Episode 24: Curious Volume

This week I reunited with my boys in Curious Volume, to talk about their reunion show on Staten Island this Friday, March 16th.  CV was a punk/ska band who reigned supreme on Staten Island from 2006 - 2010.  Jay and Cheech joined me as well.

We talk about the band’s history & the challenges they faced in retrospect, Staten Island’s music scene, Dock St.- an all-ages venue they grew up in, the bands formation in 2001, their very first gig at an elementary school, how Green Day and Blink 182 influenced us to all start bands, Cheech’s missing identity, getting old in your hometown, and more.

 

Episode 23: Decoration

The guys from Decoration come through to hang on the couch and chat for an hour!

We talk about First Fest (an inclusive workshop/show that took place in 2016), State Champion Records - a DIY label based out of NJ, the inception of Flemington DIY - a 100% non-profit and volunteer run community space on Main Street in Flemington, the Blue Lives Matter discussion that happened there, the art of the “dance splat”, jamming in a room vs bringing prepared riffs to practice, the current state of Bam Margera, some of the bands’ influences, sandwich craft mastery, public access television aspirations, and more.

Episode 22: Nishad Datta

NB local Nishad Datta from DUSTERS comes in to talk shop about the New Brunswick scene and its many pockets, race relations, the “white people police”, his Benghali and Tibetan heritage, gentrification, skinhead culture, the current state of nerdery, recording the new DUSTERS LP at Trax East, and much more. 

We also premiered a new DUSTERS tune! Check out “Working Class Transplant” at 01:15:00.

Be lookout for a new tape from DUSTERS coming soon through Crowd Control Media and their LP “East Coast Realism” coming out this Summer on Rawhead Records.

Episode 21: American Lions

This week James and Josh from American Lions come in to discuss the bands’ process creating their new album “Serf Rock”; from writing the album in an isolated in house in Massachusetts all the way through recording for a month straight at Panda Studios in California. The album is a very fun listen and I’d recommend checking it out!

We also talk about the bands history with New Brunswick basement shows, our favorite hell gigs, normies, the headaches of booking a tour, and more.

Check out Serf Rock on Bandcamp or on Spotify.

Episode 20: The Mayflower Collective

Eoin and Alex from The Mayflower Collective come by to talk about the changes the big changes they've made to their company.

In the five years Mayflower Collective has existed, they’ve run shows, released music, video sessions, and more.  Recently they’ve shifted over to focusing more on press and management.

We talk about the collective's history, the exploitative nature of the music industry that can water down a scene,  the ambiguity of “collectives”, the best type of bands to work with, Eoin’s experience as a head music director for a college radio station,  my experience talking to someone who worked for a big booking agency (it was bad), pay-to play shows, maintaining DIY ethics over everything, and more.

Follow Mayflower on IG, Twitter, FB

Episode 19: Pedro Angel Serrano

    Pedro is a guy who has been involved with the scene in this area for a while.  He's an avid music fan/concert goer, occasionally performs spoken word poetry, and has published zines about the code of DIY.

    We talk about Pedro’s history growing up in the central NJ music scene, the sacredness of “zines”, the origin of New Brunswick basement shows in the 80s, Pedro’s newfound interest in incense, the ethics of mosh pits and pitting naked, the hostile tendencies of discussing things on the internet and more stuff.  

 

Episode 18: Caroline Romanelli

Caroline Romanelli is a NJ based show promoter who hosts weekly shows and open mics at the Scarlet Pub in New Brunswick.  Recently she has started her own promo company “Embrace DIY Productions”, which aims to branch out to different venues in the Central NJ area.  

We talk about Caroline’s history in getting involved in music, the dicey-ness of working in the “music biz”, the death of the Jewel CD Case, the evolution of the music industry, what it takes to build a residency at an establishment as a promoter, medical marijuana, watching friends grow out of the music scene, and more.

Be sure to follow Embrace DIY on twitter, IG, and Facebook: @embraceDIYnj

Episode 17: Matt Koerner (Feeny)

Matt Koerner from the NJ band Feeny came by and helped me in a pinch for a new ep!

We talk about the history of various record labels we grew up on, the venues we grew up in and their demise, the importance of a local-all ages music venue and how it helps foster a music scene, and a bunch of other stuff, including his band Feeny and the direction of music they’ve taken in the past year.  

Check Feeny out on bandcamp.  Subscribe to the pod.