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 The Bad Ups 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 should our readers know about The Bad Ups; your history, your mission, your sound? What do The Bad Ups have planned for us beyond Camp Punksylvania?
Of course, thanks for reaching out! We’ve been a band for a few years and we’ve always put a heavy focus on writing songs that we love and believe in. I think our mission is basically that. Being true to ourselves and trying to spread love along the way! We have a small run with our label mates, Hub City Stompers, the same month as Camp and some pretty awesome unannounced bangers in the following months!
You are gearing up for Camp Punksylvania, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves?
Playing a Festival is pretty big for us. We’ve been hustlin for years playing in basements and clubs etc. we love that shit, but this feels exciting to play on a stacked fest like this. Some personal goals getting checked off the list for all of us I’d say!
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?
I’m not entirely sure what it improves as we’ve never performed in a non inclusive space! Haha! But really, I think it makes for a stronger community because no one feels like an outsider or weirdo.
The majority of artists in the punk, ska and hardcore scene have been CIS, white, dudes. You break that mold. Do you feel that has ever hindered your path within the scene? Do you feel that you have (or had to) work harder to get your voice heard?
As far as Being black in the punk scene, I guess I’m often tokenized in interviews! Haha just kidding, I’ve definitely felt like i need to shout a lot louder to be heard, and work a lot harder to prove myself. Fortunately, I live for the hustle and my best is all I can offer haha.
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?
Because punk rock is a bunch of corporate bullshit and that’s confusing for the posers of today! Haha, I’m joking… I don’t think I can answer that. Everyone should just like what they like and that’s that.
I got way into the Life Of Sin album, reminds me of the heyday of the Epi-Fat sound and I’m way the fuck into it. Tell me a little bit about the record? What was going on at the time that helped kickstart the songwriting process?
Thanks I’m glad you like it! I was going thru some personal things that were weighing me down heavily and one night I wrote “Sweet N Low” and the next day wrote “Ego Trip.” It felt like I came up for air and all these songs were coming, so I just sat inside and wrote what I felt over the next few months. There’s a couple tracks that were older songs we hadn’t recorded and they fit the vibe of the record and filled out the album.
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?
Lately, we’ve been working out some brand new songs and I’m hoping to play one or two of them at camp! I would love if the campers wrote back to their families and said “listen to The Bad Ups, they are real ones.”
If Punksylvania were a real camp, what activities are each of you leading?
I’m gonna speak on behalf of the rest of the band here so I hope they don’t read this and give me shit!
Chris would be like the campfire storyteller.
Mike would be the campfire song guy.
Sean would be in charge of bbq…is that a camp activity? If it’s not, Sean’s doing it now!
And I would probably be the one in charge of waking people up…also not really an activity but that’s what feels right!
What song are you performing around the campfire this year?
I been working out a Bob Dylan cover but we’ll see if it makes its way to the campfire!
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?
Dillinger 4, and Lawrence Arms are at the top of my list. I’m also excited to see Pucker Up and our homies in OBGMs!
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
No I think we covered it all! Thank you again!
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/