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. Shawn from Milwaukee-based rockers Avenues joined TGEFM to discuss their upcoming appearance at Camp Punx 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! What should our readers know about Avenues, your sound and what you stand for?
Thanks for inviting us for this interview! We would describe our sound as “throwback” skate punk, something you'd probably hear on a Tony Hawk pro skater video game. We stand for just being down to earth good people and wanting to have fun with everyone. If you have a shitty vibe or wanna be a jerk, we are not into it.
You are gearing up for Camp Punksylvania in the coming months, and just participated at Sailor Jerry Fest in Hawaii. What do these festivals mean for artists like yourself?
Festivals are our favorite shows to play! Don't get us wrong, we love doing punk floor shows to be more intimate and rowdy with our audience, but being able to participate in playing festivals is very important. They give us the ability to be on a bill with many great bands and allows us to play for people that would normally not come to one of our shows. Festivals are a great way to travel all around and gain a new fan base quickly.
Any summer camp worth its salt knows there needs to be a lot of different activities to participate in. What activities would you be in charge of if Camp Punksylvania was an actual sleepaway camp? End of the
season Campfire; What song are the members of Avenues performing?
Duh, the talent show of course or the end of summer camp counselor party because we like to party, lol. For our campfire song, I think we'd jam out to our song “Lights Out”.
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see on each stage?
There are a lot of rad bands this year! I'd say I am most exited for The Suicide Machines, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, and The Jasons.
Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Last thing we'd like to share is check out our new video for “Straight Jacket” . We are super stoked on how it turned out and want to continue to share it with everyone.
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/