An in-depth discussion with a band or artist, generally in the form of a straight Q&A – no editorializing.
I first met Daryl from The Bollweevils during a post-Riot Fest brunch thing years ago. I was there for the weekend with the Mustard Plug guys and a few months before, Red Scare had signed The Lippies. I showed up to Cobra Lounge on a Sunday morning to hang with Toby from Red Scare and catch the show before I scooted out of town. It was there that Toby introduced me to Daryl. The energy coming off this guy was electric and positive. We became fast friends and any time I was in Chicago doing punk rock things I would run into him and we'd have some laughs. He is truly one of the more interesting characters I have met and I was excited at the chance to actually interview him. As well as being the frontman for one of Chicago's OG punk bands, he is a doctor, family man, and a shining example of the power of punk rock. The Bollweevils released Essential in May of last year on Red Scare. It's a banger. Put it on in the background while you're reading this. Photo: Loren Green Scene Point Blank: The Bollweevils just dropped a brand new album back in May of 2023 on Red Scare. I love it! You guys aren't fucking around here! You leaned into that ‘90s thrashy, melodic skatepunk that I came up on. I'm also loving the tinges of Bad Brains thrown in there. When I write a song, I'm usually going for a vibe or a … Read more
There are a lot of misconceptions about life in the music biz. While late nights and travel are a big part of it, day jobs always influence the process and … Read more
Ramona Jan has a storied career as a pioneer who established herself as an audio engineer in an industry largely dominated by men. With Ramona’s connection to Mediasound, she orchestrated … Read more
There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal … Read more
We post a variety of features in recurring series – click below to browse them.
A regular series by Robert F.
A wide-ranging guest column written by BJ from Ancient Shores, mainly covering film but extending into philosophy and aesthetics too. Check out BJ's work on the A389 podcast.
How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music.
Guest column by T of Vegas
A cookery column by Nick, vocalist with metal band The Famine. Veggie/vegan friendly!
A roundup of coverage of the annual punk rock festival held in Gainesville, Florida
Our annual roundup from Gainesville, FL's famous Fest.
SPB's coverage of the annual festival in Gainesville, Florida.
Our coverage of the annual Fest extravaganza.
Our coverage of the 19th edition of the Fest – an independent multi-day, multiple-venue music festival held annually in Gainesville, Florida.
All our coverage from the long-running music festival
Articles about the Fest 21
We dive into the back catalog of a record label and ask them to nominate their most memorable releases from their label's history–with a few suggestions of our own.
An interview format where we ask a band to rate and review a bunch of music
A radio DJ profile series created by Christopher D & Matt Hutchison.
There’s so much music released, whether physically or digitally, that keeping up with what’s going on becomes almost like a full time job. With Only Death Is Real, the aim is to bring you something new.
A life lived and lessons learned by Eddie Spaghetti of Supersuckers.
Welcome to Running on Nothing, the latest addition to our stable of columns at Scene Point Blank. Running on Nothing offers a look at the world through the eyes of Kole, bassist of The Lippies, guitarist of The Bloody Lips, and gigposter artist.
We survey some of the other music releases out there. Results may vary...may get weird, but hopefully something covered here piques your interest.
A semi-regular column where we choose a specific area and give a local scene report.
Discussing the state of the music business at the kitchen table
A brief but englightening chat with an artist who reveals an interesting or unexpected story from their career
A collection of items grouped by topic, eg. "Top 5 Worst Beatles Songs" or "Top 10 best '77 punk releases".
One-question interviews with artists where we find out about the gear and equipment they use to achieve their sound.
A collection of coverage rounding up the year 2012, covering our favorite albums, shows, bands, and more, as well as asking record labels and bands about their past twelve months in music
It's the end of 2013, so here's our best-of roundup for the last twelve months.
Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2014.
Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2015.
Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2016.
Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2017.
Our summary of the best music (and more) of 2018.
Our wrap-up of the best music and more from 2019
Our wrap-up of the best music and more for the year we'll all want to otherwise forget, 2020.
Our roundup of the best music from the worst year (since the previous one, anyway).
Our favorite music and more from the year 2022
Our roundup of the best music of the year 2023
Looking for the SPB logo? You can download it in a range of styles and colours here: