Kevin Seconds (7 Seconds)

When you think of legendary hardcore punk vocalists, the obvious candidates come to mind instantly: Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Glen Danzig, Ian Mackaye. One that never fails to come up in the debate is Kevin Seconds, frontman of 7 Seconds and an accomplished solo musician. For 34 years, Kevin Seconds has been making waves in the underground music scene with his political messages and positive missives. While 7 Seconds has never officially disbanded as a group, they have taken some time off over the years, but are now ready to unleash their first studio album in nine years, titled Leave A Light On, released yesterday on Rise Records. Punknews staff interviewer Gregg Harrington recently spoke to Kevin about the new record, his solo career and starting up the hardcore scene in Reno.

Adam Alive (It's Alive Records)

When Adam Alive put out The Copyrights’ Button Smasher 7-inch in 2004, he wasn’t sure his label, It’s Alive Records, would make it to a second release. He wasn’t even sure he’d be able to clear his closet of the 300 records he pressed. Fast forward to 2014 and the label is celebrating its tenth anniversary and closing in on 100 releases, with a catalog that boasts releases from pop-punk bigwigs like Teenage Bottlerocket, The Dopamines and House Boat. Punknews copy editor Adam Eisenberg rang up Adam Alive to look back on ten years of running a label, discuss the joys of helping a band hit it big and find out how an errant stage diver almost put It’s Alive Records out of commission.

Mike Haliechuk (F*cked Up)

Now is the time for Fucked Up to reflect. In the past 13 years, they’ve grown from a basement hardcore band that was accused of having Nazi sympathy to a mysterious entity that claimed to be controlled by a guru named David Eliade to an internationally touring punk band that released 18 minute songs about prostitutes to a collective that recorded a double concept album that was about blowing up a light bulb factory but was actually about them destroying clones of themselves or… something…?

They’ve climbed every mountain. They’ve swam in every sea. They’ve played mind games with every journalist. And so, they are about to release the single LP, Glass Boys wherein they look back at their former selves and talk to their younger versions while the younger versions pass judgment on what they are to become.

Because Fucked Up is about to release the album where they parade their own lives before their very eyes, Punknews’ John Gentile spoke to guitarist/founding member Mike Haliechuk about the new release, what his younger self has to say, and whether or not he’s actually having fun at this whole punk rock thing.

Eric Solomon (Tiny Empires)

The geographically displaced Tiny Empires have quite the year ahead of them. The group, consisting of members of O Pioneers!!! and New Bruises, self-released their debut album this past April and have given Jeff Rosenstock full authority to share the release via Quote Unquote Records.

With tentative summer plans also in the works it seems the band will be making several waves despite their hectic schedules. Punknews editor and interviewer Armando Olivas was able to chat with Eric Solomon about the band's formation and why it took so long for the group to release their debut record. He also inquires about the MMO computer game that they share a name with because why not?

Pentimento

Growth can be a challenging task. It comes with constant self-reflection, the courage to be critical of yourself, and the strength to push yourself even when the challenges seem endless. Pentimento has been progressing since their inception, and with that, they’ve become one of the most well-rounded and strong examples of maturation and sonic integrity. With four releases, they’ve created music that is easily accessible, while also holding onto their integrity and commitment to creating songs that are an extension of who they are as people. They spend a great deal of time writing music that connects with their listeners, without sacrificing their desire to stay true to themselves.

Their releases, which comprise of two EP’s, a split and a full-length, are consistently impressive. A majority of their songs are note-worthy, and they are a band that shouldn’t go under the radar. They’ve found themselves time and time again praised by critics, but are still struggling to be noticed by a large amount of listeners. Yet, this hasn’t deterred them from pushing forward and attempting to become a favorite of the swarm of music fans that have so quickly attached themselves to various underground artists. Pentimento continue to push themselves as a band to gain attention, but also as musicians to write music that is authentic, enjoyable and can be connected to easily by any demographic.

Punknews interviewer Xan Mandell has kept their latest release, Inside The Sea, on repeat and decided to sit them down to understand why they create the music they do, how they look at the songwriting process, and what they are attempting to give to fans.

Sean Bonnette (Andrew Jackson Jihad)

Andrew Jackson Jihad’s new album, Christmas Island has death around every corner. On it, there are gods demanding euthanasia. Ghosts break dance on their own graves. Jesus cries out to stop the crucifixion.

But despite the near-constant parade of finites, the backing music ranges from soothing ballads to snappy, acoustic ditties. One minute a '50s AM radio organ lifts a doo-wop refrain. At the next, a stomping hoe-down beat drives the doggies forward along with a gleeful cheer. The grim reaper is given a nice quinceanera dress and a tiara, if you will. It doesn’t make him any less scary.

But, this contrast of the grotesque and the good times springs from a loss in frontman Sean Bonnette’s own life. Just before recording commenced on the album, his grandfather, who raised him for five years, passed away. Despite Bonnette’s "aw shucks" demeanor, Punknews’ John Gentile sat down with him to speak about that horrid, swirling, twisting, wretched, inescapable abyss that is The End. Also, they talked about Linda Ronstadt.

Click read more to dance with the Devil in the pale moon light… or to reflect on the Stone Poneys.

Shawn and Mark Stern (Punk Rock Bowling, Youth Brigade)

Milk and cookies. Spaghetti and meatballs. Punk rock and bowling. All of these are natural pairings, but unlike the first two, the third relationship was only formalized recently thanks to Shawn and Mark Stern.

The same brothers who brought you Youth Brigade and BYO Records founded the Punk Rock Bowling tournament 16 years ago, but in the last five they’ve turned a weekend of friendly competition between bands and labels into a huge three-day festival with a lineup that spans decades and oceans, and this year includes Cock Sparrer, Angelic Upstarts, Descendents, Against Me!, SNFU and Off!, just to name a few.

Punknews editor Adam Eisenberg caught up with the Sterns to talk about what it takes to put together a roster of this magnitude, how they’ve fared in the bowling competition over the years and what Las Vegas record Punk Rock Bowling is known for breaking.

Keith Levene (P.I.L., The Clash)

Keith Levene has one of the greatest resumes in punk rock. He was an early member of the Clash and actually drafted Joe Strummer into the band. After that, he was in the Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious. After that, he formed P.I.L. with John Lydon, and in doing so, helped create (or maybe even created) post-punk with his distant, frenetic, unstable guitar tones.

But, as with many bands, there was friction. While recording what would be P.I.L.’s fourth album, he split with Lydon and headed to America. There, on his own, he released the unfinished album as Commercial Zone. Meanwhile, P.I.L. released This is What You Want… This is What You Get using Levene’s compositions, but new sound recordings with new musicians. The result is an album that exists in two forms, but is complete in neither.

Now, Levene is raising funds to release a completed version of the album through an Indie Go Go campaign. Because Levene is working on a new version of that mysterious release, features Editor John Gentile spoke to him about what broke up P.I.L. in the first place, the new release, how Levene is hand-making the cover art and some classic punk rock history.

Christian Holden (The Hotelier)

The Hotelier just finished a seven-week-long tour across the United States supporting an album that'll likely be in a lot of Top Ten lists for 2014, Home, Like No Place Is There. It's their debut release on Tiny Engines and their first time trekking across the country. The dudes went from a wild show in Boise, Idaho into Denver, where Punknews Copy Editor Britt Reiser was able to catch up with vocalist Christian Holden in the basement of a DIY venue called Seventh Circle Music Collective.

We chatted about the usual things, like perception of the new album, tour and the relatively new name change from The Hotel Year to The Hotelier (which includes a Punknews commenter shout out!), to the completely unexpected and insanely interesting twist of un-schooling and the entire movement around not going to school. You know the drill, read the full, winding and turning interview underneath Read More.

Atom Willard (Against Me!)

For the close to 25 years Atom Willard has been drumming, he’s kept the beat for a number of impressive names in rock and roll, including Rocket From The Crypt, Social Distortion, The Offspring, Angels and Airwaves, theHELL, Danko Jones and now, Against Me!

During a break in touring for Transgender Dysphoria Blues, punk rock’s most cultured (or most promiscuous) drummer spoke to Punknews interviewer Gen Handley about who has inspired him over the years, why he has moved around a lot and how he finally found a home with Against Me!

Steve Drain (Westboro Baptist Church)

The Westboro Baptist Church. You know 'em. They're the collection of 40 or so people that wave those rainbow colored "God Hates Fags" posters and protest the funerals of deceased servicemen and women. Sheesh.

But, did you know, that since the ousting of founder and former leader Fred Phelps, the church has been led by Steve Drain, a guy with a PhD in Philosophy? Here's where things get weird -- in contrast to the shouting maniacs you see on TV, Drain is well spoken, measured and even amiable. Here's were things get weirder -- he used to be in a rock band called Boneyard that had moderate local success in Kansas City, and he has a healthy command of the Ramones, Green Day and even the Sex Pistols. In fact, the WBC has posted a parody of Green Day's "Wake Me When September Ends" called "Coming Soon" and one of "American Idiot" called "American Sodomite?"

And here's where things get even weirder -- some of the topics of classic punk songs, such as the end of the world, being against foreign conflict and churches being money driven, are shared by the WBC. Sheesh.

Because there is a bizarre Venn diagram where punk rock and the WBC seem to cross, we talked to Drain about this unsettling intersection and his opinions on classic punk tunes. Also, we asked him about the Dwarves because that is a hilarious thing to do.