BEYOND THE BARRICADE

This week on Beyond the Barricade, Madi and Lor sit down with rising artist Ezra backstage before his Dallas show on the Braden Bales tour. With only minutes before taking the stage, Ezra opens up about his unconventional journey from Bronx freestyle rapper to alternative artist, the musical influences that shaped him, and why his debut album became the most personal project he has ever created. E...

In part two of Madi and Lor’s conversation with James Coffman, the three dive even deeper into what it actually takes to build a career in the music industry as a creative and life on the road. James shares how genuine relationships opened doors for him to learn video, the story behind creating content for Slipknot and having his work turned into merch, and why saying “yes” to opportunities while...

In this first part of a two episode conversation, Madi and Lor are sitting down with their good friend and fellow concert photographer James Coffman for a conversation that feels equal parts origin story, industry deep dive, and blueprint for breaking into touring. James opens up about growing up as the resident emo kid in a small Texas town, how his brother shaped his early music taste, and why h...

Kevin Lyman is on Beyond the Barricade! Yep, THAT Kevin Lyman, the founder of Warped Tour and one of the people responsible for shaping the music scene so many of us grew up in. Madi and Lor sit down with the “pop punk patriarch” himself to talk about the return of Warped Tour, why ticket prices and accessibility matter more than ever, and how the festival has evolved over the last 30 years. Kevin...

After a several month break, Beyond the Barricade is back for its first episode of 2026, and Madi and Lor are catching everyone up on where life has taken them since the last time they hit record. Starting off, the two begin the conversation by sharing how they first met through concert photography, how a coffee meetup turned into the idea for Backing the Barricade, and why telling stories from fa...

This week we had the chance to talk to Walker Robinson of Your Neighbors during the Dallas date of their ‘The American Hedonism Tour’. This episode in particular is thanks to Nate Sirotta with Impulse Artists who first introduced us to Your Neighbors back in September of last year. The introductory email also included the very bold claim/direct quote - “who is going to put out one of the best reco...

IT’S A GREAT YEAR TO BE A MAYDAY PARADE FAN! This week we had the chance to sit down with Derek Sander of Mayday Parade ahead of their ‘Three Cheers for 20 Years’ Tour and the release of the first album off of their new three-part album ‘Sweet’!  Our conversation starts with a little stroll down memory lane where we talk about the early days of Mayday Parade and look back on their monumental 20 ye...

This week we are sitting down and chatting with Ari Abdul! We ask Ari about her entry into the music scene, how she has developed her own style, and what life is like on tour supporting Nessa Barrett. She shows off her incredible fashion throughout the episode, this is definitely one to watch on YouTube, and Lor and Ari connect on the creativity that seems to flow through those who grew up on the...

This week on Beyond the Barricade we sit down for the final time in 2024 and take a look back at the past year. We share some of our favorite memories, mistakes (or learning moments), and fan encounters that we have had throughout 2024. Listen in on our conversation this week to hear all about our favorite podcast episodes, our resolutions for 2025, and so much more on this episode of the Beyond t...

This week we are sitting down with Gabe Pietrafesa and Alex Magnan of Young Culture! We dive right into how Alex and Gabe have been playing music together since they were young teenagers who connected in high school, and how pop punk was a huge early music taste for them. Gabe talks about Alex showed him live performances for the first time and unlocked a desire to play live music, and how they bo...

This week we are sitting down with Chase Huddy and talking about his rise from social media stardom to his current musical journey. Huddy tells us about being a teen who was deeply into the soundcloud rappers of the time, what it means to have people now know him for his music and more than just his social media fame, and what touring with Mod Sun and lovelytheband has been like on the 2024 Here's...

This week we are sitting down with Tyler Szalkowski of State Champs! We dive into what his musical influences growing up were and how pivotal his Mom was in developing his taste. Tyler talks about the founding of State Champs and what his journey was with pursuing making music and being in bands before State Champs was created. We also ask him about their recent self titled album and what releasin...

This week we are chatting with Slow Joy, (Esteban Flores), who is an incredible alt rock artist from Dallas. As he discusses the significance of the name 'Slow Joy' from the confines of his tour van in our first truly “mobile” interview, he also dives into the challenges he faced after the loss of his mother, and how he rediscovered his passion for music through therapy. Esteban emphasizes the imp...

This week we are sitting down and chatting with Tour Manager Victoria Haft and Photographer/Videographer Ellie White of Taylor Acorn's team! We jump into how we all met and know each other and how our connections brought us all together. Lor asks Ellie and Victoria about the one show that put the idea of working on the road with artists into their minds and what their first tour or show that they...

This week we are sitting down and chatting with Collin Walsh, the lead singer of Grayscale. We dive right into Collin’s personal musical influences growing up such as Led Zeppelin and Third Eye Blind, and how Bruce Springsteen and Bleachers have influenced the band as a whole. Collin talks about the writing and recording of their latest album and how capturing the most authentic version of themsel...

This week on Beyond the Barricade we sit down for our monthly recap of everything that went down in August. It was a month of rolling with the punches and not letting the uncontrollable slow us down. We dive into some of our mistakes that we made and what we learned from those situations, while also announcing some changes coming to Beyond the Barricade. Listen in on this week’s conversation as we...

This week on Beyond the Barricade we sat down for our first remote interview with Rowan Drake. Despite the challenges of getting this interview recorded, as you will hear in the episode, we managed to have a great talk with Rowan, and really got to dive deep into his mindset right now in his current state of his music career. We talk a lot about being intentional with your time and how sometimes y...

This week on Beyond the Barricade we got to sit down and chat with Jordan Shepherd, aka Jshep, of the band City of Auburn. We dive right into the friendship origin of Lor and Jordan, which leads to some uncoverings and revelations on who came up with the name for the podcast, and how Jordan helped inspire and motivate Lor to begin this project. Jordan talks about his early passions for music from...

This week on the podcast we get to sit down with Alex Garcia of Mayday Parade! We first dive into the full recap of the “Lor’s Lore” trip to New Jersey and New York, and all the fun activities that ensued with Lor’s brother Jon while staying with him in Brooklyn. Even with the unfortunate last minute cancellation of Sad Summer, we still managed to sit and interview Alex about the early days of the...

This week on Beyond the Barricade we are sitting down for our monthly roundup of everything that has been going on with the show and Backing the Barricade during July. We chatted about being recognized “in the wild” during our stop at Four Chord Music Fest in Pittsburgh, and we reminisced on our first festivals that we both went to as teenagers. (While both having wildly different experiences). As...

This week on Beyond the Barricade we got to sit down and chat with Shevy Marie, a SFX and Makeup artist, while she was on tour with Black Veil Brides. Shevy talks about the fear of rejection, how simply asking for your “in'' can lead to some amazing roads that you didn't think were open to yourself, and how important personal relationships and connections are to anyone looking to get into the indu...

This week we are sitting down in the shower, (literally), with People R Ugly and diving into their career so far and their rise to social media stardom. We talk about their influences for not only their music, but also who inspires their one of a kind stage presence and show. They give us some very personal anecdotes such as a full breakdown of the movie “She’s the Man”, getting blessings from the...

This week we sit down with our favorite tour manager, Gayle Alquizar, while she was on the road with Between You & Me. Gayle tells us all about how life changing hearing Grand Theft Autumn for the first time was, how COVID motivated her leap of faith into the music industry, and what it's really like being on tour. Listen as we dive headfirst into her experiences going from hitting the road fo...

On this introduction episode of Beyond The Barricade we're going back to the beginning and telling you ALLLLL about how Backing The Barricade started and has now grown to include Beyond The Barricade! You'll hear how Madi and Lor first met and got connected, the story of how Backing The Barricade started with a $30 Spirit Airlines flight and a dream, and the heart behind launching Beyond The Barri...

We got to sit down with Max Bemis of Say Anything on the opening night of their 20th Anniversary tour for the album 'Is A Real Boy' and talked all things 2004. We got to ask Max about the artists he grew up being a fan of, which artists had the greatest influence on him during the creation of 'Is a Real Boy', what he hopes fans get out of the tour, and SO much more! Listen along to be transported...