At Least There’s Fest

Welcome back! Blake and Travis Omilian of Banquets explore the bands triumphant return after a decade-long hiatus with their new album "Petty Relics."

Travis shares how the band disbanded in 2016 due to burnout, reformed for Fest in 2020, then pivoted during COVID to create music without pressure.

They discuss modern music consumption challenges, the album's introspective themes including personal loss, and Travis's hands-on approa...

Welcome back to the show! Joining me on this episdoe are three members from Sandcrawler. The Gainesville band is no stranger to Fest, but they are a newer band and just played as this group for the first time at Fest 23.

We discuss the bands formation, playing past Fests with their other bands, where they draw inspiration, recording, and they even recount some pretty great Fest memories along with their favorites sets from this pas...

Welcome back to At Least There's Fest! TV Cop, an Iowa City punk band, joins the show today. We discuss their first-time experience performing at Fest 23 and the surrounding tour. The band members also share their musical evolution from metal to punk, their DIY recording approach, and how they navigate Iowa's diverse music scene. They outlined future plans including upcoming shows, applying to Fest again next year, and recording th...

Welcome back to ATLF! On today's show I am joined by the Washington DC band, Curse Words. The band has been honing their unique brand of sci-fi infused punk for around a decade and they have new music coming out in 2026.

I talk to the band about their formation, their changes, making a video game around an album, new music, touring, and Fest. 

The band is currently working on a new album and they will play some shows around that re...

Fun show today as I am joined by Dana Bollen. Dana does the "Two Weeks Notice" podcast which is excellent. In addition to his own podcasts he is the tour manager and cow bell expert for Piebald. He wears hats for tons of other bands each year.

We talk about his unique workload, life on the road, leaving a corporate gig for his current life, what makes Fest specials, and everything in between. Dana is a super nice dude and he has a ...

Greetings and welcome back to another episode of At Least There's Fest! Joining the show this week is Jake LeDrew of the Orlando band, Dial Drive.

The group has played the last few Fests and did an Alkaline Trio set this year. Jake and I talk about the formation of the band, traveling to the Arctic Circle, being in a band that strives to tour as much as possible and more.

Additionally, Jake discusses ANOTHER Florida Festival, the F...

Welcome back to At Least There's Fest! I hope everyone had a terrific Fest 23 and is back home safely. Over here, we are already gearing up for Fest 24 and you should get an episode a week until the April lineup announcement when things will kick into a higher gear. While you're here, please rate and review this podcast on the app of your choice and also follow us on Instagram.

Our guest for this show is Travis Miles of The Penske ...

Hello and welcome to our final episode ahead of Fest 23! What better guest to have swing by than the prolific, legendary and all-around great human, Mikey Erg!

Fest 23 will be Mikey's 19th fest in 20 years and that is some impressive longevity. In the podcast we talk about all of those Fests, the most sets he ever played in a single Fest (seriously, it'll blow your mind and it honestly seems impossible), the joys and collecting rec...

Fest is almost here! Joining the show to celebrate is Tiff Hannay of the Lansing, MI band Rodeo Boys. The band has played Fest the last two years and will be back again for Fest 23.

Tiff talks about the formation of the band, the growing pains of being a songwriter, landing on Don Gionvanni, touring with the Menzingers and Laura Jane Grace, and the joy of seeing yourself in the crowd.

Rodeo Boys are touring around Fest with Weakene...

We're about a week from Fest 23 and we have a fitting guest for the occasion, Mike Terry of The Jukebox Romantics. The New York band has been at it for over 15 years and they've lost count of how many times they have played Fest.

Mike and I talk about the early fluctuation of band members, playing the late night shifts at Fest, their new record, recording a music video is Gainesville and much more.

The bands newest record "This One...

It's our 50th show! Time flies.

Our guests today are Colin and Justin from the New York band, Neckscars. Neckscars formed in 2018 and they have two full lengths to their credit, with their latest just coming out this summer.

We talk about the new record, playing in NY, having a recording session interrupted by Covid, playing Fest, and much much more.

You can catch Neckscars at Loosey's on Saturday night along with several other Sel...

Welcome back to another episode of At Least There's Fest! My guest today is Bobby Caruso of The Caution Children. The Florida band has been in active in one way or another for nearly twenty years and is playing Fest for the first time in around ten years (give or take).

The band just released their first album in over a decade, "Appropriate Music" and it is one of the best albums of the year in my humble opinion. We talk about the ...

Fun show today! Stopping by the show are Viggy Ram and Eric Nakano from the Bay Area Band, DROUGHT. The band formed in 2022 and just released their first full length record, Souvenir, this summer.

Viggy and Eric discuss starting a band via Craigslist, working with Pat Flynn from Have Heart/Fiddlehead, touring, writing music, playing Fest for the first time.

The band will make their Fest debut on Friday at How Bazar and will tour do...

Thank you for tuning into another episode of At Least There's Fest. Joining the show today for episode 47 is Jon Oddo from the Seattle, WA band, Dead Bars.

Dead Bars plays Fest just about every year and Jon makes the argument that Dead Bars wouldn't exist without Fest. He also talks about history of the band, the current lineup, how they write songs, the diversity of styles on the new album, and much more.

Dead Bars released their ...

Hello and welcome to the 46th (!!!) episode of At Least There's Fest, thank you so much for listening. 

Joining the show for this episode are Ben Roy and Chuck Coffey of the Denver band, SPELLS. The band has been around for over a decade and is playing Fest for the 5th time this fall. The band is knows for their prolific output, fun music, and lively shows.

Ben and Chuck talk about how the band formed, their primary drivers in bein...

On today's episode I am joined in the virtual studio by John Massel. John is in the Grand Rapids, MI (my hometown) band North Lincoln who will be playing Fest for the first time since Fest 8!

John talks about the formation of the band in the last century, connecting with the Gainesville scene and No Idea, touring with Planes Mistaken for Stars, unreleased tunes, his other band Spares (also playing Fest), and much more. If you are a...

Joining today's show is Peter Marullo of Protagonist. The Florida band formed in 1999 (!!!) and will be playing Fest for the 13th time this fall. 

Peter shares the formation of the band, writing for two vocalists, working with Omnigone, recording new music, past tours, and much more. On the Fest front Peter impressively recalls every venue Protagonist has played at Fest (RIP to many of them) and gives plenty of food recs for folks ...

Hey, if you've enjoyed this podcast so far please consider sharing, rating, saving, and/or supporting this work via our Patreon. I don't want to have make some episodes pay only, it defeats the purpose. But I would love to not lose money. Thanks so much!

Joining the show today is Maxwell Stern. Max is known for his solo work and for fronting the terrific band, Signals Midwest. The band is playing Fest for the 11th time this fall an...

HUGE show today in terms of fun and in volume of bands. We have THREE bands on today's show with Mega Infinity, PWRUP, and Joker's Republic stopping by together to talk ska, Fest, and their upcoming tour to Fest.

The bands talk about their local (NE) scenes, sharing band members, why everyone looks to Joker's Republic when they need a sub, touring down to Fest as a group, and the changing venue landscape.

If you live on the East Co...