Going Off Track

Rancid drummer and The Used founder Branden Steineckert grew up in Utah between a steel plant and a prison — chased by cops for skateboarding and then later having to call them to his home for domestic abuse. (They were useless.) Now he gets to play drums in one of the world's best punk bands! This is a deep, fun, upbeat conversation with one of music's most resilient dudes.

This week’s guest is Johnny Whitney, frontman of the all-star band Evil Island , whose members come from Johnny’s former band The Blood Brothers, as well as Glassjaw and …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Johnny tells us how he got Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto to appear on their new record—and what an incredible experience that was. He also talks about growing up in Seattle just as Nirvana was breaking through, and how that moment shaped his own interest in music.

Ensign frontman, Tim Shaw tells us tales of learning the ropes with Sick of It All, getting his ass kicked at a Discharge show and being healed of road-douchery by Rancid. Of course he and Benny also get into a lot of reminiscing about CBGB and the New Jersey scene.

This week we dip back to 2022 for a really intelligent conversation with Hot Water Music bassist, Jason Black . A bunch of ska talk, Metallica, New Jersey... enjoy.

This week we're going all the way back to 2014 to revisit this wonderful chat we had with the hilarious stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and producer, Nikki Glaser. Long-time listeners of the show should be entertained to hear original hosts, Steven and Jonah conversing along with Benny. Check Nikki's website for tour-dates and more

Here is a FUN episode - the always great, Tucker Rule, drummer for Thursday, L.S. Dunes, Frank Iero and the Future Violents... - Put two drummers together and what do you get? Well, in this case it's a really insightful, funny conversation that is classic G.O.T. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Tucker's Linktree

This week we reach back to the dark depths of Covid to revisit a wonderful interview with Frank Turner that certainly brightened our day in April of 2020. Check Frank's upcoming tour schedule of Europe and North America

Oh what a great convo we've got for you this week - Mike Olender fronted Endeavor, Disembodied, Burnt by the Sun, For The Love Of, River Black... and guess what? - more than one of those are back! Some great stories from the past but we didn't get bogged down there. He's got a lot going on today and a lot of wonderful ideas about hardcore, faith, politics and humanity. There is also the insane van-fire story from his very first tour.

Equal Vision Records is a label with awesome vision, as evidenced by the many of our recent guests who call it home. So after great talks with Quicksand, The Flatliners, Sparta, and I Am The Avalanche, to name just a few, we decided to go right to the man in charge, Label Manager Dan Sandshaw. He gets right into it, telling us how hardcore shows in his native Connecticut 'changed his worldview.' He gives us insight into a label that has had real integrity and a wonderful artist roster throughout its history. Equal Vision Records weblinks

Author and music journalist, Andrew Sacher joins us to talk about indie bands, ska bands, classic rock and of course emo, the subject of his new book, "Emo Revival: Community, DIY, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)". Andrew on the web Pre-order "Emo Revival"

Detroit in the house this week with Rich and Ryan, massive-dynamic rhythm section of The Suicide Machines. Snow tricks, Bourgeois Filth, drunk at Punk in Drublic... and what about being too broke to tour with the Foo Fighters? It's another off track classic.

This week we introduce a new special episode: the first, "Brain Edition with Doc & The Wizard". Two specialists in what's between the ears - both studied professors of psychology, get real with Benny on the mind of the musician (and everybody else). Both are music lovers and rich souls with knowledge to offer. Enjoy.

Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dag Nasty, Junkyard - there's so many more bands that Brian Baker, guitarist (and bassist) extraordinaire has started or shined in. The boy is still rocking hard and grinding out that SOUND! We're on track and off track and all over with this one. Come hear the legend.

On this day in 2020 - we had fucking MILO AUKERMAN from THE DESCENDENTS on the show! So while none of us want to go back to those lockdown days, we DO want to hear Milo again talk about science and PUNK ROCK!

Everyone loves The Bouncing Souls and who bounces more than Greg Attonito lead singer for New Jersey's most beloved punk rock band? You can bet there's some NJ in here but we go all over the place, discovering what a great athlete Greg once was and discussing how the presence and power of a song performed can become it's own entity. Souls on the web

The hardest working man in hardcore, Walter Schreifels joins us this week to get into it! Quicksand, Rival Schools, Gorilla Biscuits, CIV, Youth of Today... these are all Walter's babies and now fully grown, most of them are still going! We get real deep into the essence of hardcore as well as the 90's scramble by major labels to tap into the underground scene of that era. But lets's start off with Walter Cronkite - so off track.

The amazing Mike Huguenor is so many things to music: virtuoso singer/songwriter with his own bands, Shinobu and Hard Girls, guitarist for Jeff Rosenstock, and now author with "Elvis Is Dead, I'm Still Alive: The Story of Asian Man Records"... the list goes on but you know what? He's also a really nice guy, with a lot of awesome stories and we are off-track from the get-go with this one. All things Mike on the web

Julia Steiner of Ratboys is a true rock & roll Road Warrior. Taking her front-person position seriously, she definitely leads by example. We talk about her band philosophy, chair therapy, Pittsburgh football and one of the best Epic Fails we've heard so far. Ratboys on the web

Got a double feature this week with Dave Hause (The Loved Ones) and Tom May (The Menzingers). Both very good friends of the show and we loved having them back to hear about how Dave's brother Tim was born while he was at Lollapalooza seeing Rage Against the Machine. We figure out that Tom is a Rancid super-fan and he drops the big one - Menzingers' 20th anniversary coming up!

We go on a real journey this episode with At The Drive-In and Sparta founder, Jim Ward. From his frontier family roots, arriving in Texas via covered wagon up thru his discovery of the outside world during early tours, to the pitfalls of grand success. Along the way we find out about his favorite pedals and that he's an "aggressive sleeper". Sparta online