Enoch "Skeeter" Thompson grew up in Bailey's Crossroads and got his first guitar as a reward from his baseball coach for pitching a no-hitter in the championship game. From there, he met Franz Stahl at school and his new friend helped him learn how to play that guitar. The two, along with Franz’s older brother Pete Stahl on vocals and Kent Stax on …

Vivek Rangarajan is the DJ and host of Death Waves, a call to all metallic heshers, greasy punx, industrial noisemongers, and synthwave junkies, on WGMU radio. D E A T H W A V E S is their mecca, presenting thick slabs of punishing audial assaults back to the roots of degeneracy, while looking towards our future doomsday. Listen live every Wednesda…

Mark Robinson founded the indie band Unrest with Phil Krauth and Tim Moran while still attending Wakefield High in Arlington, VA. He started the label Teen Beat Records as a kind of lending library for the band's rehearsal tapes, as well as those of his friends' bands. Only one copy of each album existed and his classmates could borrow one for a fe…

David Gilligan exploded out of the Reston hardcore scene and brought the principles he learned there of simplicity, honesty, and empowerment to far-flung locales such as a new scene in St. Augustine, Florida, Arizona, and even as a professor at Sterling College. He was the lead singer of three vital bands to the Reston scene: Knothead, Remission, a…

Chris Henderson was active in the Northern Virginia and DC punk scene from 1987 thru 1999. He photographed over 80 bands, creating thousands of images. Most have never been published, though some grace albums by Scream, United Mutation, and the Suspects. He also published the D.C. Spotlight zine. He even did some background singing on tracks by Scr…

Late ‘80s Northern Virginia/DC area punk quartet Indian Summer recorded four songs with J. Robbins producing in Baltimore in 1989. Thirty years later, that four song session plus a demo are available on vinyl. Formed by four Virginia teens, Indian Summer was a staple of the Northern Virginia all-ages scene in 1988 and 1989, playing Merrifield Commu…

In the spring of 1981, guitarist John Fox started a protest band called Dark Self Image in Fairfax with his brother Jay on bass. In July 1982, the band recorded their first demo at Inner Ear Studios. Mike Brown became the singer and in October, they changed their name to United Mutation. The band was then featured on the record Mixed Nuts Don't Cra…

Keith Robinson never planned to start a band or be a musician, but somehow wound up in the middle of the Reston hardcore scene providing vocals for Psychotic Symptoms. He has vivid memories of playing Jam for Man, and shares those along with other recollections from house parties and garage shows of the time. He also went on to form the short-lived…

Mike Martzke aka Lil Mike organized, promoted and emcee'd hundreds of concerts and nightclub events for bands including Sublime, Green Day, Fugazi, Rancid and many more. But before all that, he challenged the status quo in Reston with bands like Toolin' for Bovines and Jesus Freak. These early bands laid the groundwork for the Reston hardcore sound…

Chris Condayan aka Chris Suspect was fundamental in reigniting a passion for punk rock and hardcore in the area with his group The Suspects. He also played bass in various Northern Virginia bands such as Lickity Split, Spitfires United and VPR. He formed Torque Records to put out the Suspects first 7”, but then went on to put out almost twenty rele…

James Barry started as a metalhead guitar shredder in Reston and became a world-renowned composer in New York, but views it all as music that comes from the same place. He should know, he has a PhD in composition and produced contemporary music concerts in New York City as artistic and managing director of Forecast Music for five seasons. Recently,…

Julie Jonas discovered chaotic music and her own identity after growing up as one of ten kids in Southern California. She learned to play bass from her two older brothers and studied violin, but really connected to music through the bands playing the Sterling Community Center after moving to Virginia. However, a chance encounter with an old friend …

The Firnats consist of four friends from Reston, VA: Sean Flanagan on guitar and vocals, Griffin Low on bass, Kurtis Kunkel on drums, and Chris Castro on guitar. They formed in late 2015 when Flanagan was still in high school and jamming with his buddy Aaron Pirnat, from which the group gets their name. The Firnats take a lot of inspiration from th…

Davis White got started playing live music late but more than made up for it. Once introduced to UK Subs by a neighbor, he bought a drum kit off a co-worker and started the band Media Disease. After appearing on the Mixed Nuts Don’t Crack compilation with the likes of Nuclear Crayons and United Mutation, they put out their first self-titled album i…

Named for a line in Reservoir Dogs, this trio from Arlington, VA with Lilly Menard on bass and vocals, Benjamin Tankersly on guitar and vocals, and Andy Gale on drums made post-punk rock music reminiscent of Sonic Youth and the Smiths. They released only one official cassette EP, Trigger Happy, in 1995 on Victrola Records, the label run by Billups …

Ron Winters Jr. formed Branch Manager with Dave Allen on bass and Derrick Decker on drums in 1990. They went on to sign with Dischord Records and become the torchbearers for post-hardcore Reston. They released a self-titled debut in 1995 and Anything Tribal, their second and acclaimed final LP, recorded with the help of Ian Mackaye and Don Zientara…

Sam Gunderson is one of Reston's original guitar heroes. His knowledge of music and love of grooves allows him to navigate easily between blues, rock, hip-hop, go-go, and more. Gunderson grew up listening to Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Randy Rhoads, while also learning at the feet of other local legends such as Jon Rustad and Mike Davis of…

Pat Kennedy started the band Hostile Environment at age fourteen after first discovering punk rock through bands like Black Flag and Dead Kennedys and then listening to Teen Idles and thinking that he could have a band like that. Hostile Environment skated and played every party they could in Reston. They also put out a demo tape called Rite to Me …

Barry Cover has played drums in a lot of bands, from Northern Virginia to Richmond. He started out playing Jam for Man with a band called Lake Cocytus, moved on to gigs with JarHead at the local spots like Music Store and Dharma Coffee House, then branching out to Asylum, Memory Lane, and the Loft. When he moved to RVA, he was in high demand, joini…

Andy Keiler hosts this show but, for those that aren't familiar with his music, has also put out almost 50 albums as AndyK. Born in Reston, VA, he grew up in a musical family obsessed with record collecting. He started playing piano and keyboards at age 5 and took up guitar at 14. After attending Jam for Man and numerous shows in DC, he formed his …

Sun Monkeys played a blend of rock, go-go, jazz, hip-hop, and punk that was, "funkier than James Brown's socks." This group spawned out of a jam session by kids that went to both South Lakes and Osbourn Park High Schools in Northern Virginia, and the lineup that recorded their landmark album, Brotherhood, featured Zack Larkin on vocals, Aaron Platt…

Mike Webb got encouragement as a singer in elementary school chorus, earned a prestigious award for choir in middle school, and basically taught himself to play piano and guitar through high school and college. After studying music at JMU and starring in an a cappella group there, he went on to Nashville after graduation, but didn’t find his callin…

Tim Murphy started out playing jazz trumpet, moved on to hardcore punk and played drums in several noise rock groups, before learning to mix house and techno with his Chuck Street Players crew. He took the name DJ Redbees from an article about some Brooklyn-based insects that may or may not have been getting high off maraschino juice and weed. Afte…

Chris Jackson liked to play guitar riffs at an early age, from the Peter Gunn theme to Day Tripper, and made a musical career out of them with the rock band The Vehicle Birth and later Cracktorch. He opened the Dharma Coffee House in Fairfax with his friend Christian Yavorsk years before anybody in the area heard of Starbucks in order to have a pla…

Mike Davis learned guitar from his neighbor Steve Niles, who went on to play in Gray Matter, and formed his first band, Pudwak, with Sean Philpotts and Dave Allen, who later played in Branch Manager. They recorded one cassette album with Mike Clayberg from Malefice. They then added Davis White, also of Malefice and later Repercussion, on drums, ren…

Beau Butler aka Beau Beau started out as a guitarist in the Reston band Hostile Environment but joined AVAIL just before they moved to Richmond. He became their self-described cheerleader, go-go dancer, and tour manager, though others have referred to him as a hype man. He told me, “I don’t like playing music. I like jumping around screaming.” It s…

Nathan Crouch formed the band Lugnut with Marc Williams on vocals, Brian Ballard on bass, David Swartz on the other guitar, and a series of drummers, Clay Wells, Zack Stanley, and finally Barney Rubble (né Jeff Robinson). They worked with some great producers and studios along the way, from Christian Quick and Stillness Sound, to Inner Ear Studios,…

Jason Hamacher moved from Florida to Fairfax County, excited to be there because of a reference from a Scream album and its proximity to Minor Threat and the DC hardcore scene. He met Shelby Cinca on a Christian retreat and a video of him shirtless, banging out a Sepultura song sealed the deal of securing a spot in his band. This launched them on a…

Along with bands like Frodus, Lugnut, and Kidskin Conduction, Bubble Jug played loud, experimental, and intense shows in and around the Chantilly, VA area. The lineup consisted of Dave Cleary and Kelly Medford sharing lead vocals, Scott Hawkins on bass, Jayson Capps on guitar, Josh Neall on drums, and the late Nathan Maddox on saxophone and everyth…

Dave Stone grew up in North Reston, incrementally inching towards punk from a pretty early age thanks to the Clash and the movie D.O.A. He started his first band K.I.D. (Kids In Dispute) before any of them really knew how to play, and he went on to form or join at least nine more bands, including: FSA, Enough, Infusion, All Fall Down, Porch Mob, VP…

Ananda Burke just got back from Punk Rock Holiday in Slovenia, part of his first-ever European tour with his band Head Honcho. However, thirty years before that, he played guitar in the band Doubt at Jam for Man, DC Space, and parties around Reston. Ananda learned important lessons from the music scene in Northern Virginia that he shares with us he…

Carter Blitch got a subscription to Thrasher magazine for his twelfth birthday, and the first issue he received had a feature on the band JFA. Little did he know that years later, he would become the drummer for this very band, skating and playing punk rock with them across Europe and the U.S. Carter had come a long way from his first band, the Gol…

Steve Bidwell has lived in West Virginia, Ghana, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New York, and Austin, and adding to his drum repertoire, which includes playing with The Calm Blue Sea, Hard Proof, Brownout, and Black Pumas. Steve can play anything and everything on drums, from afrobeat and go-go, to dixieland jazz and western swing, making him in demand a…

Mike Walker, born and raised in Alexandria, VA, and the son of two amateur-musician parents, trained to play classical piano and church organ but instead went on to acclaim as the US DMC champion in 2006. This episode features some of his epic DJ battles as well as his jam session with legendary turntablist, DJ Qbert. Not to be pigeonholed, Mike al…

Jerry Barrett moved to Reston from Seattle and found a toehold in the Northern Virginia music scene in Guitar Lab at South Lakes. He formed a high school band and played some shows, but became a professional musician when he dropped out to tour, opening for Wrathchild America. This launched a career in music that led him to play with the likes of H…

Serge grew up in Vienna, one of three brown kids in his classes, learning to distrust the hypocrisy of the system and preparing to destroy it from behind enemy lines. He found his true calling at shows in the old 9:30 Club and the Reston hardcore scene. After a brief stint in art school in Richmond, he returned to form the Goons, and performed with…

Matt Kozlowski grabbed a bass from his dad and teamed up with his best friend to start one of the first Reston hardcore bands in 1986. After becoming obsessed with DC groups like Dag Nasty and Rites of Spring, they added a singer with a scream like one of his heroes, Ian MacKaye, and a guitarist more familiar with classic rock than punk. One of the…

Spookey Ruben grew up in Germany and the Netherlands, listening to thrash metal demo tapes from America. He moved to Reston as a young teen and experienced the culture shock of trying to assimilate into the punk and hardcore scene there and in DC that he’d only read about in magazines. It was at this time that he received his nickname "Spooky", a r…

Brien Stewart formed AVAIL in 1988 with Joe Banks, Doug Crosby, and Mikey Warstler. He and his bandmates had the idea to put on a concert featuring bands from the burgeoning local scene, and with the support of his bandmate’s mom, Patty Warstler--who ran the local Youth Club--put on the first Jam for Man concert. After the band moved to Richmond in…