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 punks The Whiskey Bats 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 The Whiskey Bats; your mission, your sound?
There’s no real mission. We write songs that we enjoy playing, about things we find interesting. Our topics range anywhere from horror movies to personal experiences.
What do The Whiskey Bats have planned for us beyond Camp Punksylvania?
We are in the process of recording our second album to be released on Waxpax Records in the near future as well as a few festival dates this summer and opening for Black Flag in August.
What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?
Our drummer had an old senile dog that couldn’t hear. He would stumble around the room and step all over our guitar pedals and change the sounds. He’d plop down in front of amps and not care. R.I.P. Cody. Playing the second year of Camp in 2022 was memorable and we are glad to see it continuing on and growing. It was also a cool experience recording at Creep Recording Studio in Philly. The weirdest was the sighting of the Delaware Cheddar Chin.
You’re gearing up for Camp Punksylvania soon, what does the festival circuit mean for the band and bands like yours?
It’s always important for us to reach a broader audience. Festivals help that happen. It’s even more cool that it’s in our backyard. It’s nice to share the stage with other bands we normally wouldn’t play with and make new connections.
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?
About half our set is new material that most people haven’t heard yet. We are excited to bring that stuff to Camp.
We try to write catchy songs that people can sing along to because we suck at singing. We hope they write home about their voices being gone from singing along too much.
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?
We are all busy guys with families and full time jobs. Obviously family is first. This band is our creative outlet. It breaks our hearts ANY time we have to say no to a show that is offered to us. We wish we could drop everything to tour or play every show we are offered, but that’s life.
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?
The gatekeepers in our experience seem to be people with egos that think their opinions matter more than others or that they should be heard by everyone. They forget that this scene is really about just going to shows, enjoying music and having fun. Let people interpret things how they want and make ALL AGES SHOWS the norm again.
The Whiskey Bats just released “For Horace,” congratulations! The single is a nod to “The Monster Squad.” I know “Wolfman’s got nards” is the big quote from that one, but I’ve always been partial to “Creature stole my Twinkie” do you have a favorite line from the film? What do you think it is about horror films and punk that creates such an intersection amongst fans? Seems like somehow the two fandoms are closely related, or at least inspire one another.
“Wolfman’s got nards” is definitely the favorite line which is closely followed by “If we pull this off, I’m gonna shit.” That’s usually our mindset going in to every show. We’ve always thought horror movies and punk rock are for people who don’t belong. They can both be looked at as degenerate forms of art. It’s a good place to meet.
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 bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
Riggz – And Out Come The Wolves by Rancid
Bobby – Anti Flag
Mike – Rancid, Bad Religion, The Ramones
Frank – Jay Reatard
If Punksylvania were a real camp, what activities are each of you leading?
Riggz – Burnt out arts and crafts guy
Bobby – Baseball
Mike – Wilderness survival
Frank – Sailing lessons
What song are you performing around the campfire this year?
We will be telling spooky stories.
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?
Less Than Jake, The Codefendants, The Galaxy Has Eyes, Koffin Kats, The Karens to name a few.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Stay spooky
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/
