This Was The Scene Podcast

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. If you grew up in Northern Jersey and needed a place to find independent music you would go to Scotti’s record shop in Morristown, sound exchange on rte 23, hot topic in the Rockaway mall (yes that’s where you could actually find bands) OR you could take a ride to Pompton Lakes and visit Flipside Records where you would find Alan Rappaport manning the register. He opened people’s eyes to bands like Sicko, Discount, Plow United, Mineral and Jimmy Eat World before they were making videos about underwear pool parties. My friends and I would pile into my buddy Lucc’s car, drive to Flipside and use whatever money we could find to stock up on new music. I wanted to get his perspective on the scene back then, he said “totally down man” and this is what we talked about: Who actually kicked him out of Lanemeyer Disney World’s effect on his punk rockness How he start

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. Brian Molloy cut his teeth in the punk scene before Green Day and the Offspring took the stage and opened the world’s eyes to what was happening outside of MTV. He created a zine in the late 90s that wasn’t focussed on band reviews, or show reviews or root beer reviews (shot out to annoyance zine) Instead, he created short stories with a punk rock tone in hidden in the background and called it Just in time for nothing. I remember buying copies of his zine at shows and wanted to get his take on the scene back then. I asked him if he’d be down to talk about it and he said “Certainly!” In this interview we discuss: Yabo’s room in Gleaming the Cube The Descendants His conversation with Jay Bentley from Bad Religion His famous photo of him holding the Ernie Doll on the back of Green Day’s Dookie Hardcore band Uprise How he started his zine DJing shows in the cit

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. Kraig Marshall graced the NJ scene in the late 90s with his backyard shows, his band Sticker, and then went on to form Example 24 which took him in a completely different direction, musically. This interview goes in many directions but the one thing that’s unmistakable is how passionate Kraig is about music and his roots. In this interview we discuss: The Masonic Temple in Ridgewood Filming videos of 7-seconds and Ministry The Pure drive in creating music Jeremy Humble’s keen fashion sense Getting added last minute to shows The bad blood with Sticker after he got dropped His backyard shows Example 24 starting with one sound and then taking a hard left His relationship with Richard from Filter when Title of Record came out His transition to just writing songs and then finding people to tour with We jump back to talking about Sticker and his backyard shows An

This week I'm taking a break to catch up on interviews.  Feel free to check out thiswasthescene.com for the latest merch. You can also check out my new book "I'll eventually like kids when they're older" at yourdailybred.com

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. The Jerkoffs were a straight-up punk band that consisted of Jay, Doug, and multiple Dave’s. They had a stint on Umbilical Records and were always the dudes who showed up to every show they played with the intent on just having a great time. This would also include drinking and the occasional Inside Out cover with David Patino on the mic. If you never saw that then I’m sorry that we can’t go back in time. I reached out to Jay Blanda, aka Jay JErkoff and asked if he’d like to talk about summers past. He said sure thing. Let me have a bourbon breakfast and let’s talk. In this interview we discuss: My voice audition for his cartoon that went nowhere Who actually started NJPP His stint being in a band with Josh and Gabe from Humble His scuffle with a hippie Ben from Random Task playing drums for a show Brian Granik Their parents lobbying for them to change their

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle.   Jeremy Hernandez eyes were opened to the punk scene when he first heard bands like Fugazi and Quicksand. This lead him to playing in bands like Sticker, Highstrung, Humble Beginnings, Bigwig, Near Miss and now his current bands A Balance Between and Red Hymns.   I met Jeremy when he was in Highstrung but didn’t really get to know him until he joined humble beginnings about 20 years ago. Since tomorrow is the Lanemeyer/Humble reunion show I thought it would be a swell idea to go back in time and see what lead him on his path to living and breathing music for the past 2 decades.   I asked him to chat, he said sure thing Foil and here’s what we talk about: Sean Lanemeyer’s old house Aggressive inline skating The video of the first Sticker show John from bigwig buying his bass and not paying for a long time The transition from Sticker to Highstrung The Highst

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. Mike Pelak didn’t run a label, play in a band, record bands, own a record store, print merch, run a zine or promote, ok wait he did help promote shows with Bomshelter run by Ricky the artful dodger Saporta. I’d always see Mike at a lot of shows my band played at and he just had such a positive and happy demeanor about him. He’d always be in the crowd singing the songs back to bands and then hop in a car with some friends and get to the next show that same night. Sometimes making it to 3 or 4 in one weekend. I wanted to see what it was like from a “fan perspective” so I reached out to Miguel, set up a time to talk and this is what we chat about.   Flipside records 6:16 Highstrung changing his life 8:33 His old venue tour around NJ 15:20 How it never took too long to get to different towns to watch shows The Juliana Theory show where they unplugged Random Tas

The Bergenfield girls were show promoters in the northern part of jersey who were made up of Melissa, Erin, and Kathy. They were just 3 awesome chicks who had a passion for punk rock and decided to start putting on shows. Back in the day, my old band Lanemeyer loved getting asked to play on the shows they put on. The majority of them were at the Teaneck American Legion which became a staple for watching great bands even though it was such a tiny space. This interview is pretty awesome because A. Melissa is the shit. And B, if gives you an inside look on what went into actually putting on a show between paying for the hall, getting bands to show up and play on time, dealing with potential brawls in the parking lot, and more. Funny story is that after hearing episode 2 or 3 of this podcast, Melissa reached out to me and Jeremy from humble and asked what we thought of playing a reunion show. We thought it was a swell idea and that’s why you can see both of our bands play at debonair musical in Teaneck NJ on Satu

Taxicab Samurais were a ska punk band made up of members Dave, Dan, Chris, Mark, Mike and Roman. They were influenced by Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Youth of Today, Slapstick, Suicide Machines, Bosstones, LTJ, H2O, Face to Face. I asked Dave Flores if he’d grace the podcast with his words and he agreed. Here’s what we talk about - The North Jersey Pop Punk facebook group His daily life with Robert Heiner of Humble Beginnings His first band called Urine What made them go the Ska route Back to the beach introducing Ska to us Being courted by Some Records His uncle hand in Roulette Records became Pinball The demo he still owes Joe Pulito Ben from Random Task The benefit of compilations What was the dynamic like in the band Razza Jon bigwigs influence on Daves facial hair The Face to Face, Suicide Machines Show at Irving Plaza Getting merchandise printed on Workshirts The Tuesday Broadways West Orange Show The 2000 flushes incident The throw down at West Orange And a ton more Before we being, mark your calendars f

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle.   NJ Joystick was a punk/hardcore band that blended shades of old emo and pop punk producing catchy, fast, and energetic songs that compare to the likes of fellow NJ legends, Lifetime. The line up consisted of Brett, Jay, the Pat and almighty Dan.   The band released a 4-song EP called …A Mile In Change in 1997 on Roulette Records before it became Pinball, and followed up in 1998 with their full length LP, New Song For The Ride, on Annoyance Records (www.annoyances.com).   These guys were always a blast to watch live because they just showed up and had fun. I reached out to Brett to see if he’d like to give me some dirt and he responded with “Would love to!” He then reached out to Jay who was also down to be on the podcast and this is what we talked about:   What were all of us really look for in the scene Jay’s superpower memory with jersey geography Where

OCG was a ska band from New Jersey. Their members consisted of Nick, Dave, Keith, Pete, Stuart, Mark, Mike, Chris, and Dan. They were founded in 1997 by a group of Union High School musicians. The band played a fusion of ska punk, jazz, ska-core, and what many refer to as ska-rap. OCG followed up the success of their 7 inch record "7 Inches of OCG" in early 1998, with the release "From Downtown", both released on the Pinball Records label. Hits such as "Bill Kozby You", "Xample", "Be With You", and "Skank Away" were popular with high school teenagers, often belonging to the straight edge movement. I got extra frontman Mike Struening on the phone and this is what we talked about: The instant connection people from the scene have when they haven’t seen each other in decades How we usually didn’t know what town’s people were from Op Ivy Desmond Dekker The difficulty in buying music from new bands when we were all broke His transition from hardcore to ska How someone needs to find the real world video they made

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle.   Penfold was a Jersey post-punk emo band who formed in 1995 with members Brian, Mike, Rich, and Steve. The natural course of live performances soon ensued and the band began to build a small following. After playing music together for over 10 years, 3 record releases (1997’s “your eyes have all the answers” 7 inch, 1998’s “amateurs and professionals” EP, and 2001’s “our first taste of escape” LP) and hundreds of live shows, in March of 2003 penfold decided to call it a day. Their final show took place in Old Bridge, New Jersey at the M & M hall on March 22nd. They played 2 sets lovingly to an audience of old and new friends from all over the world. It was an incredible day for the four.  I reached out to Brian Carley who fronted the band, asked if he wanted to give the fine audience of this podcast some insight into the band and this is what we talked a

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. LWL is a three piece pop-punk band from the quaint woodland community of Bernardsville, NJ. Their band members consisted of Steve on guitar and vocals, Rob on bass and Ivan on the drums. Unlike the many other punk bands which call NJ their home, LWL had a magnificent sound all to their own. The fierce but catchy guitar riffs combined with the overpowering tone of the bass and the blazing speed of the drums created a sound which is all but dull. Add in melodic vocals and stirring harmonies and you've got a masterpiece. No, wait, you've got LWL. Thank you Sputnikmusic.com for doing the work for me on that write-up. I was able to reconnect with Steve a few weeks back and break down the origins of the band. In this interview, we talk about - We briefly talk about Avery How they started playing shows Dan from Joystick How he preferred local bands over bigger ban

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. Bigwig is a punk rock band from New Jersey, who formed in 1995. Their original lineup back in the late 90s composed of Josh, John, Dan who was later replaced by Matt and Tom. The line up since then has seen members come and go but the one thing that has stayed consistent is Tom Petta heading up the band. When I first saw these guys play I was floored. They’d take the stage or floor of a legion hall and the place would blow the fuck up. They just brought this raw energy and it everyone in the crowd would give it right back to them. After seeing them live I decided to never step on a stage and play in front of a crowd unless I was going to authentically give it all that I had. Songs like Flavor Ice, Drunken Night, and 1 800 whipped were the soundtrack to my friends and my summer back in 1997. They were one of the few bands back then that showed all of the othe

Boxcar was a pop punk band based out of South Jersey. Their members were Derek, Newman, and Jay Battle who was later replaced by Bnuts.  Their sound was a nice mix of the Lifetime, Digger, Jawbreaker and the Cure, in my opinion. I reached out to Newman and he suggested getting Brendan AKA Bnuts on the call and the following conversation ensued - In this interview, we talk about - Where They Got The Name Of The Band When Newman Started Playing An Upside Down Bass How B-Nuts And Chris Jammed Years Before Being In Boxcar Together The Comps That Were Always Being Put Out Back In The Day Which Lifetime Album Is The Best One Their Show With Donuts N Glory The 7 In Artworks How Newman Wrote Got After Their Pipeline Show What Their Songs Were Actually About How A Digger Song Inspired One Of Their Best Songs What It Was Like To Record With Steve Evetts Their Decendents Cover Show No Black Friday This Year Where Did They Want To Band To Go Have They Kept Up With Their Punk Rock Ethics And More   Before we being, than

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle.   There were a lot of punk/emo/hardcore bands that came out of the Jersey scene. I didn’t realize how many there actually were until Joe Pulito showed up in the North Jersey Pop Punk facebook group and said, hi everyone, I’ve archived all of it. I mean, I don’t think he has 100% of the bands but I Think he has like 99%.   This is purely a passion project for Joe because he’s not getting paid and this takes sooo much fucking time to do. Heath Midtown said it best in his interview, episode 003, when he stated that Joe is doing the Lord's work. If you are looking for ANY bands back in the late 90s early 2000s era then check out njpparchive.com The Mxpx Show In Bordentown Our Thoughts On Saves The Day Having A Hand In Changing The Scene Drive Thru’S Rise In The Scene Dashboard Break Up With Drive Thru Asbury Park Brewery Brian Fallon’S Stint In Lanemeyer How He

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle. From 98-2001 My weekends were as follows: go to a show to see local bands play or play said shows with my band Lanemeyer. Afterwords I would go to diners or random parking lots, smoke cigarettes and talk about life with friends I made from these shows. Thanks to show promoters, like Heath Miller, anyone in the scene had something to do pretty much every weekend. Heath and a ton of other promoters saw that they could be the ones to organize events where we could all come together and create a ruckus.  In this interview we talk about:   How some bands would do stupid shit Kids that would just attend shows in certain areas The equipment he started out with How he always made sure to pay people what they were promised even if the show sucks How bands would never turn down their amps so people could hear the vocals How it’s sketchy for bands to stay and random p

Welcome everyone to This Was The Scene, the podcast that takes a look back at the late 90s / early 2000 Nj Jersey Punk scene, I am your host, Mike Doyle.   Lanemeyer was a band formed by my best friend Chris Barker and myself back in 1998 after the Demise of our first band, Congress of Cow which was named after a sexual position we found in a Kama sutra book in the Rockaway mall.   The original line up included Alan Rappaport on guitar and Sean Smith on drums. Through the years we had a revolving door of members that included Rob Heiner, David Patino, Andy Spratt, Brian Fallon and THE Casey Lee Morgan.   We were lucky enough to put out 2 cds, go on 8 tours, have kids sing our songs back to us at shows while being held together as a band by scotch tape. We were basically a ticking time bomb at all times which you will hear more about in this interview.   I loved being in this band. I wanted it to be my life, I wanted to sell out giant clubs and live my life on the road and have thousands of people sing our son

Michael Cipriano, or Monkey as he is known by everyone, was the roadie for Bigwig for a stint in time. He got the gig after being asked by then guitarist Josh if he wanted to come on the road from them. He said he and 20 years later he’s being interviewed on my podcast. Lucky man. In this interview we talk about: How a can of food would take money off the cost of the shows back in the day E. Town concrete getting him into a show for free How he became Bigwig’s roadie How josh from Bigwig worked as a taxi driver for Monkey’s dad How his troubles with the law added issues for him getting into Canada How he got rejected at the border with $30 in his pocket and no cell phone His Orgy story The story about John from Bigwig getting left behind at a truck stop Being a drummer for Jettison Our thoughts on PA people in general Stories about Fletcher from Pennywise How being on tours changed his life And a ton more.

Other than thank you lists in CDS, Fan Zines were the gateway to finding out about new music. These were put together by kids in the scene who would interview bands, write reviews, and come up with total randomness. They would then spend their own money at Kinkos and print 100s or pages, staples them together and then hand them out for free at shows.   I loved these things. I would grab any zine I could find at a show and read it cover to cover to see who I should be paying attention to. These opened my eyes to bands like Piebald, Lifetime, Coalesce, the Get up kids, and shit ton of others.   Fan Zines I used to read back in the day were Annoying Girl, Brace Face, 4011, Just in time for nothing and one of my favorites, Annoyance by Anthony Schorr called Annoyance zine.   According to the google, aNNOYANCe zine was created in 1990 by two bored kids, Anthony and Erik. The initial issue had a print run of 25 and included info on Pez, yo-yo's, records and annoying your older siblings. Anthony kept it going from t