Grab your s’mores, your bug spray, a shot of Malort and pack your bags as Riot Squad Media is returning to Northeast Pennsylvania to take over the West End Fairgrounds in Gilbert, PA with Camp Punksylvania! The 3-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like 7 Seconds, The Bronx, Less Than Jake, will take place from 5 July until 7 July tickets are available here. Scranton up and comers Old Daggers joined TGEFM to discuss this year’s festival for the latest installment of our 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 should our readers know about Old Daggers; your mission, your sound?
Old Daggers formed out of some long friendships, some bands that had existed in the past and a desire to make music together again.
We strive to play songs that make people want to sing along, dance, and live in the moment.
We only get so many nights of friendship and the joy that music brings in this life and the more we get to be a part of the better.
Our sound lives in that idea as well. We’ve gotten the Leatherface/Hot Water Music comparison a lot. A harder/more punk Gaslight Anthem.
I joke that we write Love songs for the broken-hearted, whether that’s from lost love or just aging in the punk scene, and dreaming about the past.
Sean excels at writing lyrics that tie to a time and a place in a lot of people’s lives.
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst? On the flipside to that one… Who are some non-Camp bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
That’s a tough question. For me personally it would be Lifetime Hello Bastards, just like they got me through some tough times screaming along with Ari, that’s what I strive for.
If we can help someone get through the bad parts of life I’ve done my job. For the rest of the band:
Anthony – Blink 182 Dude Ranch and AFI Very Proud of Ya
Gabe – Jimi Hendrix Are you Experienced The Drums and Bass are just insane on that album
Sean: Bruce Springsteen Nebraska and The River, DRI – Dealing with it, The Germs Lexicon Devil and Patsy Cline Walking after Midnight
Non camp bands to check out Over Our Eyes deserve some love. Michael Kane and the Morning Afters, the Ravagers, Make War, ERRTH, Pucker Up! So many amazing musicians out there where do you even start to give them their due.
You are gearing up for Camp Punksylvania in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves?
With jobs, families, and everything else getting the opportunity to play a festival as fantastic as Punksylvania is huge. It lets us interact with others, be they attendees, musicians, vendors, and that is what we live for. The potential to play for so many people at one place is just an incredible opportunity for us. We want to be out on the road more but that’s not always easy with life.
What do Old Daggers have planned for us beyond Camp Punksylvania?
We have a few local bangers coming up, July 20 in Scranton at the V Spot with the River City Rebels, Michael Kane, and For Ages. August 4th we are part of the kick off show for Black Flag at the Sherman Theatre in Stroudsburg PA. We are going to take a breather before getting back at it in September with some shows in the works. Our goal is to push further out of Northeast Pa whenever possible, and just keep doing what we do. By Punksylvania we should also have new music out and streaming. Our first album will be getting a physical release on vinyl later this summer from WaxPax Records.
What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?
So the thing that has been most unexpected for us is how often unexpected people talk to us after shows about how much they enjoyed us. We have played metal shows and had a fantastic response from people, random people at bars dancing along who don’t necessarily fit our demographic. That’s something we never expected.
Regarding live shows, what are you most excited to bring to the Camp Punk audience? What do you want the campers to say about your set when they write home from camp this year?
We hope that they leave our set with a song stuck in their head and a thought in their hearts. That they mention us to just one person. That we made their weekend a bit brighter.
We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?
This is a personal one from me… I have been playing in bands since I was 18, had some really messy endings to bands, that in some cases made me walk away from what I love, and kept me mentally healthy. I missed a lot of opportunities during those years, bands I could have formed, bands I could have seen. That’s a tough one for me, missed opportunities, but in the long run this is what I was always waiting for. Personally Old Daggers has been an experience unlike anything I’ve done before in music. We truly are brothers, with all the ups and downs of family.
The punk and ska scenes have almost always been at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes. The flipside of course is that the gatekeeping in the scene is also very prevalent? Why do you think the genre brings in such a welcoming community and is so happy to let everyone in and also seems to shut the doors so quickly behind themselves?
That’s part of the toxicity of the scene. People are so quick to pigeon hole and judge someone for one misstep. One thing younger punks don’t realize is, it’s always been like that. The gate keeping isn’t something new. In the 90’s you were judged the same way people are today. On a positive, my experience at Punkylvania reminds me of the good that comes with the scene, welcoming, positive, a true community. Or as Laura would say “This is a cult.” I think people forget what it means to be an outcast, they find their tribe and forget that there are others out there desperate to find themselves and where they belong. There’s always more to learn in the scene, people shouldn’t be punished for not knowing every nuance of every band/promoted/history of music.
What’s going on with that NEPA (North East Pennsylvania) scene lately? I’m sure part of it is my bias and focus on the Camp but there’s been a ton of killer acts coming out of the area lately. What is it about the area that’s nurturing and growing artists at such a rapid and strong pace?
Northeast PA has always had a great music scene, there’s been some hills and valleys but I can trace back to the 90’s when most of the Daggers started going to shows. We were lucky to have a lot of great all ages venues over the years. Right now we are seeing a lot of growth and support. Growth in more venues, more people booking shows, a supportive network of bands, who don’t care what genre you play. It’s still not like it could be, getting people out to shows is still very difficult locally, but there are younger up and coming bands who are bringing new people in all the time. That helps to build a stronger community.
If Punksylvania were a real camp, what activities are each of you leading?
Sean – Dodging Machete wielding maniacs with mommy issues
Anthony – Booby Trap construction
Gabe – Yard Games
Chris – history of the camp
Let’s pretend there’s some post show jam sessions… what song are you playing at the Campfire sing-a-long?
“Bastards of Young” (I mean we will let Tired Radio take it but we are joining them)
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?
CoDefendants, Tired Radio, We are the Union, Kill Lincoln, Big D, Car Bomb Parade, Less Than Jake, and of course The Bronx always kill it! It would be easier to say everyone, there’s so many killer bands.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Kind of tied with the gatekeeping question. We as a scene decide how we grow, we as individuals decide how we approach punk. Stay positive, support each other, support the venues that welcome us, be there!
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/
