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 national and 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. NYHC act Car Bomb Parade joined TGEFM to discuss their upcoming appearances 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! What can you tell us about Car Bomb Parade, your sound and what you stand for?
(Rev. Nicky Bullets) Fun, friends, fuckery.
(Drummer Mike) Car Bomb Parade‘s sound is unique as we got 4 individuals who come together with a common love of hardcore and punk yet we all have various styles of music that influence us. This helps to create a blend of hardcore punk infused with soul. It's feel good music for the soul. It's aggressive, in your face, loud and powerful the way rock n roll should be with very tounge in cheek lyrics. Not for the faint of heart.
You are gearing up for Camp Punksylvania in the coming months. What does the festival circuit mean to individual artists like yourself?
(Will E. Ramone) Festivals are a great chance to meet new people from all over who are there to see different acts and styles of music. It's a melting pot and an opportunity to forge new bonds with people we may not necessarily cross paths with. Personally, we've always done best at shows where not every band sounds exactly the same and there's a bit of variety.
(Drummer Mike) I wish I could play this festival but am sitting this one out to bond with my newborn daughter. Festivals are cool because it gives us an opportunity to play in front of crowds of new comers to welcome to our family of brigadiers. We can perform for people who didn't come to see us but get into us. You're a stranger here only but once.
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 your music?
(Will E. Ramone) The state of the live scene after Covid has been a mixed bag honestly. At first it was great to have everyone back out at packed shows, but then every band was out there trying to make up for lost time so it feels like there's multiple shows going on at the same time every week. It's caused us to be a bit more strategic with our time so we don't get lost within the inundation. As for culture and politics, there's always something for us to sing about – stuff to celebrate, stuff to lash out against.
(Drummer Mike) The current political landscapes, as they always have, have fueled soul music. It's a pretty shitty world we live in and to be able to play music is the most positive thing I can do to change it. In a post-covid world it hasn't slowed us down from shows and recording new music. I think more people cooped up inside creates an urgency to get out.
(Rev. Nicky Bullets) Punk lives in spite of everything and in spite of itself.
I think the new drug is to believe everything sucks and that to be human simply isn't enough. Companies and groups are openly advocating for our sedation and submission. Some individuals in the search of self and identity will beg for it. Punk has always known. We have always known. To live this is to love and persevere in the face of a plastic society… it's secondary purpose… Our first being to spread the word. Of course it impacts our music.
Any summer camp worth its salt knows there needs to be a lot of different activities to participate in. What activity would you be in charge of if Camp Punksylvania was an actual sleepaway camp? What song are the members of Car Bomb Parade performing at the end of the season campfire/talent show?
(Will E. Ramone) I think we should spearhead raccoon-taming classes. It's our true specialty…not punk rock.
(Drummer Mike) For Monday we'd have design your own and tattoo yourself. We'd have taco Tuesdays where everyone throws down on some mean tacos. Wednesday we'd have drum circle and percussion class. Thursday we have paint night and Friday is the campfire. Everyone participates in a group sing along for folk-only versions of hardcore songs.
Camp Punksylvania is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see on each stage?
(Will E. Ramone) Literally everyone, but especially Black Guy Fawkes.
I really like that dude's message and what he stands for.
(Rev. Nicky Bullets) Anyone brand fucking new… anyone we haven't seen.
Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
(Rev. Nicky Bullets) You are a feral and free raccoon…. you are loved this way.
(Will E. Ramone) What the Rev. said. Stay punk, love one another
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/