Pack your bags, grab your bug spray, throw back a shot of Malort and follow the inflatable hot dog as Riot Squad Media is returning to Northeast Pennsylvania to take over the West End Fairgrounds in Gilbert, PA with the 5th year of Camp Punksylvania! The 3-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like Dillinger Four, The Lawrence Arms, The Vandals and Bridge City Sinners, will take place from 20 June until 22 June. Tickets are available here. TGEFM had the opportunity to speak with Cardboard Homestead to discuss this year’s festival for the latest installment of this year’s Camp-centric interview series: Happy Campers. Check it out below and I’ll see you at the campfire!
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What has Cardboard Homestead been up to since we last spoke ahead of the 2024 Camp Punksylvania?
Josiah: Working on songs and surviving.
Ian: Being feral and eating hot dogs.
Cuzzy: Doing everything I can, holding on to what I am, pretending I’m a superman.
Mat: As you may have known 2024 was the piss boi summer. We’ve been working on laying the foundation for giggle boi summer.
This will be my 3rd consecutive year at Camp Punksylvania, but I’ve sadly had other circumstances prevent me from seeing Cardboard Homestead in 2023 & 2024. What should I expect from your performance that I 100% plan to finally experience? What do you want campers to write home about after your set?
Josiah: No sleep, ska jokes and a guaranteed loss at rock, paper, scissors. Also some new songs.
Ian: That can’t really be answered until it happens. We have some new material so that’s fun but who knows what will happen.
Cuzzy: I hope everyone has fun.
Mat: Giggles and whimsy.
What makes you want to come back and perform at Camp again? How has it felt being able to watch this thing grow from the inside?
Ian: Being as close as we are with the crew for as long as long as we have been has been an amazing experience. Two of us have some behind the scenes roles this year and we couldn’t be more proud of what this has become. But it def isn’t a cult.
Cuzzy: It’s a great thing to see the payoff from all the hard work my friends put in all year to get prepared and make this fest happen.
The Camp Punksylvania socials recently posted about the inclusivity and diversity of the team and lineup. From an artist’s perspective, how does the diversity of the lineup and the volunteers improve Camp for the artists and the attendees?
Mat: More representation is always great.
We’ve touched on this in previous interviews, but many of the Camp Punx artists have not been afraid to get political and in the interest of bluntness, this timeline is kinda way fucked. With all the shit going on, many of us need the community that comes from these small acts of rad at Camp. How do you hope the festival and your set benefits the scene and community?
Josiah: Well shit, it nice to sing about unity but it way better bring about it and that can’t happen without all of us from every walk of life representing.
Cuzzy: At least provide some brief reprieve from the existential horrors we all face.
In 2024, I was lucky enough to bring my oldest to day 2 of Camp. They got to meet Fred from Taking Back Sunday, I was able to read the joy written across their face as Catbite performed and I watched them fall in love with SOJI and The Karens. Thats my story, but kids make up a pretty big demographic at Camp. Ox from the Skagazine team has been invited to share the stage with Suburban Downgrade and Suicide Machines or Gabe from Kids in the Pit performing with Punk Rock Cellist last year and now his band World of Chaos being invited to perform. Looking at
these kids in the crowd, surfing the pit or on stage; where do you see the future of the scene? Are the kids actually all right?
Ian: It starts with us providing a safe environment for these kids to fall in love with what the community is actually about and this fest 100% provides that. So yeah, I think they’re going to be alright.
In a world where students are being detained for exercising their First Amendment rights in a student newspaper, its not far-fetched to assume artists could find themselves under fire for their lyrics. With the current political climate, are you finding it more challenging or invigorating to approach the causes you support musically? How do you think musicians can or should traverse such rocky ground right now? What steps, if any do you take to keep your personal life separated from your musical career? Have you found yourself in any uncomfortable situations with listeners who wanted to use their “trust me, bro” sources to minimize your music and lyrics?
Josiah: Free Gaza, trans rights are human rights, abolish ice and anyone I see being about the opposite can catch these hands.
One of the coolest moments from Camp last year was the Career Mode set when Black Guy Fawkes and others joined the band to perform a few pop-punk and emo covers. Career Mode is returning this year, what songs could they perform to get you back on their stage to grab their mics?
Josiah: “Lifestyles of the rich and the famous”
Ian: Anything Sum 41.
Cuzzy: “The taste of ink” by the Used would be pretty exciting. Ian and I have bonded together over that song a lot in the last year.
Mat: Any Cardboard song so I can finally do my Ian impression.
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see this year?
Josiah: Def TCI (The Chemical Imbalance)
Ian: TCI
Cuzzy: Bridge City Sinners
Mat: The Chugs. They said they would bring us a couple cases of Hamms.
Last year I asked the same question about who you are looking forward to. Mat said he was excited to see a band he had “never heard of and instantly needing to buy their merch.” Soooo…. Who was the band last year?
Cuzzy: The Chemical Imbalance but I think Ian got their last shirt before I could get one
Mat: Beef.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Cuzzy: No face, no case
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/