Rocks Off reached out to the artists playing this year's Houston Press Music Awards showcase Sunday, August 5, and asked them to introduce themselves. Here's what they sent back.

Catch up with the other showcase nominees and see the rest of our HPMA coverage

Rocks Off: When and where was your first gig in Houston, and how did it go?

Los Skarnales: Our first gig was at a spanish club near Harwin and S. Gessner. It was pretty bad (we were pretty bad), but some people seemed to get into it, so we continued to get gigs.

RO: What Houston-area venues do you play most often?

LS: We probably play Fitzgerald's and the Continental Club the most.

RO: How often do you play in the area?

LS: I guess we play in the area about once every month and a half.

RO: Describe your sound in eight words or less.

LS: Fun!

RO: How did you come up with your name?

LS: We always liked the traditional ska bands that "ska" in their name, so we decided to put our own Chicano twist. The word "carnal" loosely means brother -- like saying bro. We dropped the "c" and inserted "ska" and that was that.

RO: Where would you like yourself or your band to be in one year? Ten years? Forty?

LS: Considering Los Skarnales has been around for almost 17 years, that's kind of hard to answer. Maybe we'll be lucky and younger kids start taking over to keep the band alive. Sort of like '80s international sensation Menudo.

RO: What is one thing you'd like to do (as a musician) before you pack it in?

LS: We would love to go international.

See more about Los Skarnales on Facebook and ReverbNation.

Los Skarnales play the HPMA showcase 8 p.m. Sunday, August 5 at the Warehouse Live Studio, 813 St. Emanuel.