Choke Artist

NJ heavy-band Illusionist stops by to hang 10. We talk about their origins/style, their new album, the scene, and much more. Their latest album “Don’t Mind This” was released on 10/31/18 and can be heard here .

I sat down with verified mall-punk Kait Bemis to chat about Canadian melodic-skate punk band “Reset”. They were pretty good, until two of their members left to join a manufactured pop-punk band called “Simple Plan”. In this episode we uncover the truth about Simple Plan and the deceit in their pop-punk angst filled charade. Tune in to find out the truth + more tidbits and rants.

Got a chance to sit down and hang out with Jake and Dave from DOWNTRODDER (sludgy/grimy politically charged punk from Philly/NJ). Cheech sat in on the pod too. We spent the first 20 min talking about “Camp Anarchy”, a punk rock festival being run by Fat Mike. We mostly talked about why it’s stupid to pay $120+ to sleep in a tent just to see The Offspring, and why VIP packages are stupid. Jake used...

Elio and Liz are two friends of mine that I made through playing music, and we’re all teachers now. We talk about what DIY taught us and how we apply it in the classroom, as well as balancing being a public school teacher and playing in bands. It was a nice, heartwarming talk. Tons of feel good moments <3 Elio plays in Gambo check them out. Liz plays in The Bad Blooms and also in TBOTW w me.

Jeff Hersch is a musician/community advocate from Flemington NJ. In 2014 he helped found Flemington DIY, an all ages community space located at 90 Main Street. Flemington DIY has been a host for show, art galleries, jazz nights, tap dancing lessons, screen printing workshops, film screenings and much more. We talk in length about the events leading up to the space existing and how it has transform...

Ernie Trent is a vocalist from NJ who fronted a few melodic hardcore/metalcore type bands throughout the years. We played together in a band called Marloneisha from 2004 - 2007. Throughout his tenure as a vocalist he also fronted bands called The Dead Season and Gray Lines of Perfection. We talk about the scene we grew up in and how it impacted us as people. Gray Lines was a prominent touring chri...

Got to do a podcast Max Rauch from LKFFCT! Max and I got to a hang a bunch recording a new album for a band I play in called Thirsty Guys. He was super nice and easy to work with. If you need reasonably priced recording in NJ hit him up. We talk about a bunch of music stuff, the demystification of the aughts with the internet age, how we first discovered DIY, and much more. We also reveal how to p...

Natalie from Well Wisher comes by to talk about their new album “This is Fine” out in a few days on 6131 Records!! We talk about the band’s formation from the ashes of Dollys, getting older and balancing music with other aspects of life, the Asbury Park scene, the writing/recording process of the “This is Fine” and more. Check out Well Wisher’s music on bandcamp .

Rob is a good friend of mine and we had a great time catching up and hanging out. He plays bass for a dance-rock band called Echo Black . They are embarking on a two month US tour in a few weeks. Check out their videos on youtube here . Rob ran a lot of house shows in New Brunswick and Clifton from 2010 - 2015. We talk a bit about all the ragers from back in the day as well as the old thrash/metal...

The boys from In Angles do a sleepytime podcast, wrapping up their their summer tour. We also talk about our new EP "Shortfalls" coming out next week on Choke Artist. Honestly we were tired as shit when we recorded this and I don't remember what else we talked about but check it out. Check out our new music video for a song off the EP here

Got a chance to sit down with my good friends Nate and Ty from FLORAL for this week’s podcast. This was towards the end of a 4-day run In Angles did with them on our West Coast tour. We talk about the band’s formation and influences growing up in the Bay Area. We also talk about along with their writing/recording process, their UK tour where they played ArcTanGent and their takes on “studio magic”...

Sick Shit stops by after a show at The Grand Exchange in New Brunswick. We talk about the band’s new Cassette Persevere, their recording process, Jack Dickerson, mosh etiquette, and share some tour stories. The band also offers some interesting perspective about the term “female fronted” being used as a type of genre. Hear their new cassette on bandcamp

Episode Johnny Bentonamo aka “The Queer Demon” is a musician who currently resides in NJ. If you have yet to see him play live, you are highly missing out on an entertaining and unique live performance. In this episode we talk about Johnny’s history as a musician and what he tries to channel through his music and live shows. We also talk for a while about our shared condition of Crohn’s disease. S...

The band “Children’s Books” from Philadelphia stop by to talk about the creation of the music video for their new single Take Me under which will be released next week. For some reason, during this podcast my computer glitches and the software just closed without saving, so this is our second attempt at a podcast. I spend the first couple of minutes of this one being pissed off about that. We talk...

Fero Lux is a 4 piece post-hardcore band from Broward County, FL.  I got a chance to talk to them about on their recent tour with NY based band Dead Empires.  In 2016, we helped press their debut full length “ Some Divine Ashtray ” to vinyl. - We talk about the weird-transience of FL, the Parkland FL shooting and the effect it had on the band, their last full US tour, linking up with The Number Tw...

This week Mem Pahl (Teenage Halloween, Jeffrey Lewis, Cat Tatt), Skylar Sarkis (Taking Meds), and Ben Kotin (Taking Meds/Such Gold) come by to chat after a show in New Brunswick.    We talk about our past experiences playing/starring in musicals, the start of Taking Meds spawning from Such Gold, the general lack of bass players, rock music losing it’s edge, “the weezer challenge/clown hour”, our f...

Max, Pete, and Rob from THE PLANET YOU stop by to talk about their band and their new self titled record coming out this Friday.   Besides talking about their new album,  we talk about the band’s formation at MSU as music majors, Johnny B (the most important musical act in NJ), the importance of breaking down the 4th wall in performances, tracking an album live vs recording instruments separately,...

Champagne Colored Cars are a DIY punky/math rock band based out of Atlanta, Georgia.  They stopped in New Brunswick for a show at Chateau d’If..we did a podcast <3. We talk about the band’s quick formation, post-tour depression, derivative music becoming homogenous, the perks of touring as a 3 piece band, our lives committed to the cajon, the band’s writing style, Donald Glover - the pride of A...

This week I reunited with my boys in Curious Volume to talk about their reunion show on Staten Island this Firday, March 16th.  CV was a punk/ska band who reigned supreme on Staten Island from 2005-2012.  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. - and all-ages venue they grew up in, the...

The guys from Decoration come through to hang on the couch and chat for an hour! We talk about First Fest (an inclusive workshop/concert that took place in the central NJ in 2016), the Hunterdon County scene, 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...

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, getting rowdy at NY Redbull games, 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 “Workin...

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 s...

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, done press, 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...

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,...

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 New Brunswick 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 Jewe...