There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money. How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape). In this edition, we chat with Matt Ellis of Golden Shitters. He calls the band his passion project, or “loss leader,” while also working as a Rock Band Teacher / Music Teacher at Noise Pollution Rock School in Hamilton, Ontario. Scene Point Blank: You told me in pre-interview prep that you are more of a band leader than a music teacher. To get started, tell us about the school. As principal, what is your role with your co-workers? (Very) broadly speaking, what do they do, compared to what you do? Matt Ellis: I run Noise Pollution Rock School. I teach 3-5 kids at the same times, ages 5 to 17. I show them how to play easy songs: Ramones, Beatles, Stooges, Green Day, or anything else that gets them excited. I show them how to play together and show them how to be in a band. I don’t teach music theory or offer one-on-one lessons. While we learn chords and song structures this is more like a “let’s … Read more
Punk Under the Sun – Interview with Joey Seeman and Chris Potash Some music scenes become legendary — New York, … Read more
Are You In The Music Business? Or Just Involved In Music? Interview Series #1 Featuring Jordan Stamm of Drunk Dial … Read more
There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not … Read more
F.Y.P is one of the rare bands that I'd say nobody sounds like -- but in the past two months I've caught myself making that comparison twice. First while listening to the new Dumpies LP (spoiler alert: they cover F.Y.P on that same record) and now as I listen to the Physicalist debut EP. The interesting thing here isn't the … Read more
When bands spend months slowly piecing together an album with cheap gear, limited time, and apparently an alarming amount of terrible beer, it’s kind of romantic. Not romantic in the polished indie film sense. More romantic in the sense that you can actually hear people chasing a feeling before life pulls them in different directions. That tension sits at the … Read more
Adam Steiner doesn’t just break the earth with a spade with this book; he actually digs deep into the fertile soil to enter the cobwebbed crypt. He approaches the catalogue like a forensic scientist examining the maggots on a corpse—meticulously analyzing the rot and the details of decay to chart exactly how long the body has been decomposing. He gets … Read more
Late 90s post hardcore and emo feels impossible to recreate now. That’s not because the sound itself is gone, but because the tension behind it was so specific to that era. Six Going on Seven’s Human Tears, their first full length in roughly twenty-four years, captures that feeling perfectly. Having a wonderful history by having done a split with Hot … Read more
I got kind of obsessed with reviewing this record after I heard the first single “Watching The Omnibus” which they released digitally earlier this year. I could probably just write … Read more
The Cascadian Divide is a Washington state based melodic skate punk band that formed during the infamous COVID lockdown. Although it started as an experiment, it soon became a passion … Read more
Twelve albums and more than three decades into their career, Jungle Rot remains one of death metal's most reliable institutions. While countless bands have spent years chasing technical excess, progressive … Read more
Some instrumental records create atmosphere while others create movement. Fruits of the Decision Tree feels like it creates an entire environment. It’s unstable, mechanical, strangely beautiful, and constantly in motion. … Read more
As far as I can gather Jeff Corso has been playing in bands in the Bay Area for the past 20 years but seems like exclusively hardcore until now. Full … Read more
Dealbreaker popped onto my radar as part of a package tour with Pro Wrestling, who cold called me with a Penske File namedrop. This story is a bit of a … Read more
Just as the headline says, Wednesday and Mannequin Pussy have arranced a co-headlining tour called "The Bitch Cabal Tour," starting in late October. Snõõper will be along for support. The dates are in the middle of an active tour schedule from Mannequin Pussy that also includes shows with Foo Fighters, … Read more
Pennywise -- the band and probably not the clown -- is headed to the US East Coast on a tour that sees the long-running SoCal band joined by Circle Jerks, … Read more
Cor de Lux shared lead single "The Cringe" from the band's upcoming J. Robbins-produced, Ipecac Recordings debut album, Year Of The Horse. The new 9-song album comes out on Sept. … Read more
Drunk Dial Records, recently featured in SPB's "Commerce Or Amusement?" series, has a new compilation out today digitally and on cassette: Fakes – Volume Three. The collection sees real life … Read more
California band Chico will release their debut, a self-titled affair on New Morality Zine, out August 14. Watch a video for "Blur," one of ten new songs on the album, … Read more
Indie rock band The Thermals shared "Spirit Collectors" today -- the first glimpse at the upcoming Under Crushing Rain, their first album in a dacade. The band last released We … Read more
Amsterdam label Wap Shoo Wap has announced the release of long lost UK proto-punks Bastard, featuring guitarist Brian James of the Damned and Elton Motello front man and drummer Alan … Read more
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