[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves punk rock music fighting the 13 cabin the dazzle J on the beat guitar with a short with radio bass his motherfucking envy scrolling look at motherfucker cuz here he comes Andy
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Sculling wearing his or his hat welcome to unsigned 518.
I'm here with John Montrose.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: Yeah, there you go.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Of punk rock radar. I was saying I was gonna fuck up the last names, and I'm gonna fuck this one up too. And. And Schwabischer of Divide by Zero, you aced it.
[00:00:42] Speaker D: And it's a complicated first and last name.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
And, you know. And I got yours, John. It was just a little bit of a struggle, but it was more of a lack of confidence than anything. But anyway, I am so excited for this episode. I've been looking forward to it for a long time because I've known of and been a fan of punk rock radar for a long time. And literally until, you know, we set this up, I didn't realize you were local. Like, I had no. I had no idea at all. I'm like, watching all these, like, interviews with, you know, huge punk rock stars and everything, and I'm like, holy.
But anyway, we want to talk about.
And I said, you know, we'll open it up to kind of whatever, but I really want to get the story of punk rock radar. We're going to hear some music from your label and then we're going to kind of switch it over to Schwa and Divide by Zero. We'll. We'll hear about the band and hear some music from you as well. But.
So I guess your love of punk rock I know, goes back a long time, but I guess tell us how that evolved into punk rock radar.
[00:01:55] Speaker C: Absolutely. So I'm a dookie generation guy. 1994 got dookie. I was 8 or 9 years old and I had no idea what punk rock was, but I knew that I loved this record. The same thing happened with Smash.
Then, like, you know, 97, 98 gets a little murky with, like, new metal and alternative rock. I listened to that. But then my friend brought over Damn it by Blink182. He goes, this is a punk band. This is punk rock. And I was like, okay. And I was like, this album is awesome. So then the next year was Enema Estate, and I started reading all the liner notes in Enema. They think no Effects kind of like catapulted my story into, like, Fat Rack epitaph in the early 2000s, when that was the biggest thing going. And ever since then, I've just been obsessed with the genre.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: And I love it that, you know, because I'm looking at it from a different. And you've just kind of like we now like aged each, you know, I know where you are to where I was because 1994, when like Dookie and Smash, that was the year I turned 21.
[00:02:56] Speaker C: Okay?
[00:02:56] Speaker B: So like, those albums to me were like the, you know, they are so definitive of not only like my music taste, but like my fucking light, you know, like, you know, pre 21 and post 21 are two completely different people.
And when like Blink 182 came around, I remember and I. I like kick myself all the time and like, I. I don't care now, you know, But I hated that band because I thought that they were like Descendants.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Are like, again, one of my all time faves. And those I have been listening to since I was like 12, like, you know, since I was a kid. And I was like, they're just trying to rip off Descendants and I don't like it like, blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, since then I've matured and been like, oh, and they're one of my favorite bands. But Green Day was one of those bands that I defended from day one.
[00:03:53] Speaker C: Right on.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: I was like, you know, because people were like, they're pop. They sold out. And I'm like, no, they didn't. They just are doing their thing. And people caught on to it.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: And they were scapegoated for a while as like being sellouts, but they were just doing their thing, which was they didn't.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: If anything, they got better from the first two albums to Dookie to Insomniac.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: I mean, I think they're still getting better.
[00:04:19] Speaker C: Yeah, that's, you know, that's. Yeah, they never sold out. They never wavered on their views or anything. He's still very vocal, like, even in, you know, nowadays where some bands don't want to say stuff like that. So, like, I. I respect them as a band, like through and through. They've had some albums I don't care for, like the trilogy, but like, overall, I mean, that catalog is just stacked.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's the thing about a band is to be able to say that there's stuff that you don't like. I think true fans can do that. Yeah. Like, you know, to be like, well, you know, there's some. Some stuff I don't. I don't care for, you know, like, because there's gonna Be. Especially with the band that's swinging for the fence, you know, that are like, you know, taking these chances. They might not. They might not all land.
[00:05:03] Speaker D: I think it shows how passionate you are about the band when you critique it. Like, I'm so into Green Day that you mentioned the trilogy. And I'm like, oh, I have opinions on the trilogy. How obsessed I am with Green Day. That's why I care too much about that band. That's why I'm critical of some of their albums.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's good. That's the sign of a true fan. Cause you're like, I'll defend him to the death. But I'll also be like, you know, it's almost like your family, you know, you can be like, yeah, my brother's a dickhead, but I can say that. But you can. You can't say that, you know.
[00:05:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: But I don't have a brother, by
[00:05:34] Speaker D: the way, so I feel that way about Albany, too. People will go, oh, you're from Albany. And I'm like, I'll talk crap about Albany all the time. But I live there. I get to. You don't get to talk crap about Albany. Just.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: I do, 100%. So when did you like. Or not even when, but, like, how did you roll your love of punk rock? Like, are you in a band yourself and a musician yourself?
[00:05:57] Speaker C: I played in punk bands all through high school and college, but I haven't played in a band since probably 2009. It's been a while.
[00:06:06] Speaker B: But your passion is, like. Because I'm like this. I mean, I do play in a band, but I almost devote more time to other bands than I do in my. Because, like, that's my passion is seeing bands succeed and seeing scenes lift up. And so I guess. When did you switch to, like, making that, like, a serious, like, you know.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: Yeah. So it kind of goes back to, like, what I was saying with Enema the State, reading the liner notes, finding bands that way, and then as, like, physical media kind of went away, you're kind of just, you know, given bands that are fall into your algorithm. Like, that's how a lot of bands are discovered nowadays. So 2013, I started. It's lame, but I started a Tumblr because I still don't know how to make a website or anything, so that's that. The best vehicle I had, it was called Obscure Band, Obscure Band Spotlight. And I had a little corner called Punk Rock Radar.
And I did that for, like, a couple years. But then, like, once Covid hit that's when I really went. I was like, let me see where I could take this. So I made the Instagram account. I started reaching out to every possible band I could. Hey, you got anything going on? Any music coming out? And just putting up every single thing I could find just so more people could, you know, discover the band if I was digging it.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: And it was really just a. You were like, I want to do this. I'm going to do this. And you started taking steps, right?
[00:07:29] Speaker C: Like, killing time.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. That's like, everybody who, like, wants to do anything when they're, like, asking for advice or, like, how do I. Or who do I. It's like, just fucking do it. Just take those steps, and if you're doing it and you think it's good, it'll. It'll keep rolling. And if you don't want to, then whatever, you know? And, like, I love that you were just like, I'm. I'm doing this. Like, yeah, here we. Here we go. And then here we are.
So I guess, you know, I. I don't have questions, you know, like, normal interview stuff, but, like, you know, just conversationally. I. I want to know, like, what was, like, the first.
The first moment where you're like, holy, like, I'm talking to.
So, you know, like, yeah, there's been a couple.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: There's been a couple of those. Like, the very first, like, big, big band I work with was Bowling for Soup. This is, like, maybe 2021 or 2022. I had, like, it was still extremely small account, and I was doing this podcast called Blind Band Reviews where we listen to, like, four or five bands and have the listeners vote which one they like the best. And then it was like a tournament that kind of rolled and rolled. At the end, I reached out to Jared and I just said, hey, you want to just record, like, a video congratulating the winner? And he's like, yeah, you want me to get the whole band in it? And I was like, yes. He goes, when you need it by? I was like, I don't know, like, a couple of weeks ago. You got it, man. That was it. And I was like, okay. I guess that's super cool of him. Like, he seems like a legit guy if you follow him.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: I, like, like, never met him, obviously, or whatever, but, like, he. Like, when you're saying that, I'm like, that's the impression that I get from his social media that he's the kind of guy that'. Like, yeah, absolutely, you know, like, yeah,
[00:09:13] Speaker C: I think I had, like, 600 followers. Then like, I was like a little small account and I'm just, let me message Jared from Bowling for Soup. I always see him posting and then he's like, yeah, I'll do it. Like, that's it. No questions asked. Yeah, but I guess like the, the biggest, biggest turning point for this was when the Punk Rock Museum was going to open. This was like prior to its opening. I got reached out to by Vinnie for former drummer of Less Than Jake, who's like the. He's in charge of marketing over there. And he goes, do you want to like, run the official playlist for the Punk Rock Museum? I always see you're posting the, the. The new music. Do you want to do something weekly for us? And I was like, yeah, dude. He goes, let's. He's like, what's your number? And he called me and I'm just like, we're talking for like two hours, just like bouncing ideas off each other. And Less Than Jake is top three band of all time for me. So like, it was like literally unreal talking to the guy who wrote the lyrics to like, some of my favorite songs of all time. And at that point I was so small. That was 2022 also.
And I'm like, holy shit. Like, where can I take this? Like, where. Where's next? But that was the real jump off.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: That's. I mean. And you know, for anybody listening to like, like you said with Jared, you had like 600 followers. You were just like, fuck it, I'm going to message him. And sometimes that's all it takes, you know what I mean? To just be like, I'm going to. You know, people forget almost sometimes that's human beings behind like the, the people that you hold in such high regard. And sometimes they're like, yeah, if I can, you know, like, if I was famous, I would help everybody.
[00:10:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, I would help everybody. So I love when there's cool people like that and it seems like it's like punk rock and the horror community are where I found the best, best people. Like, and like, you know, other. Other genres as well. But whatever. We're talking about punk rock.
So what's your.
[00:11:10] Speaker D: What's your.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: You said lesson? Jake was in your top five.
What's like your. Would you say is your favorite punk band?
[00:11:18] Speaker C: It. I always say, like, it's goes between Green Day and no Effects. Like I would have to say Green Day since it's like the foundation for like my whole. Where my life kind of turned out now. Like, so I would say Green Day one, no Effects to. Because they're. Once I hit high school, like, freshman year is when I really discovered them. And once you get that back catalog from, like, 2000 in the 90s, you're like, it doesn't get any better than this. Like, it never will.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: And now I saw the. You know, on Instagram, the, like, name the song. Like, see, name the song. And I. I don't know if we can. Probably can't do it on the show with licensing or whatever, but maybe even, like, off the air. I do want to make it.
[00:11:58] Speaker C: We're going to do it, man. I loaded the songs on my phone. We're going to do it.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Because, like, I saw the one and it was funny because, like, the one with. With Jefe, when he's like, yeah, I can't remember the name. He's like, I know how to play it, but I can't remember the name. But, yeah. But yeah, I definitely want to try that because I would say it's like, Descendants, no Effects, Less than Jake, Bad Religion, Hell yeah, maybe.
And, like, Fugazi, Minor Threat. I don't know. It was tough. I like. I like them all.
[00:12:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
Whenever I get asked, like, top five, I feel like I've given, like, 20 different answers.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:36] Speaker C: I'm just like. I don't. I don't know. It's tough. Any given day.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: It is. It is tough. But I love that it's not because I don't find a lot of, like, a lot of people that are as into no Effects as me. And, like, a. Like, I have a couple friends that really are. But a lot of other people, like, are like, oh, yeah, Linoleum. Right. Yeah, yeah, sure. The song's 40 years old at this point, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I. I, you know, they're. They're my. They're my dudes. I think I saw, like, I saw him. We were talking about it before we got rolling at Brockton.
[00:13:11] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: And you were. You said you were at that one on one of the two nights I
[00:13:15] Speaker D: went to the first night, because the second night I went to Pennsylvania to go see Green Day at Hershey. So I saw the two back to back. The two bands you were just talking about.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Amazing.
[00:13:22] Speaker D: My absolute favorites. I feel like Green Day is the gateway drug to no Effects and like every other punk rock band.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:30] Speaker D: Like, I got into Green Day when American Idiot came out, and it's still, to this day, my absolute favorite album. And I didn't really understand what punk rock was till I heard that album, and then that's when I started listening to more, like, pop punk stuff like Simple Plan, bands like that. And then later on, I moved in the other direction, started listening to, like, Bad Religion, no Effects and stuff like that. Like, it was the gateway. Because I wouldn't really call Green Day a pop punk band. Yeah, they have poppy melodies, but I wouldn't consider it pop punk, like, All Time Low as pop punk, if that makes.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: Well, I mean, the same thing with Descendants. Like, Descendants, A lot of people call them pop punk. And I'm like, they're the great grandfathers of pop punk. But, like, I don't think they. You know, but it is poppy. But I guess when, you know, if they were really pop punk, they'd be arena touring. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, pop means popular. And, like, if people aren't fucking buying it, then it's not.
[00:14:27] Speaker D: People love to debate what's punk rock and what's pop punk. But I think there is a difference between a punk rock song with a poppy melody or just a catchy vocal melody versus what I'd consider actual pop punk, which is, like, All Time Low, simple plan, Blink 182 kind of thing.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: And I also think just the word punk on its own is such a ambiguous term. Not a big. But, like, it's a broad term. You know what I mean? Like, you could look at like. Like.
Like Pete Seeger, you know, like folk singer from, like, you know, whatever. Like. But he was punk as. You know what I mean? Like, he did folk music, but he was. He was a. He was a punk rocker, you know, like, so it's. It's. It's a mindset, like, kind of as well as music. And it is, I don't know, broad enough where I think there's room for everybody. Right.
[00:15:18] Speaker D: I love the entire spectrum of punk rock, too. Like, even what you said, like, folk punk. Like Frank Turner and, like, originally he was playing with all punk rock bands on his lineup, and he was the only one who was folk. And that's back when he was really just playing folk, like, influence. Like, he would have music influenced by no Effects and the Descendants and stuff, but it was. It was really folk. He was also.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: What did you think of the. The split that he did with no Effects?
[00:15:41] Speaker D: I love the split. It's so great. I would say that Frank Turner absolutely won, you know, like, the album covers. Like a boxing fight, like, it's verses. I think Frank Turner's covers were better.
[00:15:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: And I think a lot of it is Because I'm, you know, obviously more familiar with the no Effect songs. Like, hearing no Effects sing songs that I'm not familiar with in the first place is. Is not as exciting as hearing someone cover my favorite songs. And, like, especially, like, Eat the Meek. Like, my band does a cover of Eat the Meek. I was saying we have a trumpet player or whatever, but, like, we just do a straight, straight cover of it. Sounds exactly the same. And I played the Frank Turner one for my guitarist the other night, and I was like, see how long it takes for you to figure out what song this is?
[00:16:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: And he's, like, listening. He's like, no, no. And they never listen to the fucking words. If they're not singing. They don't listen. And then he's like, no. I'm like, I'll give you a hint. We do a cover of it.
And he was like, what? What? And then he was like, oh, I get. All right, all right.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Eat the meat. Eat the meat. But it's, like, so different, and I don't know.
[00:16:43] Speaker D: I love both versions. I love the original so much. It's kind of that, like, reggae ska like, thing that no Effects does every once in a while. And it's so good.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And we, like. We do a few no Effects covers, and it's nice to have a trumpet player because, you know, they have trumpet and so many. So many songs.
[00:16:58] Speaker D: Like, real quick, and then we can get back to you. I'm gonna hijack the interview real quick. That split album you're talking about, the first song, Substitute, bugs me so much because, like, I. I do, like, no Effects version, but the original version is just so beautiful. It's just like. It's a passionate song that Frank Turner did. It's extremely relatable. And then Fat Mike, of course, is putting, like, lines about his kinky love life in there, and I'm like, what are you doing to this original masterpiece?
[00:17:26] Speaker B: Makes it a Fat Mike.
[00:17:28] Speaker D: It makes a no Effect song for sure. But I'm just listening. I'm just like, oh, okay.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: All right. So, you know, we're talking now. We got, like, kind of into Covid. You have, like, some successes talking to, like, Jared Bowling from Bowling for Soup, and he answered the question whether it was bowling on behalf of soup or bowling with soup as a reward. And I believe the answer was soup as a reward.
[00:17:54] Speaker C: I think so, too.
[00:17:55] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:17:55] Speaker C: He's posting a couple of wheels about it. Yeah, he's. I know that's, like, one of his favorite things to comment about, so. But I. Even if I've seen it so many times that I don't remember, like, yeah, it's great.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: But so like, after like those successes, like, obviously the fire is kind of lit and. And you're off and running.
Do you have like, do you have a team? Is it still just you? Like, where. Where are we at? Kind of coming up to now.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: So the label, the. The post, the editing, that's all. All me.
I have people that help on YouTube, like, kind of just because honestly, I can't do the show by myself. I need to bounce things off of other people. It makes a better content. So the. The people I have on the show are like some of my best friends and they like, they're very entertaining. They have a much more like boisterous personality than I do.
So like, they're kind of a good mix into the show.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Nice and work well. Actually, we'll. We'll get to the. Where people find you like at the end. But we, we want to talk music. So you were going to showcase a song from a band off your label. So I guess tell us about the band a little bit.
[00:19:08] Speaker C: Yeah. So like the. The real quick, the label, something I started in 2023, Cat's Claw Records from the UK reached out to me. Do you want to co release this split from these German punk bands? I. I was like, yeah, whatever. Like it's something seems like the next logical step. But the song I want to play the band called Making Friends, who put out an album a couple years ago that Catskill and I worked together on called Fine Dying. It's very. If you're a fan of no Effects and Lag Wagon, they're amazing. They do the theme song for the punk rock radar YouTube show and they have a new record coming out this summer and this is the first single from it. It's gonna be a video premiering this Friday on punk Rock Raider YouTube. But it's called Suck Brick Kid and it's awesome. They're so good. They're like one of the best up and coming punk bands, so I'm stoked for everybody to hear it.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: All right, well, let's check out Suck Brick Kid for Making Friends. And they'll be right back.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: With Everything I can't be Wish I could step outside myself Escape the noise Everything else before just one day I look around and see for what's closing on me and nothing else.
This something had be put on track for all the world in darkness where my life's prison I feel myself to the side to overwhelm everything Days of the psycho war.
Wish I could step outside myself Escape the voice of just one day I Look around the faith Ghosting on me I.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: All right, so that was Suck Brick Kid by Making Friends.
Now, John, we want to talk about the. The Green Day cover compilation that was put together. And that'll kind of lead into Divide by Zero. And you guys are on it, and Making Friends is on it. So I guess tell us, I guess how that came together. But what I want to kind of know personally is was there any involvement from the band or their representation? Or was it just, like, kind of illegal? You signed some papers and got rights or whatever?
[00:22:37] Speaker C: Like, yeah, it's. It's kind of like we're winging this thing, to be honest. Yeah.
[00:22:42] Speaker B: Love it.
[00:22:43] Speaker C: I. I've reached out to Crush management, I've reached out to Warner.
Crush said it's fine, but we're not involved. So I'm like, okay, that's. That's all I need you to say. So that's about the steps we've taken. Like, the bands are doing their mechanical rights. We're making sure that everything we're printing is legit and legal. But, like, yeah, it was just kind of a spur of the moment thing. I just texted Mike from Cough and Curse Records, who's done, like, a couple of these comps, and I was like, dude, I want to do something for, like, animal shelters. Like, and, like, I see you doing these tributes. Like, you haven't done a Green Day one yet. Like, I feel like it'll do really well. Like, one of the biggest bands in the world. We could probably get a hundred bands to contribute. And he just. He just sent me back, yeah, let's do it. And then, like, we just. I made a post looking for bands. We got 900 submissions, which is insane.
And all we did for, like, three weeks is, like, we put them all on a playlist. We're listening to them one by one. We're like, okay, this one's good. This one's not. This one's good.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: So you, like, literally had to narrow down.
[00:23:50] Speaker C: Like, I listened to all of them by. Yeah.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:23:54] Speaker D: 900.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: 900.
[00:23:56] Speaker D: Oh, my God. I feel like we cheated when we got on because I just, like, sent you a message and I was like, hey, can we hop on this? And you're like, yeah. My cousin goes, how did you just get. My cousin's a Florida based musician. Really? Awesome. And he played on our song and he's like, how did you get on? I saw that, like, two Weeks ago, submissions were closed and I was like, oh, so thanks for including us, man. I appreciate it.
[00:24:16] Speaker C: Well, I mean, we were saying, like, we, you and I have been chatting on and off for six years now through Instagram, so. And it was a local band. So I was like, yeah, like, there's a lot of international bands on this. There's a lot of us bands. But like, to capture some like bands from this scene, I was just like, it's too cool.
Yeah. Plus I'm like, I'm a fan of your music, so it's like a no brainer.
[00:24:37] Speaker D: I really appreciate that. Thank you so much.
[00:24:38] Speaker C: And of course.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: So you, you know, you were saying that you go back messaging six years back and forth and we'll talk about like how we, how that came about. But one thing I noticed is in this room is you were like, it's nice to finally meet you in person. So like, is this the first time you're both meeting in person?
[00:24:57] Speaker D: Yes. Which is so weird.
Originally when we reached out to each other, I was living in Vermont, but that's not that far away. That's like, oh, really? Where, where in Vermont?
[00:25:07] Speaker B: I grew up in Chester, Vermont.
[00:25:09] Speaker D: I don't think I know Chester.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: An hour and a half directly east of here. Okay.
[00:25:12] Speaker D: I lived in Burlington and I'm so ignorant to Vermont only. No, Burlington.
[00:25:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:17] Speaker D: But we were also recording in Millington Studios, so that's in Albany. So we're really close by. But yeah, this is actually our first time meeting.
[00:25:25] Speaker C: Yep. Yeah.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: That's wild. So how, how did the, the meeting start? You know, six years ago, you were just like a fan of, of punk, rock, Punk rock radar. And we're so.
[00:25:38] Speaker D: I don't know how far back I should go with the whole history of my band. But we start, start from the beginning and then we get to, we'll get to punk rock radar.
So my band started when we were all in college. We were like playing in a old, gross, dusty basement. And like, we sounded terrible. And I was like, I was actually playing in a band on Long Island. Sounded amazing musicians, one of which was my cousin who'd go on to be a professional musician. Shout out to Sam Miller. He's awesome.
And then I was just playing with my college buddies. I'm like, we suck. This will never be a band. Like, this is horrible. And then we played a frat party and we were just playing like Stacy's mom and pop punk covers and stuff and people were screaming. Meanwhile, I'd play gigs on Long island to like 10 people no one would care. And I had a hundred people screaming, play this song. Play this song. And I was like, all right, we sound terrible, but we're gonna make this a band. So that's how Divide by Zero started. And then fast forward a couple years. We graduated college. My bandmates are like, I don't wanna do this anymore. And I'm like, well, I do, and I need you guys, and I love music. So you were gonna keep playing let doing this. And I started, like, listening to a Spotify playlist, one of the curated ones, central ska. And I was like, man, this one band sounds so good. They kind of sound like state champs, but with like horns in it. It's like very. Almost like pop punk, post hardcore kind of mix. Like that state champ, neck deep sound. I'm like, I've never heard a band sound like this before. They're so good. And that was Millington.
And.
Sorry, give me like one second to think about my answer. You might want to cut this.
And then I kept listening to their songs and they were talking about going north of the thruway, and I'm like, that's weird. North of throughway is what people say, like when you go from the 87th throughway to the north way, that sounds really familiar. And then there's a song about drinking in Saratoga. And I'm like, okay, this isn't a coincidence anymore. Go to their Spotify bio and see that. Cody Okonski, their singer, is also a producer, and he worked on Blink 1A2's 2016 album California, which is my favorite Blink album, and that he's based out of Albany. And I was like, no way I'm going to slide in this dude's DMs and just beg like, please produce my band's first EP. And that's how we got in touch with Cody. It somehow worked. And he produced our first ep and I have no idea how. I also convinced him and Millington to feature on our first ever released track. In college, we had a demo again, it sounded terrible. This is our first ever real song produced by someone who worked worked with Blink 182 and featuring Millington right as they were blowing up. And we released that song and that's when you posted about it. I don't know how you found it, but I was like, who's this account from Saratoga called Punk Rock Radar, who is saying, listen to this song. So thank you so much for doing that.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: And.
[00:28:20] Speaker D: But that's originally how we got in touch. How did you find our song? Do you Remember when.
[00:28:24] Speaker C: When you asked the question, I was like, I'm thinking back in my mind. I was like, man, I hope it wasn't me, because I have no clue how this happened, but I'm assuming that I was following Millen. Not Millen, Colin Milling.
[00:28:37] Speaker D: Also a great band, though.
[00:28:38] Speaker C: I get it mixed up because there's the Lillingtons and then there's Millington. So I'm always like, my head is. Doesn't know where to go, but I think I must have been following them. And it said featured by Millington and you guys were on there. That's the. That's the logical step. I'm thinking that would make sense. Yeah. To my. To my knowledge, that's what happened.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: But it was still just an organic. Like, you just stumbled across the music and then.
[00:29:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I was digging it over all these years.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: It leads up to, you know, Divide by Zero, being on the Green Day comp.
[00:29:09] Speaker D: And I do have to give a shout out to Cody from Millington because we never would have, like, started without him. Like, we were, like, out of college. Just, like, I feel like there's almost two eras of our band back when we, like, just used to gig all the time, back when we were younger, and then the studio half, where we gig way less now, and we focus on, like, releasing songs. And like, we're in that transition period, and we started working with Cody, and no one ever would have listened to our songs if it wasn't for him going, okay, you get a Millington feature every time I produce one of your songs. Gonna put you on our Instagram and stuff. And that's how people discovered us. And eventually our next producer, Christopher Escalante, who's a very notable voice actor and, like, famous in his own right, started working with us. And it's all because Cody introduced us. So our whole start is because of Cody from Millington. So shout out to him.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: Yeah. And plus, it's great music. And I was saying, you know, before we are, in between recording, how they've always been, like, super cool with giving me permission to play their music. You know, like a figure, a band of their stature, you know, would be like, yeah, you know, I'll get back to you. But they've always been like, yeah, immediately, cool, go ahead, play the shit. So I appreciate them as well. Like, probably not as much as you, because they didn't launch. They didn't launch my career.
[00:30:21] Speaker D: Yeah. But even just as a fan, I would say that they're the best ska band of the last 10 years. I can Easily say that. They're my favorite band out of Albany for sure, and just one of my top, top bands of all time.
[00:30:33] Speaker B: And I didn't even think, like, I almost don't even think of them as. And I'm someone who, like, listens to local music.
Not exclusively, But I mean, 75% of what I listen to is from a 50 mile radius of where we are right now. But, like, I didn't even think of them as an Albany band anymore. Like, they're like, get it? You know, they're getting up to that. We're pretty soon they're going to be a national band that have roots in Albany. But, you know, like, they're.
I think they're gonna blow up.
[00:31:01] Speaker D: I would say at this point, they are a national tour. They.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: You're right.
[00:31:05] Speaker D: They are on all three American Warp tour dates this year. I saw the poster and I texted Cody, like, holy shit, dude. I was deciding which date I wanted to go to. I'm like, don't go to Montreal, D.C. or Florida. And I'm like, oh, Cody and Millington are playing this. So it's crazy to see how much they've blown up. They absolutely deserve it, though. Some of the best songwriting and production like I've ever heard in ska music.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And plus the songs are, you know, just that it's. It's hard to.
It's hard to write songs that are interesting, you know, like, it really is. So, like, when their songs come out, I'm always like, these are great.
Like, I can't write. I can't write songs that interesting.
I know that for sure.
So, you know, we want to talk, I guess, a little bit more about the comp. And we're going to play your.
Your contribution to the comp, correct?
[00:32:00] Speaker D: Yes. And I will say all the time, my favorite album of all time is American Idiot. That album means everything to me. It's the reason I got into punk rocks, the reason I'm a musician. It's the reason I started a band. With that being said, we hopped on this comp at like the last second. So all the songs off American Idiot were taken. So we're doing a song of Dookie and we covered Having a Blast.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Oh, nice. That's a. I mean, see, for me, like I said, I love American Idiot. I love American Idiot. But for me it's. It's Dookie. Like, that's my.
That's my, my perfect. I mean, I. I'm an album guy, so, like, I like to listen beginning to end, but there's A lot of albums that have songs, and I'm like, nah, I'll skip this one. Like, you know, Dookie's a no skip a single. Not a single song on there that you need to skip.
So do we want to go right into the song, or is there anything else you want to add for the
[00:32:47] Speaker C: comp or just before we go into.
100 of proceeds go to care of DC no kill animal Shelter in Wappinger's Falls and Young Williams center in Knoxville, Tennessee, another no Kill shelter. So a hundred percent of proceeds from the shirts, the vinyl, the couple release shows, we're doing all that's going to the shelters. 100% sick.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: I love that. All right, well, cool. Well, let's. Let's check out Divide by Zero doing having a blast from Green Day. We'll be right back to wrap it up.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: Chicken, are you down with me?
Explosive stock tape to my spine Nothing's gonna change my mind I won't be den to anyone's last words there's nothing left for you to say soon you'll anyway well, no one here is getting out alive this time I've really lost my mind and I don't care so close your eyes and kiss yourself goodbye and think about the times we spent and what they meant to me it's nothing to me it's nothing to me it's nothing to me it's nothing Then I'm losing all my happiness the happiness you pinned on me My loneliness still comforts me My anchor what's inside of me I'm taking it all out on you and all the shit you put me through well, no one here is getting out alive this time I've really lost my mind and I don't care so close your eyes and kiss yourself goodbye and think about the times we spent and what they meant to me it's nothing to me it's nothing to me it's nothing to me it's nothing do you ever think back to another time?
Does it bring you so down that you thought you do you ever wanna lead a long trail of destruction and mow down any bullshit that confronts ya?
Do you ever build up all the small things in your head to make one problem that adds up to nothing to me it's nothing to me it's nothing to me it's.
[00:35:57] Speaker B: All right that was Having a Blast Divided by Zero so, you know, I want to thank you guys so much. This has been really, really cool.
But before we go, like I do with all my guests, I want to give you each A chance to say what I refer to as your gratitude. So, John, well, we'll start with you.
[00:36:13] Speaker C: Yeah, there's a. There's a couple accounts that I want to give a lot of credit to for the growth punk rock radar has received the last couple years.
Get Some magazine in LA who's really been roping me into a lot of festival giveaways and stuff. That kind of exposure has been huge.
Fat Mike and Melanie K at the Punk Rock Museum, who have been some of my biggest supporters the last year or so, who, you know, have me traveling all over the U.S.
so to them, and then to my wife for allowing me to spend so much time locked in my office doing pretty much nonsense. Pretty much the same thing I've been doing since I was 15 years old. She's letting me do it at 40.
So just to her for being very patient with my obsession with punk rock.
[00:36:59] Speaker D: So thank you for letting us do this. Thank you to both of you. For starters, thank you for having us on and thank you for featuring my band for the last five years on your Instagram. And I really appreciate it. I also have to give a huge shout out right now to Sid from my band, our guitarist, singer, because he just went into emergency surgery. He had a brain tumor out of nowhere. He lives up in Vermont. Me and my saxophone player have to, like, rush up there before he goes to the surgery. And he's recovering, he's doing well. He has an eye patch and is walking with a cane. He looks like a badass, but he's. He's doing. He's recovering well, but he's in my thoughts right now. So I'm glad I get to shout him out once again, Cody Okonski from Millington. He gave us our start and one of the best bands out there right now. And also our other producer, Christopher Escalante. He got introduced to him through Cody and he is just such a phenomenal producer. Like, we are going to be releasing our second EP soon. It's not even as much of an EP as it is a compilation of the singles we've been putting out. Because, like, just trying to get everyone together to record takes forever. So it's like one single year and we'll call it an EP now. But listening to EP1 versus EP2 and all that Chris brought to it, it's like he brought new life into our band. So huge shout out to him, too.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: All right, so he is John from Punk Rock Radar Schwa From Divide by Zero. I'm Andy Scullin. This is Unsigned518 I'll see you on the road.
Unsigned518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullin. New episodes are available every week wherever you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a
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Take care of one another and I'll see you next week.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: Andy Skullen.
