The Insyderz are a Christian third-wave ska band from Detroit.
The Insyderz were one of the last existent Christian Ska Bands which filled a void in the mid to late 1990s. These bands include The O.C. Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy. Five Iron Frenzy broke up at the end of 2003, as did the Supertones in October 2005.
The band began as an attempt on the part of Joe Yerke and Nate Sjogren to minister to those people in need of the saving light of Christ and to get into shows for free. The band was originally hardcore, but ska was chosen as their genre because of they perceived that it could reach many people. The band received recognition through their album Skalleluia and their rendition of Rich Mullins' song " Awesome God" for which the band won a Dove Award. Their manner of playing worship songs is still relatively unique.
It was widely rumored for awhile that the Insyderz, who apparently recorded their first album in a garage, had in fact broken up. Their webpage, rarely updated, had no changes for several years after the release of Skalleluia Too! in 1999. This seemed to be confirmed in 2001 when a compilation CD entitled The Greatest & The Rarest (or alternately Tails of a Comet) was released. Many of the members of the band married including Nate Sjogren, the drummer, and Joe Yerke whose gravely vocals mark the band. The band decided to spend more time working and ministering in other locations, such as the Salvation Army. Most of their fan base dissolved in the void, yet in 2003 they released yet another album entitled Soundtrack to a Revolution.
Many members of the band now have children as well as wives. Nate Sjogren's son is named Romolo and Joe Yerke has a daughter, Ella. The concerns of the band have largely moved past music.
In the first half of 2005, the band announced on their website that they would be playing their last three shows in August and September of that year, which lead to confusion on whether they were the band's last three shows or the tour's last three. Later, in August of the same year, the site was updated to announce that the band would be breaking up after their final show on September 24, 2005, as a part of the I'll Fight Fest presented by The Salvation Army. Joe Yerke continues to work on a side project called The Bulldog Saints, that should be out in 2006, as well as, a solo project entitled Joe Insyder(2006).