Shaun Osburn (Middle-Aged Queers)
What are your top five albums that were released in 2025? (In order 1-5)
Shaun Osburn! He/Him. Vocalist, keyboardist, and sometimes bassist in Middle-Aged Queers. I also put out records occasionally under the imprint "Outpunx Records." I also hold the title of "longest running booker" at 924 Gilman Street, with 2025 marking my 30th anniversary of the first show I booked there in 1995.
- Bobby Joe Ebola & The Children McNuggits - Solar Cantata
- Dollar Store - Gentleman Nation
- Jukebox Romantics - This One Looks Cool
- Scene Killers - Bare Hands And Bayonets
- Deaf Club - We Demand A Permanent State Of Happiness
What band did you discover in 2025 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? How so?
The Dumpies! Middle-Aged Queers played with them at a peculiar spot in Ashland, Oregon. I couldn't tell if it was a bar, a social hall, a community center, a restaurant, or an antique store. Ashland is simultaneously beautiful, weird, and somewhat scary. But the Dumpies tore into a 20-minute sweat, screaming through a shitty PA held together with duct tape and the best intentions of all the other bands trying to dial in the erratic feedback. They ended their set nearly naked, covered in sweat, leaving us all in a blissful state of merriment and confusion.
How will you remember 2025 (in terms of music)?
I sometimes loathe the nostalgia and sentimentality of the punk scene. How much longer are we going to let Circle Jerks, Descendents, and Negative Approach do a package tour that doesn't make space for locals to open? But then I remember that so much of this is based on friendships that span decades and hundreds, or even thousands, of miles. Finding that balance that keeps that connection long-lasting, and allowing space for newer and/or younger bands, is what I'm now aiming for. 2025 is when I finally felt like I was striking that balance in the bands Middle-Aged Queers plays with and the shows I book at 924 Gilman.
What can we look forward to from you in 2026?
Middle-Aged Queers will be releasing a covers album in the new year titled Greatest Hits. Get it? Because we don't have any of our own! All the songs we cover add our own flavor. We updated the lyrics to Faith No More's "We Care A Lot," we turned a Mazzy Star song into what basically sounds like an early Jawbreaker tune, to give a few examples. We haven't told anyone about this yet. It's a Scene Point Blank exclusive story now!
Every February, we do "Valentine's Gay" showcases at 924 Gilman in Berkeley and Cafe Colonial in Sacramento. This year, we're bringing Hit Like A Girl from Philadelphia, P.O.S from San Francisco (featuring the son of Death Angel's Denis Pepa!), and Black Gold Sun. It's a really cute, diverse, and multigenerational showcase of queercore bands that we're stoked to have been doing since 2020.
What records are you looking forward to most in 2026?
Tsunami Bomb and Hammerbombs have a split coming out in the new year on Rad Girlfriend Records. I've already heard the songs; they're good! Now I want the vinyl record.
Singles rule the music scene right now. How has that affected you as a band or label? Has it influenced your approach to new releases or touring?
Bands used to tour to support a new album. I don't really see that happening with the same intensity anymore.
After we released our third album, Theatre of Shame, I saw firsthand how the landscape had changed over the last three years. We get the same media attention for releasing a full album as we do for releasing a single. At the same time, vinyl sales have decreased, while the profit margin for physical releases continues to decline.
It's doubtful we'll do a fifth album at this point. Now, I'd like to see us record when inspiration hits, and we have something to share. Releasing to services like Bandcamp also keeps things fresh for me, unlike the 1-2 years it takes to record and release an album.
