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. Legendary Petaluma, CA act, Tsunami Bomb joined TGEFM to discuss his band’s upcoming appearance at Camp Punksylvania for the latest 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! You are gearing up for Camp Punksylvania in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like Tsunami Bomb?
(ANDY) The festival circuit is great for us since we are limited in the number of shows we can do in any given year. Festivals allow us to reach a bigger audience and share the stage with some of our favorite bands.
(DOMINIC) …and they are a lot of fun. Picking a “best of” batch of songs is always tough, but it’s an opportunity to make a set that is just hits hard and fast.
(OOBLIETTE) It’s true, they are so much fun. The sets are short but we get to see so many friends and it’s a great way for people who may not know we are back or people who have never heard of us to get a change to see us.
(KATE) This scene is a community. I think you get to really feel that at festivals like this. For the bands, you get to spend time with each other, get to know each other in a way that just doesn’t happen on individual bills. For fans, and as one myself, it’s such a great way to see bands you have never heard of or maybe wouldn’t seek out otherwise. I think that’s fun and incredibly Inspiring.
What’s the state of the live scene from your point of view? We are living in a “just deal with COVID” world and everything about this timeline is some level of completely fucked. What impact, if any, do the current cultural and political landscapes have on the two of you and your music?
(ANDY) I personally feel like the live scene is in a very interesting spot… on one hand, everyone is eager to get back out and play, and fans want to go to shows, but we lost a bunch of venues along the way, so it’s gotten tougher for some bands and fans to get access to shows. Ticket prices have gone up, but costs for artists have gone up, too, so it’s this tough position for everyone involved. I will say, though, I am encouraged by the amount of people I have been seeing out at local “smaller” shows lately. My biggest hope is that folks will opt for lower cost, local shows rather than for the shows that force folks to pay outrageous convenience fees. It’s not that I don’t want to see the larger bands get their due, but I also think that they need to start pushing back more against the Live Nations of the world (mad props to Robert Smith).
(DOMINIC) It’s been weird to see how divided we have all become. A lot of distrust and anger simmering just below the surface has even expressed itself. It has very much effected us creatively with the songs we are writing now. I wouldn’t call us a political band by any means, we have always been more focused on the personal and emotional struggles each of us struggle with but we are not oblivious to how the world has been effecting people. The isolation and search for purpose that we’ve always sung to has only become worse and more pronounced with recent events, and that’s completely impacted the new songs.
(KATE) More than ever it feels that people are looking for absolutes; you say this therefore you must also believe this. You like this, you must hate that. We’re all trying to find some standard for “normal” or “before” that I just don’t think exists. Now that people are starting to gather again and talk to other human beings instead of behind the veil of the internet and disassociating humanity from opinion or sound byte, my hope is that people can get back to conversation, debate, and collaborating to move society forward for the better.
You’ve been in this scene for a while, 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?
(DOMINIC) I wish I had been a better leader and more importantly, a better friend. When we did this back in the day, once Tsunami Bomb started to become something bigger we were all so focused on that. More touring, more shows, more, more, more. Everyone around us were pushing and working hard to make Tsunami Bomb bigger. It was all so exciting, and I completely focused on the band. Nothing else mattered. I thought that our continued success was the answer to everything. What I lost sight of was the impact that was having on my personal life, and on my bandmates. My friends. I failed to see their exhaustion and their resentments growing. The stress of it all tearing us apart LONG before it actually did finally kill the band. My biggest regret was that I failed to see that the most important part of the band was the people in it, and that we needed to take care of each other. That our friendships come first and the band was an expression of that relationship, not the other way around. That members needed to go home for a while, we didn’t have to take EVERY tour we were offered. That members could live wherever they wanted, moving away wasn’t turning their back on the band. It wasn’t healthy. I deeply regret that I wasn’t more understanding and empathetic to what the others were going through at the time. What it was doing to them, and doing to me. I try to express that to young bands all the time. No matter what happens… don’t forget it’s the core relationships that need to be protected. Being in a band is hard, it’s a lot of strong personalities but never forget that these people are your friends. Listen to each other. Take care of each other. I feel really lucky that in this version of the band our friendship… our family comes first. I’m very grateful.
(OOBLIETTE) Honestly, I used to have a lot of regret about things in the past and how I handled various situations. Our current band doesn’t have the same kind of conflicts and we really just enjoy getting to hang out and play music for our fans. That and I was barely 19 when I left, the first time around. I’m in my *ahem* 40’s now so I think dealing with group decisions and making choices that have an effect on your home life are much easier to make at this point in the game.
(KATE) For me, my only regret is letting fear get in my way. By nature I’m actually more reserved and unsure of how to engage with people. I figured out quickly how to enjoy performing but I definitely held back getting to know people, bands, fans, and hid away from opportunities because I was too shy to try. That said, I’m really grateful to the people I’ve met these last 8 years who helped bring me out of my shell and encouraged me.
What pieces of advice do you have for the up and coming acts performing at Camp Punksylvania?
(ANDY) Listen to and respect the people doing sound, running the stage, lighting, managing the event, etc… there is nothing worse than bringing an ego or bad attitude to a show. Otherwise, just have fun!
(DOMINIC) You are a part of something incredible and special. Very few people get to experience this. Enjoy it. Just don’t forget to take care of each other. Take breaks. Hang out together beyond just for the band. Don’t neglect your needs, and don’t disregard the needs of your bandmates. You’re in this together.
(OOBLIETTE) The second it doesn’t invoke joy anymore, it’s time for a change.
(KATE) Have fun. Live in the moment and really enjoy where you are. If something goes sideways, keep smiling and make it your own.
Any summer camp worth its salt knows there needs to be a lot of different activities to participate in. What activities would the members of Tsunami Bomb be in charge of if Camp Punksylvania was an actual sleepaway camp?
(ANDY) Dom and Oobliette would most certainly be in charge of campfire stories. Gabe would be in charge of pebble picking. I would be in charge of the hacky sack tournament. Kate would likely be in charge of the coffee station
(DOMINIC) I do agree that Oobliette and I would be telling campfire stories… though Gabe’s literally a Park Ranger, sooo I think he would be pretty amazing at a sleep away camp. I bet he’d be coaching team sports too. To me, Kate would be the ultimate Camp Director. She’d have the cabins all worked out, the schedule for activities all set up, and be checking in with all of us making sure we had what we needed. Both Kate and Oobliette would be really good at that, they are so organized. Andy would be in charge of music appreciation. I’d be the weird guy on the mountain telling the kids that the campground is cursed and they are all doomed. DOOOOM!
(OOBLIETTE) I would definitely be in charge of the food and beverage menu. This camp would have an amazing array of food. Upon arrival, you’d be greeted with some bubbly and a little amuse-bouche to get the party started. Don’t even get me started on what we’d be cooking over the campfire. I don’t know that I’d be the one telling the stories or the one in some monster suit hiding in the woods, waiting to run out screaming and scare the shit out of everyone.
(KATE) I think what we’re realizing is we should start a summer camp…..
If you were to create a punk sleepaway camp, who are you assigning as counselors?
(DOMINIC) Have you met punks before? Do they seem like they should be in charge of things? HAHA. Well, I think our band and crew would be good counselors. Most of us manage teams in our non-band jobs so if I had to put together a group of counselors they’d be my go-to.
(ANDY) Warren Fitzgerald and Joe Escalante from The Vandals because Warren would be hilarious and Joe was famously Fat Mike‘s camp counselor back in the day, Efrem Schultz of Death By Stereo (he’s just so positive and uplifting), Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music (he’s super outdoorsy), Linh Le of Bad Cop/Bad Cop because she’s such a fun person to be around and full of energy.
(OOBLIETTE) I think we’d all be great counselors. I actually dabbled in the art of camp council in my teens. I ended up with quite the cabin after half the counselors go kicked out for smoking the reefer.
(KATE) We’re actually a group that the phrase work hard, play hard is accurate for.
End of the season Campfire; What song are you performing?
(DOMINIC) “Lemonade”
(ANDY) “The Hearse Song”
(OOBLIETTE) Bye, Bye, Bye N’SYNC with a full, talent show style dance routine.
When the Tsunami Bomb crew gets together at Camp Punksylvania, is it more “Ernest Goes To Camp,” “Meatballs” or “Friday the 13th?”
(ANDY) as much as we want it to be “Friday the 13th”, in reality it will be more like “Ernest Goes To Camp”.
(DOMINIC) D-All of the above. Seriously. Hang out with us for a minute. You’ll see.
(OOBLIETTE) MEATBALLS
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see on each stage?
(ANDY) I wish we could be there all three days, but alas we can only be there the day we play since we are lined up for some other shows that weekend. I’m eager to see all of the bands playing on our day, but outside of that I’m always stoked to see The Suicide Machines, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, and Fat Heaven. Stop The Presses seems rad! The River City Rebels would be great to catch now that they are back in action. I’ve been wanting to see The Homeless Gospel Choir for awhile, too.
(DOMINIC) We are doing the run with The Dollyrots, so that will be fun. I am excited to see everyone on this! We have a lot of friends on the festival, and they are all so incredible. I’d be excited to see the bands I’ve never seen before too. Festivals are like live concert comps… you get exposed to so much in one place.
(OOBLIETTE) So bummed we couldn’t hang all 3 days. I’m excited for everyone!
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
(DOMINIC) This camp ground is cursed, I tell you! DOOOOOOOOOM!!!
(OOBLIETTE) Meet me at the waterfront after the social. IYKYK
(ANDY) New music from us coming soon!
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/
