004. That erased everything. Although the Patriots were pretty damn exciting and that went down first—and, good God, I love those Celtics so much. For the recent championships, it still has to be Red Sox.

It must have been an enormous thrill to play at Fenway Park.

It was unbelievable. We were drinking with the team in the clubhouse—it was all kinds of crazy. [Laughs.] Nah, I’m kidding. This was before anyone knew what buffoons the Sox were and before the monumental fucking nosedive.