Grab your s’mores, your bug spray and pack your bags as Riot Squad Media is about to take over Northeast Pennsylvania with Camp Punksylvania! The 3-day festival with multiple stages and amazing local acts like The Suicide Machines, War On Women and A Wilhelm Scream, will take place from 1 September until 3 September, tickets are available here. Laura Rose, Co-Founder, Director of Operations & Relations of both Camp Punksylvania and Riot Squad Media, joined TGEFM for the first installment of our Camp-centric Roll Of The Dice interview series. Check it out below and I’ll see you at the campfire!
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats, on the continued growth of Camp Punksylvania! Could you tell us a bit about Camp Punksylvania and the origins of this festival?
Thank you! The “idea” of Camp started out back in 2018 when a festival a bunch of us attended announced they weren’t coming back in 2019. We wanted to stay connected with the friends & family we made, so we began talking a bit online about having our friend’s bands play and doing a small camp/cookout to get together. The next morning, about 100 people chimed in asking if they could come and hang out. We knew we had to make it more than just a backyard get together at that point. COVID-19 hit in the middle of our planning and honestly, it was a bit of a blessing in disguise for us. This forced time allowed us to really study and dive into what it takes to host an event. And we did just that.
What festival or album or band made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do.” Not just an influence, but who or what was the catalyst?
Camp Anarchy/Camp Punk In Drublic was the festival that solidified so many of these strong bonds that led us here today. However, I think for the majority of us, Warped Tour has had a HUGE influence on the way we want to showcase bands. It’s been a fun thing for us, because I feel like we pull the best aspects of the festivals we love to attend and try to wrap them all into one. It’s about more than just the music. There are so many special parts of events like Punk Rock Bowling, FEST and Punk Rock Holiday that we love, so we really tried to capture all of the amazing things that can happen at these things and roll them all into one event, DIY style.
This year, you are running a few different stages. What are the differences between the stages and the acts on them?
We have 3 stages this year! Our main stage is where you can catch most of our national acts, as well as some really amazing, up and coming regional bands. Our Fire Stage is a bit more of an intimate setting, located in Camper’s Cove. This stage only operates at night and will showcase acoustic acts as well as some folk punk and campfire stories. The Sampler Stage is our newest addition to Camp and probably what I am most excited about this year. This stage isn’t really a stage at all. No barricade, 10 minute sets and right in your face, the Sampler Stage will highlight new & up and coming bands as well as some special sets from notable artists.
We are living in a “just deal with COVID” world and everything about this timeline is some level of completely fucked, what’s the state of the scene, specifically the live scene from your point of view? How has the live scene changed over the years and what kinds of things is Camp Punksylvania doing to keep the artists, sponsors and attendees safe?
This is a great question! I think the scene is absolutely THRIVING right now and it’s beautiful to watch. There is so much new music coming out and new bands forming every day. We were never able to host a Camp without COVID as a factor, so it’s always been important for us to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep folks safe. We come with LOADS of hand sanitizer, we’ve got masks if you’d like one, extra wash stations & all the room in the world to social distance. I think being forced to stay away from others for so long makes us crave that interaction a bit more in a way, so seeing people re-emerge into the scene after such a thing is really beautiful.
Any summer camp worth its salt knows there needs to be a lot of different activities to participate in. What’s Camp Punksylvania got planned beyond the amazing lineups?
Glad you asked! There is tons to do this year. We have over 50 amazing vendors to shop from tattoo artists to taxidermy, rides, games, crafting stations, a massive scavenger hunt with amazing prizes, late night movies, campfire stories, open jam sessions & TONS more!
If you were to create an actual punk sleepaway camp, who are you assigning as counselors?
All of our staff are considered “Camp Counselors,” however I’d have to say local punk staples like Jess Mean of Scranton Punk Co. and MC Hyser of Skid Row Garage. Some of the most helpful and knowledgable folks we know.
When the crew behind the scenes at Camp Punksylvania gets together, is it more “Ernest Goes To Camp,” “Meatballs” or “Friday the 13th?”
I think we’d be a mix of “Meatballs” and “Ernest Goes To Camp.” We’re thrown a LOT of hurdles, but always seem to overcome them with the help of each other. However, we are major goofballs and love having a good time.
End of the season Camp talent show; What song are you performing?
We’re definitely doing “Manthem” by the Bouncing Souls!
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see on each stage?
Oh man, this year is a special one. On the main stage, I am absolutely STOKED to see Bad Cop Bad Cop, Potato Pirates, Working Class Stiffs, Fat Chance, The What Nows?! and War On Women. Really looking forward to Escape From the Zoo and Black Guy Fawkes at the Fire Stage. And for the Sampler Stage, I’m pumped to catch Vulture Raid!
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Camp is an all ages event that is about so much more than just the music. Building new relationships and making memories is what it’s all about.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
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/
