NostalgicEmoDads

For our final episode of our Richmond Series, we had the opportunity to chat with Aaron Stone of My Epic. Many people probably don't associate My Epic with Richmond, unless you were Jake and were there from the beginning. But My Epic played a lot of shows in the city, toured with some local favorites, and formed special bonds with people and venues in the city. Aaron is awesome and forthcoming wit...

One of the more confessional, dynamic, piano-rock driven bands of the 2000s Richmond Emo scene was Colin Healy and the Jetskis. In this wonderful conversation with frontman Colin, we talk about writing pop songs, going mini-viral in Richmond, recording, success in simplicity, and falling in love playing music with your wife. Colin and Caroline still perform out at venues around Richmond, so give t...

Get ready for an absolute history lesson of Richmond Emo from the perspective of this week's guest, Jason Thompson! He walks us through his early years finding hardcore shows in Richmond, learning guitar, Straight Edge, the transition to "emo", learning Cubase during a medical study, being a Dad, and his new hobby that's even more niche than the hardcore scene: mopeds! It was an absolute joy to ta...

Jim Ivins was, is, and always will be, the biggest fan and advocate for the Richmond Emo Scene. We chatted for several hours about what it was like playing punk rock, the MTV effect, his famous hair-metal uncle, why he thinks Richmond should have been the next Seattle, and oh yeah, how he fronted the first (and only) American rock band to play Sudan. Buckle up, this is a fun one! Jim's charisma is...

Armor For Sleep is one of those really cool bands that seemed to have gone under the radar. Their debut album Dream To Make Believe introduced listeners to their emo lyricism and storytelling, as well as their knack for being able to write fantastic riffs. But then they released 2005's What To Do When You Are Dead. And the evolution was incredible. A concept record, complete with a reprise; dy...

Derek and Andrew take a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon to talk about 10 things EACH that they love about their best friend and co-host Jake. If you would like to see a touching montage we made for him, you have to find us on Instagram: @NostalgicEmoDads. Jake is doing just fine, we just wanted everyone to know how much we love him.

This week we take a break from our usual hard-hitting journalism to play a little game called First Time, Last Time. It's an episode that (we hope) will help you all get to know us a bit better, and helped us learn more about each other, too! Some highlights include: Lots of talk about cottage cheese Our musical gear purchases Our jobs Do we cry to music? (Yes) Tattoos And maybe even talk of J...

Our final guest for our New Year, New Emo series is Mr. Anthony DelPlato of Everything In Waves! Anthony is the mastermind behind EIW, from writing, to tracking, mixing, mastering, etc, so it was fun to pick his brain about technical production things as well as songwriting choices. We also discuss his emo clout finding Deep Elm Records early on, then eventually living the dream of being on their...

Let's go! This week we chat with a band that is bringing that polished emo sound, but doing so authentically, into the new generation - Another One Down! Exeter, Rhode Island's finest, we get to talk with Marcus (songwriter/frontman) and Ryan (drummer extraordinaire) about their favorite bands growing up, finding the scene, songwriting, what it means to be honest and vulnerable in your lyrics, per...

Let's go! For our second installment of New Year, New Emo, we have a conversation with Zach Lardy of the band Empty Isles, who also just happened to release Derek's #2 Album of the Year for 2024! We do some deep dives into Zach's songs from both of his albums - For When You Need Me (Tooth & Nail) and Playing Pretend (Independent Release). We also discuss his upbringing, signing to a dream reco...

We are kicking off 2025 with a series called New Year, New Emo, where we talk with bands that we love and who have been carrying the "emo" torch into the next generation of listeners. The goal of this series is twofold: 1) help promote the band and their music, 2) geek out and tell them how much we love their music First up is Daniel from Rosemont! We talk about the circumstances that led Derek to...

Let's Go! A lot of great music came out this year, and we recorded an episode to celebrate it. We touch on notable singles, standout EPs, and, of course, rank our top 7 albums of the year! (We do things a bit differently over here at NED HQ). Please go check out all the incredible bands we talk about and share their music, buy their merch, or at least just give them a follow. It goes a long way. T...

We absolutely LOVE Relient K. We know what you're thinking. "Relient K? Aren't they, like, that Christian rock band? Are they EvEn EMOOO?>>??" Yes. Yes they are. As we discuss, though they started out much more faith-forward in their earlier releases, as time went on, the subject matter changed and grew into something more personal. The faith never left, but a more honest exploration of pers...

Could we be an emo podcast without talking about Paramore? Their album Riot! is an absolute scene icon: from the artwork, to the catchy songwriting, to the orange hair, Paramore had nowhere to go but up. But they released an album before that! And many after. Is Riot! still their best? How have they changed since the emo/pop-punk days? Are they better now than ever? Who knows, but we try to dive i...

RICHMOND SERIES BONUS EPISODE! You've heard us talk about being in a metal band together for a while now, but we haven't talked in depth about it. We got together a couple years ago to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of our last show and record a little Skype call chronicling the rise and fall of the band, and released all our music in a single release on DSPs called "This Is Love". Here is that...

Our final guest in our Richmond Series (Part 2) is Adam, the owner/founder of Open Your Ears Records! An indie label based out of Richmond, we get to ask all the questions we've ever wanted to ask an "industry professional," especially one who can help chart the course for a band's success. Some questions include: Do Spotify plays and listener numbers matter? Is playing live and touring a necessit...

We chat with Ollie from Broadside about his upbringing in Richmond, going to local shows as a teen with his cool Uncle, finding his voice in the enigmatic band Reasons (if anyone has recordings of this band, please, please, please send them to us or Gregg or Ollie or all of the above), and the wild ride to join Broadside and get signed to Victory! We are SO stoked on the latest Broadside album "Ho...

Our third guest for the Richmond Series (Part 2) is Zack Reichert! Zack played guitar in the beautiful and ethereal rock band Love & Reverie. We chat with him about how he learned guitar, songwriting, signing to a label, recording at a studio with legendary players, and possibly using delay pedals as a crutch. We touch on the camaraderie of the Richmond emo scene, what made L&R so special,...

Our second episode of the Richmond Series Part 2! We sit down and talk with Franklin (aka Frankie Half-J) of the darling band The Half Jeffersons. His origin story is one for the books, so buckle up! We talk songwriting, recording, channeling emotions through music, regrettable moments on stage, and so much more besides. We really felt like Franklin was a kindred spirit and fan of the RVA Emo scen...

Welcome to our Richmond Series Part 2! Our first guest in the series is Michael Yearout of the band Ready The Way. RTW was a metalcore band, so we talk about what it was like to be a heavy band playing alongside the more melodic, emo acts of this time in Richmond. Of course, we talk about formation of the band, what made Mike pick up the guitar, what it was to be an openly Christian band, and what...

Could we call ourselves an emo podcast if we didn't talk about MCR/My Chem/My Chemical Romance? Gerard Way's comments aside, we didn't think so. However, none of us have strong ties to the band or their discography, so we had to call in some favors. Our friend and bandmate Michael joins us as a special guest because he DOES have history! He may or may not have been in the MCRmy! He&#39...

When we previously spoke with Brandon Davis, we felt like we didn't give enough time to his brainchild Lions Lions, so we invited him back! And we NEEDED to have frontman Joshua Herzer join us, because before he joined Lions Lions, he was a huge fan of the band. We talk songwriting, singing and screaming vocals, record collections, and how Lions Lions is the Forrest Gump of post-hardcore. This con...

In this week’s episode, we talk with the legendary musician Brandon Davis! We discuss his start in music and the Boston scene, finding love for playing guitar and starting the band Therefore I Am, then getting the call to play drums in Vanna, starting the melodic post-hardcore act Lions Lions, and all the projects that have followed. The impact Brandon has had on the scene specifically in Boston,...

Warning: Strong Opinions Contained In This Episode After bursting onto the scene with their platinum-selling record "Page Avenue," Story of the Year has continued to be a rock band that carves out its own space to exist in. Are they metal? Emo? Hardcore? Post-hardcore? Radio rock? All of the above? This was Andrew's choice and his favorite discography we've covered (so far). Derek also had a great...

Name a more polarizing band in the mid-00's than Chiodos. They had a wild, unrestrained sound that pitted classical and screamo music against each other. It not only worked, but was massively successful and endearing. We dive through their discography, talk about their equally polarizing frontman, geek out on musical parts and production choices, and, of course, get the hottest of takes from our r...