Mustard Plug is an American ska punk band from Grand Rapids, Michigan, consisting of Dave Kirchgessner (vocals), Brandon Jenison (trumpet), Jim Hofer (trombone), Nate Cohn (drums), Colin Clive (guitar/vocals), and Rick Johnson (bass). Formed in 1991, the band has regularly toured throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America. They have toured with the Warped Tour twice and participated in the Ska Against Racism Tour. As of 2014, the band has released seven studio albums and cont...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 112
In a mix of interviews, essays, personal stories, historical snapshots, obscure anecdotes, and think pieces, In Defense of Ska dissects, analyzes, and celebrates ska in exactly the way fans have been craving for decades. This book will enlist ska-lovers as soldiers in the ska army, and challenge ska-haters’ prejudices to the core. Ships in April 2021 including special ska swag and surprises. Thanks to Adam from Link 80 for the intro. I got Aaron on the Skype and this is what we talked about. His...
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 111
Since calling it quits in 1997, Tampa, FL's Pohgoh has been known to break out the guitars for the occasional one-off reunion over the years. In August 2017 the band made their way to Baltimore, MD's Magpie Cage Recording Studio to record their sophomore full-length with engineer/producer J. Robbins resulting in Secret Club, With a rich history within the 90's DIY/indie/emo scene, Pohgoh was in a small league of female-fronted bands of the era alongside peers like Rainer Maria, Dahlia Seed &...
Oct 02, 2020•1 hr 42 min•Season 2Ep. 110
Yermomlluvus have no write-ups anywhere on the internet. So luckily, this interview exists. I got Chris Pinto on the Skype and this is what we talked about: Taylor Ham Congress of Cow Trash This Comp Finding friends in High School based on their punk rock look Who was the primary songwriter Boxcar Link 80 His band with THE Joe Pulito And a ton more Check out his band Downbound City If you market aggressively on Instagram Stories and want custom stickers then go here to get custom stickers or jus...
Sep 11, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 109
Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, the latter of whom is generally responsible for signing bands. The label specializes in ska, punk, oi!, psychobilly, and hardcore bands. Give 'Em the Boot, a Hellcat label sampler which also includes tracks from other up-and-coming independent bands was is...
Sep 04, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 108
Goober Patrol’s music and – perhaps more importantly – drinking then brought them to the attention of NOFX’s Fat Mike who signed them to his legendary Fat Wreck Chords label. Their first FAT release Vacation (1996) displayed their mastery at concocting contagious, hook-laden punk tunes, whilst the follow-up The Unbearable Lightness of Being Drunk (1999) mixed offbeat Brit humor and serious personal overtones with raw, hardcore, punk ‘n’ roll. In the late 90s and early 2000s, the Goobers toured n...
Aug 28, 2020•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 107
The Number Twelve Looks Like You is an American mathcore band formed in Bergen County, New Jersey, in 2002. The band went on a six-year hiatus in 2010. In May 2016, they performed a secret show and then announced their reunion. I got Jesse on the Skype and this is what we talked about Producing movies Straight edge Warped Tour in 97 The Saves The Day CD release party at the Manville Elks Lodge Shady View Terrace Geoff from Thursday How they were treated in Jersey The band Bad Rabbits And a ton m...
Aug 07, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 106
Shabbagoy , according to Joe Pulito, were a melodic punk/hardcore staple of the early-mid 90’s central Jersey scene. Since there is no other info about this band, I'll go into what Dan Palyca and I talk about: Jawbox Shows at high schools The Bouncing Souls original sound being in the Shades Apart Tainted love video Talking to Tyler from Midtown The Uprise shirt I found The real Lamar Vanoy One Nature And a ton more Check out my new Animated Series where I take clips from interviews and animate ...
Jul 31, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 105
You know who the Dropkick Murphys are but you may not know who West Beverly was. Well, now you will know. Luckily I got Tim Brennan on the Skype and this is what we talked about: Playing the show on Fenway The Boston accent Dan from Sunny Day Damon from Braid The demise of the band Selling Dropkick’s merch for 3 months on the Warped Tour Adjusting to the shift in the early 2000s His friendship with Hey Mercedes The Mick Jones pudding origins story And a ton more Check out my new Animated Series ...
Jul 17, 2020•1 hr 38 min•Season 2Ep. 104
Dynamite Boy was a pop-punk band from Austin, Texas. They were comprised of Sean Neil, Dusty Kohn, Adrian Munoz, and Sam Rich. They disbanded in 2005 after a ten-year career. Monkey, the roadie extraordinaire from Episode 006 , connected me to bassist Adrain Muñoz and this is what we talked about: Craig from The Impossibles The Bernardsville Church show Getting on Fearless Records Using Jim Cherry’s bass to record Finders Keppers His thoughts on Somewhere in America Their relationship with Fearl...
Jul 10, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, that formed in 1992. If you don't know who they are then go listen to Pezcore and Losing Streak . I'll wait... This interview is very nostalgic but if you’re currently in a band, you need to take notes because Chris breaks down all of the things they did to grow their band. Luckily I got him on the Skype, and this is what we talk about: His upcoming book Meeting Roger The song Fucked How they marketed the fuck out of their ba...
Jul 03, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Diesel Boy is a punk rock band from Santa Rosa, California. They were formed in 1993 and were active until 2002, and have been on hiatus since then. They have a 7" on Fat Wreck Chords, 4 full-length albums released on Honest Don's Records, and a split EP with the band Divit that was released on Coldfront Records. According to Last.fm, Diesel Boy's most popular tracks are "Titty Twister", "Looks That Kill" (Mötley Crüe cover), "She's My Queen" and "Stroking My Cat". Thank you, Monkey, for the int...
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Sunny Day Real Estate was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. They were one of the early emo bands and helped establish the genre. In 1994, the band released their debut album Diary on Sub Pop Records to critical acclaim. However, shortly after releasing their second album LP2, the band broke up, with members Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith joining Foo Fighters and Jeremy Enigk embarking on a solo career. In 1997, they regrouped long enough to record two more studio albums and a li...
Jun 19, 2020•1 hr 38 min•Season 2Ep. 100
The Stereo was a pop-rock and roll band started in early 1999 by former ska-punk band frontmen Jamie Woolford (of Animal Chin) and Rory Phillips (of The Impossibles). The pair were initially brought together on the recommendation of their record label Fueled By Ramen. The duo released their debut album Three Hundred in summer 1999. Over their recording and touring history, the band endured a number of line-up changes. Singer-songwriter Woolford was always affiliated with the group and composed a...
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 59 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Scott Shields played in a few NJ bands. The 2 you’ll probably remember are My Favorite Citizen and Situation at 1200. There’s not a lot of info out there about these bands so thank goodness for this interview. Scott’s name has come up a few times in interviews so I thought it would be cool to have him. So I did and this is what we talked about: Knowing Chris Gethard My Favorite Citizen Alan Rappaport's blurbs on releases sold at Flipside Jimmy Eat World keeping it real The biker bar in Parsippan...
May 29, 2020•1 hr 55 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Brian Granik is a great person. He was super involved in the NJ scene back in the late 90s from promoting shows, being apart of Umbilical Records, playing with Houseboy and 5 Driver, and just always being front row to point that sweet finger of his up in the air when he sang along. He was hesitant for a good amount of time until one day the stars aligned and he finally gave in. So I got him on Skype while we had many drinks and this is what we talked about: Going to school with other NJ punk roc...
May 15, 2020•2 hr 54 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Strung Out is an American punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1990. They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of melodic punk rock, progressive rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. They have released nine studio albums on Fat Wreck Chords as well as one Live album, 2 B-sides collections, a best-of, a box set, and appeared on numerous compilations and skate/surf/dirt bike/offroading videos. They have played on the Warped Tour and continue t...
May 08, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 96
The Dillinger Escape Plan is a fucking amazing band from NJ. If you don't know who they are then go listen to them. Luckily Ben is a solid dude and said yes to an interview and this is what we chat about: His farm Matt from Uprise Their first drummer Chris Pennie Skaters World Steve Evetts Chris Badami Mike Patton Playing a basement show in New Brunswick And a ton more Go check out Ben’s Patreon for his farm . And definitely watch the video he made. This episode is sponsored by https://www.house...
Apr 24, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Big D and the Kids Table is a ska-punk band formed in October 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts when its members converged in college. Their first release was on their own Fork in Hand Records label, but have since teamed with Springman Records and SideOneDummy. The band has been noted for its strict DIY work ethic, such as engineering, producing, and releasing their own albums and videos and self-promotion of their own shows. Thank you, Michael Catania, for the intro to David McWane who I got on th...
Apr 17, 2020•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 94
Triple Crown Records is a New York-based rock music record label created in 1997 by Fred Feldman. The label features such artists as The Receiving End of Sirens and The Dear Hunter, and launched the career of Brand New in 2001. It is a part of the Eastwest family of record labels, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, and is distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance. Here's what we chatted about: How are the current state of affairs effecting the label Starting at a hip hop label E Town...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 93
Uprise was a hardcore band based out of Northern Jersey. I heard about them when Mike Z joined the band because he was a classmate of mine at Jefferson Township High School and it was the first time I ever saw a local band put out a 7in which blew my mind. I talk about this in the interview. You may also remember the Morris County Youth Crew from back then which Matt formed. That name has come up a few times in previous podcast interviews. Especially Episode 23 with Brian Molloy who talks about ...
Mar 27, 2020•1 hr 52 min•Season 2Ep. 92
Ultimate Fakebook is a 3-piece power pop band from Manhattan, KS. They released three full-length albums—Electric Kissing Parties (1997 - Noisome Records), This Will Be Laughing Week (1999 - Noisome Records, 2000 - 550 Music/Epic Records), and Open up and Say Awesome (2002 -Initial Records). Shortly after releasing their EP Before We Spark (2003 - Initial Records), they broke up. I got them on the phone and this is what we talked about: Bro Hymn by Pennywise Having Falsetto in their songs Altern...
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 91
Dan Yemin is known for playing in Lifetime , Kid Dynamite and Paint it Black . You should go listen to all of those bands. After you listen to this interview. After weeks of scheduling, we locked this interview down and here is what we chat about: Oktopus co-producing Paint it Black’s album New Lexicon Using a flyer to start Lifetime When they finally found their sound Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey Their reunion show in 2005 The Melody Bar Forming Paint it Black And a ton more Thank you, Bri...
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 90
Texas Is the Reason was an American emo/post-hardcore band founded by former Shelter guitarist Norman Brannon and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997 and held brief reunions in 2006 and 2012–2013 In 1997, on the eve of signing with Capitol Records, the band flew overseas for a European tour. Ongoing intra-band tensions arising from the major label attention reached their apex. The night of the final stop of the tour in Bielefeld, Germany, Daly, and Brannon agreed before the sh...
Feb 21, 2020•2 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Today I chat with Matt Gray about his Bigwig days. Here's what we talk about: Dealing with seizures Breaking his femur at a show His journal that he’s kept every day since 1997 What the second van was that I talk about in the Tom Petta interview Getting scabies Having a seizure during a show The mixing of the drums on Stay Asleep Their song “ Friends ” The Ataris Getting kicked out of the band The Starting Line The Tour with Gob And a ton more 88 Fingers Louie had their van broken into last week...
Feb 14, 2020•2 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 88
Midtown was an American pop-punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Midtown was formed in November 1998 by three Rutgers University students but soon became a quartet. The group released three full-length studio albums and three extended plays before disbanding in 2005. I got Rob Hitt on the Skype and this is what we talk about: Constantly playing a song on repeat The bands that influenced Midtown Writing really high notes in Lanemeyer His first band which wasn’t Professor Plum Meeting Josh fr...
Feb 07, 2020•2 hr 43 min•Season 2Ep. 87
Forming in the suburbs of Atlanta while they were still in high school, Whippersnapper was originally called Corpus Spin. The band's five members, guitarists Mike and Jason, drummer Pat, vocalist Andy, and bassist Andy B., decided to adopt the current name fairly soon after the band's founding. Their first recording was a split 7" with Ronin -- soon they were hitting the ground running and touring with punk giants like Green Day, 88 Fingers Louie, and blink-182. Lobster Records issued their firs...
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 45 min•Season 2Ep. 86
Latex Generation is a New York, USA punk rock band formed in the early 1990s. The name was inspired by a news report heard on the radio by bassist Tommy Rockstar that spoke of the current generation of teens and the threat of STDs, especially the AIDS epidemic. The band of young high-schoolers (at that time) agreed to the name "Latex Generation" instead of "Dead Cat Lickers". They are also referred to as "L8XG" or just "LG". They went on to release 2 full-length CDs, 3 7" records, a number of co...
Jan 17, 2020•2 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 85
Lobster Records is an independent record label based in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded by Stevan Lubarsky in 1991. The label started with Bad Neighbor, a Montecito-based rock band, with a huge local following featuring Alan Duncan and Mark Bennett on guitars, Sean Murphy on drums, Todd Roll on Bass and Zak Remington on lead vocals. Former members include Lynn Strait on Bass (R.I.P Lynn) and Bobby Champagne on drums (R.I.P Bobby). Steve went on to develop Buck Wild, featuring Lagwagon ...
Jan 10, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Season 2Ep. 84
Piebald is an American alternative rock band who started as a hardcore band in Andover, Massachusetts, out of the same scene that produced Converge and Cave In. Originally a key Massachusetts post-hardcore band often seen touring with fellow DIY hardcore bands such as Jesuit, Reversal of Man, and Harvest during the mid to late 1990s, they later moved to the Boston suburb of Somerville and became a staple of the Greater Boston indie rock scene. A turning point in Piebald's career came when they r...
Jan 03, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 83
