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DS Interview: Jesse and Justin Bivona on The Interrupters’ new album, “In The Wild”

July 25, 2022 | 3:42 pm

The fourth album can be a bit of a curious point on a band’s timeline. The dreaded “sophomore slump” has long been in the rearview, and generally by the time the fourth album roles around, a band is at or around the decade mark in their career. It can be a time of transition; a time to build off some old influences and also to incorporate new feelings and directions out of a desire to keep from getting stale or repetitive. Sometimes, the results can be ground-breaking, at least sonically if not always commercially or critically. Ignorance Is Bliss by Face To Face, for example. Darkness On The Edge Of Town. No Code. Sandinista!. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Life Won’t Wait. Question The Answers. ZOSO, or however that translate without the ability to add runes to the text here. So on and so forth.

And so here we find The Interrupters. The widely beloved LA-based ska punk band are back with In The Wild, due out August 5th on Hellcat Records. Recorded during the forced doldrums that were the shutdown of the last couple of years, the album finds the band (which surpassed the decade mark during said shutdown) building on the high-energy, rock-steady core that they’ve built over the course of three records and hundreds of shows, revealing a work that is their most varied, most introspective, and, subsequently, their best effort to date.

We caught up with the band’s air-tight rhythm section, sensational twin brothers Jesse (drums) and Justin (bass) Bivona to talk about the album’s recording and its personal nature. While much of the process for In The Wild was similar to the band’s previous output, there were a few marked differences that shaped the direction of what was to come. As Jesse explains the fourth album cycle, “one of our little press points about this record and relating it to the previous records is that the first album is kind of like a first date, where you just talk about surface-level things, nothing too crazy. Second album, you start to let them know a little more about you. Third album, you’re kinda getting into the nitty-gritty. Fourth album, all the baggage is out, the drama is revealed, all the secrets are out.”

The secrets are indeed out in more ways than one on In The Wild. It is by far the band’s most personal album to date, and it’s their most sonically diverse album to date, and both of those things are by design. Thinking back to the early days of the band, specifically around the recording of the band’s self-titled 2014 debut record, Jesse describes that the band was “just trying to keep it simple. We weren’t trying to reinvent anything, we were just trying to be a straight-ahead ska-punk band.” The more cohesive the band god, the more layered and textured the sound became, and the more outside influences began to creep in. While still very much an Interrupters record, In The Wild showcases sounds that include traditional reggae and rock steady and 2-tone and 80s punk rock and ‘50s doo-wop. The album closes with “Alien,” which centers around Aimee’s soaring, heartfelt vocals and is, as Jesse points out, “the first Interrupters song with no guitar on it!”

The seeds of In The Wild were initially sown in the early days of the pandemic shut down two years ago. The very early days. In fact, quite literally, the first day. The band had taken a few weeks off after wrapping a lengthy touring cycle for their 2017 album Fight The Good Fight – an album that continued the band’s launch into a higher stratosphere based in part on the crossover success of the single “She’s Kerosene” – in February, and was planning to return to Tim Armstrong’s studio in early March to begin work on album four. That plan was foiled just as it was beginning. “Day one of us going into the studio,” explains bass player Justin Bivona, “was that day where the NBA was canceling, and Tom Hanks had Covid…” After a few ‘wait and see’ days, recording plans – and, frankly, most of real life – got put on pause indefinitely, and the band retreated to what they affectionately refer to as The Compound; Justin and Jesse live in one house while the twins’ bandmates and, more importantly, older brother and sister-in-law Kevin and Aimee, live in the house next door. The two houses share a driveway and, more importantly, a garage, the latter of which would come in handy in a pandemic shutdown.

After some time spent doing what the rest of us did – binge-watching TV shows and movies, going for walks, and reflecting on their lives-to-date. As Justin tells it, that process “Aimee got to do a lot of looking back on her past and realized there was a lot of stuff she hadn’t written songs about.” And so even though the band had plenty of material they were going to work on in the studio at the beginning of 2020, writing eventually continued.

So, too, did recording, though the band didn’t have to go far. “At some point during (quarantine),” explains Justin, “Kevin was like “we need to do this record at our house, in our garage.” It’s a tiny 10×20 room that we would practice in, but it wasn’t treated, there wasn’t any studio equipment. So we spent maybe a month building things. Me and Jesse with power tools building racks to put gear in and tabletops and stuff. Pretty much “tiny housing” the studio to make every part of it work.”

This created the freedom to work together at their own pace. There’s no need to reserve studio time or book an engineer when you can do it all, effectively, in your collective backyard. That moved Kevin, the elder statesman of the Bivona brothers, officially into the producer’s seat. Tim Armstrong, who both oversees Hellcat Records and executive produced the first three Interrupters records, “told (Kevin) to just grab the reins and take off” says Justin, with Jesse quick to point out that their big brother has “always kinda been the shadow producer of everything in a sense.”

And while it may seem daunting to have your bandmate – and older brother, steering the ship, the timeline and the setting and their relationship made for a smooth, collaborative effort. “If we’re working on something and it’s not working,” explains Jesse, “all four of us can be like ‘well, what if we try this, or what if we try this,’…there are no bad ideas until you try (something and realize it’s bad.” “It was just us as a cohesive band, the four of us, working out songs and writing songs, and it really informed the process,” adds Justin. “It was the best thing we’ve ever done.”

The more that writing and recording continued, the more that the direction of the album revealed itself. “Aimee realized that the record was pretty much her life story,” says Jesse, adding “so the songs that didn’t fit with that theme we pushed aside and focused on the ones that told her story the way she wanted to tell it.” Because the lyrics bare so much of Aimee’s past, the task of recording vocals involved being in the right headspace to tackle some of the memories that were evoked. “Doing on the property,” reveals Justin, “it allowed Aimee the freedom to record vocals whenever she felt emotionally connected enough to a song” to power through it, a freedom that proved vital as it is apparent on first listen that Aimee dug deep lyrically, reflecting on some of the messier parts other upbringing and past relationships and grief and loss and trauma and mental health struggles that she has worked on over the years.

The added time and convenience of the recording process allowed the band to work through multiple versions of songs, in order to make sure that the emotion of the music matched the emotion of the lyrics. “There are a couple songs on this record where they were recorded one way and pretty much done,” explains Justin, “but then it wasn’t just fitting in with the rest of it when we would get back there. I think specifically “Love Never Dies” had a totally different feel, it was more of a rock/reggae Clash-y song. And it was dope, but it wasn’t fitting in with everything.” Jesse elaborates: “(Kevin) said “Jesse, play a one drop” so I played this one drop, and then he said “Justin, play this bass line” (*mimics bassline*). And then he said “okay, watch” and he just started skanking, and then he started singing this melody the way that it is now, and we played that for like four bars and just stopped. We were like “yeah, that’s it! Now we’re on to something!”

The result is one of the more straight-forward reggae songs in the Interrupters’ catalog to date. It also features a guest appearance from The Skints, the UK reggae punk band who recently wrapped a successful run opening a bunch of US shows for The Interrupters and Flogging Molly. The Skints are just one of an impressive handful of guest starts that found their collective way onto In The Wild; Tim Armstrong lends his vocal talents to a track, as per usual, but so too do Rhoda from The Bodysnatchers and Alex and Greg from third-wave ska legends Hepcat. The latter recording session occurred at Armstrong’s studio once the initial Covid waves had subsided and society started to open up again. As Jesse tells it, “it was a magical session to be a part of.” Justin explains “Greg and Alex came in and…we wanted them on the song (“Burdens”), but we didn’t really have the part. We went in with them and showed them the song and within a minute the two of them are sitting there writing the parts and figuring it out together. It was so cool to see because they’re literally our favorite ska band.”

It was yet another moment in a decade-long journey that has found the foursome feeling eternally grateful for the opportunities they’ve been presented; playing with longtime idols like Rancid and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Joan Jett and Green Day, playing legendary venues, getting introduced by RuPaul on the Jimmy Kimmel show (as was the case the night before we spoke). Case-in-point: the three Bivona brothers served as the backing band for The Specials during a fundraiser event in Los Angeles back in February, a mind-blowing moment that got overshadowed by the fact that a mini Operation Ivy reunion brokeout pre-set as Jesse Michaels and Tim Armstrong joined for a cover of the Op Ivy classic “Sound System,” an event that damn near broke the punk rock internet. The gravity of those situations is not lost on the band, by any stretch. “The moment that starts getting old is the moment that you’ve gotta start packing it in and figuring out what 9-to-5 (job) you want,” says Jesse.

Keep scrolling to read our full Q&A with the Bivona twins, Jesse and Justin. Pre-orders for In The Wild are still available here. And check out the full list of upcoming Interrupters tour dates, including their European run and leg 2 of the US dates with Flogging Molly, right here.

(*Editor’s note: The text below has been slightly edited and condensed for content and clarity.*)

JS: First and foremost, congratulations on another successful appearance on Kimmel!

Justin: Thank you!

JS: So this is probably then the second coolest thing you’ve done this week…

(*all laugh*)

Justin: For real though, it is good to see your face!

JS: Is that the third time now on Kimmel?

Jesse: Nope, two! Four years ago we did “She’s Kerosene.”

Justin: Almost four years ago to the day. It was like July 26th.

JS: Man, how time has flown. The Kimmel show seems like it’s a cool one to do because the audience is right there, versus some of the other late-night shows where they’re sitting back and you’re kinda playing to the cameras as much as anything. That seems like a cool one.

Jesse: Yeah, they make it seem like it’s an indoor club show,

Justin: Which is really cool.

Jesse: It’s really cool. And the whole staff and crew there is excellent. They’re very nice. We had a GOOD time yesterday.

JS: And you got to hang with RuPaul, that’s pretty cool!

Justin: He’s super nice too!

Jesse: So nice!

Justin: An old punk rocker and a big ska fan too!

JS: I had no idea!

Jesse: Yeah, he played in a punk band in like the early 80s.

Justin: He loved The Selecter and The Specials.

JS: So then he’s totally going to dig your music, especially the new album!

Justin: He gave us the best soundbite! He just said “It’s time for some ska music, bitches!”

(*all laugh*)

Jesse: We were on stage and just looked at each other like “WHOA!” (*all laugh*)

JS: Does that stuff ever get old? And I know I probably know the answer to that question, and actually I think I’ve asked Kevin and Aimee that sort of stuff before, but playing in massive crowds, playing in places like Fenway Park, playing for RuPaul on the Kimmel show…does that stuff ever get old?

Jesse: Never.

Justin: No.

JS: I feel like I knew that was the answer…

Jesse: The moment that starts getting old is the moment that you’ve gotta start packing it in and figuring out what 9-to-5 you want.

JS: When I started doing this Zoom interview thing during the early days of Covid, it was really to sort of check in with people. I was used to doing more phone interviews and then I’d type them up and write a story, but A) the website crashed so there was no publish things anymore for a while, but I liked the idea of actually chatting with people when they were in quarantine and we were in quarantine and you could see each other and stay connected. We’ve been in this weird situation for so long now that music that came out of quarantine is coming out commercially. That’s sort of the long way of getting into In The Wild, which is a really, really, really great album and I know I say that about each one that you guys put out, but the bar just keeps getting raised. So let’s talk about that process. When during lockdown did you realize “well, we’re not going to be out on the road for a while, and we’re not going to be able to go into a studio for a while, so fuck it, let’s do it ourselves”?

Jesse: Well…

Justin: Here’s the thing. We finished the Fight The Good Fight album cycle tour in February of 2020. We ended in the UK with two amazing shows in London. The plan was to finish that and go home. Kev and Aimee were going to start writing for a couple weeks, and then we were going to go into the studio in March. Day, like, one of us going into the studio to record, was that day where like the NBA is canceling and Tom Hanks has Covid.

JS: Right! That’s when we really knew the world was ending!

Justin: Yeah! So we were going to go back in the next day, but everything started getting canceled, so we put the weekend on hold and then the next week on hold, and then the month, and everything just got shelved. So we were sitting at home, and couldn’t really do what our plan was. But it was nice at the same time, because we had just kept rolling for ⅞ years. There was no break. So we finally got to sit back and wait a little bit. We did the live record to give something to the fans during the break, and with that we did the documentary, This Is My Family, and put it all together as like a cohesive concert film. Kinda while we were doing that, we got to reflect on our past and Aimee got to do a lot of looking back on her past and realized there was a lot of stuff she hadn’t written songs about. At some point in the middle of that, Kevin was like “we need to do this record at our house, in our garage.” It’s a tiny 10×20 room that we would practice in, but it wasn’t treated, there wasn’t any studio equipment. So we spent maybe a month building things. Me and Jesse with power tools building racks to put gear in and tabletops and stuff. Pretty much “tiny housing” the studio to make every part of it work. And then they had some songs and we would just get in there the four of us with Kevin producing and work out these songs. It was a fun process because there were no outside distractions, there was no one else we had to worry about, it was just us as a cohesive band, the four of us, working out songs, writing songs, and it kind of really informed the process. It was the best thing we’ve ever done.

JS: So there was stuff written to be recorded back in March of 2020 when you first got off the road?

Jesse: Actually the one day that we did spend at the studio, we were working on the instrumental for “As We Live.” That was the only thing we recorded at Tim’s studio before everything got shut down.

Justin: I think they had “Alien” kind of on the docket, and “The Hard Way” was in there also.

Jesse: Yeah, they had done a few weeks of writing so there was a batch of songs. A lot of those songs got shelved because they didn’t fit the whole record idea. Once Kevin and Aimee started writing a lot, Aimee realized that the record was pretty much her life story. So the songs that didn’t fit with that theme we pushed aside and focused on the ones that told her story the way she wanted to tell it. We’re stoked on how the whole thing came out.

JS: How far into that writing process did the real direction of the album start to take shape, or at least when did she tell you that that was the direction that the album was going to go? And did that involve sit-down conversations…like, I know you’ve been family for a long time but that maybe there’s some shit she was going to sing about that’s a little…

Jesse: No, I think it happened kind of naturally, and it wasn’t until we had like

Both: Eighteen songs

Jesse: …that we were working on that it was like, okay, this batch is all very cohesive. I feel like we’re saying that word a lot? (*all laugh*)

Justin: It was a theme, you know?

Jesse: Yeah, and these other ones, they’re good, but they distract from the message we’re trying to send here and the themes we’re trying to talk about.

Justin: Yeah, once it was like, there’s all these songs (*gestures*) it was easy to look at the board and say, “well, these fourteen (go together).”

Jesse: And there was even a time where we weren’t completely…where we didn’t have like the last three figured out, and we dug up an old one, and once Aimee looked at it, it was like “actually, if I just rewrite these verses, this could fit.” That was “Worst For Me,” which was a sleeper favorite of mine. That song rips.

JS: That song is great, yeah!

Jesse: But it was on the back burner for months! It was just like, we recorded it and then we just forgot about it.

Justin: That was the other great thing about the process. We had so much time just sitting at home that they would finish a song and live with it for six months, then come back to it and say “oh, this song needs a bridge.” Then they would just write a bridge and it would bring the whole thing together. We’ve never really had the opportunity to sit and live with something and then come back to it and fix it. Usually in the studio, it’s like record it, it’s done…

Jesse: Go on tour, it’ll come out when you’re on tour. The most time we’ve ever had off in this band was maybe two months, right before Fight The Good Fight came out. And that wasn’t really time off, that was us preparing for the album cycle and the release and all that. So to be forced to sit on our hands during the pandemic, it helped a lot.

JS: What did you do otherwise to keep creative, musically or otherwise, to keep from getting into those doldrums when it seemed like the world was never going to open up and that sort of thing?

Jesse: You know, that’s a good question. We did what everybody did…binge-watched a lot of TV…

Justin: We did get to a point after the first few months where it was like, “okay, we’ve gotta go outside.”

JS: Touch grass.

Both: Yeah!

Justin: Going to the beach, or going on hikes.

Jesse: Going on bike rides.

Justin: And we had a small quarantine bubble of friends that we trusted to come over, or we’d go over there. But other than that, it was a lot of TV…

Jesse: A lot of movies.

JS: Were you still playing music, even if it wasn’t Interrupters stuff, or did you just like put it away?

Jesse: It was always there. Our back room is always set up so we could always go back there and jam, but there was definitely a time…

Justin: There was definitely a three-month period where I didn’t touch a bass. (*all laugh*)

Jesse: Yeah, I was the same with drums.

JS: Is that the longest you’ve ever gone, since you started playing?

Both: Yeah!

Justin: For sure.

Jesse: Definitely.

JS: Was it interesting working with…I know you’ve worked with Tim (Armstrong) executive producing before but this is the first one where it was listed that Kevin was the producer of (the album). Does that change the dynamic when not only one of the four of you is producing it, but he’s also your brother and your band member? Does that impact the dynamic in the studio or have you been doing it with each other for so long now that you just know how it works?

Justin: Yeah, exactly. We’ve been doing this our whole life. We’ve always looked to Kevin for answers when we have questions about what we’re doing.

Jesse: He’s always kinda been the kind of shadow producer of everything, in a sense.

Justin: Yeah, so Tim gave him full rein…told him to just grab the reins and take off with it.

Jesse: The other thing about the way we work is we try everyone’s ideas, so we could be in the studio and it wouldn’t be like him saying “no, this is how it’s going to be, we have to do it this way.” If we’re working on something and it’s not working, all four of us can be like “well, what if we try this, or what if we try this.” And he’ll say “okay, let’s try it.” There’s no bad ideas until you try it and realize it’s bad, you know? It was very good. And we have such a great relationship and we’re very good at communicating, so there wasn’t any headbutting. It was very fun and very easy.

Justin: And again, doing it on the property, it allowed Aimee the freedom to record vocals whenever she felt emotionally connected enough to a song to sing the vocals.

JS: Especially on an album like this, that’s crucial.

Justin: Yeah! When you have studio time, you know you’ve got to be in there at 5pm and be there til 11pm.

Jesse: We’ve gotta bang out all these songs

Justin: And you’ve got to record these (specific things). That’s almost like a 9 to 5. This way, it was like, if we went back there and she was like “ah I don’t want to sing that right now, let me sing this one.” And also, if she got her second wind at 2am, she could just hop back there and record.

JS: Do you guys live close enough where it’s like “hey, it’s 2am but we’ve got an idea…”

Both: Yeah!

Justin: We call it The Compound. In California technical terms, it’s a multi-family housing property, there’s one driveway, there’s two houses and a garage that we share, and a backyard. They live in the front house and we live here, so we’re right next to each other.

JS: It’s like being on tour while you’re at home!

Justin: I know, but with that being said, when we come home from tour sometimes, we don’t see each other for a whole week. (*all laugh*)

JS: Obviously it’s still early because this album’s not even out yet, but does that inspire you to kinda work that way going forward, now that you know that you can make an album like that in your little garage studio?

Jesse: Yeah I think so.

Justin: I think so, I mean…

Jesse: We haven’t really started thinking about the next one yet, but it is easy to just naturally fall into that. If we have to do a song for something, we can just hop back there and do it. So when we have something (to work on), it’s like “when do you want to work on that?” “I don’t know, tomorrow?” So we just hop back there and do it.

JS: How did the writing process work? Were there times when all four of you were writing together, or do Kevin and Aimee come up with the stem of the song and then you guys work on your rhythm parts? And does that ever change the direction of a song? Like if they start writing and a song has a certain feel, do they give you the freedom to say “hey, we think there’s a different feel that might go better with this song?” Because there are a lot of different feels on this album, and we’ll talk about that in a few minutes, but…

Justin: They would definitely have…it could be anything from the core idea of the song to an entirely fledged out song already, knowing how it should feel and what it should sound like. But, there are a couple songs on this record where they were recorded one way and pretty much done, but then it wasn’t just fitting in with the rest of it when we would get back there. I think specifically “Love Never Dies” had a totally different feel, it was more of a rock/reggae Clash-y song. And it was dope, but it wasn’t fitting in with everything.

Jesse: It didn’t age well.

Justin: It didn’t age well. So when we got back there with the four of us, we said “What do we do with this?” And Kevin said “what if did it more like a roots thing?”

Jesse: Yeah, he said “Jesse, play a one drop” so I played this one drop, and then he said “Justin, play this bass line” (*mimics bassline*). And then he said “okay, watch” and he just started skanking, and then he started singing this melody the way that it is now, and we played that for like four bars and just stopped. We were like “yeah, that’s it! Now we’re on to something!”

Justin: And then we finished it and we were like “dude, we gotta get The Skints on this one.”

Jesse: We built up this track, sent it to The Skints, and they sent us back a whole bunch of stuff that we kept. They’re fantastic.

JS: I was going to ask if all the guests got recorded in studio with you too. Obviously they didn’t if The Skints recorded their own stuff. People haven’t heard the album yet but obviously, Tim’s on a song because Tim’s gonna be on a song. Rhoda from Bodysnatchers, Alex and Greg from Hepcat, obviously Billy Kottage, the fifth Interrupter. Shoutout to Billy Kottage, the pride of Dover, New Hampshire.

(*Justin adjusts camera, revealing Billy Kottage sitting on the couch in the corner!)

Both: He’s right there!

JS: That’s awesome! I don’t think we’ve ever met in person, but Billy and I are both from the State of New Hampshire, so I always think that’s awesome.

Justin: When he comes out here, he pretty much lives with us.

JS: That’s great. There aren’t many of us in New Hampshire, the scene wasn’t very big, so when someone from the Granite State is cool and does cool things, I love it. So shoutout to Billy Kottage. So yeah, did they all record with you?

Jesse: It was all different. The Skints did it on their own in England, Rhoda recorded her vocals on her own at her place back in England.

Justin: (For) Hepcat, we actually went into Tim’s studio for a day.

Jesse: Which was great!

Justin: Greg and Alex came in and it was just one of the most fun days. That’s the thing, we went in to have them record on the song not knowing…Kevin didn’t really know what to have them do. We wanted them on the song, but he didn’t really have the part or anything. But we went in with them and showed them the song, and within like a minute, the two of them are sitting there going…

Both: “ooooh oooh” (*harmonizing*)

Justin: Like writing the parts, figuring it out together, it was so cool to see because they’re literally our favorite ska band.

Jesse: It was a magical session to be a part of. They were sitting there laughing…

Justin: ..having a good time…

Jesse: …singing all the right notes. It was awesome. We did that at Tim’s studio. Tim also did his vocals at his studio. That was later in the process, where things were a little more comfortable, where we could actually travel to a studio and not worry about everything. And then also, we had a guest vocalist on “Alien.” It’s this guy named Arnold, who is a friend of Tim’s and a friend of Brett Gurewitz’s. When we were working on that song, I think it was Tim’s idea, he was like “Arnold’s voice would sound great on this,” and we were like “let’s give it a shot!” So we had Arnold come in and he sang all those background vocals, and he’s got this emotionally delicate approach to his vocals that just lifted that song to another level.

JS: That song is something else…

Both: Yeah!

Jesse: First Interrupters song with no guitar.

JS: Right! That’s actually a thing I wanted to ask about. There’s so many different directions! Obviously you’ve always played on a lot of different influences, but I feel like with this album, you go deeper into the reggae thing, into the 2-Tone thing, and then “Alien” which is unlike anything else in the Interrupters catalog. What made you take the freedom to just kinda go with that. Is that stuff that’s always kinda been in the arsenal but maybe you didn’t want to go too deep on the first few records, but now that everyone’s along for the ride it’s like, “well, let’s push that.”

Jesse: Maybe a little bit of that, but also, it is more that the songs were telling us how we should play them, so to speak. So the way that that song was written, there was never really another way to approach it. That song went through a lot of different versions – not crazy different versions but it was layered up with heavy guitars at one point…

Justin: It was kind of like The Beatles’ “Oh Darling” at one point, where it was like rocking…

Jesse: There were heavier drums on it at one point. It went through a bunch of stages.

Justin: But the emotion wasn’t there. Aimee fought really hard to bring it back to what it should be.

Jesse: What served the song better.

Justin: And that involved one day just pulling it up and being like “take the guitar off, take that off, take that off”…it got down to literally just the drum beat and the string arrangement.

Jesse: Even cutting a whole outro and just being like “no, the song should end right there.”

Justin: And then also with “My Heart,” which is also kind of a different…

Jesse: That “doo-woppy” 50s feel.

Justin: She had already had the melody and was singing it and I was like “well, it’s gonna be in 3, and it’s gonna have this rock feel.” Even if we tried to make it in 4 as a ska song or a reggae song, it just wasn’t working. So the way those songs were written informed the styles. And at this point, we’ve kind of realized that no matter what style it is, if it’s me and Jesse and Kevin playing and Aimee singing, it’s going to sound like The Interrupters. Us just believing in ourselves and pushing it forward that way really helped the process.

JS: When there’s an album I’m really excited about, I try to ignore a lot of the singles and just listen to the album all the way through because, I don’t know, I’m in my 40s and that’s the way we did it when we were kids, right? So I listened to it all the way through and I took notes and next to “My Heart” I wrote “whoa, an Interrupters doo-wop song.” It’s very much an Interrupters song still, but it’s got that sort of 50s diner, doo-wop vibe to it. Which I think is awesome, and it’s cool to see elements like feature in the mix but still be an Interrupters track.

Justin: Thank you!

Jesse: Yeah, initially that was one where we were like “let’s just play like The Ramones would play in 3.” So it was real heavy, but it didn’t serve the song well.

Justin: So dial back a little bit.

JS: I think people are going to dig that song.

Jesse: I think that’s my favorite song on the album.

Justin: Specifically behind the scenes with that song, Aimee had a service dog named Daisy for 13 years, who passed away in 2018. It was like her little girl, and it was devastating when she passed away. She wrote that song about her, and not even just the first time but the first few times I heard it, I couldn’t keep it together. I’d cry every time.

Jesse: Yeah, because when we worked it out in the studio, we just had the choruses, singing “my heart keeps beating, my heart keeps beating…” so that pretty much informed the drum beat just being a heartbeat. And then a couple weeks later when they updated the Dropbox with the verses and said “listen to this,” me and Justin were both sitting right here in our living room with our earbuds on and we’re both just like crying. Like, oh my god this is so emotional, because we all lived with Daisy, she was fantastic. She was a German shepherd/wolf, and we all still miss her a lot. That was a heavy one.

JS: Have you been able to play a lot of this stuff live yet, or are you waiting until the album is out?

Jesse: On the Flogging Molly tour we just did, we were only doing “Anything Was Better” and “In The Mirror,” and then when we dropped “Jailbird” we started doing that. The plan is to play as much of it as possible.

Justin: We tried a few of them at soundcheck on occasion.

Jesse: Yeah, we’d always screw around at soundcheck and be like “do you guys know ‘Kiss The Ground,’ let’s try that”

Justin: Or “Raised By Wolves”

Jesse: But we’re in rehearsals next week for a few days to work on stuff for the European tour, because that’s when we’ve gotta do longer sets, but the plan is to try to learn the whole record.

JS: I think people are going to dig a lot of it. I was just curious about if you’d throw a curveball song like that at people before they’ve heard the album to see what the response is. Because I feel like “In The Mirror” is one of those songs that the first time you hear it, you go “yup, that one’s a classic. That’s going to get the crowd whipped up.” Do you know when you’re writing a song like that that it’s going to be “the one.” Like “She’s Kerosene” was like that. The very first verse when I first heard it, I remember going “well, that’s gonna be a big hit.”

Jesse: When we’re working on it in the studio, I think we’re so lost in the process that we don’t give songs that sort of focus, like “that’s going to be the single, this is going to be the hit.” But there was a point when we were doing “She’s Kerosene” that we had Mr. Brett come in and he was listening to stuff and he when he heard “Kerosene,” he had his little notepad and he was just like “hit.” And we all just looked at each other like “Whoa! Really?”

Justin: We thought there was so much more work to be done with that song and when he gave it that check of approval, we were like “alright, we don’t have to do much more to it.” That was cool. But then also for this record, when there was like 18 or 20 songs, “In The Mirror” was a standout, at least for me. I was like “I think that one is really good.” Then as it dwindled down, it was like “In The Mirror” and “Raised By Wolves” as the top two. They’re different enough, one’s ska, one’s sort of heavy rock, and you’re just like these two are the shining examples of the record and what we’re trying to sound like.

Jesse: And “In The Mirror,” Kevin and Aimee wrote that song ten years ago. That was one that wasn’t written specifically for this record. But when they were doing the inventory for the record, Aimee was like “we should dig this one up, this is a great one.” I remember when we were trying to work that one out in the room as a four-piece, I feel like it was a more difficult one to get away from the demo version, because I’ve been listening to that song for ten years. There is a demo recording of it – it’s not even a demo, it’s a full fledged-out different version of it. And having that ingrained in your brain and trying to get away from it and being like “alright, how would The Interrupters do this,” that was an interesting process. There was definitely a day where I was like “that song’s not going to make the record, we have so many other songs.” (*all laugh*) Obviously, I was wrong, that song rips.

Justin: But it’s wild too, because they wrote it ten years ago. From that time, that’s when they wrote “Easy On You,” “Gave You Everything,” and then “In The Mirror” was in that batch.

Jesse: “Love Never Dies” was in that batch.

Justin: Yup, “Love Never Dies.” I think now if we’re recording, it’s like “hey what else was from that time period? What else did you write then? Anything else we can dig up?” There was some gold.

JS: It’s interesting to hear that it’s from that time period. As I was driving around this morning for work, I listened to the first album and this one back-to-back, because they come out on the same day; the new one comes out on the 8th anniversary of the first one, so I thought it would be cool to listen to them back-to-back. And, I loved the first album when it came out, but it is startling how far you guys have progressed as a band in eight years.

Both: Yeah!

JS: And so to listen to them back-to-back, obviously you can kinda see how ended up here, but at the same time, you’ve progressed so far. So it’s really interesting that that song, in particular, is from that batch.

Jesse: So, one of our little press points about this record and relating it to the previous records is that the first album is kind of like a first date, where you just talk about surface-level things, nothing too crazy. Second album, you start to let them know a little more about you. Third album, you’re kinda getting into the nitty-gritty. Fourth album, all the baggage is out, the drama is revealed, all the secrets are out. That is kind of where we are with this. And talking about the recording of the first record, we were just trying to keep it simple. We weren’t trying to reinvent anything, we were just trying to be a straight-ahead ska-punk band.

Justin: We did like twenty-four instrumentals in three days. Some of them didn’t have any lyrics or anything, we just got the music done. The ones that didn’t have any lyrics done, they just wrote to the instrumentals. There was no going back to redo parts, it was just like “this is it, we’re done.”

Jesse: And keep it simple. Like, for me on drums, it was like “don’t do any crazy fills, just keep it straight, keep it steady.”

Justin: Which is wild, because some of my basslines, I play so many notes! Why did they let me do that?!? (*all laugh*)

JS: Yeah, but they work, and as somebody who wanted to be a bass player when he grew up, I like that they let you play all the notes! …. Thanks for doing this. This was fun. I talked to Kevin and Aimee for I think the first three records, so it’s nice to talk to you guys. It’s been a while!

Jesse: Yeah we’re being let off the leash a little bit. (*all laugh*)

JS: Well and that’s good, you should be. It’s fun that you guys have your own language with each other, and I know that that’s talked about in other places, like the documentary. So it’s perfect that you guys ended up as a rhythm section, and you end up doing this. Is that why you ended up as a rhythm section?

Jesse: Yeah, kinda. It kinda happened naturally. I don’t remember if we talked about it in the movie, but Kevin started out as a drummer. We had a drum set in the house because our dad was a producer and worked with his friends. So there was a drum set always in the house and Kevin gravitated toward that at an early age. But then, one day our dad came home with a guitar and a bass. So Kevin grabbed the guitar, and I was already dicking around on the drums, so then the only thing left over was the bass. So then naturally it was like “well, this is your instrument, this is your instrument…” And then we would just jam as little kids. There’s some video in that documentary but there’s a LOT more video when we were like 7 years old and Kevin is like 9 of us just trying to play like Green Day songs and Blink 182 songs

Justin: Sublime songs.

Jesse: Yeah, Sublime songs! Whatever we were hearing on the radio is what we were trying to play. The crazy thing is that we’ve come full circle and we know a lot of the people we were trying to emulate and we’re lucky enough to call them friends.

Justin: Some are like family.

Jesse: Yeah, some are like family now. It’s been a crazy, crazy life that we don’t take for granted.

Justin: They always say don’t meet your idols but...

Jesse: …we’ve never had a bad experience when we’ve met our idols.

Justin: I couldn’t tell you one person that I had looked up to that I met and they ruined it for me. Everyone’s been amazing.

JS: You know what, I’ve got to say almost the same thing. The amount of people that I’ve gotten to know through doing this for…well, The Interrupters started in 2011 and I started with Dying Scene in 2011. You’re one of the bands that came out right when I was getting started with this whole thing so it’s been a fun sort of parallel, but there’s only a small, small handful of people where you go “wow, that guy’s kind of a dick.” Everybody else has been super cool and super rad and supportive of each other. Especially those people that we grew up listening to in the late 80s and the 90s. It’s a pretty good, supportive group.

Justin: It is, it is. Even when we just started out, to tour with Rancid was amazing, but then to go on and get Rhoda from The Bodysnatchers, we get Horace and Lynval and Terry from The Specials love us. It’s just insane. To have that mutual respect and to get it back is just…yeah…it’s mind-blowing.

Jesse: We did a charity show back in February where we were backing The Specials. I was the drummer of The Specials for a night. We did the whole set, like twelve songs. Justin played piano, Kev played guitar.

Justin: You saw that thing where we played with Tim and Jesse Michaels and did the Op Ivy song?

JS: Yeah, yeah. That was amazing.

Justin: That was the same event. That one song with Jesse was amazing but it overshadowed the fact that we played in The Specials! (*all laugh*)

Jesse: It was just mind-blowing.

JS: Yes! Everyone kinda lost it with the Jesse thing but yeah, that’s awesome. Just awesome.

Jesse: And just being able to sit in a room for a week with Terry and Horace; Lynval got sick so he couldn’t come out, but just to sit there and run the songs with them was mind-blowing.

JS: I’m glad this stuff keeps happening to you, because you certainly deserve it.

by Staff Writer jaystone

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DS Interview: Todd Farrell Jr. (Two Cow Garage, TFJ and the Dirty Birds, Benchmarks) on His Brand New Full-Length “Might as Well be Ghosts”

June 25, 2024 | 12:36 pm

Might as Well be Ghosts, a perfectly-executed, poetically-written solo record of Todd Farrell Jr., formerly of Two Cow Garage and Benchmarks, officially hit streaming last month and I think it’s pretty damn good. Actually really, really damn good. I had an amazing opportunity to sit down with the very elusive Mr. Farrell at Music City’s […]

Might as Well be Ghosts, a perfectly-executed, poetically-written solo record of Todd Farrell Jr., formerly of Two Cow Garage and Benchmarks, officially hit streaming last month and I think it’s pretty damn good. Actually really, really damn good. I had an amazing opportunity to sit down with the very elusive Mr. Farrell at Music City’s greatest punk bar, the Cobra, to shoot the shit about anything and everything that was even remotely related to music.

I label Todd elusive because he’s somebody I was hoping to just grab beer and shoot the shit with ever since I’d come across his Dirty Birds masterpiece of a record, but our paths hadn’t seemed to cross until just before this full-length was due to release. He gained somewhat of a reputation as the wise musician-dad to a few guys in my circle and, knowing his background of opening for Frank Turner and Lucero, I was dying to meet the guy. Yet it wasn’t until a songwriter’s night at the local 5 Spot that I was finally able to meet the dude and chat a bit (coincidentally, it was also my first in-person meeting with Nashville-newbie and Dying Scene friend Roger Harvey). This interview was comprised of equal parts questions about the new record and personal questions seeking wisdom from a dude that had definitely seen his share of the road and has moved into a new stage of his life, or as Todd wisely labeled it, “new adventures”.

“I’ve kind of found myself in this in-between position, like in the song “See You Next Year”. I’m just happy to do anything, I love to make music, I love to record, I love to play. And there was a time, especially during Covid, when I was pretty sure like nobody would ever play music again“, said Farrell. “I’ve somehow stumbled into a good happy medium where like I have a full-time job here, I have kids, I have a wife, I have a family, I have a house. I do like normal dad shit, I coach a t-ball team. But I do still get calls to do some road work every once in a while…” Farrell has made it known, especially during his live shows, how happy he is with this family life he’s built for himself here in Nashville.

I was particularly interested in asking questions pertaining to his balance of family life and music life, a balance I will hopefully be faced with in the distant, but not-too-distant future. When discussing my personal aspirations for hitting the road and my understanding that I hadn’t done it near enough for it to get old yet, Farrell gave an extremely level-headed and well-thought-out response: “it’s not even that it gets old, it’s just you kind of crave new adventures. Like I wanted to be a dad, and I wanted to take my kids to baseball games; I think that’s something that’s important to me. So on that Dirty Bird’s record, there’s a song called “Pawn Shops”, it’s about selling my guitar. And that was written kind of from a perspective of a guy that has not done it yet. And it was, like, this bleeding-heart anthem of how much I want to get out there and do the thing. So on this record, I kind of challenged myself to write the spiritual successor to it. So that’s the first track, “Local Pickup Only”. And it’s the same theme, about selling guitars, and then the turn of both songs is, like, ending up not selling your guitars. But on this one, the perspective is different. This is the perspective of I’ve done these things already, but I still think this is a worthwhile thing to do.“

For the Might as Well be Ghosts, Farrell isn’t in pursuit of a month-long tour of support and sinking every ounce of effort he’s got into pushing it. “I’m just happy I made a record and I get to play the 5 Spot sometimes, and sometimes people take me on tour to play guitar, and that’s cool. Like, there are so few amount of people in the world that get to do even that, and so I’m just thankful that I get to do even a taste of it, and that I got a big taste of it early on, and then now I still get to poke my head in there and do it... I’m not taking it too seriously, and I don’t think anybody should really take me too seriously. If you enjoy it, that’s awesome, and I’m stoked that anybody enjoys the stuff that I still do. I guess thank you to anybody whose listened, and thank you for being interested at all... the fact that I still get to do anything is a gift. Every show I play is a gift, every time I record anything, every time I play with anybody, every time I get to have a cool conversation like this is a gift. So, just, like, thank you for taking your time to take interest in what I’m doing.”

Every song, even every verse at times, features a storytelling through song that I rank up there with the likes of Tim Barry and Cory Branan, but with a humor and wittiness that reminded me a lot of Will Varley. A great example is track 8, “Hey You, You’re Finally Awake”: “The first verse is like, pretty real. Like I’m an older dude now, I have kids. I still have that glimpse of like, old band dude life, you know, “black metal t-shirts in my drawer that I can’t wear anymore” because I’m picking up my kids at daycare, that’s like the crux of that. The second verse is like, just off the wall, random, a COVID rambling I wrote down one time that I thought was really funny... it’s literally just describing the Skyrim Civil War. The Stormcloaks and the like, that’s all it is. And then, the Fox News bit was just because of all the politics... not everything has to be this poignant, super important thing to say. Sometimes you can just do things because you like to do them, because it’s fun.“

From an outside perspective, Todd quoting Shane from their Two Cow Garage days together summed up what I loved so much about hearing the meanings behind these songs: “I quoted him in the lyrics, it’s, uh… “We forget better stories than most people will ever know”. He said that to me a hundred times on the road. What he means is, like when you’re out there and you’re doing stuff, you’re kind of living that life, you see things every single day and everything’s a good story.” But he followed that with a wise personal touch that I appreciated even more: “I don’t think that’s specifically true, I took my kids to their first baseball game this weekend and that was, like, maybe a top-five thing for me. But the point was, there’s kind of a romanticism between band people about the things that you share, the camaraderie and all that, that nobody ever understands until you’re out there doing it. Maybe that’s a little bit of the theme of the record too, I just kind of wanted to tell some of those stories.“

This was hands down my most enjoyable interview to date, my hope is that readers enjoy it a fraction of the amount I did. We talked about tons of great stuff that isn’t touched upon in the write up: his contributions to the new Kilograms full-length featuring Joe Gittleman, Sammy Kay, Mike McDermott and J Duckworth, explanations behind Goose catching on fire at Springwater and “when St. Louis stole all of our shit”, tour stoires and road wisdom, and a whole lot more. Scroll down for the brand new full-length Might as Well be Ghosts and the entire interview transcript.

Dying Scene (Nathan Kernell Nasty Nate): So what’s kind of the timetable for you’re playing career? Like I know about the Dirty Birds, that’s some of my favorite music period, and I know about like Benchmarks, but I’m screwed up on the timetable. Because you did a solo-type record with some Dirty Birds stuff too, right?

Todd Farrell Jr.: So, I’m trying to think, so you’re talking about the “Birds on Benches” record with like all acoustic versions. I did that, I think it was either last year or the year before, but I literally kind of did it as like I’m just hanging around my house and I have this microphone and a guitar, here’s how I play songs live these days. But so like I guess it all kind of started when, in 2011 or 12, I was working at a recording studio out in Kingston Springs, and I like self-recorded an EP where like I played everything myself, just to kind of see if I could do it. And I got trashed on a Drive-by Truckers message board, and then that was like weirdly a springboard into people knowing who I was. I was like, “well, I love the truckers, man, do whatever”. Anyway, then I put a band together, it was just like buddies, like Goose, he played bass in Benchmarks too, and my buddy Jack played drums. We did that and like did a little bit of regional stuff, we would get some decently cool opening things, and we got to open for Two Cow at the Basement in like 2013. I had known them before, but that’s when I kind of really got to know them. And they invited me to sit in with them a few times. But then I was playing guitar for this other girl that next spring on a South by Southwest run, I was just a hired gun guitar player. But we like hit all the same cities as Two Cow so I would just, after our show got done, go see them, and like we just hung out. Then that led to Shane asking me if I wanted to join the band. So I did that, and then simultaneously, we did Benchmarks. Benchmarks and the Dirty Birds are like the same band, but it was kind of like the fresh rebrand, I guess you could call it. We want to make this kind of aggressive, punk, but melodic, and songwriter-based music. And it’s not like “me and the someones,” it’s like this is the band. So we did the “American Night” EP in ’15, we did “Our Undivided Attention” in ’17 on SofaBurn Records, and then around that time, I walked away from Two Cow because I really wanted to focus on Benchmarks. Which leads of course to 2020, putting a record out in 2020 and COVID destroying everything. But it was all good, like I got married and had kids, and was very stoked about my home situation.

Now with Two Cow, like were you guys kind of on that show schedule where it’s like, I don’t know, like 300 shows a year or whatever it was?

It wasn’t 300 while I was in there, but it was definitely 150 plus. For a while it was like a month on, a month off, a month on, a month off. And by a month, I mean like six to seven weeks, kind of, and then a month off. It was a ton of fun, I learned just about everything I know about touring from being in that band, what to do and what not to do. I can’t say enough good things about my time with them.

Well, I’m envious as fuck about doing that because that’s kind of what I’m trying to work my way up to, my goal is 100 shows in a year and my wife hates that.

Honestly man, unless you go to the West Coast, you don’t need to be out for two or three weeks. It used to be you had to be out for more than a month to like break even because you had to find enough like anchor shows to make the trip worthwhile. But now it’s like, figure out where a good paying show is, book a few shows around it and do that. Then it’s good on your band’s sanity, it’s good on your band’s finances, you’re not overplaying. There was a minute in Two Cow and Benchmarks to where we were like in this exact same bar, playing to this exact same crowd two months ago in this town. That’s not really furthering this, you know, we don’t even have new merch. I think bands could be strategic about like how, when and where they tour. There’s a romanticism about being on the road your whole life, but I don’t think it’s sustainable for a band. Having said all that, there are parts of it that I do miss and I’m thankful that sometimes artists will take me and I get to play guitar or whatever. I haven’t done the touring on my own in a while, maybe I will if I get to do something with Sammy [Kay] or whatever.

That’s something I wanted to ask you because you’ve been pretty outspoken at your shows about like you’ve built this life for yourself that you really love with getting married and having kids. And that’s not super conducive to touring like you used to. But it seems like you’ve got a happy medium of you still get out like you went with Will Hoge, but you’re home with family too.

Yeah, like last year I went with Sammy and we did the support for Chuck Ragan. I’ve somehow stumbled into a good happy medium where like I have a full-time job here, I have kids, I have a wife, I have a family, I have a house. I do like normal dad shit, I coach a t-ball team. But I do still get calls to to do some road work every once in a while and these days, obviously if it’s a good paying thing I’m more likely to take it but sometimes with Sammy it’s like we’re opening for Chuck Ragan for five nights.

And you can’t say no to Sammy… *laughs*

To be fair I do say no to Sammy *laughs*, not because I don’t love him but because sometimes it’s like my kid’s birthday. I think I’m in a privileged situation, picking shows, like I know those calls aren’t always gonna be there forever, but like doing a long weekend or a week on the road with someone like Sammy or even like Will Hoge is still pretty cool, he’s on a level more than I’ve ever been a part of, and like I respect the hell out of him. He’s kind of living the dream, he’s also like a family dude, he’s got kids and a family and he’s made more sacrifices than probably I’m making to make that dream. I respect the hell out of him and it was an honor and privilege to do those things. I’m a big fan of his. My wife is a huge fan of his. And so I was like “Vicki, you know, I got a call to do a long weekender with Will Hoge”. That’s how I knew it was legit, my wife knew who he was by name and she knew some of the songs he’d written.

So with the the new record you talked on your EPK you sent me that it was mostly written and recorded over Covid. Were there any outliers, like old songs?

Yeah, there’s three specific ones. One is called “Separate Beds” and it’s like on YouTube, I played it at an in-store in Little Rock in 2015 or 16 or something, I also played the other songs at that same in-store. “Separate’ Beds” I wrote for my wife before we were married. And then this other one on the record is called “Nahmericana”, it’s on YouTube as something else. But I played an unofficial Americana fest thing at the 5 Spot and some guy told me like “your songs are great, but you talk too much about like Taylor Swift and black metal, like you really need to focus on your brand”. So I wrote that song in response to that. And then the third song, that was an earlier song called “Health and Safe Passage”. There is an artist named Chris Porter, he was in a lot of bands, like alt-country bands, Some Dark Holler was one, Porter and the Bluebonnet Rattlesnakes with like John Calvin Abney who’s on that record. So anyway, Two Cow’s on tour at South by Southwest and we run into Porter at the bar, and we’re just hanging out and shooting the shit. He’s a good dude, we all know each other, we’re all friends. But like three weeks later, we’re on the West Coast in Santa Cruz and wake up to hear that there’s a van crash and Porter died in this crash. And I literally wrote those lyrics on my iPhone, I like walked from the hotel to the pier and sat there, wrote those lyrics down. And I didn’t think about it, literally, until when I was recording these songs, I was kind of like “what else could I put on here” and then I found those lyrics. And actually John Calvin Abney, who played with Porter a lot, he’s playing lead guitar on that.

Does this this record kind of a theme?

I think it probably does, it’s probably kind of what we were talking about earlier. I think it has a lot to do with, like you said, where I’ve kind of found myself in this in-between position, like in the song “See You Next Year”. I’m just happy to do anything, I love to make music, I love to record, I love to play. And there was a time, especially during Covid, when I was pretty sure like nobody would ever play music again, I just thought it was not gonna happen. And you know Benchmarks had this whole album, tour flop because of Covid and everything and I was really upset about that. I was in that space kind of where whole world’s changing and I really gotta buckle down and do my normal job and I need to be a dad. I need to do all this stuff because I think music’s done. And then Joe Maiocco, who did kind of the creative direction for the album art, he convinced me, one, that that’s not the case, that it’s worthwhile to keep creating, and, two, that these songs deserve that these dongs deserve to see the light of day. I was just sending him iPhone demos like “here’s a song I wrote today, what do you think?” And he was finally like “Todd, you need to actually fuckin’ record these songs and put them out.” So I guess the theme is just, you know, make cool stuff. You can just make cool stuff and it doesn’t have to be this big extravagant thing. Like Benchmarks, to me, was like I need to make sure I’m printing up records and I need to do the merch and I need to play X number of shows a year and I need to do all this. And now I’m just happy I made a record and I get to play the 5 Spot sometimes, and sometimes people take me on tour to play guitar, and that’s cool. Like, there are so few amount of people in the world that get to do even that, and so I’m just thankful that I get to do even a taste of it, and that I got a big taste of it early on, and then now I still get to poke my head in there and do it.

Well, I think that’s a great mindset to have, a great perspective to have on it.

I get the bug still though, you know. I get the bug that like, man, maybe I want to go back out on the road for, you know, whatever, months and months and months. There’s a lot of me that would be like, oh, that would be really fun. But I also just took my kids to Atlanta to see their first baseball game and I would never give that away. This is what that “Northern Lights” song is about, but just because I really love the situation I’m in now, doesn’t mean I don’t still occasionally look into what that other life was like and think it was really, really fun. So trying to like pull little bits of that into my current life, and exercise whatever kind of moderation I can in playing, and just trying to make myself happy and make those around me happy, it’s cool.

I always love talking to guys like you that have kind of been there and done that in terms of touring. It’s kind of what I’m trying to do now, you know, and you’ve done it. I’ve talked to other guys who have been out there and done it, and in a certain way it’s gotten old. It’s still fresh for me, I’m looking at it in a way like “oh, I could hit the road every day this year and just be gone all the time.” I know, like, that’s going to get old. It’s just really cool talking to you about that and it’s a very level-headed way to look at it.

Well, it’s not even that it gets old, it’s just you kind of crave new adventures. Like I wanted to be a dad, and I wanted to take my kids to baseball games. And maybe that’s really, like, un-punk rock of me or whatever, but I think that’s something that’s important to me. So on that Dirty Bird’s record, there’s a song called “Pawn Shops”, it’s about selling my guitar. And that was written kind of from a perspective of a guy that has not done it yet. And it was, like, this bleeding-heart anthem of how much I want to get out there and do the thing. So on this record, I kind of challenged myself to write the spiritual successor to it. So that’s the first track, “Local Pickup Only”. And it’s the same theme, about selling guitars, and then the turn of both songs is, like, ending up not selling your guitars. But on this one, the perspective is different. This is the perspective of I’ve done these things already, but I still think this is a worthwhile thing to do.

That’s a perfect lead-in to what I had next because I wanted to talk about your one-liners. You’ve probably got, like, no exaggeration, some of my favorite one-liners in music. “Pawn Shop” is a prime example, like, “The hardest part when all your heroes play in bands, is finding out all you heroes live in vans”. Then right after “I’d sell my guitar to buy all my friends drinks at the bar.” I wanted to ask about some of the one-liners you had in “Local Pickup Only.” I mean you kind of just explained that as a follow-up to “Pawn Shop”. Being from St. Louis originally, I’ve gotta ask about the line about St. Louis stealing all of your shit.

That one was with Two Cow. This is my first tour with them, too. We played at the, I think it’s called the Demo, it’s not there anymore, next door to a record shop. Played the show, and this is when St. Louis was at its height of people stealing from bands. And we were like, “all right, we’re going to go out of our way, we’re going to spend money on a nice hotel with a nice locked-up garage”. We play the show, go back to the hotel. I brought my acoustic guitar in, which is like a $90 guitar I got at a pawn shop. All of our other gear’s in the van still. And we wake up the next morning, the van locks are popped, like everything’s gone, everything was stolen from us. It’s an interesting story too because somebody made a GoFundMe for us, and by the time we made it to Minneapolis, we had enough money to just buy new gear. We played at Triple Rock that next night, my first time playing at Triple Rock. But, we just played on borrowed gear from the other bands for the rest of that tour, and then we bought new stuff. But then it came out later, like in the last three or four years, they found all the people that stole everything, it was just this big theft ring. But all that was left was Shane’s bass because he had painted “Soldier of Love” on it and you couldn’t resell that without it being tracked. There’s a big Riverfront Times article, you should look it up, about how we found all our stuff on eBay, and like bid on it, and then they blocked us, and we showed the police and the police didn’t do anything.

What about the Springwater line, about Goose catching on fire?

Goose and I used to play in a death metal band, this is in like 2000, maybe 2005, like a long ass time ago. And, we would play at Springwater. They did this thing called Metal Mondays in October, they would have a bunch of metal bands play. And, there was this band, I run into this dude sometimes, the guitar player from this band, they were called Good Lookin’ Corpse. They would like, take swigs of Bacardi 151 and Spitfire. But this is Springwater, you’re gonna blow that shit. And like Goose is the bass player in all these bands, I name dropped him in that song. He got it all, it like, singed all his arm hair off.

Probably my favorite was “the Dragons, just like I saw on Fox News” from, I think it was from “Hey you”.

The first verse is like, pretty real. Like I’m an older dude now, I have kids. I still have that glimpse of like, old band dude life, you know, “black metal t-shirts in my drawer that I can’t wear anymore” because I’m picking up my kids at daycare, that’s like the crux of that. The second verse is like, just off the wall, random, a COVID rambling I wrote down one time that I thought was really funny. Have you ever played Skyrim?

Oh yeah absolutely.

So, it’s literally just describing the Skyrim Civil War. The Stormcloaks and the like, that’s all it is. And then, the Fox News bit was just because of all the politics.

Well that gets a good laugh every time I’ve heard you play it live, everyone fucking loves that one.

And, you know, I think the roundabout of the whole thing is a little bit in theme with not everything has to be this poignant, super important thing to say. Sometimes you can just do things because you like to do them, because it’s fun.

So what’s your favorite song on the record, do you have one?

*laughs* I gotta remember what songs are on there. Um… I really “Local Pickup”, I really like “See You Next Year”, I have a few different versions of “See You Next Year”. And the version that’s on this is very specific in the way it was done, but it’s not the way I play it live. I kind of want to record the live version. I like “Northern Lights” a lot, that’s a song I wrote about touring with Sammy, actually. It was shortly after I left Two Cow, I was kind of still looking for work. Sammy called, and we did, like, a seven-weeker opening for the Creepshow. I flew into Jersey and met up with them, and we kind of played our way out that way, we went, like, from Jersey to California, up to Vancouver, back across Canada to Winnipeg, crossed over the border on Halloween night, played Minneapolis, and then Benchmarks met up with us in Minneapolis. So I played both sets on the way back down to Nashville and then they continued on the rest. This is in the fall of ’17 and I’m, like, two days into this seven-week-long tour and I get a call from my wife, I find out she’s pregnant. And, one, like, we can’t talk about it, I’m surrounded by people, we can’t like have private conversations on the phone and stuff. But we can’t also be together and, like, dissect that emotion or whatever. So it was, like, a month and a half before I saw her again. And then when I see her again, there’s two bands crashing in our place. But on that tour, we went all the way up to Fort McMurray, Canada, as far as North as I’ve ever been. And the club guy was like “if you drive, like, a few miles north, you can see the Northern Lights.” And we all thought that’d be awesome. But by the end of the show, everybody’s so tired, like we’ll see it next time, wherever. But, like, in my mind, I’m thinking, I don’t know if there’s gonna be a next time for me, I really wanna see it. So that was kind of about that, like that transitional phase, in theme with everything else, getting a good look at what you’re kind of leaving behind, that sense of adventure and discovery and everything. Kind of transitioning into that other, not adulthood, but into like, post-band life. Everything’s a story, I think.

Well, that’s what I really like, I’ve gotten real into the Americana genre these past few years. It just happens to be it’s all punk guys that do Americana that I like. Like, Tim Barry, I think, does it better than anybody where it’s storytelling through song. He does it great.

I’m trying to get better at this. I try to, like, be too flashy on the guitar when I’m writing songs, there has to be a lick or something. But Tim’s like, I’m gonna play G, D, C, and E minor and rip your heart out with those chords. It’s all his words and his melodies and it’s not about being flashy.

Well, I think you’ve got the storytelling part of it down, that’s what I love about some of your songs. You can tell it kind of is a story, not even between every song, but every verse. Like “Local Pickup Only”, you can tell there’s a story to everything you’re saying.

The theme of that song came from something Shane from Two Cow said to me. I quoted him in the lyrics, it’s, uh… “We forget better stories than most people will ever know”. He said that to me a hundred times on the road. What he means is, like when you’re out there and you’re doing stuff, you’re kind of living that life, you see things every single day and everything’s a good story. You see whatever’s funny or terrible or sad or beautiful or whatever, like… you experience life in such a different way than the monotony of, like, your day-to-day work. The best stories that you have, like, in your day-to-day are not as good as the worst stories that you have when you’re doing the thing. And I don’t think that’s specifically true, I took my kids to their first baseball game this weekend and that was, like, maybe a top-five thing for me. But the point was, there’s kind of a romanticism between band people about the things that you share, the camaraderie and all that, that nobody ever understands until you’re out there doing it. Maybe that’s a little bit of the theme of the record too, I just kind of wanted to tell some of those stories.

That’s fucking rad, that fires me up. That’s exactly what I’m kind of going after with my band. The relatability and the storytelling has always been what appeals to me about punk. I mean, you go from, like The Bouncing Souls or NOFX to like Roger Harvey or Tim Barry or whoever, it’s all kind of the same… relatability and, like accessibility, I guess.

It’s interesting for me. I kind of back-ended my way into punk. I was, like, a metal dude. And then I was really into, like, songwriters. I loved Richard Buckner, John Prine. I found Drive-By Truckers and Lucero, and those kind of bands. And that, like, back-ended me into punk music. So I’m not, like, the great authority on punk rock, other than playing in and with a bunch of cool punk bands. Like, I listen to it now. But that ethos that you’re talking about and those, like principles… the sense of community, I think, is the most important one. That existed across all those genres, but it’s very much rooted in that punk ideology. It’s not, like, the DIY thing as much as it is just a community of people that lift each other up, whether that be musically or actually lifting each other up physically in life.

Well, it’s cool hearing from you, somebody who found punk in a drastically different way. Because I was, like looking for punk. And I found it, finally. And then I found, like, Lucero two years ago, maybe. And I found all these guys that are some of my favorite songwriters ever now. You know, like, Will Varley, Frank Turner, Brian Fallon I found because of Gaslight, and Dave Hause, I was a big Loved Ones fan before him. I almost respect them more as, like, it takes some balls to get up there just with an acoustic guitar and songwriting. It’s terrifying. Like, I’ve got nerves real bad being on stage, so I’ve got to have a few beers in me. I couldn’t imagine being by myself up there, I respect the fuck out of it.

I used to be really bad at it, too. This is terrible. The show, I’m trying to think, this is 2013. I had booked back-to-back show, and I was opening solo for John Moreland and Caleb Caudle at the OG Basement. I, like, really fucked up the solo set. Like, I blew it, I was not good. My banter was bad, I didn’t play well, I forgot lyrics, I was so nervous. And then, the band show with Two Cow was, like, killer, probably the best the band ever sounded, probably why I got a job at Two Cow. For whatever reason, playing in a band was so much more natural to me than playing solo. But over the years, I’ve kind of figured out how to play solo, there’s no formula to it. It more just has to do with, like, being comfortable and knowing what you’re going to do.

When developing these songs, John Prine died, and so I started studying John Prine. And then one of my favorite bands and songwriters ever is The Weakerthans, John K. Samson of The Weakerthans. The way he writes, the way he crafts his songs to be conversations with the audience. A lot of these songs are like, John K. Samson, I’m just doing what I think he would do. Like that song, “Skulls and Antlers”, the chorus is just “I wanna start a blackened death metal band”. That’s just me trying to think what would John K. Samson do.

Going back to what you were saying about playing solo, maybe there’s also a little bit of I’ve changed my expectation of what I want my live performance to be. It used to be, man, I gotta make sure I get this many people in here so I can sell some records and t-shirts, I’m really nervous about everything. Now when it’s just me with an acoustic guitar, I can just play my songs, maybe selfishly or arrogantly, but I know they’re good because I’ve worked on them really well. I’ve already put the work in and I’ve practiced them at home. I guess maybe just from playing for years and years, I don’t have a stage fright thing anymore. I’m in total control. When I’m with a band now, I don’t have a lot of time to rehearse anymore so there’s some variables and I’m like, “we’ll see how this goes”.

My love for Lucero, they’re a band that maybe people wouldn’t think I’m into because they’re not like a guitar-forward band per se, they’re not shredding or anything, they’re just like writing really good songs and playing it really well. That’s a band that probably changed my life on taking songwriting seriously and not just wanting to shred all day.

Ben Nichols, Sammy, and Dave Hause are probably the biggest friends of the site. Our head dude Jay knows all of them real well. You two may have met at some point, he was actually the one who told me about you and Micah seeing on Twitter the interview I did with Roger Harvey not too long ago.

Yeah I met Roger when he was living up in Pittsburgh, he’s a sweet dude too.

I’m so glad he’s in town because I got to see him play, he was opening for Greg Barnett at the End, that’s how I found out about him. Fell in love with the dude’s music.

I was at that show, Mike Bay, Borrowed Sparks, was playing that show.

I missed his set because I drove from Chattanooga I think for that show. I’ve actually covered him for the site quite a bit too. But I’m the biggest Menzingers fan and I was like taking pictures for Greg Barnett and his family, hanging out with them, him and Eric Keen which was cool. That’s what I love about punk, how accessible it is. Even like the biggest names, like Fat Mike, my buddies have stories about being around him. It’s so accessible, everybody’s just a dude, I love it. The amount of big name guys I’ve met just here at the Cobra, dudes from TSOL, Sean Sellers was drumming for the Mad Caddies, I was smoking a cigarette with him out back.

It’s pretty cool that people hang here, there used to be no green room. I haven’t played here since it was Foobar.

There’s a green room about the size of a bathroom in there and nobody hangs out in it, they all hang out out front. That’s what I’ve always loved about punk, no one’s got a big head because the ceiling for punk isn’t super high normally.

Speaking of “all our heroes live in vans”, I just remember during that period, I thought Two Cow was just the biggest band in the world, they were the most important band in the world to me and I’m getting to open up for their show. The coolest thing in the world. And then like a year later, I’m in the fucking band. I was like “that’s what this scene is, everybody is just a person”. Something I will say, from playing country gigs and just doing hired gun stuff for people that aren’t necessarily in that same punk ecosystem, like a lot of the Americana punk stuff is crossover, but I would do a lot of Broadway stuff or try to get on big country gigs. And it’s not the same, like right now, we’re saying a lot of names, but it’s not name dropping, it’s just like these are our friends. But people name drop and people get pissed when you try to do that. I don’t know, there’s just a weird vibe, you can’t talk about so and so was a good example.

So do you have any plans with the new record, are you doing any promotion shows for it or any pressings?

I have nothing planned, and this is like, the most haphazard way I’ve put a record out. Everything else I’ve done has been so precise, and so planned, regardless of whatever band. Planned is probably a loose term, but at least we had a plan and a tour, and things like that. I don’t even have a show booked at the moment, and I know that’s not like, what you’re supposed to do, but I kind of just wanted to get the music out. I’ll probably play some local stuff. I would like to maybe do a quick regional run where I hit, like, places where they like me. So I might go to Atlanta, like, Raleigh, I might go to Columbus, Ohio, Louisville, Dayton, Little Rock, Dallas, but I have no plans to do it at the moment. And I do it, it won’t be all at once, it’ll probably be like a couple weekends here and there, but I would like to. But I also wanna like coach my kids’ t-ball team on Saturdays.

What about with like Sammy, or just hired gig stuff, anything you can talk about?

I’m playing this CKY show with Electric Python here next week. I don’t have anything on the books with Sammy. He asked me to do something over the summer that I can’t do, with the Kilograms.

The Kilograms are fucking unbelievable, dude. Were you on that new record?

Yeah, I played pedal steel on it. I literally did it in my living room, I haven’t even met them. They sent me the tracks I did in my living room, and like, we’ve talked on social media, but I haven’t officially met any of them other than Sammy. Which is funny how it all works these days because they recorded all that stuff in, like Cincinnati, and I don’t even know where Joe is, I assume he’s like in the Jersey area. But I guess that’s not like a far-fetched thing these days. Like, that Sammy tour that we did with Chuck Ragan was, like, me and Lydia Loveless and this guy Corey Tramontelli, who did a tour with Stuck Lucky from here recently. It was the four of us and Lydia and I knew each other before, but I didn’t know Corey. Sammy and I played together a lot. But we just kind of, like, the day of the first show got together and jammed for a half hour. I also did that Will Hoge tour, I learned 65 songs and we never rehearsed. The first time we played together was just, like, on stage, in front of, like, hundreds of people. Talking about nerves, I was terrified for the first, like, half of that set. I was terrified, because these guys play together a lot, and I have not. And, you know, like, you can learn songs, you can’t learn the way a band plays them live. You can’t learn, like, he’s gonna do this move that means we’re gonna stretch a verse. There’s a little variance.

That’s something that’s always blown my mind, how well people live can go along with variation in sets.

Dude, with Two Cow, there was a time, this era of Two Cow, we were just like a breathing unit that we knew exactly what we were all doing. We knew what each other was gonna do, and it was great. And that’s how I kind of perceived, like, the Will Hoge situation when I walked into that environment. I was, like, “man, they have that, but I am new here, so I don’t know what I’m doing”. I’m just, like, watching everybody very carefully. I slowly figured it out, I think that’s a cool thing about just bands and musical communication.

Well that’s about all I’ve got if there’s anything you wanted to add about the brand new record?

I guess if I want anybody to take anything away from, like, what I’m doing with this record is I’m not taking it too seriously, and I don’t think anybody should really take me too seriously. If you enjoy it, that’s awesome, and I’m stoked that anybody enjoys the stuff that I still do. I guess thank you to anybody who has listened, and thank you for being interested at all. Kind of like I said, I kind of thought that that creative side of my life might have been over during COVID, and so the fact that I still get to do anything is a gift. Every show I play is a gift, every time I record anything, every time I play with anybody, every time I get to have a cool conversation like this is a gift. So, just, like, thank you for taking your time to take interest in what I’m doing, and I appreciate it.

Yeah, that’s a great way to end it, I appreciate it dude.

by Staff Writer NastyNate

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DS Introductions: Characters of Riot Fest 2023

October 10, 2023 | 5:35 pm

One of my favorite quotes in photojournalism is from the legendary William Albert Allard. He famously said, “I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don’t find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges.“ It has long been a sort of mission statement for me in my career as […]

One of my favorite quotes in photojournalism is from the legendary William Albert Allard. He famously said,

“I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don’t find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges.“

It has long been a sort of mission statement for me in my career as a photographer. One I try to apply every time I have my camera with me. This year, I decided to forgo the photo pits and let my fellow DS Team Chicago member Mary handle those duties. First time since we started documenting Riot Fest I was not in the photo pit. I missed being in the photo scrum but being able to cover all the other wild, cool, fun and compelling parts of the festival was well worth it. A few of the following Characters of Riot Fest I knew already and am friends with some. But I also met so many more fantastic people. A few I’d like to introduce to you dear DS readers.

The Son also Rises

As Riot Fest’s main focus is music, let’s start with one of the great bands. Sludgeworth had the Rebel Stage with a time slot in competition with Foo Fighters. Yet, the Chicago band first founded in 1989, held its own. The band is comprised of singer Dan Schafer aka Dan Vapid, in the front, Brian McQuaid aka Brian Vermin, on drums in the back, and their bandmates, Adam White and Dave McClean on guitars, and Mike Hootenstrat on bass, long-time Sludgeworth fans were ecstatic. McQuaid, who was in Screeching Weasel prior to Sludgeworth, told me,

“We played RF with Bad Brains back when it was at the Congress, but this time was just bigger and more exciting. It was an amazing experience to be part of such a massive production. +-This time was more special because the first time was a one off, and this time we’re gonna keep going.“

The band returned this year earlier, taking the stage at Cobra Lounge and garnering newer fans and introducing a new part-time member, Brian McQuaid’s 13 year old son Max McQuaid. The younger McQuaid has been playing for 5 years but at Cobra, he made his live performance debut. It was fun to document that performance and see the warm welcome the young musician was given. Not just because his dad is in the band but because the kid has a legit talent with the sticks. Did not have to be a drummer to understand that when the Max smashed his way through “Anytime.”

“Max has played both Cobra and Riot Fest. He worked really hard and played like a pro both times, I can’t express how proud I am. He’s gonna go places I never have with his work ethic and indoctrination into this music scene.”

Riot Fest is the Pits

Another person making his Riot Fest debut its Kamran Khan. Rather than on the stage though, Khan was stationed near the stage, He worked as a member of the team regulating the photo pits. Among, the duties, making sure photographers in the pit had the proper credentials and providing instructions to the shooters as to the general protocols, as well as the individual mandates of the various bands. The team ensures that we photographers get the best images we can, at the same time making sure everyone stays safe. Khan was pretty confident he could handle the job.

“I’d never worked a press pit before but I’ve been a bartender, a teacher, a bouncer, a real estate agent, a minister, a waiter at a Russian bath house, an editor/publisher, a ditch digger, a secretary, a babysitter, a writer, and I even lasted one day as a line cook. So, I figured he thought I’d have the skill set covered.“

And his impressions?

“Well, besides the fact I got to see some of the most badass musicians around performing at the top of their game from just several meters away, the best thing about it was meeting all the heroically hardworking and talented people that keep the Fest going that also happen not to be wearing artist wristbands. There’s so many moving parts to get this many acts going on in front of this many people smoothly, and so many people trying to do their best to make sure everybody’s safe and having a good time, and you gotta do that gig amongst the constant shifting demands and constraints of all the different emerging variables, pivoting and adapting on the fly. Working a fest is kinda like being Harrison Bergeron, (from that Kurt Vonnegut Jr story) trying to dance in a metal suit, and pulling it off.

But so many cool hardworking folks pull it off and it was great to have a killer weekend with them all. I also got a kick outa watching all the press do their work, the elegant yet clumsy dance of the “Where’s a damn angle where I can get a transcendent shot before I have to run across a city park dodging drunk grey bearded punk rockers between rain soaked lakes without twisting my ankle or breaking the strap on my camera (which can be fixed with a zip tie if it happens I learned) in order to hopefully get a shot that may or may not get cut depending on what somebody in an office 2000 miles away thinks. And getting to sit in the press tent and jaw with you about old pictures. That was a blast.“

Describing his experience with vivid and poetic details is not surprising for a person whose Instagram handle is “Punks With Books”. And Khan’s last statement about pictures was actual a reference to 1970’s cinema. Khan, with headband and his style of facial hair, appears to be straight out of central casting for a Sidney Lumet or Alan J. Pakula directed film. It was a blast to be able to discuss, in general, cinema’s greatest decade, and specifically, Al Pacino. I need to go watch Dog Day Afternoon now. “Attica! Attica!”

Shoot to Thrill

One person who did not make his Riot Fest debut this year is photographer Mike “MXV” Vinikour. While a good portion of photographers, including myself for DS, have covered multiple Riot Fest, only Vinikour has wielded his camera and his vision at Riot Fest every year. The Downers Grove, IL-based photographer and Associate Game Developer at Stern Pinball runs his own site called The Punk Vault.

Vinikour described to me how he got started shooting Riot Fest, how it has changed over the years, and what it has meant to him.

“Back in 2005 I saw a flier for this two day punk festival at the Congress Theater called Riot Fest. I saw the lineup of bands and it was full of all these great old punk rock bands I grew up with, some of them still mostly intact and some of them a fraction of what they were with different/new singers. I had only been shooting shows for about a year or so at that point and was still pretty green. I didn’t know who the promoter was at the time, but I had connections through a couple of bands that were on the bill. One of the days I think I got my passes from the Dead Kennedys’ publicist, and the other day I either got in through The Effigies or Channel 3.

It was a really fun two days and there were so many great bands both old and new, though it was the old punk bands of my youth that got me to go to it.

After the fest I had posted my show review and photos on my site. I was the only photographer at that first Riot Fest. A few months later, Riot Mike [Michael “Riot Mike” Petryshyn, founder and owner of Riot Fest] came up to me at a show and thanked me for the nice review of his show and giving him some exposure and he liked my photos. He told me of his plans for the second Riot Fest and that got me really excited. He invited me to come shoot it again and that started a long relationship I’ve had with Riot Fest. I haven’t missed shooting a single one and Mike, Luba [Vasilik], Heather [West of Western Publicity], and everyone in the organization have been wonderful to me over the years. I can’t say enough good things about all of them.

I liked it when they were just in the Congress Theater because I loved shooting at that venue, and it had a lot of space. When they added that second stage in the lobby though it made navigating in and out of there more difficult. That club had great lighting and the barricade had enough room in there to drive a car inside of it. The rest of the place was falling apart though.

When they moved it to the different clubs, it really made it difficult to try and shoot multiple shows, and many times I had to make a difficult choice of what ones to do because as good as modern technology is, I was never able to clone myself to be in two places at once. Driving between the venues was difficult too, having to find parking, going through traffic if you had only a short window of time to get from one club to another, and some venues were harder to shoot in than others due to their size, lack of barricade, etc.

I was pretty happy when they moved past the multi-club thing (which was always an exhausting week) and moved it to the big outdoor festival. I was blown away at that first one at Humboldt Park with how massive it was and what a huge undertaking it was on Riot Fest’s part to do something that big, but it turned out awesome and to this day it’s the only outdoor festival I like or want to participate in. They adapted well over the years of being a huge fest to make the layout more user friendly and I think the last few years have been even better than ever with how they’ve managed it all.

It was kind of a neat parallel with how Riot Fest grew over the years and how I grew and honed my craft at photography. We both started close to the same time and have both gotten way better over the years. I definitely own a part of my growth as a concert photographer to Riot Fest.

I started taking photos around 2004 for my website The Punk Vault. I had been writing about music since 1985 when I started a fanzine called Spontaneous Combustion. That ran until 1997, then a few years later I did a web version of that which then morphed into The Punk Vault site that I’ve been doing the last 20 years.

RE: the way shooting bands has changed at the fest over the years: Well in the old Congress Days I was allowed to shoot the full sets of every band and had all access passes, so I had the full run of the place. I was pretty spoiled, and Mike made me feel really special and appreciated. When they became a big outdoor fest, I understood the logistics of that wouldn’t work anymore. I was just happy that when the fest became huge, they. never forgot me and told me that I’ll always be welcome to come shoot the fest as long as I want. It went from me being the only one there, to being in a pretty small group of photographers sharing the pit, to now being one of probably 100 that shoot the fest every year. It can be challenging at times being in there with so many people all vying for the same three spots to shoot though those giant speaker stacks that are blocking most of our view, but I’ve been so many awesome photographers over the years at the fest that it feels like a family. There’s a core group of us that have been shooting the outdoor fest for so many years now that it really has become the most fun weekend of shooting bands of the year and the one I look forward to the most. It’s like a brotherhood of photographers and we all laugh and have a great time.

Sometimes being crammed in there with so many people can be hard on me because I have anxiety and that can trigger me, but it’s always been manageable and in a way it’s good for me to challenge myself. Also, there’s been times where instead of 3 songs, we only get 1 due to them splitting us in groups, or certain bands may have restrictions that only let us do one song. That has made me a more efficient photographer so when those situations happen I can roll with it a lot easier than ever now.

I almost never just watch a band unless I’m shooting them. The enjoyment of shows for me is shooting photos, I won’t go to shows unless I’m shooting them. I’ve made exceptions at the fest for bands I really love that may not allow any photography, (The Misfits for example) but typically if a band won’t let me shoot them, I won’t stick around to watch them, and I’ll go shoot someone else.

Having a Senior Moment

AnnaBelle “Bee” Pant, is a 12th grader at what her mother Monica described to me as a “progressive-ish” high school in a small, conservative Michigan town. AnnaBelle wanted something a little different from the typical senior portraits she had seen with classes coming before hers,

“I’m 17, and I live in southwest Michigan, which is basically just a bunch of cornfields. I wanted to get my senior pictures somewhere a little more “me.”

AnnaBelle and her parents – Ben & Monica Pant – and her 11th grader brother Trey, made it a family affair.

“This is our third year at Riot Fest, and I’ve always loved going with my family seeing concerts. I know it’ll be some of my best memories with my parents.”

As for the family’s favorite sets? AnnaBelle spoke on behalf of the quartet,

“For sure Bowling For Soup!! and The Used were awesome, we were camping at the barrier for both.”

Oh and the Pants also brought along a friend named Ryan, whom the Pant family befriended at the festival in 2021. Well, sort of. The actual Ryan was unable to attend this year so family carried “Flat Ryan,” inspired by the Flat Stanley travels the word idea. This is just one of the many long-lasting friendships formed at Riot Fest every year.

Maker of the Mosh

Nik Simmons describes himself this way,

“Stay at home dad and drumming for Exegesis until Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press needs me.“

But Simmons is also a man with an annual mission to organize the best Riot Fest mosh pits, or at least the most unique.

Over the years, it has become a Riot Fest tradition to have a gimmick pit. As soon as I read that Corey Feldman was playing, I knew he was the perfect act.

Feldman became famous as a child actor, including in the classic 80’s films, Stand By Me, The Goonies, and The Lost Boys. During the past few decades he has concentrated on music but has never really been acclaimed for his musical talents.

Still, Feldman elicited both enthusiasm and snickers from a good number of fest attendees. Simmons told me,

“His name stood out from the lineup so much that I had to see him perform. I’m sure many went for the irony. However, even those who went in with that attitude were soon won over by Corey Feldman’s performance.“

Simmons, who cited The Lost Boys as his favorite Feldman film, didn’t get to meet the star but does believe the actor was aware of the pit,

“I think he did. It was posted on one of his social media accounts.“

More importantly, the crowd seemed to enjoy it as Simmons described the result,

“Excellent. A bunch of people had a great time.“

This was not Simmons’ first such experience as he informed me,

“Yes, there was a wall of death for The Village People, corn dog pit for Sincere Engineer, and a pit for Devo. I’ve made a sign for each of those mosh pits too.“

Looking forward to witnessing what Nik Simmons comes up with at Riot Fest 2024.

Board with Riot Fest

Cooper Greenslade, 13, caught air and grabbed attention as he flew high above the Riot Pop! skate ramp set up against the Riot Fest Devil. Greenslade shared with me, via instagram, his first Riot Fest experience.

“Yes, this was my first time at RF, and as far as the experience it totally exceeded my expectations honestly. I didn’t really know how kool it was gonna be till I walked through the gates and saw all the people and heard the insane music I was immediately stoked about being there. I have not skated any other music fests but I definitely intend on going to more in my life.

I have been skating 5 1/2 years not pro (yet) but hopefully one day. I am sponsored by Character Skateboards, GROM USA, Static Hardware, Fargo. I would say my overall experience with RF is the bands were amazing and the stages were close enough to get to see a lot of bands quickly, and the people watching was amazing.

I always get super stoked riding with older dudes cause they have a lot of experience and all of them are super kool and they are always giving me tips and advice to get better, the Chicago skate scene is very positive and motivated. I’m super excited to have so many good influences around me.

Yes, I would love to make this a full time career, but for now I’m having a ton of fun and meeting a lot of amazing skaters all over the US. I’m just gonna keep hustling and see where it takes me.“

Punk Rock Nuptials

The wedding party wore t-shirts emblazoned with Cards Against Humanity style references to past (“Throwing Meat at Morrissey“) and present (Dave P., a Dave Grohl doppelgänger, wore a shirt with the Foo Fighters singers’ name on it) Riot Fests and the group’s all too often reaction whilst watching Chicago Bears games (“Shit Got Fucked”). The Bride and Groom wore t-shirts where the traditional “til death due us part” was wrapped around corpse hands, and Old Skool Vans with their initials and the wedding date printed on the heel. The corsage was made out of Riot Fest lineup cards, and there was a swarm of (fake) adorable bumblebees. For Angela Vetrovec-Schiller & Aaron Schiller, there was no doubt the chapel they would head to would be the Riot Fest Chapel.

“Riot Fest means so much to me. Music is a huge part of my life. I’ve been going to Riot Fest since the start. It’s basically a holiday weekend for me and my friends. Moving away from Chicago was a hard decision for me. Riot Fest has now turned into a yearly reunion. The random run ins are one of my favorite parts. I met my husband at a show, fell in love with him at a fest, he proposed to me at another fest, so getting married at Riot Fest was the perfect way to do in front of all of our best friends. I love being at Riot Fest, I love the people of Riot Fest, I love our scene. “

Punks Care

Punk Rock Saves Lives and Riot Fest have combined to save lives for years. PRSL founder Rob “Rover” Rushing explained why Riot Fest is so meaningful to him, his wife and board member Tina Rushing, and all involved in the beloved nonprofit.

“PRSL was formed in November 2019. As a continuation of the work that we did with the Love, Hope, Strength, Foundation. It Is my dream and my wife’s and quite a few others’ dream to use the positivity of the punk scene to make incremental differences in our lives every day.”

As LHS or as PRSL, I believe Since 2013, possibly before, and that includes all of the Denver ones as well, we were invited by Sean (McKeough), the co-owner of Riot Fest as a kind of a personal mission because he had beat cancer before his untimely death from a brain aneurysm. We’ve swabbed close to 400 every single year we’ve been at Riot Fest, if not more. Considering 1 in 100 matches to save a life, and 1 in 1000 of those make it to the donation, Riot Fest is way above normal averages for saving lives. Something about Riot Fest is just special because people not only come to have an absolute blast but seem to care.

Seems like that is the community and it’s even with, you know, years where it’s more punk rock, or it’s more rock or it’s more rap, it doesn’t change. The community of Riot Fest is pretty amazing.

One of my favorite moments of Riot Fest ever, and it’s kind of sad to say it this way, but the year Sean passed away. They went forth, obviously. Very, very sad. But also, they had his Gator, his golf cart type thing. And they brought it, and they displayed it as a memorial for him. And they came and got me at my booth. When I got there to set up, they drove by and took me to the Gator and had me put a sticker on the Gator because they knew how much our charity meant to him.

That just proves that the people of Riot Fest, it’s not only a business and obviously it’s that, but it’s also a community and they believe in it and seeing, you know seeing Mike’s article this year, where he came out as on the spectrum, it was a very inspirational and awesome article. So that’s just some of the cool things about Riot Fest. That makes it special to me and I will always, always be there as long as we exist.

“Going into it, I obviously thought it was more rock-centric than it had been in the past. But it ended up being just so widespread that I didn’t even realize that. It was so cool. And you know, having The Dresden Dolls on the main stage…luckily Amanda gave us an amazing shout out for the charity. And because of her, we probably signed up an extra 90 to 95 people within the next 15 minutes at our little pop-up booth, as well as people going into the booth.“

“Mr. Bungle doing thrash, which was incredible too. Learning about a whole bunch of new bands and just the community and the people embracing what we do. It just warms my heart, you know? It’s incredible. So, Punkers do give a fuck. That’s one of our slogans, punks give a fuck. And it’s true, right? Riot Fest is proof.“

Please check out more sights from Riot Fest 2023! Thanks and Cheers!

Skating in the Gloaming
Viagra Boys Crowd Surfers
Garren Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Sludgeworth
Max McQuaid with his father Brian McQuaid are Sludgeworth Drummers
Mike “MXV” Vinikour
Mike “MXV” Vinikour
Garren Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Annabelle Senior Class Photo Portrait?
The Pant Family: Monica Pant, AnnaBelle Pant, Trey Pant, and Ben
Flat Ryan with the Pant Family
Tim and Junebug Atop the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Skating in the Gloaming
Nick Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Merry Christmas Everything is Terrible
Punk Rock Saves Lives Has Many Fucks To Give
Rob from Punk Rock Saves Lives
Malort Fan
Malort Toast
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Late Night Riot Fest with The Interrupters
Kamran Khan
Photo Booth Fun
Flogging Molly Crowd Surfer
Aaron and Angela Got Married!
Aaron and Angela Got Married!
Wedding Bouquet Made of Riot Fest Line-Up Cards
Till Death Do Us Part worn but the Bride and Groom
Wedding Koozie
Wedding Party t-Shirts
Dave P is Dave G’s Doppleganger
Cooper Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp
T-Shirts at Riot Fest
Dan Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Insane Clown Posse Fan at the Corey Feldman set
Corey Feldman Moshpit
Corey Feldman Moshpit
Corey Feldman Moshpit
Corey Feldman Moshpit
Moshpit Feldog
Corey Feldman Moshpit
Corey Feldman in the Press Tent
Atop the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Andrea Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp
About to Drop In at the Riot Pop!! Ramp
A Different Approach to the Riot Fest Devil Photo Op
On the the Riot Pop!! Ramp
Rob “Rover” Rushing from Punk Rock Saves Lives
Cooper Skates the Riot Pop!! Ramp

by Staff Writer MerGold

Tags:

Characters of Riot Fest chicago music festival Music Festivals punk rock photography

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DS Original Content: On the road to Copenhell 2024

March 25, 2024 | 8:57 am

For the first time, Dying Scene is heading to Copenhell, a festival in Denmark! We are so excited to be among the crowd and give you everything from daily reports and reviews to some festival BTS. Let’s examine some background on the festival and how we were lucky enough to be accredited for Copenhell. Copenhell […]

For the first time, Dying Scene is heading to Copenhell, a festival in Denmark! We are so excited to be among the crowd and give you everything from daily reports and reviews to some festival BTS.

Let’s examine some background on the festival and how we were lucky enough to be accredited for Copenhell.

Copenhell was started in 2010 by Live Nation and takes place in an area of Copenhagen called ‘Refshaleøen’. Back in 2010, when it began, the festival took place for two days with bands like Suicidal Tendencies, The Damned Things, Deftones, and Hatebreed, to mention a few. They only had two stages at the time. As time has progressed, Copenhell has expanded into more days, added a few more stages, and had some big names visit their festival, like Bad Religion, Danzig, Rise Against, Code Orange, Dropkick Murphys, Fever 333, Terror, Dog Eat Dog, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kiss. Now it’s 2024, and while Copenhell has grown, one would expect a festival like this to lose its touch. I understand that some might say something else. And to that, I say, to each their own and move on, but I think this year might be one of the best I get to attend because of the lineup and the vibe surrounding it.

In this guide, I will also share my daily festival essentials and what happens in Biergarten afterward. I will explain why bringing a light jacket is essential because Danish weather changes faster than a toddler’s taste in food. And while speaking of toddlers, is it a good festival for kids?

So, let’s look at the lineup. Because it is a rock and metal festival, some might question why Dying Scene, a punk ‘zine, will spend time and effort at Copenhell. Well, friends, because of other the years, they’ve added more and more punk, hardcore, and for that, I’m so fucking thankful.

To the bands I’m watching and those I’m giving a chance because I’m open to new music and experiences:

Body Count

You’re probably thinking, “Karina, seriously? Body Count???” and the answer is, duh? Body Count is a band I’ve wanted to see for a long time, but sadly, I didn’t attend when they played at Copenhell the last time. Body Count is a rap metal group that Ice-T started in 1990, and they have some awesome tunes. You can find me on Saturday, June 22^nd, absolutely rapping along.

Chelsea Wolfe

I fell for Chelsea Wolfe before she was announced for Copenhell via a colleague who told me she was set to release a new album in 2024. From there, I took any suggestions on what of hers I needed to listen to and have in my life. My buddy Troels even came with a whole album and told me to listen. Chelsea Wolfe has such a beautiful voice, and her newest album, “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She,” became the main reason you can find me at her concert on Friday, June 21^st.

Dropkick Murphys

Long-standing Friends of Dying Scene. Dropkick Murphys is one of the bands I’ve watched most in concert. I am a sucker for catchy songs, and DKM has undoubtedly made a career out of them. You can catch me at their concert on Friday, June 21st at 9 pm.

Empire State Bastard

I need to find out what this band’s music genre is. But Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro has teamed up with Mike Vennar from Oceanside to create something that sounds like they are having much fun. Either way, I’m excited to see what it’s about! Catch me, humaning, at their concert on Wednesday, June 19^th.

Fu Manchu

Isn’t Fu Manchu stoner rock? You’re probably asking yourself. And the answer is yes, but it’s the finest stoner rock. It’s the kind where you vibe with every song and likely end up in a mosh pit. Or at least, that’s my plan for their set. Find me on Saturday, June 22^nd, living my best life.

Hatebreed

I’ll admit, I’ve only heard their first album. But I really want to see them. And from the videos I’ve seen on social media, they put on a fun and brain-dead concert! You can catch me there on Saturday, June 22^nd.

JJ And The A’s

I saw them open for Civic last November, and that was entertaining. They have a great sound, and I look forward to seeing the band take the stage at Copenhell. I’m hoping they don’t clash with other bands. But you can catch me there on Saturday, June 22^nd.

JOHN CXNNOR

I’ve never seen them perform, but nearly everyone I know has, and they all say the same. It’s the best thing ever, and I’m curious enough to see what this industrial metal band can do and if I join their fan club. You can catch me feeling the music on Friday, June 21^st.

Karnivool

I’ve seen them live! They have blown me away! I love this band, and it’s a prog band. If you don’t have anything to watch when they are performing, I highly recommend catching them in action. They are unique, and you become a fan so quickly. You can see me chilling at their set on Friday, June 21^st.

Lack

A Danish hardcore band that initially went their separate ways in 2008, they quickly reunited in 2021 for some shows. This year, they reunited for a few shows, and we are lucky to have Copenhell to give people what they want, which is Lack. I want Lack. Watch me get my mind blown on Thursday, June 20^th. This is an important show for me.

Limp Bizkit

THIS ISN’T A DRILL; IT’S HAPPENING. Limp Bizkit is coming to Denmark, AND I’M THERE. I know, Limp Bizkit—really? Really. They aren’t even a guilty pleasure. I like this band. But they are playing Thursday, June 20^th, and I’m there, likely in a mosh pit.

Madball

Don’t sleep on the New York hardcore band when they entertain the crowd on Friday, June 21^st.

Mr. Bungle

I’ve slept on this band my whole life. Now, I’ll be amongst their audience on Thursday, June 20^th.

The Hives

I slept on the fact that they visited Copenhagen in 2023 and kicked myself for that. But there’s always Copenhell, and that’s precisely where I’ll be seeing the band for the first time. I’m excited about it, honestly. Come dance with me on Thursday, June 20^th.

The Offspring

Didn’t I see them at Slam Dunk in 2023? Yeah, I did. And it was something, BUT it’s The Offspring, and I grew up listening to them; I need always to attend their gigs when I can. Plus, I love dancing along to their songs… And singing along. Get over it.

Tool

I saw Tool for the first time in 2022, two weeks after I turned 30. From what I remember, I had the best time of my life at their concert. But I am attached to Tool’s music and look forward to their Saturday, June 22nd show.

Underoath

UNDEROATH, FRICKING UNDEROATH. Enough said, I’m there, and I’m ready for this. Catch us vibing on Wednesday, June 19^th.

ZULU

Sorry, we can’t be friends if you don’t like Zulu. Since they started in 2019, Zulu has gone from strength to strength on the hardcore scene. Their debut album, “A New Tomorrow,” was an eye-opener with how they perfected the most challenging art in music. How cross-genres without it sounding cluttered and out of place. I think it is one of the best hardcore albums of 2023, and the intensity you hear on the album makes you leave wanting more. Find me on Thursday, June 20th, kicking it in the pit.

Here’s a list of bands I’ve never heard of or seen. I’ll attend blindly, so I will not listen beforehand because I sometimes like to do that.

DVNE

Escuela Grind

Sanguisugabogg

Twin Temple

There’s probably more, but I’ll leave it alone now and move on.

Next up, here’s my essential packing list for the festival that I’ve found necessary over the years.

Sunblock: It’s summer in Copenhagen, and even though our weather can go from sunny to cloudy in 0.6 seconds, the sun hits hard when it is there. Don’t neglect your skin; bring some!

A light jacket: I’ll refer to the above, but the evenings can get chilly, and you don’t want to catch a cold.

Wear comfy shoes: Your feet will love you!

Bring a power bank: That explains itself.

Sunglasses: Maybe put one of those cool strings in them so you don’t lose them.

Lip Balm: Yes, your lips will thank me later.

AND for those camping, you’re pros. Hit up the comment section to add your festival essentials! Kids at the festival; I have done that for those bringing children for the first time. My son’s sixth birthday was at Copenhell, and he had a blast. I felt safe, seeing him start his little mosh pit while those older than him looked on. But Copenhell has a section on bringing kids to the festival that you can find here, along with other IMPORTANT information.

Food

With the drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) flowing, it’s very important to eat, and Copenhell has a lot of variety when it comes to food! While there’s no word on what will be served (yet), I hope to see Naturli’ this year and have falafel and fries. A girl’s got to eat!

Other entertainment

Once again, Copenhell is bringing back Copenhell Con, which is fun and worth visiting! There are Q&A’s and loads of other great stuff to look at.

Once the music is over for the night, you don’t need to go into Copenhagen to have a grand ol’ time. You can visit Biergarten, where the afterparty doesn’t end until sunrise! A DJ will likely be spinning some records, but you can find all the bangers there—and likely most of your friends!

Last year, Copenhell had karaoke; that’s one thing I hope they will bring back. And what about football? This summer, we have the Euro Cup. Will it be shown in the hall behind the big bad Copenhell wolf? Time will tell!

Are you visiting Copenhell this year? If so, what are you really excited about? We are just happy to be part of a wholesome festival this year.

ART is made by Jakob Printzlau

by Staff Writer Karina Rae Selvig

Tags:

Copenhell denmark dropkick murphys Hardcore limp bizkit

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DS Photo Gallery: The Hold Steady bring their 20th-anniversary celebration to Boston’s Roadrunner…with Dinosaur Jr.!

May 18, 2023 | 3:42 pm

There’s a thing that happens when you grow up in a music-appreciating household and then you reach middle school or junior high or whatever you call it in your neck of the woods and discover a new band or a scene that becomes YOURS. They’re generally a generation or so older than you – or at least 10-ish years or so but it just SEEMS like a generation when you’re 13. They’re not your parents’ music – and in fact are probably a rebellion to your parents’ music – and they aren’t little kid music or cheesy pop music, but they become YOURS and they teach you about life and growing up and all sorts of things that seem so cool and almost mystical when you’re a youngster and they serve as the riverbed for whatever scene’s waters you end up dipping your toes into.

But then there’s another thing that happens when you’re in, say, your mid-twenties and you discover a new band. They’re still maybe a handful of years older than you, and they somehow take the musical influences of your parents – which really weren’t that bad or worthy of rebelling against at all – and some of those musical influences from the first bands that you fell in love with and it becomes something that’s new and different and it impacts you on a personal level because they provide a roadmap for a lot of the things that you have been through and will go through in this thing called “adulthood,” and so you have similar experiences and reference points. For the duration of my adulthood, the alpha and the omega of that latter phenomenon has consisted of two bands (with, coincidentally, an overlapping band member in their collective history): Lucero and The Hold Steady. The former celebrated their 25th birthday last month, and the latter are in the midst of celebrating two decades as a band throughout this year with a series of one-offs and weekenders at a variety of locations both at home and abroad.

The two- and three- and four-day weekender that’s been part and parcel of the last half-dozen years of The Hold Steady’s touring schedule was eschewed for the Boston stop on this particular “run.” Instead, the six-piece (frontman and occasional guitarist Craig Finn, dueling lead guitarists Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidge, keyboard/multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay, bass player Galen Polivka and drummer Bobby Drake) chose to use this stop for what I’m pretty sure is their largest one-day area headliner to date. It was held at the sparkly new Roadrunner music hall in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood (more specifically in the newly-christened Boston Landing neighborhood, which is also home to the sparkly-new practice facilities for the Bruins and the Celtics and a sparkly-new and giant New Balance flagship building). The sweet part of the city it’s not, necessarily; but obvious grievances about gentrification and the loss of smaller and especially independent music venues in a theoretically world-class music city aside…Roadrunner is a pretty sweet venue. Still, that’s all a topic for another time.

Set to the musical backdrop of the thematically-appropriate Boston classic, “Rock And Roll Band,” the band took to the stage at Roadrunner at about quarter-til-ten and, after a brief introduction, ripped right into the opening chords of “Constructive Summer” from their 2008 album Stay Positive, which happens to be the album that vaulted THS into my own personal stratosphere. The song and its theme of hope and of collective positivity served as an ideal segue into the festivities that would come over the next hour-and-forty-five-minutes or so. Two dozen songs followed, representing seven of the band’s nine studio albums – no love for the underrated duo of hiatus bookend albums, Heaven Is Whenever (2010) and Teeth Dreams (2014) on this particular night.

It would be a little too on-the-nose to say that a Hold Steady headlining performance is what a resurrection feels like, but I’m not sure the fact that the reference is on-the-nose makes it untrue. When the band launches into the familiar opening notes of longtime crowd favorites like “Sequestered In Memphis” or “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” or “Massive Nights,” the crowd takes on a celebratory, almost spiritual tone, a sort of mutual catharsis, really. Enigmatic Craig Finn leads the show in his traditional, chaotic manner that evokes notes of both a hardcore band frontman and an exuberant preacher leading the flock during a Sunday sermon. Nicolay and Kubler flank the stage adorned in shirts and ties and jackets and, in the former’s case, a bowler hat that I can only describe as “spiffy.” Selvidge and Polivka both ooze a sort of rock and roll that combines 70s swagger with mid-Gen X shrug. Bobby Drake is about as rock-steady and, for my money, underrated as you can get behind the drum set in this scene, effortlessly bracing the changing tempos and swirling guitars and keys and extended, celebratory jams.

The Hold Steady released their ninth album, The Price Of Progress, earlier this year, and the new tracks that found their respective ways into the setlist for this gig were equally well-received, particularly “Carlos Is Crying,” which is a song that I think I called “the most Hold Steadyish song on the record” when I reviewed the album back in March. While I’d certainly call The Hold Steady a rock-and-roll band for lack of a better and more finely-tuned descriptor, it’s easy to tell that many of the bands members grew up on the punk rock and hardcore scenes of the 1980s (and not just when Mosh Pit Josh assumes co-frontman duties for the breakdown of “Stay Positive,” the main set’s penultimate song).

The four-song encore was a compilation of a bunch of old-school THS songs that continued the revelatory nature of the evening. Lead guitarist (co-lead guitarist?) Tad Kubler brought out the double-neck Gibson SG that you see pictured there on the right for “Lord, I’m Discouraged” and the first verse of “Banging Camp” before trading it out for his more traditional 345. “Chips Ahoy” and of course “Killer Parties” closed out the evening, the latter with an extended jam that seemed to indicate a reluctance to actually leave the stage and bring the celebration to a close. On this night, as with on many nights dating back over the course of the last twenty years, we were, indeed, all the Hold Steady.

Massachusetts’-own alternative rock legends Dinosaur Jr. served played a 75-minute direct support set. THS frontman Craig Finn, who was notably raised in Minnesota but was born a stone’s throw from Roadrunner at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and returned to the area for four years as a student at Boston College in nearby Brookline, told a story of mountain biking down to Newbury comics to by Dino’s 1991 classic Green Mind the day it came out, so it made perfect sense for the local trio to play an extended support spot on such an occasion. The trio opened with “Thumb” from that very same Green Mind album and proceeded to steamroll through a sixteen-song set that represented most-if-not-all corners of their nearly 40-year career as a band. A Dinosaur Jr. set really is a sonic assault in the best possible way, a tsunami of sound emanating from frontman J Mascis’ wall of Marshall full stack cabinets adorned in vintage Marshall Super Bass and Hiwatt heads.

Somehow Lou Barlow’s ‘lead bass’ attack still finds a way to carve out its own space in the mix, which is no easy feat. Murph’s razor-sharp drumming provides at least a semblance of structure to the whole onslaught, particularly useful during Mascis’ epic, fuzzed-out solo wanderings. Getting J and Lou to switch instruments and have the latter take over both guitar and lead vocal duties for “Garden” from 2021’s Sweep It Into Space was a particular highlight of the three songs that the four or five of us in the spacious photo pit got to shoot to kick off the set. A later highlight occurred when the trio was joined by Scott Helland on bass for a “cover” of the Deep Wound song “Training Ground.” For the uninitiated, Deep Wound was a pre-Dino (so, very early 80s) western Massachusetts hardcore band that featured Mascis on drums, Barlow on guitar, Helland on bass and Charlie Nakajima on vocals.

Apologies go out to Come, the local alternative rock icons who played the role of lead opener on the three-band bill on this night. Due to a combination of Mother’s Day festivities, traffic, and being unfamiliar with the area, we missed the photo-pit portion of the band’s set. Check out more shots from the Dino and THS sets below!

The Hold Steady Slideshow!

Dinosaur Jr. Slideshow!

by Staff Writer jaystone

Tags:

20th anniversary boston dinosaur jr minneapolis roadrunner

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DS Record Radar: This Week in Punk Vinyl (Against All Authority “24 Hour Roadside Resistance” reissue, Eat Defeat, Mustard Plug & More!)

April 7, 2024 | 1:52 pm

Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold […]

Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:

Last year, we loyal Against All Authority fans were graced with the long awaited All Fall Down Reissue. The year of our lord 2024 brings more gifts for the AAA faithful with the equally long awaited reissue of 24 Hour Roadside Resistance. Due out June 28th on Red w/ Black Splatter colored vinyl, pre-order this MF here and say a prayer for a Destroy What Destroys You reissue.

UK ska-punks Eat Defeat’s new record My Money’s One Me is due out May 10th on Uncle Style Records. Check out the lead single “Slip Through the Cracks” below and go pre-order the green vinyl variant here and/or the red vinyl variant here.

Fun fact: the Dying Scene Record Radar is contractually obligated to talk about a new NOFX record every week! This week’s NOFX record is Clay Pigeon, which is a collection of demos from the recording of Coaster (also known as Frisbee). This is the first in a new series of releases from Mr. Burkett’s Punk Rock Museum and apparently similar demo collections from RKL and Get Dead are coming soon. Very cool! There are three color variants available to pre-order here and a splatter variant that will only be available in person at the Punk Rock Museum gift shop.

These guys commented on last week’s Instagram post about the Record Radar saying we didn’t include their “new” record, so here ya go fuckers. Long Birds are a skate punk band from Elgin, Illinois (wherever the fuck that is). They released their latest record On Speed last October, so it’s not really new, but it’s probably new to you. It reminds me of early Millencolin – there’s even a ska-ish song! Get it out and consider purchasing the blue polyvinyl chloride disc, cassette, compact disc, or digital music files from their Bandcamp.

Did your band release a bad ass record that you want me to talk about and tell people to buy? Drop me a line and I’ll include it in the next Record Radar

Fat Wreck’s 25th Anniversary series rolls on with this reissue of Sick of It All‘s Call to Arms. What color is it? Nobody knows! Order it and find out I guess. All copies come with a free tub of creatine and 30 day Gold’s Gym membership.

A few weeks ago I told you about Rancid‘s B Sides and C Sides seemingly being reissued after listings popped up on Amazon and a few other stores. Right after that Pirate’s Press made the official announcement, revealing the Neon Magenta and Neon Green w/ Black Splatter (try saying that 5x fast) color variant, confirming it’s a 2xLP, and also confirming the cover art’s pink for some reason.

This is limited to 1,000 copies – Pirate’s Press has already sold out and most other retailers have as well. Merchbar still has it available for pre-order but buyer beware: I’ve had them switch stuff from “In Stock” to “Backordered” after ordering and then hold my money for a literal year before the order ended up being canceled. Absolute clown show.

Some more reissues from Hopeless in addition to that AAA record: Volume 1 of the Hopelessly Devoted to You comps is back in print on red vinyl (500 copies). With songs by Guttermouth, Falling Sickness, 88 Fingers Louie, the Bollweevils & more how can you go wrong? This one’s due out on May 22nd. You can pre-order it here.

And last up from Hopeless is this 25th Anniversary reissue of Mustard Plug‘s Pray for Mojo. There are three variants: the very tastefully named Hopeless Records webstore exclusive Blue w/ Monkey Poo Splatter (1,000 copies), the Smartpunk exclusive Blue w/ Yellow Splatter (200 hand numbered copies), and the blue retail variant (1,000 copies) which you can probably get at most record stores. All three variants come with updated cover art and the following bonus track:

Iron Chic’s debut album Not Like This is back in print for the first time in a while. This is the 10th pressing and it’s limited to 435 copies on black wax (purchase here), 226 copies on Clear Blood Smoke (purchase here), and 122 copies on Hyacinth (google tells me this is “a small genus of bulbous herbs, spring-blooming perennials” which is a pretty purple-ish color) colored vinyl (SOLD OUT!).

What do you get when you take Grath Madden (House Boat, the Steinways, Robot Bachelor, etc. etc. etc.), Michelle Shirelle (also from the Steinways), Mike Erg (from every band on the planet), Fraser Murderburger (The Murderburgers, Wrong Life, FUCK! (It’s Pronounced SHIT!), etc. etc. etc.), and Kieron Jordan (Don Blake) and put them in a rural barn-turned-recording studio in Belgium? A extremely long sentence, apparently – but also an unsurprisingly bad ass pop-punk record!

That’s what Scrapped Plans’ new record Buddy Buddy Belgium is, a simply splendid 16 minute long 10 song album out now on Bloated Kat Records. If you like any of the affiliated acts, you’ll 100% like this record. I highly recommend checking it out below and pre-ordering it on random colored vinyl here. Also, cassette enjoyers, I should have some exciting news to share relating to this very soon! Stay tuned.

Also out now from our friends at Bloated Kat Records: the new Split LP from Brooklyn’s Heavy Lag and Milwaukee’s Bad Crime. Recommended if you like fuzzy lo-fi-ish shit. Check it out and add it to your cart while you’re picking up that Scrapped Plans record!

Here’s a band that’s been around 20+ years that I’ve somehow never heard of. I found out about Budapest, Hungary’s The Idoru when their new record Undertow went up for pre-order on the Blackstar Foundation’s Bandcamp, which I’m apparently still on the mailing list for after buying some Atlas Losing Grip records like 10 years ago. Anyway, the first few singles from this record are bad ass, and kinda remind me of the last two ALG albums which I loved. Undertow is due out April 26th and is available to pre-order on a bunch of awesome color variants right here.

Back by popular demand, Illinois Ramonescore newcomers Ghost Party‘s critically acclaimed 2023 debut album Afterlife of the Party has been repressed by our friends at Mom’s Basement Records. They did a bunch of very limited screen printed versions of the jacket with mixed color variants, but all of those sold out already. The good news is you can still get it on mixed blue colored vinyl with the normal jacket (limited to 100 copies). Head on over to the Mom’s Basement store before those are gone, too! If you’re in the UK you can get the first pressing from our friends at the Punk Rock Vinyl distro.

Asian Man Records‘ latest release is from Raleigh, North Carolina’s Teens in Trouble. Their debut LP What’s Mine is out now and you can get it on random colored vinyl (limited to 600 copies) right here. My favorite song on the record’s “Autopilot” – check that shit out:

Cock Sparrer just released their new album Hand on Heart (I already told you about that) but they also just released a 7″ single for the album’s closing track “Here We Stand (I’m telling you about that now!). The 7” features a B-Side called “We’re Alright Now” and is available on these three color variants:

Blood Red w/ Black Splatter – Pirate’s Press Records (1,000 copies)

Gold Vinyl – Randale Records (500 copies)

Beer w/ Blood Red Splatter – Captain Oi! Records (500 copies, btw their store is dogshit and I can’t find this thing on there lmao)

Sounds Rad Records fully committed to April Fool’s this year, pressing two new variants of The Mr. T Experience‘s Revenge Is Sweet and So Are You with Dr. Frank and co. being bumped from the front cover in favor of a stunning portrait of some feline friends. They pressed 100 copies of Revenge Is Sweet and So Are Miaou on Orange, White, and Black Cat Splatter (sold out! womp womp) and 4000 copies on Cat Scratch Fever Green colored vinyl. The latter is still in stock and can be purchased here.

London (UK, not Ontario) indie/punk solo artist James Sullivan is releasing his sophomore album Vital Signs on April 19th via Stardumb Records. If I had to describe it in a concise manner, I’d say it’s a mix of The Cure, Oasis, and Joe Strummer’s later output with The Mescaleros. If that sounds interesting to you, I recommend picking this record up! You can get it on Van Gogh Green and/or black wax here (US), here (UK), or here (EU).

The last two Atom and His Package LPs, 2001’s Redefining Music and 2003’s Attention! Blah Blah Blah, are both back in print for the first time since their original release. These are limited to 500 copies each – you can get them from Asbestos Records in the US and Le Noise in Canada.

And last but certainly not least on this week’s gargantuan Record Radar, we have a new pressing of beloved Chicago punk band The Arrivals‘ debut album Goodbye New World. It’s limited to 270 copies spread across four variants and you can get it here.

Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next time!

Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!

by Staff Writer Screeching Bottlerocket

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DS Record Radar: This Week in Punk Vinyl (Bad Religion, Propagandhi, The Putz & more)

December 2, 2022 | 6:44 pm

Greetings, fellow degenerates! Welcome to the latest installment of the Dying Scene Record Radar. After taking a brief hiatus for Thanksgiving, we’re back in action once again with another weekly roundup of all things punk rock vinyl. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, […]

Epitaph Records gets us started this week with a bunch of Bad Religion represses. Everyone’s favorite BR record The New America is back in print, alongside the critically acclaimed No Substance, and the underrated True North. Grab ’em here.

Epitaph has also repressed Propagandhi‘s Failed States on “translucent electric blue” colored vinyl. This one’s limited to 1,000 copies and you can get it here. Newbury Comics has an exclusive pink variant as well; go here to purchase that one. And in case any of you happen to care, this is the remastered version of the record.

In case you haven’t heard, DeeCracks and The Manges have a brand new Split 7″ out now on Striped Music and Mom’s Basement Records! Check it out below, and grab it on wax here (US) and here (EU).

One of my favorite pop-punk bands The Putz have a new Christmas record out now on Eccentric Pop Records. The five-song 12″ EP is called Ho Ho Ho, Let’s Go! and you can get it on red or black vinyl it here. Both color variants have an etched b-side.

Zia Records has a new exclusive repress of Tiger Amy‘s 2007 LP Music from Regions Beyond. This is limited to 300 copies on “ruby with baby blue splatter” colored wax; I think it looks pretty sweet! Anyway, go here if you wanna snag a copy.

Hardcore punk supergroup OFF! has announced a tour variant of their new record Free LSD. This pressing on red vinyl will be available at shows on the band’s upcoming west coast run. The good news for those who can’t attend is they have some copies available on their Bandcamp page. Get ’em while the gettin’s good!

Spanish skate punks Kill the President have a new 12″ EP out now. Give the record a listen below and grab it on vinyl here (EU) or here (UK).

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but if you thought the sales were over, you’re sorely mistaken, friends! Through December 11th, you can get 40% off everything on SBÄM Records‘ webstore. Just enter code “XMAS22” at checkout. These guys have put out some absolutely killer records this year. The new No Fun At All and Pulley LPs are must-haves.

Our friends at Shield Recordings are also having a sale. Head over to their webstore, load up your cart, and get 25% off everything (except pre-orders) with code “XMAS2022”. Tons of good shit up for grabs!

If you share my love of The Mr. T Experience, you’ll likely be interested in Sound Rad‘s MTXMAS sale. Through the end of December, their whole webstore is 20% off with code “MTXMAS”. That includes the brand new reissue of Revenge is Sweet and So Are You. As an added bonus, all orders of $25 include a free MTX Christmas ornament.

And that’s all, folks! Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs. See ya next week!

*Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Type “Record Radar” in the search bar at the top of the page!

by Staff Writer Screeching Bottlerocket

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DS Record Radar: This Week in Punk Vinyl (Chaser, Krang, MakeWar, Joe Gittleman, Smoking Popes & More!)

April 28, 2024 | 3:55 pm

Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:

Continuing the Record Radar’s recent trend of diversifying into other formats, this week’s first featured release is a cassette! That’s right, a cassette. It’s Buddy Buddy Belgium, the new album from pop-punk supergroup Scrapped Plans, ft. members of House Boat, the Steinways, The Murderburgers, Wrong Life, Don Blake, aaaaand Mike Erg of course!

A few weeks ago I told you about Bloated Kat Records‘ putting this one out on random colored vinyl (you can still buy that here), but now you can also get it on cassette. This is limited to 50 tapes – half are white, half are black – and it’s Dying Scene Records’ first new release in 6 years! Pay money for it here and it’ll show up in your mailbox in a few weeks, maybe with some other goodies? I’d also like to mention I teamed up with Punk Rock Radar and Cat’s Claw Records on this release, and you can get it from them as well.

Back to our regularly scheduled discussion of flattened 12″ discs of polyvinyl chloride, Punk Rock Radar also has UK skate punk / ska band Stank Finger‘s new record Three Finger Discount up for pre-order. Limited to 100 copies on slime green colored vinyl, this is a highly recommended pickup for fans of Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, [spunge], etc. etc. etc. These guys are bad ass! Pick this record up. Our Bri’ish m8s will be able to get the record (or CD!) from the band soon.

Have you heard about Czech melodic punks Krang‘s new album Listens to Krang Once? It’s coming out May 3rd on SBAM Records and spoiler alert: it’s pretty fucking bad ass. The lead single “Cowabunga” is now streaming (check it out down below) and the record is available to pre-order on four different Ninja Turtles themed color variants. Grab yours here (US) or here (EU). Note: The EU store has a bundle with all four variants!

That’s not the only bad ass new record coming soon on SBAM, however. Chaser‘s highly anticipated new album Small Victories lands on June 28th and is being co-released by Thousand Islands and Pee Records. I pre-ordered the Sunburst Orange variant but I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of these. Pre-order your copies here (US), here (EU), or here (AUS). Also, check out the first single:

And last up from SBAM, we’ve got Portland folk punk band the Bridge City Sinners‘ new record In the Age of Doubt, which is due out on July 12th. This one’s being co-released by Flail Records and both labels have exclusive color variants available on their respective webstores. Fail Records also has copies on CD, cassette, and 8 track (and no, I’m not bullshitting about that last one).

Flail Records variants (US):
Gold & Black Hand Poured (300 copies)
Dark Purple w/ Pink Splatter (700 copies)
Clear Emerald w/ Black Smoke (??? copies)

SBAM Records variants (EU, take these pressing numbers with a grain of salt):
Tiger’s Eye (100 copies)
Agate (100 copies)
Jasper (100 copies)
Basalt (100 copies)

Just in time for its 30th birthday, the Smoking Popes 1994 classic Born to Quit is back in print! In addition to this being the first pressing in over a decade, it’s also the very first time the original, non-remastered version of this album has been released on vinyl. Very cool! You can get it on pink & white “sunburn” colored vinyl here, and Rough Trade also has an exclusive navy blue color variant limited to 200 copies. Both come in a gatefold jacket emblazoned with the original artwork.

Down By Law‘s got a new record called Crazy Days coming out on June 15th and, what’s that? This is another CD release on the Record Radar? gasp! Yeah, that’s right, this bad boy’s only available on compact disc (and digital) at the moment, but rest assured, vinyl is coming soon for you fucking hipsters (I, too, am a fucking hipster). For now, embrace the affordability and convenience of the shiny lil discs.

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Fat Wreck Chords recording artist MakeWar has a new record coming out on June 28th. Check out the lead single from A Paradoxical Theory of Change down below and pre-order the album on colored vinyl (take note of Fat’s new and improved $25 price point!), black vinyl (for the same price colored vinyl was up until a week ago), and/or CD (we like those!) right here.

Joe Gittleman continues to keep busy following the collapse of the (Mighty Mighty) Bosstones. You’ve probably already heard his new project The Kilograms, but did you know he’s got a new solo album on the way? That’s right, the Bass Fiddleman’s debut solo LP Hold Up is due out June 21st on Bad Time Records. Check out the excellent first single “Plastered in the Rafters” below and get the record on Coke Bottle Green colored vinyl (ltd to 250 copies) right here.

Speaking of debut solo albums, Jen from The Bombpops‘ debut solo album East Side of Eden is out now. The full album (did I mention it’s of the debut solo variety?) is now streaming (check it out below!), and you can get it on “Desert Blue” colored vinyl here. There was another bad ass color variant, too, but dat one sold out.

Wait just a god damn second… What’s that? another solo album?! Yessir, it’s the 25th anniversary of Mr. T Experience frontman Dr. Frank Portman’s Show Business is My Life and Sounds Rad Records is doing it right with a sick ass reissue. There are two versions, the Sounds Rad exclusive 180g black wax (200 copies) and the retail variant on turquoise colored vinyl (300 copies). Both come housed in a die cut jacket designed by Chris Appelgren of Lookout! Records fame. You can “call dibs” on the 180g black vinyl here.

Here’s a non-solo album! It’s the new EP from Tampa pop-punk band Atomic Treehouse who I’d describe as MxPx meets Screeching Weasel meets Nerf Herder. Overthrow the Captain is another CD infiltrating the Record Radar; we’re really diversifying here, folks! Check that shit out below and go here to pay money for the compact disc (or perhaps the digital download).

Austin, TX pop-punks the Hoaxxers‘ debut EP is out now and our friends at Mom’s Basement Records still a few copies of the ultra limited (square!) lathe cut 7″ available on their store. You might recognize these dudes from other bands such as Breaklights, Dropped Out, Oldie Hawn, and Joe Jitsu. If that’s not ringing a bell, I’ll just say if you like 90’s pop-punk (Lookout!, Mutant Pop, etc.) you gotta check these guys out. Also, check out all the other awesome shit Mom’s Basement just threw up on their store while you’re picking up this 7″. The Yum Yums! The Smugglers! The McRackins! The Manges! Holy fuck!

Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards’ 2001 self-titled debut album has gotten a new pressing from Pirates Press Records, with 1,000 copies on “Bleach Marble” colored vinyl. I’m not entirely sure the demand exists for 1,000 copies of this, considering the 2022 repress on Red & Black Galaxy colored wax is still in print (that one was “limited” to 1,000 copies as well lul). But hey, maybe you’re going for a full set or some shit. Get it here.

The 10th Anniversary edition of A Wilhelm Scream‘s Partycrasher has gotten a 2nd pressing of 500 copies on Silver / White Swirl w/ Splatter colored vinyl. You can get your hands on this one here (US), here (EU), and here (UK).

The Goddamn Gallows‘ 2011 LP 7 Devils has been reissued as a remastered Double LP with 7 bonus live tracks on the second record. You can get it on gold vinyl (not sure how many copies were pressed but it’s almost sold out) and/or black wax right here.

We’ll end this week’s Record Radar on an interesting note, with a new split LP from Montreal ska-punk band Subb and Sainte Catherines frontman Hugo Mudie. Cat Sounds is a tribute to Kim Shattuck, with each party contributing a Muffs cover, in addition to covers of songs by each other. Could I have phrased that any more confusingly? Probably. Anyway, buy the record here. This is the first new thing Subb has released since 2010. Due out June 21st on Thousand Islands Records!

Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!

by Staff Writer Screeching Bottlerocket

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DS Record Radar: This Week In Punk Vinyl (One Square Mile, Sum 41, Steve Rawles (Belvedere), Pansy Division & More!)

July 7, 2024 | 3:55 pm

Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:

SoCal punk band One Square Mile’s new 12” EP Source of Suffering is out now on Sound Speed Records. It was produced by Cameron Webb, whose work you’re familiar with on releases from NOFX, Pennywise, Alkaline Trio, and the awesome new Chaser record Small Victories! Sound Speed Records has three color variants up on their store – solid yellow /100 (proceeds from this one are going to the Surfrider Foundation), translucent w/ yellow / brown /100, and translucent brown w/ gold flakes /50. Catch ‘em all!

A new variant of the new Sum 41 album Heaven :x: Hell has popped up and this one’s different. It’s on solid blue colored vinyl (limited to 500 copies) and the only way you can get it is with autographs. You can get a copy signed by the band with a black marker for $89.99, and for some inexplicable reason they also have copies signed with a SILVER market that are an astounding $139.99! Holy fuck! Why does the marker used make it worth $50 more? No fucking clue brother. These are available exclusively from Premiere Collectibles.

Staying in Canada, we got Steve Rawles from the almighty Belvedere (and This is a Standoff – both of which are better Canadian punk bands than Sum 41 I might add) whose 2011 solo album Bonus Room is being released on vinyl for the first time. Our friends at Thousand Islands Records are releasing this on translucent blue colored vinyl, limited to 250 copies. Grab your copy here – they’ve got test pressings available as well for just 10 bucks more than a regular copy. Take notes Premiere Collectibles! Or don’t, you’re probably making a fuckload off dumb fucks paying $50 extra for silver markers.

Also while you’re visiting Thousand Islands’ storefront, add this new pressing of German melodic punk band Melonball’s debut album Breathe to your cart. This pink & black half & half is the third pressing of this wonderful record. Get it here.

Fat Wreck imprint label Bottles to the Ground record artists The Meffs’ debut album What a Life is due out on September 13th. It was produced by Frank (I believe that’s short for Franklin) Turner, who has been quoted as saying “It’s a fucking beast. I’m as proud of it as I’m allowed to be” so that’s cool. Franklin sings on one of the songs on the album as well so that’s also cool. You can get it here on black vinyl, or two mystery color variants – one of which is exclusive to a bundle with a slipmat.

New from our friends at Mom’s Basement Records: Canadian pop-punk band The Follow Ups‘ brand new record Know Who Your Friends Aren’t! This one’s available on two bad ass color variants (limited to 100 copies) each, as well as black wax (limited to 100 copies as well) from Mom’s Basement Records (USA) and Faster And Louder Records (Canada). Both labels have CDs and vinyl test pressings available, too, which is bad ass.

Sounds Rad Records is repressing the latest record from band that kinda reminds me of Green Day, otherwise known as The Mr. T Experience. This second pressing of King Dork Approximately, The Album consists of 100 copies on Yellow Smoke and another 100 copies on Black Smoke colored vinyl. You can get it from soundsradical.com tomorrow – Monday, July 8th, 2024.

Also available to pre-order from Sounds Rad tomorrow: Pansy Division’s debut album Undressed. The record has been remastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering (the man behind most of the recent Screeching Weasel and MTX remasters) and will be available on violet colored vinyl.

The new Mad Caddies album Arrows Room 117 is getting a 2nd pressing (apparently the 37 color variants in the first run weren’t enough, though I’m pretty sure most of those are still available). SBAM has issued four new splatter color variants, all of which are limited to 100 copies each and can be obtained with money from their EU store.

Indianapolis 7-piece ska/dub/reggae/punk (their words, not mine) band The Operators just released their new record, incredibly creatively titled Self-Titled Second Album, on Jump Up Records. You can get it on powder blue and/or concrete colored vinyl, as well as compact disc(!), right here.

Luxembourg punk band Versus You has released a semi-career spanning compilation album called “A Collection” 2009-2024. The 2xLP set boasts a 25-song tracklist housed on yellow and red colored mechanically flattened 12” polyvinyl chloride discs (otherwise known as records by those in the trade). Get it here.

Chicago power-pop-punk band Space Age Zeros will be releasing their debut LP Strange New World on September 13th through Mystic Records. Yes, that Mystic Records. Check out the first single “Fireworks” below and pre-order the record (or CD (or both)) here.

Fraser Murderburger’s Wrong Life has released a new double A-Side single in The Politics of Projection / The Corrections. Limited Fun Records is releasing it as a clear lathe cut 7” which you can pre-order here. Profits from physical and digital pre-orders through July 26th will be donated to Scottish Women’s Aid.

And we’ll close out this week’s Record Radar with a special offer from our friends at Punk Rock Radar: The Punk Rock Radar Birthday Box! For $39 you get: 2 random records! 1 shirt! 1 sticker pack! And most importantly, the opportunity to choose the topic for an upcoming Punk Rock Radar youtube video. It’s an unbeatable offer, folks. Head over to the PRR Store and take advantage of it today. And throw a few more awesome records in your cart while you’re there – I highly recommend Making Friends’ Fine Dying, Stank Finger’s Three Finger Discount, Goldenboy’s Qualmbum, and Snackwolf’s Lunch Breakdown, but you truly can’t go wrong with any Punk Rock Radar-sanctioned release.

Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!

by Staff Writer Screeching Bottlerocket

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DS Show Review & Gallery: The Slackers, The Crombies, & The Operator in Chicago (11/11/2022)

November 29, 2022 | 12:12 pm

The Slackers returned to Reggie’s to headline a bill which included their local friends in The Crombies, plus The Operator, and Highball Holiday. The Slackers, Chicago favorites from New York City, once again treated their fans to a rousing performance. Vic Ruggiero, Glen Pine, Jay Nugent, Dave Hillyard, Ara Babajian, and Marcus Geard tore through […]

The Slackers returned to Reggie’s to headline a bill which included their local friends in The Crombies, plus The Operator, and Highball Holiday.

The Slackers, Chicago favorites from New York City, once again treated their fans to a rousing performance. Vic Ruggiero, Glen Pine, Jay Nugent, Dave Hillyard, Ara Babajian, and Marcus Geard tore through a setlist including “Fried Chicken/Mary, Mary,” “And I Wonder,” “Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya,” “I Still Love You,” and “Wasted Days.” Per usual, The Slackers brought to the Windy City a lively and fun experience.

When The Slackers hit Chicago, many fans may guess correctly that The Crombies will be on the same bill. The two groups have a tight bond in more than one way. Three members of The Crombies (Mike Park, Dave Simon, and Karl Gustafson) are also past or present members of Deal’s Gone Bad. Some of their DGB bandmates and some of The Slackers members have formed Deal’s Gone Slack. It’s an indirect secondary connection but still should not be dismissed outright.

As for the Chicago’s very popular rocksteady outfit, the above mentioned members, along with bandmates Karl Gustafson, Matt Meuzelaar, and Kevin Lustrup blasted through their set which included “Hooligans,” “Staring At Rude Boys,” “Plastic Gangsters,” and “Levi Stubbs’ Tears.” The Crombies also performed its great cover of a song from my favorite band, The Clash: “English Civil War.” Each member has a very distinct onstage presence but it all adds to a cohesive unit. When you go to a show with The Crombies on the bill you are pretty much guaranteed a good time.

The Operators, a ska unit out Indianapolis, Indiana, came big, loud and rowdy. I loved it and so did the crowd. The group kicked the crowd into bouts of frenzied skanking. The Operators members – Brandon Sanders, Gregg Manfredi, Drew Darby, Heath Schlatter, Brittany Brummfield, Cristian Requilme, Sarah Harwood, Dave Grove, jammed through “Better Off Alone,” “Convicted Man,” “Catfished,” “Ease Your Mind,” and “Cards On The Table.” The latter two are Mr. Kingpin songs.

They were also joined on stage by Jon E. Bravo aka Mr. Kingpin, for “Lightening In A Bottle.” The Operators hit the bullseye with this set.

Highball Holiday switched on the show with a boisterous set. Shahanna McKinney Baldon led the bad through a solid set including “Siblings,” “Speedway,” “Why?,” “Skinhead Girls,” and “Welfare.”

Highball Holiday ended the set with a booming rendition of “Ignorance,” The band showed why they’re Milwaukee ska legends. It is wonderful to see a band enjoying themselves onstage as appeared to be the case here.

See below for more photos. Thanks!

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Mike Park performing with the Crombies on November 11, 2022. His bandmate, Dave Simon, is also a gan of the sport, and and ardent Arsenal FC fan. Photo by Meredith Goldberg
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The Crombies
The Crombies
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
The Operators
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday
Highball Holiday

by Staff Writer MerGold

Tags:

chicago Highball Holiday Illinois rocksteady Ska