Ep. 190: Vagrant Records w/ Rich Egan

Neil Kevin Hennessy (born December 12, 1978) is a punk rock musician, music producer and engineer from Chicago, Illinois. Hennessy currently plays in The Lawrence Arms, Colossal, The Falcon, The Smoking Popes, Sparta and is currently filling in on bass for Rise Against on their Blink 182 tour down in Australia because Joe the bassist had to fly home for personal stuff. He has also been a member of Noise By Numbers, Baxter, The Killing Tree, Quattro and played multiple shows with Teenage Bottlerocket.

Fun fact, he co-wrote the Rise Against song "Swing Life Away" with McIlrath, and also played percussion on the Less Than Jake album, GNV FLA. 

I got him on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• All the projects he’s working on
• Joining Baxter
• The Chicago scene
• Killing Tree
• The Whipple House
• the Lawrence Arms starting
• Matt Allison
• Oh Calcutta
• The Falcon
• How the Lawrence Arms practices for shows now a days 
• The War On Christmas
• Writing a new album
• The infamous Hennessy Painting
• And a ton more

Be on the lookout for the Lawrence Arms new album sometime in the next year or so based on what he told me.

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This week's episode is a compilation of clips from 5 episodes that I enjoyed. 

Below are the interviews I pulled clips from:

• Saves The Day w/ Bryan Newman - Episode 183
• Dynamite Boy w/ Sean Neil - Episode 200
• Midtown w/ rob hitt - Episode 87
• Eyeball Records w/ Alex Eyeball - Episode 189
• Hankshaw w/ Harold Hasselback - Episode 169

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Go-Kart Records was an independent record label specializing in punk rock located in New York City that was most active from 1995 to 2005. It also had a European division in Mannheim, Germany.

Some of the bands on the label you may have heard of were Weston, The Lunachicks, Wives, iFarm, Doc Hopper, Boris the Sprinkler, Plan A Project, Vision of Disorder, The Menzingers, and a ton more. 

I’ve been hounding Greg to come on the podcast for the past year and he finally said yes which made me extremely happy because this is one of my favorite interviews. 

Side note, The Victory comp I couldn’t remember the name of was Incompatible 

I got Greg on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• Red Leader Matt Rosenberg
• Putting on Fugazi’s first show in NY
• Having money stolen by his business partner
• Butt Steak
• What the logo design is based on
• Weston’s effect on the label
• The Double Exposure Comp
• Their video comp
• CBGBs
• Meeting the Lunachicks
• The Village People story
• Signing the Menzingers
• Getting fucked over by Koch
• The Joey Ramone / Joan Jett / Debbie Harry story
• And a ton more

Check out www.visionmerch.com

This episode is sponsored by Jon McKesten Real Estate…. Also known as Jon Cheese. Jon is a punk real estate agent licensed in NY & NJ. He worked on the Vans Warped tour for 10 years and he’s been selling  residential real estate for the last 12 years. There’s got to be Someone listening to this who is thinking about moving or knows someone who is and wouldn’t you rather deal with someone who can hang but also knows his shit instead of some dinosaur real estate agent that sucks? Give him a call or text  (203)824-4464. Or email him JonMcKesten@gmail.com. Also go follow his instagram.

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Dr Strange Records is not a "company" or "corporation" making money off punk rock. Bill Strange has been into punk since 1980 and it is truly a way of life for him. Bill started Dr. Strange Records in 1988 in an effort for like-minded people to get rare punk records for FAIR prices. His "hobby" not only turned into the biggest mail-order for punk in all the world, but also a record label (in 1989) and a store in California (opened in 1997). Some releases from the label that you may remember are from such bands as Guttermouth, The Bollweevils, Rhythm Collision, face to face, Man Dingo, Schleprock, Brown Lobster Tank, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Gameface, Skankin Pickle and many more.

I’ve been trying since Feb 2020 to make this happen and I am very happy that it finally came to fruition.

I got Bill on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• The 35 year reunion show
• How he started the mail order
• His thoughts on Guttermouth
• How he started the label
• His clientele at the record store
• face to face
• What happened to the Bullshoviks EP
• How the record store happened
• Skankin Pickle
• Voodoo Glow Skulls
• And a ton more

Go follow their IG account and check out his Weds & Fri Instagram and Facebook LIVE at 4pm where he hosts a sort of QVC for records

Link to their website - https://drstrange.com/

Check out my friend Jess Price’s new instagram where she creates the letters of your kids names out of animals. These are SICK designs and I purchased one for my buddy’s new baby girl.

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Kyle Kinane is an American stand-up comedian and actor from Addison, Illinois. Since his debut he’s done a shit ton with Comedy Central and released a bunch of specials. I reached out to Kyle because he grew up in the Chicago punk scene and I’ve heard his name mentioned a few times on other podcasts including Brendan Kelly’s Road to the Skeleton Coast. It just so happened that I was following his Instagram account when I found all of this out and figured it would be awesome to get his perspective of the scene.

I asked Kyle to be on the podcast, he said yes, and this is what we chat about:

• Chris Gethard
• Brendan Kelly
• Brian Peterson
• Nike Park
• Getting started in comedy
• Jawbreaker
• Tiltwheel
• Getting robbed at gun point
• And a ton more

Check out his podcast No Accounting for Taste and his website www.kylekinane.com.

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Before we begin, go buy Amy Fiddler Records new book “Negatives” which is A gorgeous hardcover time capsule of the emo music scene as it was from 1996 to 2006, featuring never-before-seen photographs and never-before-told stories from key emo musicians, photographers, and icons. And go check out Episode 139 to hear my interview with her.

Pulley is an American, California-based punk rock band, formed in 1994. The band is known for straightforward, hard-edged melodic punk rock.

They came about from vocalist Scott Radinsky's departure from Ten Foot Pole. Their initial lineup included Strung Out drummer Jordan Burns, guitarist Jim Cherry also from Strung Out, guitarist Mike Harder, and former Face to Face bassist Matt Riddle. Pulley's debut album, Esteem Driven Engine, was released in 1996 by Epitaph Records. They followed up with 4 records in the next 8 years. 

They’ve released a ton of records since then and are still playing shows. 

I got Scott on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• Ten Foot Pole
• Wendy Cherry
• Mystic Records
• Splitting with Ten Foot Pole
• Getting cancer
• Starting Pulley
• Jim Cherry
• And a ton more

Today’s episode is sponsored by NJ band THIEV. After playing in hardcore bands for more than a decade (hell mary, silence equals death, entropy, the banner and so on), THIEV was started to play the music that got them into playing music in the first place- fast, melodic punk like those old fat, nitro and epitaph comps.  Check out their double ep 12 inch “break/fade”  out on protagonist music and recorded at Nada.   Follow their ig @thiev_nj for the most current happenings.

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Brian McTernan is an American musician and record producer from Baltimore, Maryland. He was the lead vocalist in the hardcore punk band Battery, the guitarist in Ashes, and is the singer in Be Well. Brian operates the recording studio Salad Days from his home in Beltsville, Maryland. His studio is named after the Minor Threat song of the same name. In 2003, he formed Salad Days Records, a record label affiliated with Atlantic Records, through which he signed and released music by Moments in Grace.

I got Brian on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• the song Hello Sun
• Battery
• Starting Salad Days
• Moving back to DC
• Almost burning out
• What was/is he like in the studio
• Recording with Hot Water Music
• What types of bands will he work with
• Converge
• Circa Survive
• The power going out at Fest
• The Turnstile story
• And a ton more

Go follow Be Well and Salad Days' Instagram accounts. I have links in the show notes

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Harvesting the Crust was an inline skate movie from the mid 90s that was shot out in the Mid West. I used to watch the shit out of this movie with my buddies back in the day because we were all into inline skating. I even mention this in my Ten Foot Pole interview. 

I reached out to Shane Nelson who helped make the movie and even stars in it, asked him to do the podcast, he said yes, and this is what we talk about:

• Ten Foot Pole
• How people found other skate videos
• Being a stunt double in Mighty Ducks
• Chris Edwards
• Having a seizure
• Helping to make Like a Lion - The True Story of Legendary Skier Tanner Hall
• Producing an Against Me! video
• Jon Cheese
• did they get licensing for the songs in Harvesting the Crust
• the skateboard dude from the video
• Dave Paine from Videogroove
• Brian Smith
• Scribe 
• sled dogs
• Producing a NOFX video
• And a ton more

Check out his company Omni-Fusion.com.

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Ten Foot Pole was founded in 1983 under the name Scared Straight. After going through several members and name changes, they began playing with some "Nardcore" bands from nearby Oxnard, California, which helped them gain recognition. They eventually changed their name to Ten Foot Pole. One of the reasons for the name change was to move away from the "straight-edge" reputation that followed the band with a name like Scared Straight. After the release of Rev and a split EP with Sweden's Satanic Surfers, Singer Scott was forced to leave the band due to his professional baseball commitments and Ten Foot Pole's desire to be a full-time touring band. From then on Dennis took over lead vocals for the band and has been the front man ever since. They’ve released 7 albums since Rev including their latest album Winning which came out in 2022. You can catch them out on the road becasue they're still touring.

I reached out to the band, got Dennis on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• Harvesting the Crust
• Brian Walsby
• The Tour with NOFX
• Mystic Records
• Coming up with the name
• Departing with Scott Radinsky
• Doing sound for Prince, Beck and others
• Victory Records
• The Rev cover
• How to release songs on Spotify 
• Playing for a wedding
• And a ton more

Go follow them on Instagram and check out their website tenfootpole.com for merch and news.

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Founded in 2004 by guitarists Lee Herrera and Jason Shaw, HRVRD progressively evolved into a quintet of brilliantly imaginative musicians, rounded out by drummer Tim, bassist Garrett and the hypnotic frontman, Jesse. Together the band released their debut EP Animals in 2008 followed by the critically acclaimed full-length album The Inevitable and I less than a year later through Enjoy The Ride Records. HRVRD also went on to release their self-produced album Interpretations in 2010, a five-track EP of reimagined versions of songs off of The Inevitable and I, followed by a year and a half of writing for their last album From the Bird's Cage. 

I got Jason on the Skype and this is what we chat about:

• Seeing them at Mexicali in Jersey in 2012
• Being lumped in with sounding like Circa Survive
• The Pirate Bay debacle
• Playing their first show sans a singer
• Utilizing Myspace to book tours 
• His thoughts on FashionCore
• Brian McTernan
• Breaking down some songs on Inevitable and I
• His thoughts on booking agents and managers
• The Tik Tok generation 
• Camping on tour
• And a ton more

A quick shot out to my friend Azarja’s tattoo shop Zink Modern Tattooing which opened it’s doors on January 2, 2023. Their artists have a combined experience totaling over 60 years. After working decades in other tattoo shops in northern Jersey, they wanted to do things a little differently. So they opened Zink Modern Tattooing to bring a fresh perspective to an old tradition. No attitudes, egos or judgement- just great tattooing in a modern space where all are welcome. Go stop by and get some new ink in Butler, NJ on  503 Main St. 

Click here to follow their instagram

Feel free to support  the podcast for as little as $1 a month through Patreon