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. Working Class Stiffs have 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 Working Class Stiffs; your mission, your sound?
We’re just a group of friends playing whatever mix of ska/punk/hardcore/whateverthefuckcomesout. For 25 to 35 minutes, we’re just trying to give everyone a place to get it all out. Skank, 2 step, maybe throw a few windmills, or just cross your arms and watch from the back.
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?
Mat: Give em the boot 2 when i was like 10 or 11. The raw energy on tracks like “Rent for Sale” by INDK made me think “Yeaaaaaaa I wanna do that.” I can’t sing so I was sold. I also think everyone needs to know about Pwrup. If you haven’t yet, do it now. Defintely do it at camp.
Joe: When I was about 13 years old Mat showed me ….And Out Comes The Wolves. Hearing Matt Freeman was like OH FUCK, I need a bass. The album that really did it for me was War Profiteering Is Killing Us All from the Suicide Machines. It came out years after I was actively playing in bands but the way that album spans genres changed my fucking life. Rich Tschirhart’s performance on that album is so damn good. It’s the most significant album for skacore in the last 20 years hands down.
Garrett: I come from more of the hardcore scene, but bands such as Folly and early Flatliner have really grabbed my attention. It’s nice to venture out and explore different music scenes and genres, I’m not one for gatekeeping. I love mixed bill shows, bands experimenting and trying new things.
Dylan: Some of my big influences are The Slackers, World/Inferno Friendship Society, Bayside and Mischief Brew. As a kid, video game scores like that of the Final Fantasy games really inspired me to want to compose. I also like to borrow figures from classical (any period) and jazz and transform into something that works for other genres. Music itself doesn’t amount to much without the people though – being together, breathing together, making noise – that’s what it’s all about.
What made you guys want to come back to Camp and do it again? How has it felt being able to watch this thing grow from the inside?
Camp is an experience like no other, just a non-stop good time. It’s hard to describe, my best suggestion would be simply COME TO THE SHOW. We’ve been lucky enough to work with Riot Squad on a year round basis and the amount of work that team puts into this is unreal. Seeing it grow year to year has been a blast and we’ve been fortunate to be along for this wild ride.
What do the Working Class Stiffs have planned for us beyond Camp Punksylvania?
We’re currently working on FINALLY writing some new music and hopefully hitting the studio late summer/early fall for a 2025 LP for our second physical release on Ninguid 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?
Joe: Getting to share the stage with bands we all grew up listening to, meeting all these people who shaped the way you view the world and write your songs is something really fucking cool.
Mat: I would say the most unexpected thing would be still being able to do this. It’s hard to make it happen when you get older. Life gets harder, responsibilities change, people come in and out of your life. No secret, the whole missing a finger thing made things a little more difficult. But being able to do this still with my brother of all people is so cool to me.
Garrett: I recently just joined the band back in March/April, but so far it’s been very exciting and productive. I haven’t been in a band this productive with this good of chemistry ever and it’s quite reinvigorating. I’m super stoked for everyone to see what we’ve been working on.
Here’s the thing. Your cover of “Manthem” was pretty fucking epic last year, even from an outsider’s point of view. Even though there are obviously blood ties within the band, the whole “family isn’t only blood” vibe really cemented itself, right there. I’m also giving your Op Ivy set complete credit for Laura Jane Grace and Catbite performing one of their own this year. How do you live up to that this year? What are you most excited to bring to the Camp Punk audience in 2024? What do you want the campers to say about your set when they write home from camp this year?
Both of those things were a shitload of fun. Especially getting Laura on a mic! I’d like to think we kind of paved the way for punk bands doing Op Ivy covers, trendsetters if you will. Unfortunately since last camp we’ve undergone some changes, and that’s still pretty raw for all of us. As mentioned the ties ran really deep in this band, so it’s been an emotionally and mentally taxing time to say the least. On a positive note, I’m excited to play some new songs, some may have seen the light of day before but have never been fixtures in the set or really finished up, and have everyone check out the new line up.
We go in to every set just hoping everyone has fun, forget about the world that’s crumbling around us, Dance a bit and maybe yell back at us. Maybe you walk away thinking we were great. Maybe you walk away thinking we suck. If you’re writing about us we must’ve done our job.
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?
Joe: The only thing I wish I’d have handled differently as a musician is traveling and playing 10 or 15 years earlier than we did. But, on this course I’ve met so many rad people that I’m just fine with how it’s all played out.
Mat: Probably deciding early in my life that I was always going to be in a ska band. Really missed the boat on being a cool person.
Dylan: So I have an undergrad degree in music (thank you Pell grants), and I took as many classes as possible because I wanted to learn as much as I could while I was there. I was so busy with practice, assignments and rehearsals that I became very out of the loop with the music and community I loved, and spent very little time creating things that I really cared about. I had access to a lot of cool and useful stuff, but I only really used it to get a piece of paper that basically says “I can do school good.”
Hang out with your friends. Meet new people. Create stuff.
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?
Joe:I’ve been involved in ska and punk since I was a kid, and I gotta tell ya, shit really hasn’t changed. Bigots and Boneheads have never had a place in the scene. People being protective of the scene is natural as for some its the only place we feel normal and accepted. And that’s ok. Are there people out there that abuse the scene’s hypervigilant defense? Absofuckinglutely. And that sucks, in the long run those situations are always exposed at the end. BUT, I think it’s far more important that we have a community where everyone has the opportunity to be who they are.
Dylan:Oof, I think this is a little complicated because I’ve seen the gatekeeping come from a few places.
There’s the “when did [insert name here] get political/woke?” crowd (iykyk), and while I can’t relate, I can try to rationalize that perspective. Humans are naturally biased, and I suppose it’s easy for people to find their own meanings in text and insist that their interpretation is the right one. (As an aside, HUMAN RIGHTS ARE NOT INHERENTLY POLITICAL. Anyway…)
On the other hand, I think people can be protective because scenes are often idealized as a safe space; a supportive community, and while we’re all walking around with bad news boxes in our pockets, it’s easy to jump to conclusions about someone’s beliefs or intentions if they don’t present a certain way or use the “right” language. This is distinct from performative activism, which is just self-serving and not vested in trying to keep the scene safe.
Many of the Camp Punx artists have not been afraid to get political, and Working Class Stiffs are certainly no different. If you had told me a decade ago we’d be looking at a campaign trail made up of a pair of clueless octogenarians set to a backdrop of legal proceedings, foreign wars and record profits I’d have told you there’s no way things could get so bleak…but here we are and it turns out you’d have been underselling the shit-show happening inside the dumpster fire of American government. How is the already absurd presidential race and performative legislation playing into your writing, the live experience and your mental health?
Joe:The state of American politics have been in a free fall since we’ve been old enough to pay attention. Unfortunately the rest of the country suddenly pays attention and rather than helping, it’s only furthered this circus and devolved everything to a pathetic sitcom. There is no hope, only Ska now.
Brian: We put out a song last year called “Our Time” and it’s about this exact situation.
Dylan:Without going off on unlimited tangents about ALL of the bad things: it’s becoming very old. The more I learn about history and class relations here and abroad, the more it seems we’re just stuck in a nightmare loop – some details change each time but it’s the same old story.
It can be exhausting, but I think it’s important not to become complacent; to show up, however you’re able; to be there for each other.
I’m wary of overstating the significance of a punk show or conflating art with activism, but live shows bring people together – whether they need an escape, a recharge or a rally. I’d be remiss to disregard the power and potential in that.
If Punksylvania were a real camp, what activities are each of you leading?
Mat: Drinking a handle of plastic bottle whiskey and fist fighting your brother 101. Its for beginners but theres some higher level learning in there as well.
Joe: Drinking Malort and overcoming Fist Fighting your Brother 101. Its an advanced course.
Dylan: I’d be running the kitchen crew. We’re learning knife skills, and we’re making everything from scratch.
Brian: Leading a Piss Drunk High Ropes Course.
Time for some post-show jams.. what song are you performing around the campfire this year?
Joe: Strictly Hall and Oates Kazoo covers.
Mat: Always. Whitney. Every. Time.
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?
The list is almost too long. Of course 7seconds, Kill Lincoln, Escape from the Zoo (Counting Cards is a critically underrated album that everyone should be deep diving into), Bid D, Catbite, Less Than Jake, DOA, The Venomous Pinks, Poli Van Dam, Bad Cop Bad Cop. BUT those bands are on everyone’s list. Bands you might not know that you need to see: Cardboard Homestead, The Chemical Imbalance, No Complyance, The What Nows?!, Vulture Raid, Suburban Downgrade…On second thought, just don’t miss any bands.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Mat: Um, I guess “Big things coming”? Be sure to keep your ears peeled for the new music. We’re hoping to get it done soon and come to your town and fuck up at least 2 songs during our set.
Joe: We might fuck up 3
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/
