There's something in the water in the Merrimack Valley (a suburban area outside of Boston) and today's guest is yet another example of someone else who was raised in the cradle of that musical mecca for punk/hardcore and metal; Joseph Grillo. He played guitar for Garrison (Revelation Records) and currently fronts the band Her Heads On Fire (Iodine …

We have everyone's favorite festival promoter on the program today, Scott Lee! The 2024 edition of New England Metal and Hardcore Festival is right around the corner so I brought him on to discuss what bands can do to make themselves noticed playing a festival, mistakes he made in the early days and how to create community. See you there! Listen to…

I am pleased to welcome Pedro Carrillo from Dying Wish to the show this week not only because I love his band, but he reps OC hardcore a lot by wearing a Throwdown hoodie on stage a lot...which makes me happy. Pedro and I nerd out about that, how he learned how to speak English, his passion for MMA and how he collaborates with his bandmates. Listen…

In a little change of pace I bring on friend of the show Joey Cahill, owner of Wanna Hear It Records, to try to answer a complicated question: "Why Is Hardcore so popular right now?" We drill down on a few theories, discuss some facts and pontificate on where it's going to go from here. Do we arrive at a conclusion? No, but it sure is fun to discus…

Happy to have the incredibly prolific indie/emo musician Ace Enders on the pod this week! He is the main singer/songwriter for The Early November and let's be honest, if you grew up in the 2000's you know that already. Ace is a open and honest human and he shows that here as we get very introspective about his thoughts on nostalgia, ego and things …

Viva la Birds In Row! We are lucky to go international here with Bart Balboa, the lead vocalist and guitarist from French screamo/hardcore/metal/awesome band Birds In Row. We discuss his life growing up in the rural French countryside, where his interest in politics began and how he got involved in being a tattoo artist. It's a great look into how …

So incredibly stoked to welcome Brett Campbell from Pallbearer which is one of my favorite bands doing this style right now. It's melodic, it's doom, it's everything you could want from heavy music and I had to bounce around his brain to be able to find out more. We discuss the Little Rock scene, being a technical player and finding your way. He's …

Welcome back to The Hope Conspiracy and to celebrate their new LP that just hit, we had the vocalist Kevin Baker on the show. He's always been a somewhat mythic figure so was happy to be able to ask him questions about his love of hockey, 90's metalcore and coming up in the Boston scene. Despite his nihilistic music, Kevin is a damn sweetheart and …

Anytime I get a guest that is connected to punk/hardcore/indie rock, but isn't immediately obvious that they are involved is my sweet spot. You know Fred Armisen, he's been on Saturday Night Live, a creator/actor on Portlandia and frankly, so much more but were you aware of his deep roots within punk/hardcore/indie rock? It's absolutely there and w…

"SYSTEMS OVERLOADED, FEAR ENVELOPS ME" You know his tone, you know his music, now get to know the man behind all of that in the form of Aaron Melnick. He played guitar for Integrity during their formative years, started In Cold Blood and has just dropped a mind-blowing solo record entitled Nuclae. He's a very thoughtful and soft spoken guy so we pe…

"CAN WE RETURN, TO THE GOLDEN AGE?" One of my favorite bands from a specific era of time called the 2000's, we have Chris McLane from Stretch Arm Strong on the pod this week! I dig in deep to the bands unconventional location (South Carolina), their relationship with Uprising Records (who is also responsible for the Chicago hardcore band, Fall Out …

I love when friends do cool stuff. I love when friends are talented. This episode is a one two punch of exactly that. Nathaniel Shannon is a NYC based photographer and you have seen his work...well, everywhere but I specifically had him on the show to discuss a real labor of love and now, it's here...the First Ten Years of St. Vitus. For the uninit…

We have a bonafide LIFER on the podcast today in the form of Steven McDonald who is currently playing with The Melvins and is also a founding member of punk legends Redd Kross. On top of that he also has done a lot of production work with bands including Fun/The Format which I punish him about in this chat. We also discuss growing up in Hawthorne, …

I love when I can bring two worlds that seemingly don't connect with one another and for this episode, it's comedy and hardcore. The man to do that with us is Neil Rubenstein who is a stand-up comedian and also the vocalist for the late 90's Jewish hardcore band, Sons of Abraham. We discuss the connection between DIY hardcore and comedy, bringing h…

"Its a decade of putting an X on my name" Tyler Short from Inclination is on the show this week and boy, what a fun discussion. I am obsessed with his band and love that I get to punish him to be on the podcast and then in turn, be my friend. He also runs a great record label based out of his home in Louisville, KY called Life Death Brigade as well…

600 episodes. That's over 600 hours of talking about punk, hardcore, metal, emo and everything DIY and while it feels stupid to type this...thank you. I couldn't have picked a more appropriate guest for this episode in the form of Geoff Rickly from Thursday. I have had the pleasure of knowing him for over 20 years (since our bands played together i…

Absolutely thrilled to welcome John Coyle from Outspoken this week. Outspoken just recently played an incredible show at Programme recently and on the eve of that performance, John came over to my place and we chopped it up big time. We discuss the importance of Uniform Choice, ego and an insane story of John working at a hotel and witnessing somet…

Boy oh boy I am happy to bring you this conversation, not even a torrential downpour here in Southern California could prevent it. Thrilled to have Aaron Bruno from AWOLNation, Insurgence and his newest project, The Barbarians of California on the show. We chat about his life in the Valley outside of Los Angeles, the craziest places he's heard his …

In this highly engaging chat, we bring in Maha Shami from No Man who is the lead vocalist from the band. They are on the verge of releasing their new LP on Iodine Recordings called "Glitter and Spit" which is a barn burner. We discuss with Maha her upbringing in Texas, the unconventional ways her family supported the DC scene and her opposition to …

Codeseven is an absolutely incredible band that everyone should listen to and pay attention to, full stop. They released a new record called "Go Let It In" that knocked my socks off and continues to do so. It only made sense to bring Jeff Jenkins, the vocalist of the band, onto the podcast! We toured together many moons ago and has always been an i…

Excited to welcome on Lexi Reyngoudt, the vocalist for Buffalo hardcore band Spaced! They are about to drop their new LP on Revelation Records later this month so hop on it and pre-save/pre-order now! We chop it up about life in Buffalo, her love for K-Pop fandom and teaching. It's a wide ranging chat from a band you will be hearing more about in t…

Spark of Life is a band that many of you most likely haven't been exposed to, that doesn't mean you shouldn't get to know Steve Jennings, the vocalist of said band. They started in the late 90's, signed a record deal in the 2000's with a Fat Wreck Chords imprint, toured the world with bands like Rise Against and Good Riddance but like all creative …

In these descriptions I try not to trip over hyperbolic language, but I am absolutely thrilled to have Will Killingsworth on the show today not only for his important record work at Dead Air Studios but also his musical output with bands like Orchid, Bucket Full of Teeth, Ampere and many more. He's a true lifer and someone who has focused on all of…

You know those record labels that you get obsessed with and start to listen to EVERYTHING that they put out, regardless if you've heard the band or not? Well, Sunday Drive Records is that for me and I had to have on the owner, Jonathan Gonzales, on the show to chat about it. We discuss the slow growth of the label since he started it out of his col…

In the immortal words of the Nora song, "Nobody takes pictures of the drummer" but here on the podcast...WE DO! I hunted down Connor McAuliffe who is the drummer for two phenomenal hardcore bands in the shape of North Carolina's Magnitude and he's also been playing with Pennsylvania's finest, One Step Closer. Connor was a great hang and we discusse…