Shook Ones guitarist Kelly Aiken recently sat down with…Shook Ones vocalist Scott Freeman. The two, as you might guess, discuss with Punknews (sort of) their new record, The Unquotable A.M.H., providing in-depth commentary on a few songs, the joys of touring and recording, and things you never needed to know about Rivers Cuomo.
The Unquotable A.M.H. was recently released via Paper + Plastick.
A reader, Ryan J. McBride, send us an interview with Keith Morris of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. Ryan explained:
I ran into Keith at Club Polaris where the Circle Jerks were playing in July of 2008. We set up the interview for when he got back home in California over the phone. The following is a two hour interview consisting of Keith's thoughts on politics, technology, his personal opinions and his experience with the burgeoning LA Punk Scene in the late 70's.
Since the breakup (and subsequent reunion of) Hot Water Music, Chris Wollard has kept a steady release schedule between The Draft, Ship Thieves and solo material. Oour own Michael Dauphin caught up with Wollard to discuss his various projects.
As the mastermind behind the Warped Tour, the alternative music festival that will soon celebrate its 15th summer, Kevin Lyman has been battered with criticism from musicians and music-lovers alike. They claim his tour is oversaturated with corporate sponsors and that tickets are overpriced. They complain that musicians on the tour are too popular or that the tour has lost touch with its punk-rock roots. They say, of course, that Lyman has sold out.
In order to see what's beneath this surface, Lyman's perspective seems critical, almost mandatory. In an interview with Dane Erbach, he comments the controversial decisions he has made over the past fifteen years and the evolution of his "traveling circus," alluding to what it is that makes the Warped Tour musically and culturally significant.
Jesse Michaels: the man, the myth, the legend. A man? Well, that's a given. The myth? Quite a few surround his whereabouts and doings during hiatuses over the course of his 20 year career. A legend? Most certainly. And while most are quick to remember him as the front man of the widely influential Operation Ivy, Jesse has amassed a healthy body of work with other projects over the years (including Big Rig, Common Rider, and occasional acoustic work).
But, to let Jesse tell it, he's always been more of an everyday man than a legend. On a recent tour date with his latest project (Classics of Love) Punknews.org's own journalistic miscreant Dorian "Big D" Wolak found that out firsthand and took the opportunity given to dispel some of the rumors.
Last July Matt Pryor (Get Up Kids, New Amsterdams) released some of the best work of his life and it came in the form of an album called Confidence Man, his first solo record. Over the course of the album's 15 tracks, he unveils maybe his most intimate side yet. It's truly a commendable return to form and then some.
I (Frank Corva) caught up with him a little while back to discuss where the material came from and why this is his first release sans moniker. We also talked about what it means to be a touring musician and a father as well as what brought him back to Vagrant.
The Bouncing Souls are Greg Attonito (vocals), Pete Steinkopf (guitar), Bryan Kienlen (bass), and Mike McDermot (drums), and are currently releasing a series of seven inches on Chunksaah Records to commemorate their 20th anniversary. Their last proper studio output was The Gold Record in 2006. Our very own Ollie Mikse caught up with the band to bring us this extensive interview.
Andrew W.K. has announced a string of Canadian dates in June as well as new solo piano-based album, 55 Cadillac, which is scheduled for release later this summer. Tonight we're pleased to introduce an interview between Andrew and our own Zack Shaprio where Andrew talks about the unique approach he took for recording the new album as well as other television and music endeavors he's been planning.
If you don't want to wait until the summer to hear new material, feel free to head to various online retailers where you can download his new mixtape, Damn.
I Shenelle Coplien asked a buddy of mine from London the other day what the first thing was that came to his mind when I say Milwaukee, and he replied with a British slur, "Dahmer!" The notorious cannibalistic killings are often the most suggested portraits of this city. Occasionally someone will slip in the roots of Miller & Pabst, considering we have been voted the drunkest city in US many of times. But when it comes to music, none of my out-of-town friends can name a single Milwaukee-based band. Our music scene here is just like your city, plenty of awesome bands and plenty of shitty ones as well. Of course, some of our greatest we have exported to the rest of America, such as The Violent Femmes and The Promise Ring, but our next greatest export is The Goodnight Loving.
I got the chance to sit down with Zach Byrne and Andy Kavanaugh in the back end of a local, South Milwaukee venue. This folk-pop group doesn't have any intentions to dismember you, but they sure wouldn't mind slamming a beer or two with you.
While he's best known for his work as co-vocalist and bassist for Less Than Jake, Roger Manganelli has also put time into another band - Rehasher. The band hasn't released anything since 2004's Off Key Melodies, but in this interview with Zack Ziegler he explains that fans of Rehasher can expect more in the near future.
To many in the New York hardcore scene of the early to mid nineties, Serpico was an intriguing combination of melodic Dischord-esque harmonics and Jawbreaker style start and stop dynamics. The band, started as Sleeper and eventually, changed their name after getting paid off by the English band Sleeper (who kept the name and quickly faded into obscurity). Over the years members came and went at an alarming pace as the band played successful European tours, released seemingly hundreds of singles and several records, memorably on Excursion and C.I., the last on Equal Vision.
After the departure of original lead singer John Telenko (later of Darien and Amber Jets) he band went through more personnel turmoil, with the only constant being mainstay guitarist (and later lead vocalist) John Lisa. Lisa led the band on to what was perhaps their best record, the Rumble album on Equal Vision, before the band, tormented by personnel changes, infighting, and problems with Lisa's conflicted feelings about his own closeted homosexuality, finally broke up in 1998. For years the band resisted any impetus to reunite as Lisa's only musical forays were as a house music DJ! Now, after a hiatus of over a decade, the band has reunited for what may be their only new show, a reunion at Martini Red on Staten Island on January 17.
Brian Cogan caught up with John Lisa to find out the scoop on the reunion, and Serpico's place in punk history. For the tour, the band will be a mixture of different eras with, consisting of: John Telenko: Vocals (later of Darien, Amber Jets), John Lisa: Guitar, Vocals, Michael Thomas DeLorenzo: Guitar (who later played in Kill Your Idols, Death Cycle and S.S.SP), Marc Treboschi: Bass (later of in Crowd) and Chris 'Niser' Guardino: Drums.