The Orange County Supertones (a.k.a. The O.C. Supertones, or simply The Supertones) were a Christian ska band from Orange County, California. The band was signed to Tooth & Nail Records and its imprint, BEC Recordings, before becoming an independent band. The band temporarily disbanded in 2005, though reunited in 2010 to resume touring and recording before permanently disbanding in 2017. The OC Supertones were one of the first widely successful Christian ska bands. History The band began in the early 1990s as Saved. Originally formed by Matt Morginsky, Jason Carson and Tony Terusa while in junior high school, the band played a mix of many styles including punk, rap, metal, disco, and funk. In 1995 they formed as The Orange County Supertones and settled on a ska based sound, similar to Operation Ivy or Mike Park's Skankin' Pickle. Although drummer Jason Carson had known Tooth & Nail founder Brandon Ebel for years, the label was reluctant to sign them. As characterized by Ebel: "The Supertones were good, but Saved was not good. I had years of Saved in my head." The Supertones' debut release, Adventures of the O.C. Supertones, received a 1997 Dove nomination for the "Alternate / Modern Rock" category. Their second album, 1997's release Supertones Strike Back, was a surprise smash hit, peaking on both Billboard's Heatseekers and Top Christian Albums charts at No. 3 and No. 2 respectively. In the fall of 1997 the Supertones headlined a tour with Ghoti Hook and Stavesacre, and the next spring opened for Audio Adrenaline, with whom they recorded "Blitz" with on the Audio Adrenaline album Some Kind of Zombie, also in 1997. In late 1998 they embarked on the all-Christian-ska "Skamania 98" tour with The Insyderz and Five Iron Frenzy. In 1999 the Supertones played for the papal visit to St. Louis by Pope John Paul II. Beginning with a more traditional ska sound, The Supertones moved next to a harder rock sound, which eventually changed again with more of a pop-rock influence. The band explained the musical evolution to CCM: "pop culture has the attention span of a flea... ska's time in the white-hot spotlight has come and gone." When saxophonist Dave Chevalier joined The Dingees in 1998, the band made the decision not to replace his position. Rap and R&B influences also became more prevalent in their sound, which remained "about 40 percent reminiscent of the older stuff."