More Than Punk Podcast

Justin from The Seafloor Cinema talks with Seb about their new album In Cinemascope with Stereophonic Sound, out NOW on Pure Noise Records. The album combines math rock and pop and is produced by Courtney Ballad (Waterparks and Good Charlotte). Justin talks about taking risks, being outside his comfortzone and believing in his art.

Zach from Like Moths to Flames talk with Seb about to how make a band last, managing touring and logistics and why it's not anything like Motely Crue.

Cherry from Defences joins Seb on the More Than Punk podcast to talk about revisiting songs, the scariness behind honesty and new album In The Balance.

We're back with Mikey Page from TheCityIsOurs here on the More Than Punk podcast! Mikey and Seb talk about the anxiety of releasing an album (three days before release), the events that shaped new album COMA and the period of uncertainty where they almost closed the book on the band.

The title says it all, really. Capstan guitarist and lyricist Joe Mabry and Seb chat about YouTube comments, album reviews, up and coming bands and the awesome feature from Shane Told (Silverstein) on new album Separate.

Are Sleep Waker going to release an Instagram filter? Do they know the guys in La Dispute? Why does it matter that Frankie Mish hasn't written a novel? Get the answers to all these questions and hear some cool stuff about world building and how they band plan to extend beyond music, in this interview.

Bart Thompson from Graduating Life chats with Seb about the UK's infamous chippie sauce, the eventual collapse of society and his new album II, which is out now.

From a boiling Belgium Jan and Tom of The Guru Guru chat with Seb Mackay about creativity, new music and starting to tour again.

The Lovebreakers talk recording in (and missing) California, writing a summer album and why only releasing EPs is lame.

Stef and Rik from ANOTHER NOW talk about growing up in a culture that doesn't want you to stand out, how to run a band like a business and whether or not this is their last shot at making it.

Danny and Luke from a Few Too Many are on the show, talking all things UK pop punk. Grab a drink and crank it up. Their new song Unhealthy is at the end of the show!

Steve and Seb from Confessions of a Traitor trade tour war stories and reveal the kinds of things that you can't put in an episode description.

The title says it all, really. Bryan Giles, guitars / vocals, and More Than Punk talk about surviving the Zombie apocalypse, strip clubs in Portland and share horror tour stories. This one is just different.

Jeremy DePoyster joins the More Than Punk podcast to talk about the commercials of running a band, the legacy that he'll leave behind if the band ever ends and that they're more intune than ever to how they might have betrayed their fans in the past.

The Meffs talk not being able to force their creativity, how being disorganised makes them more creative and the weird bins situation here in the UK.

Glasgwegian pop punks, WRTHLESS talk about being in a band of introverts, pandemic induced panic attacks and how the Scottish mentality of always thinking you're a bit shit, as a shield for putting themselves out there. We also talk about the best pizza because they're a pop punk band, obviously.

Kathryn from FRESH talks about how we can make the punk scene more inclusive, not being taken seriously by men and how to stop fretting over streaming numbers (which I do, a lot).

Josh and Tom from Tigress talk about their favourite cereals, studio diets and Tom imparts some cereal hacks that will probably change your life. Tweet the band to let them know your favourite cereal!

SeeYouSpaceCowboy's Connie Sgarbossa talks about the price of fame, if it's really worth it, how to be happy and the challenges of being an LGBTQ+ poster child in the alternative scene.

Simon and Niall from Block Out The Sun talk about drawing inspiration from the negative, being a band with a social stance and we talk about the hellscape that is social media because, well, why not? Block Out The Sun self-titled EP is out NOW.

Vocalists Paul Green and Ed Gibbs have their most intimate interview yet talking about their new album Loss, what makes them who they are, battling with people on social media and the state of music interviews and album review.

Murphy and Spencer from Kind Eyes talk about blowing up on TikTok (seriously, they went from 600 monthly Spotify plays to 10,000), whether internet fame will translate to more people coming to shows and tackling racism and injustice in America.

In some typical More Than Punk gossip, Jynx's Jerry DeLorenzo talks about meeting Bruce Willis, Jared Leto and watching Justin Bieber play guitar for a four-year-old girl in a music store. Then we get serious and talk about misinformation, toxic social media and Jynx's commitment to making music that has a positive impact and legacy.

This week, I'm sitting down with JT Cavey and Jesse Cash from ERRA for what Jesse calls their most intimate, vulnerable and scariest interview yet as they open up about the impacts of fandom, keeping their egos in check and we explore their insecurities around fame.

In one of our most philosophical and thoughtful conversations yet, Of Mice and Men bassist and lead singer, Aaron Pauley talks about struggling with impermanence, the feeling that he's losing time and reflects on his legacy as he comes up 10 years in the band. He calls it one of his most "thought-provoking" interviews of the Timeless EP promo cycle.

The last few months have been insane for Pet Needs. They signed to Xtra Mile Recordings, Frank Turner mixed and mastered their debut record Fractured Party Music (which comes out 12 March) and now they're facing tour opportunities that they'd never dreamed of. I talk with Johnny Marriott about that whole thing, our mutual love for Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!), Xtra Mile Recordings, getting the band to play Edinburgh Fringe Festival and so much more in this deep dive into Johnny's life, thoughts and hopes and dreams for the band. They will become your new favourite band.

Carpool Tunnel drummer Danny Stauffer gets real about landing a record deal with Pure Noise in his early 20s, navigating the business side of the music industry and makes me feel like the grand old man when he talks about discovering music on his phone (I had a walkman...).

This week, Ash Tubb from Sugar Horse and I talk shit about satanism, unimpressive heavy metal, how metalcore sounds like all the bad parts of the first Norma Jean record (his words, not mine) and why no one uses stereos anymore.

Chris Palowitch from Just Friends talks about touring with The Wonder Years, Mayday Parade, The Story So Far, his first Warped Tour and long drives across the US in the band's van.

This week on the More Than Punk podcast, I'm chatting with Ben Marwood about the 10 year anniversary of Outside There's a Curse, whether he wants to be Avril Lavigne's boyfriend 10 years on and how his illness diagnosis in 2013 put an indefinite hold on his touring career. Outside of that, he's working on a new album, planning on getting cat and has been watching loads of horror movies.

In this wide ranging conversation, Shane Told from Silverstein talks with More Than Punk's Seb Mackay about winning a Burger King sweepstakes that saw him visit Lord of The Rings sets in New Zealand before the release of Broken Is Easily Fixed, setting out to dominate America before the band ever toured in Canada and the decision to independently release Redux II outside of their record deal with UNFD.

Nigel Powell (Unbelievable Truth / Dive Dive / Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls) talks about his new solo record Saudade, the compulsion to create his own music, whether British marmite is better than Kiwi marmite (spoiler, it's not!) and his journey to go from solo artist to full band under the Sad Song Co. flag.

This week, I'm hanging out with Dublin's very own The Winter Passing. Rob Flynn and I are talking all things songwriting, optimism and their divisive track Crybaby from the latest release New Ways of Living. Rob is an awesome guy and makes for a great guest so make sure you check this one out!

Thus week's episode goes completely off the rails, as I talk with Less Than Jake's Chris DeMakes, who wants to talk about anything other than the new single (Anytime, Anywhere) and the new record (Silver Linings). It's an episode packed with laughs, Less Than Jake stories and some mutual masturbation (almost).

Bobby Nerves, front man of Bad Nerves, talks about interviews gone wrong, calls from his mum asking if he has a drug problem and how even with more time on his hands, he's struggling to write songs and keep the wolf from the door.

Jay (Beans On Toast) joins to Seb to talk about releasing two different albums on the same day, growing older, whether people understand the tongue-in-cheek nature of some of his tracks (and what happens when they don't) and what it's like being a punk rock dad.

Greg Puciato talks about being so wired and alive with creativity that he's given his life over to songwriting. He doesn't have a family, he barely goes out. He's just turned 40 and is feeling philosophical about being a conduit for creativity, gives his thoughts on the sins of forgetting ideas and the cosmic joke that comes with it.

This week I'm talking with Frank Turner about his and Jon Sondgrass' new album Buddies 2: Still Buddies, the follow up to their 2010 album Buddies. We're also talking about how Frank always tries to separate from his art, fans emailing and asking for life advice, his recommended reads and so much more (seriously, we cover a lot of ground in this chat).

This week, I'm hanging out with Janine Shilstone from Scottish duo Vukovi. We're talking about working with the Spice Girls producers / songwriters on their new track SLO, Janine's plans to become a songwriter for some of the biggest bands in the world and even spill some advice for bands wanting to break into the big time.

ManDancing guitarist Ben Petty talks about how the band are finding their identity in amongst being told they sound like Manchester Orchestra or Death Cab For Cutie having a mental breakdown.

Dana Willax, vocalist of Kingdom of Giants, talks about still having a career outside of the band, not thinking they were going to make it to 10 years in music and spills some of his biggest mistakes that other bands in the industry can learn from.

Jimmy Wilks from The Sonder Bombs talks about their new single What Are Friends For?, how the challenges in America are shaping the band's music and future and learning to embrace the attention and affection that comes with having fans.

On this week's episode of the More Than Punk Podcast, I sit down with Drew Shepherd from Make Way For Man to talk about their new EP Rites, making a living off Spotify (or not) and the commercials of being an unsigned band. We even talk a bit about Taylor Swift and Metallica and how they're setting themselves up for a post pandemic future.

Heathen's Kragen Lum digs deep into tying lyrics based on historical events to the current global situation, talks about closing the ten year gap between albums, how Covid-19 has changed the way people think about and interact with music and that ten years between releases means these Bay Area thrash legends have to build their audience all over again.

On the first episode of the More Than Punk podcast, narrative driven metalcore act, The Gloom In The Corner, talk about war, humanity, writing story arcs that cover multiple albums and their new song 'Warfare'.