Q&A with John Scanlon

We got to do a little short Q & A with Scanlon, who you might know as the dude who books some of the sickest hardcore shows on Long Island. Here's what we got from him, some really cool insight here, I think.

1. How'd you start booking and when? - In 2010 or 2011 I thought Hardcore shows on LI were sort of decline with attendance/show line ups/other reasons so instead of just not doing anything about it I started trying to do my own shows. 2. Best and worst experience booking? - I probably don’t have a singular “best” experience, but what makes me happy is when I book a show, a ton of kids go off for the bands (please stop standing there staring at the bands with your arms crossed and please stop forming a horse show before the band even starts playing), and at the end of the show when a ton of kids come up to me and say they had a good time! Worst experience though was definitely the Life and Death tour in 2014 when the show got shut down during the second band and I had to move the show within a 2 minute notice to AMH. Although that experience was miserable and literally left a knot in my stomach for Hall shows, literally feel like I can’t do them anymore, It was really something to see the show get saved and a bunch of kids having a good time. I definitely snuck a ton of kids into AMH after they stopped letting kids pay (Sorry Dan) 3. How do you feel about pay 2 play ? - I don’t think there should be any ticket presales in Hardcore. No hardcore kid would do it haha. Other genres that are bigger and actually have a ton of locals fighting over the opening slot I definitely believe and understand there being ticket presales. 4. Do you have any advice to anybody trying to start booking shows ? - Just like Shia LeBeouf says, Just do it. It’s a pain in the ass to start fresh but eventually you’ll get the ball rolling. If you don’t like gambling and potentially losing a lot of money you probably shouldn’t do it though 5. Do you feel like the scene is as inclusive as people make it out to be ? - Anyone is welcome in Hardcore. I can’t recall a single time when someone was “kicked out of hardcore” on Long Island or even in General unless they did something to effect the hardcore community. If someone is going around to venues and shutting them down, Singling out people in the community and making it awkward for them to be there, or just doing something you think isn't right, don’t just go to the internet about it / just don’t do anything about it in general. Get some people together and confront the person about the situation and tell them you don’t want them part of your scene. That last sentence might sound like im saying “Ok get some of your friends together and stomp them out” haha but no I don’t mean that, most people in this day in age are reasonable so you should be able to talk to them and they’ll learn their lesson (Hopefully). 5.5 - Im actually going to add a part to this question where I say what I think is currently wrong with Long Island Hardcore and actually Hardcore in general. I feel like a ton of kids today wait for a well-known national act to roll through town to actually get up and go to a show. I don’t think kids these days really check out newer bands when a show is announced. I used to see a show get announced and try to find the bands music online to check out. Obviously I still enjoy the fact of going to a show and seeing/hearing a band for the first time and getting blown away but most of the time I wish kids would actually look into the bands that are playing a show prior to the show happening. It bums me out when I see kids standing around in a huge ass horseshoe when no one is even moshing. You ever think how awkward that must be for the band? I wish kids didn’t care more about mosh parts than actually learning the words and singing along. Long Island used to be a huge “sing along/pile up” scene and I feel like not a lot of kids are into actually learning the words. Believe me I love senseless riffs, I listen to bands like Devourment and stuff like that mainly for riffs but believe me there are more to what bands are trying to get across to you than just mosh parts. Although I’m not going to lie I feel like some newer bands just write generic, not relatable lyrics just because they sound cool. Write about something personal, a reason that makes you angry or whatever. I really doubt you “have weight of the world on your shoulders”, your “mind is like a prison” or “no one can see the harsh reality”. Also there aren’t a ton of young kids starting new bands and trying to play shows. I feel like it’s the same kids just trying to make bands (which isn’t a bad thing) but I’m really hoping newer bands come out that have new kids. Oh and for the love of god if any local band is reading this and saying “why doesn’t he book us then?” if you don’t go to any of my shows and don’t try having a conversation with me I won’t book you. Why should I book a band with members who only go to shows that they play? Then when they play they always have to get their loved ones in and their grandma and leave right after their set. I’m glad Long Island kids are actually starting to care about smaller locals and going off for them. Bands like Jukai, Regulate, Detriment and others have been getting better crowd reactions and support from the scene, which is great. Liking bigger acts is fine but you should also respect the locals. Stop watching bands from the side of the stage at AMH. Biggest pet peeve. I’m probably the worst person to interview because my grammar and English in general is atrocious and I will literally just keep ranting about nonsense but hopefully people can understand what I’m saying. 6. Any shoutouts to anybody - Wetlands, Bulldoze 94, Thugsquad, Taylor Swift