100 Words Or Less: The Podcast

It always makes me happy when I put the shine on people who work behind the scenes at record labels, fests, photographers and a lot more that make this whole scene grow and thrive. James and Aaron run the incredible festival based in Tulsa, OK called Flyover Fest and in the past few years, has risen to prominence as one of the destinations for bands to play. We get into the origins of the festival...

A rare three way podcast with two friends of the show, Vadim Taver from This Day Forward & Chris Enriquez from On the Might of Princes . Selfishly, this is to promote/celebrate our bands show on August 25 at The Bowery Ballroom but more importantly offered us a chance to speak about our experiences with each of our bands circumstances that drew us back to playing shows again, revisiting old so...

Inside were always a mythic and mysterious band to me. I was able to see them twice here in So Cal, which was weird for a band all the way from Long Island in the late 90's. They disbanded before they left a trail of interviews about who they were and where they came from. Fortunately for all of us their music is widely available now and they just played a few reunion shows to celebrate a re-relea...

I think one of the coolest things to watch in independent music is bands growing up and evolving their sound but still staying connected to what compelled them to create in the first place. In my opinion, Four Year Strong are one of those bands we've all watched grow up, evolve and only become better over time. Dan O'Connor has played in FYS since it's inception and on the eve of their new record...

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 Recordings). Joseph is a seasoned veteran of our a...

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 the Official Outbreak Podcast here (executive pr...

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 to the Official Outbreak Podcast here (executive...

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 discuss and get the wheels turning.  Listen to the Offi...

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 coming naturally to people. The Early November jus...

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 band life operates internationally and the differ...

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 an introspective and self depreciating dude which...

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 had a lot of fun. We also touch on his other bands...

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 we get into it plus, I am able to pick his brain ab...

"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 peel back some of the layers and get to know his l...

"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 Boy) and how they burned themselves out by touring...

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 uninitiated, St. Vitus is the incredibly important Bro...

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, CA (home of The Beach Boys!) and his time growing...

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 his friends from the music world into comedy as we...

"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 as a NEW BAND called Walk Proud . We discuss be...

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 in Long Island, shout out Backyard Blues) and neve...

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 something traumatic that inspired him to write the lyri...

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 music playing and why as a grown adult, he feels...

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 the occupation of Palestine (which is an important...

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 incredibly thoughtful and introspective dude and th...

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 the future!  Listen to the Official Outbreak Podca...