Happy Campers: A Camp Punksylvania Interview with Sweet Anne Marie

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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. Pennsylvania singer-songwriter Sweet Anne Marie 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 have you been up to since last year's Camp and the EP release that coincided with the festival?

Thank you so much for having me again! Last year at Camp was a killer time, after I released my EP Heaven In The Distance I went on tour with Tim Holehouse and Condition Oakland, played Fest 21, and started working on new music! My newest single “Spent” just came out, with more coming soon!

Your performance to open up the Sampler Stage was a true standout for me last year at Camp. What made you want to come back and do it again?   How has it felt being able to watch this thing grow from the inside?

Thanks so much! The Sampler Stage was definitely fun to play! Opportunities like this are special to be apart of, I'll Come back every year they'll have me! Watching it grow and change makes me feel like I'm apart of something bigger than just a punk festival!

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?

There's been many bands that have influenced me and my music since starting out, artists like Counting Crows, The Gaslight Anthem, and Bruce Springsteen, but there was never a catalyst moment. My whole life I've just always knew I wanted to be a musician, I grew up in a very musical household and as far back as I can remember it's the one thing that I've always wanted, so I'm very lucky and grateful to be doing what I'm doing. 
There's a bunch of really great Non-camp bands, some I really enjoy are Greg Rekus, 13 Cavities from Philadelphia, PA, In A Perfect Sky From Wilkes-Barre, PA, and Valentvne from Syracuse, NY all of who either just put out or will be putting out new music soon!

What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What's been the most unexpected? The weirdest?

There were many memorable moments from Pouzza Fest in 2023, It was the first time I played a show out of the country, we got stopped at the boarder and I almost got fined for bringing my pepper spray with me. We had to carry our gear like 15 blocks through the pouring rain to get to the venue, and I accidentally spilled a coffee all over my merch at the merch mall. Luckily for that one Russian Tim and Pavel Bures were set up next to us and Russian Tim saved the day with some towels and a mop.
If you're reading this, you're a real one Russian Tim.

Regarding live sets, 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?

I just hope people have fun at Camp Punksylvania, we put so much preparation into those 30 minutes and I hope everyone can see how much we love what we do!

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?

There's probably many things I wish I handled differently as a musician but the biggest lesson I've learned from that is to be prepared for anything!

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?

I think alot of bands and artist at the level I'm at really like working with their friends, if someone is booking shows or looking for collaborations their first choice is going to be their friend's bands or their friend's friend's band. I think it may look like gatekeeping but I believe most times its just people helping out the people they love! If it looks like there's a lot of gatekeeping in your scene maybe going to more local shows or talking to the bands might open more doors than you realize.

Last year, Campers got to see you on the Sampler Stage, on the Fire Stage and on bass with your partner Tyler's project, Condition Oakland.  Where will we find you this year?  Do you have any collabs in the works for this year's performances?

Yes! This year I'll be there with a full band and few guest stars! Tyler from Condition Oakland will be playing lead guitar, Tedd Hazard will be on bass and Marina Pagán will be on drums, and you can catch us on the Waxpax Stage on Sunday at 12pm!

This could be my own confirmation bias thanks to following a lot of the Camp Punksylvania acts for the last year or two, but the whole Northeast PA scene seems to really be thriving right now.  What's going on over there that is nurturing so many killer acts?

We really do have a great scene here! There's definitely alot of really talented musicians and plenty of people that come out to shows and that really care about the scene, and when bands and venues start doing well it really spotlights all the other bands around.

If Punksylvania were a real camp, what activities are each of you leading?

Last year I said was leading arts and crafts but lately I've been getting back into Roller skating so this year I'm leading Roller Disco, I know that's not a typical camp activity but what about Camp Punksylvania is typical?

Last year you told us you'd perform the “Campfire Song Song” from SpongeBob. What song would you like to perform around the campfire this year?

Well me and my band have a pretty good sing-along to lead around the Campfire but you'll have to come see our set on the WaxPax stage on Sunday to sing it with us!

Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?

The line up is so good this year! But I'm stoked for Less Than Jake, The Karens, Catbite, and of course my friends in One Revived, Dr Frankensteins Monsters, The Whiskey Bats, Meanderthal, and Old Daggers.

Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

Well I'll have more new music coming out very soon so be on the look out for that! We've been putting a ton of work into it, It's got a more rock and roll sound than my past releases so I'm very excited for everyone to hear it! 
See you at Camp!