Riley Breckenridge (Thrice)

It's always seemed effortless to admire Thrice. From their fast-paced work of melodic brilliance The Illusion of Safety, to their post-hardcore stunners The Artist In The Ambulance and Vheissu, all the way to their daring and exploratory masterpiece The Alchemy Index, the California-based quartet have made it clear they're in it for the long haul.

The follow up to 2009's critically acclaimed Beggars, Major / Minor is another fresh and honorable release from start to finish; continuing the bands movement of annual progression and growth. Primed to hit the road again at the end of September, drummer Riley Breckenridge took some time to speak with Mark Millard about the writing process, the transitional phase from album to album and the tough times that all four members were personally going through prior to recording.

Kerry McCoy (Deafheaven)

Since forming in February 2010 as a two piece and later expanding to include five members, San Francisco's Deafheaven have rapidly garnered accolades for their blend of hardcore, black metal, and shoegaze. Earlier this year the band joined Deathwish, Inc. and subsequently released their debut LP, Roads to Judah, to both praise and criticism from the independent music community. With their first nationwide tour behind them and now back home in the Bay Area, guitarist Kerry McCoy was nice enough to catch up with Punknews staff interviewer Andrew Clark on a Friday night via Skype to talk about joining Deathwish, the experiences inspiring Roads to Judah, and the Bay Area scene.

Tyson “Chicken” Annicharico (Dead to Me)

San Francisco's Dead To Me jumped the bullet train to success back in 2006 signing to Fat Wreck Chords for the release of their debut album Cuban Ballerina . Fast-forward five years and the band has three more releases under their belt with just as many lineups. But as Dead to Me joined Off With Their Heads and Riverboat Gamblers for a nationwide tour, lead singer Tyson "Chicken" Annicharico sat down with Punknews writer Tyler Barrett to preview their new album, discuss their relationship with Fat Wreck Chords, and explain why Bay Area punk rock is dead to him.

An Oral History of Asian Man Records (Part 1 of 3)

Founded in the mid-90's by Mike Park, Asian Man Records was one of the first labels to make its mission to be "nice" and to treat everyone, from bands, to fans, to distributors, with respect and general pleasantness. Somehow, Park's crazy plan to not be a huge douche and to not rip everyone off in sight worked, and Asian Man eventually coagulated into a well respected, almost iconic, record label known for putting out ska-punk (and other jams) by some pretty nice (and creative) people.

Over the years, Asian Man has released albums by Alkaline Trio, Slapstick, Less Than Jake, Bomb the Music Industry!, and Classics of Love. But not only has Asian Man put out records, inspired by labels like Dischord Records, Asian Man Records have enforced the concept of punk being a "positive space" and showed that not all punk is malt liquor and shooting heroin. Recently, Asian Man Records celebrated it's 15 year anniversary with five days jam packed full of concerts in San Francisco. So, to put a cap on the era, and to kick off the next, Mike Park recently sat down with punknews staff writer John Gentile to give an oral history of the label's last decade and a half.

In today's edition, the first of three, Park discusses the beginnings of Asian Man Records.

Matt Canino (RVIVR/Latterman/Ex-Shorebirds)

As RVIVR vocalist Matt Canino knows, sometimes a lie can tell the truth… but most of the time it doesn't. Canino jumped into public punk consciousness by fronting the equally gruff and soulful Latterman, a band that earned accolades for its heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics and energetic performances. But, when the group broke up, Canino seemed to be disaffected with the audience, stating "I felt like a broken record going on tour and talking about sexism in punk rock every night and then some fucking bro-dudes coming up to me and saying some fucked up shit."

Now, Canino fronts RVIVR with Erica Freas, an arguably more political band, and one that definitely garners a more polarizing reaction through its intense, but thoughtful lyrics which often concern the treatment of minorities on both a micro-punk and macro-global scale. Likely because of this, Canino has been portrayed as a true defender of equality and promoter of gender-safe, queer positive spaces, while other times, he has been derided as a scene-cop or even as a miserly curmudgeon.

To get the real scoop, Punknews staff writer John Gentile glued down his caps lock key and then phoned up Canino to talk about RVIVR's goals, the rumors that dog the band, and why people are so obsessed with hair in punk rock.

David Kelling (All Teeth)

Off the bat of releasing one of the year's most surprising records (a Specials covers EP), Punknews interviewer Faye Turnbull caught up with David Kelling, frontman of California hardcore outfit All Teeth, while doing the rounds in Europe for the first time. They got talking about the aforementioned release, dealing the cerebral palsy and breaking into water parks.

Cassie Ramone (Vivian Girls)

By this point, Vivian Girls are battle hardened. Although they kicked off their career with a meteoric rise fueled by blog popularity, they also suffered the inevitable backlash of the fickle internet. Shortly after their rise, they often became the target for sexist, rude, and unfounded criticism by faceless critic user tags. But, now that the group has made it through the gauntlet of web-hype, and have established themselves as a full time band, it seems that conflict was the flame that they needed for forge their art. Just this past spring they released Share the Joy their third (and best) LP, which features the group grasping equally for the avant-garde and the classic.

Because the Vivian Girls are on tour supporting the release, staff writer John Gentile called up Vivian Girls front woman Cassie Ramone to talk about what the group is up to, how women are (and should be) treated in rock, and why the group resurrected Death.

Jon Loudon (Restorations)

Call them whatever next/post/pre-genre you want, Philadelphia's Restorations are certainly striking a chord in the inner pop-punk/hardcore/metal/folk/indie kid inside of all us. Whereas their sound might legitimately be hard to classify, their brand of "punk for grown-ups" has helped them grow a large following of fans and supporters. News editor Kira Wisniewski chatted with vocalist and guitarist Jon Loudon by phone following the East Coast Earthquake 2k11. They discussed the genre-game, earthquakes and Restorations falling out with Paper + Plastick Records.

Jonathan Simmons (Balance and Composure)

Since forming in 2007, Doylestown, PA product Balance and Composure have rapidly established themselves as one of the most promising new voices in post-millenial punk. The No Sleep records quintet made a bold step toward delivering on that promise with the release of their full-length debut, Separation earlier this year, blending a bevy of seemingly disparate influences from Neutral Milk Hotel to Nirvana with a production assist from venerated veteran Brian McTernan.

Punknews staff interviewer G'Ra Asim caught up with singer/guitarist Jonathan Simmons to get the dish on their upcoming fall tour with Polar Bear Club, the anxiety that drove Separation and the best places to chow down in Baltimore, MD.

The Bouncing Souls

The Bouncing Souls are busier than ever. This year they're putting on special sets of shows, showcasing all 8 of their albums over 4 nights in various cities around the world. At the same time, they're writing for a new album. Punknews interviewer Jason Epstein caught up with Pete Steinkopf and Bryan Kienlen at their How I Spent My Summer Vacation/Anchors Aweigh show in NYC to chat about songs from the past and plans for the future.

Ryan Young (Off With Their Heads)

After three continuous years of touring, Minneapolis, Minnesota's Off with Their Heads is bigger than they've ever been, playing alongside bands like Bad Religion and Dropkick Murphys while headlining their own shows with the likes of Riverboat Gamblers and Dead to Me, who joined the band on a nationwide summer tour. Punknews writer Tyler Barrett caught up with frontman Ryan Young at the Triple Rock Social Club to talk about the tour, what it's like to be on Epitaph Records, and what he really thinks of Against Me!.