In this special Scene Support and SKAgazine crossover episode, punk comedian Rachel Summers—whom Scott affectionately calls The aSKAni Mother—takes over as interviewer for a conversation with Scott of DCxPC Live and Jess of SKAgazine and Be the Scene Promotions.

Rachel guides Scott and Jess through a conversation about building DIY music communities in the Hudson Valley and Philadelphia. They share how their projects began, the people who helped shape them, and why supporting the scene means far more than simply booking shows or releasing records.

The conversation covers mixed-genre bills, all-ages spaces, limited-edition live vinyl, benefit shows, paying bands, booking advice, and the work that happens behind the scenes to keep everything moving. Scott and Jess also discuss their plans for the future, from the Be the Scene Fest to Scott’s vision for an all-ages independent media space where shows could be recorded, filmed, and documented.

Along the way, Rachel gets them talking about discovering punk and ska, memorable concerts, life on tour, organization versus chaos, and the relationships that make this work worthwhile.

The episode closes with two reminders that sum up the conversation: DIY does not mean doing everything alone, and if you want to have a scene, you have to be the scene.

INTERVIEWER

Rachel Summers — punk comedian and The aSKAni Mother

SKAgazine

Website:\

https://skagazine.com/

Instagram:\

https://www.instagram.com/skagazine/

Facebook:\

https://www.facebook.com/p/The-SKAgazine-61552557301803/

YouTube:\

https://www.youtube.com/@SKAgazine

Spotify:\

https://open.spotify.com/show/1Nvct48ul9AmsI5C5LBPY2

Be the Scene Promotions

Instagram:\

https://www.instagram.com/bethescene_shows/

DCxPC Live

Website:\

https://dcxpclive.com/

Instagram:\

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live/

Facebook:\

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

Bandcamp:\

https://dcxpclive.bandcamp.com/

YouTube:\

https://www.youtube.com/@DCxPC_Live

Scene Support podcast and transcripts:\

https://dcxpclive.com/scene-support-podcast

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Trev Allen — Struggling Artist Record Club

Website:\

https://www.strugglingartistrecordclub.com/

Instagram:\

https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/

The Struggling Artist Podcast:\

https://www.thestrugglingartistpodcast.com/

INTRO AND OUTRO SONG

Joshua “Danger” Dobbs

Instagram:\

https://www.instagram.com/joshua_danger_dobbs/

In this episode of DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support, Scott talks with Chris Wynne, founder of In Effect Hardcore, about nearly four decades of documenting and supporting underground hardcore.

Chris launched In Effect as a Queens fanzine in 1988, printing just 50 copies of its first issue. Over the next decade, it grew to 12 issues and a 10,000-copy final print run—all distributed DIY through shows, record stores, trades, mail orders, touring bands, and Chris’s own conversations with people he thought might connect with hardcore. In 2012, he revived In Effect as a website, where he and a rotating team of contributors continue covering bands, records, shows, and hardcore culture.

Chris and Scott discuss learning to publish by simply doing it, interviewing bands outside CBGB Sunday matinees, distributing zines as far as Belgium and Japan, preserving underground music history, balancing scene work with family and everyday life, and the challenge of helping great bands cut through an endless stream of new music. They also talk about Chris’s work with Outsider Magazine, New Noise, and the weekly Bring the Noise radio show, along with all-ages spaces, the changing boundaries between punk, hardcore, and metal, bands that deserve more attention, and some memorable Two-Man Advantage stories.

At its heart, this conversation is about what Scene Support celebrates: people doing the often-unseen work of building infrastructure, preserving history, and helping others discover something that might inspire them to create something of their own.

Executive Producer: Trev Allen w/Struggling Artist Record Club

Follow and support:

In Effect Hardcore: https://ineffecthardcore.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ineffecthc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InEffectHardcore/
Bring the Noise Radio: https://www.instagram.com/bringthenoiseradio/

DCxPC Live: https://dcxpclive.com/

Struggling Artist Record Club: https://www.strugglingartistrecordclub.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/

Scott sits down with James Kwapisz, founder of DIY Kingston, a community resource promoting shows, venues, bands, and new music throughout Kingston and the greater Hudson Valley. James shares how the project grew from a social media account into a website featuring show calendars, directories, reviews, interviews, and other tools that make the local scene easier to navigate.

They also discuss James’ music with A Whole Nother and Grandfather, balancing creativity with work and everyday life, and what keeps people organizing, performing, and supporting one another despite burnout and the difficult realities of the music industry. It’s a conversation about building trust, finding genuine positivity, and creating the kind of scene you want to be part of.

Subscribe to Scene Support wherever you listen, and please share the episode with someone who cares about independent music. Scene Support celebrates the bookers, sound engineers, writers, photographers, venue operators, promoters, and community builders whose work keeps DIY and underground music alive.

Executive producer: Trev Allen - Struggling Artist Record Club

DIY Kingston IG

DIY Kingston Website

DCxPC Live⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠DCxPC Live IG ⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠DCxPC Live mailing list⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Struggling Artist Club

On this episode of DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support, Scott talks with Brian Westbrook, co-founder and production manager of RPM Fest, about what it really takes to build and sustain a DIY heavy music festival.

Brian traces his path from piano lessons and teen-center punk shows to touring with Lich King, working in live sound, and helping turn RPM Fest from a backyard party into a full three-day rock, punk, and metal gathering rooted in community, logistics, volunteers, and slow, intentional growth.

The conversation gets into the behind-the-scenes work most people never see: budgeting, generators, porta potties, tents, stage flow, sound, backline, sponsorships, vendors, posters, yard signs, social media, booking headliners, and the thousand small decisions that make a festival feel welcoming and functional. Brian also talks about the importance of building on solid footing, knowing when to scale back, trusting other people to take ownership, and creating something that feels bigger than just another show.

Along the way, Scott and Brian talk RPM Fest, THCC / The Heavy Culture Cooperative, DIY promotion, volunteer culture, festival problem-solving, metal drummers, and why community infrastructure matters just as much as the bands on stage.

For anyone who has ever wondered how a DIY festival actually happens, this one is a deep look at the people, planning, and heart that keep underground music alive.

Subscribe for more conversations with the people behind the scenes who keep DIY, punk, hardcore, ska, metal, and underground music moving.

Executive producer: Trev Allen - Struggling Artist Record Club

Links:⁠

RPM Fest

THCC

DCxPC Live⁠⁠

⁠⁠DCxPC Live IG ⁠⁠

⁠⁠DCxPC Live mailing list⁠

⁠Struggling Artist Club

On this episode of DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support, Scott sits down with Mike Damante, owner and operator of Hostile City Industries / HCI Distribution, a Philadelphia-based distributor and label services company helping independent labels and artists get their music into the world.

Mike talks about what music distribution actually is, why it matters for DIY labels, and how records move from pressing plants to record stores, mailorders, international partners, and online retailers. The conversation moves from Mike’s years at MVD Entertainment Group to starting Hostile City, working with independent labels, coordinating release timelines, touring support, digital distribution, CDs, shipping, packaging, publishing, and the realities of trying to build something sustainable without losing your ethics.

It’s a practical, honest, and deeply scene-rooted conversation about the invisible labor behind independent music, the business side of DIY, and why getting records into people’s hands takes a whole lot more than just pressing vinyl.

In this episode:

00:17 – Welcome to Scene Support
01:55 – What music distribution actually does
05:15 – Mike’s time at MVD and the changing music industry
08:06 – Record store relationships, wholesalers, and international distribution
12:33 – Shipping overseas and getting records into international markets
15:06 – How labels can support bands on tour through distro
18:30 – Getting records into local and regional stores
21:41 – DIY still takes a team
25:32 – Vinyl, CDs, DVDs, video, and digital distribution
26:56 – Ethical distribution and getting music to the widest audience
28:59 – Digital strategy, singles, playlists, and release timing
31:39 – When labels should submit releases for distribution
41:41 – Why CDs still matter
50:32 – Drop-shipping records directly from the plant
1:01:10 – Consignment, record stores, and the challenges of local sales
1:04:27 – Helping other bands access distribution
1:06:05 – Metadata, vendor portals, UPCs, and accounting
1:11:06 – How Hostile City decides who to work with
1:15:49 – Publishing, mechanicals, and “black box” money
1:17:31 – Using the system without becoming extractive
1:19:02 – Paying people, feeding bands, and keeping shows sustainable

Subscribe for more conversations with the people behind the scenes who keep DIY, punk, hardcore, ska, metal, and underground music moving.

Executive producer: Trev Allen - Struggling Artist Record Club

Links:
DCxPC Live⁠

⁠DCxPC Live IG ⁠

⁠DCxPC Live mailing list

Hostile City Distro IG
HCI Distribution
Struggling Artist Club

On this episode of DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support, Scott sits down with Antonio Rodriguez, an interdisciplinary artist, programmer, community organizer, and longtime DIY punk participant whose work centers POC and LGBTQ+ voices in underground culture.

Antonio talks about coming up through the San Antonio punk and metal scenes, booking early house shows, learning through mistakes, and the community power of DIY spaces. The conversation moves from punk houses and show logistics to Punk Island, South by Southwest, zines, archiving, file sharing, folk traditions, and the many ways punk exists beyond just music.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation about scene work, cultural memory, making space for others, and why the behind-the-scenes labor of punk matters just as much as what happens on stage.

In this episode:

00:17 – Welcome to Scene Support

03:26 – Antonio’s San Antonio punk roots

05:03 – Discovering DIY punk houses

14:05 – Advice for running a first house show

20:18 – Moving to NYC, Punks of Color, and DIY collaboration

23:15 – What Punk Island is and how Antonio got involved

27:49 – Working South by Southwest as a stage manager

41:56 – Punk as more than music

45:04 – Punk as an electric folk art form

56:16 – Bandcamp, free downloads, and file sharing

1:04:18 – Archiving flyers, zines, and scene history 

Subscribe for more conversations with the people behind the scenes who keep DIY, punk, hardcore, ska, metal, and underground music moving.

Executive producer: Trev Allen - Struggling Artist Record Club

Links:

DCxPC Live

DCxPC Live IG

DCxPC Live mailing list

Antonio Rodriguez

Punk Island

Struggling Artist Club

On this episode of Scene Support, Scott talks with writer, musician, and longtime New York downtown-scene insider Gabriel Rotello about his new novel, The CBGB Conspiracy. Set in the sweltering chaos of New York City in 1977, the book blends punk history, murder mystery, and real cultural flashpoints including CBGB, the blackout, Son of Sam, the Everard Bathhouse fire, and the downtown artists, musicians, and misfits who helped define an era.

Gabriel shares stories from his years in the city, from moving to New York in 1974 to playing music, witnessing the rise of CBGB, working with Ronnie Spector, and later shifting into writing, activism, and documentary television. The conversation digs into scene memory, the communal power of music, how punk and hip-hop grew out of the same broken city, and what gets lost when legendary places become history.

A deep dive into underground culture, survival, storytelling, and the people who kept the scene alive.

Gabriel Rotello:

Website

The CBGB Conspiracy

DCxPC Live:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Bandcamp

YouTube

Newsletter

Executive Producer: Trev Allen from Struggling Artist Record Club

Intro song by Joshua “Danger” DobbsJoshua “Danger” Dobbs / Danger Room Recording

About Scene Support: DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support spotlights the bookers, promoters, sound techs, zine writers, photographers, venue workers, label people, and community builders who keep DIY and underground music moving.

In this episode of DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support, Scott talks with Arlene Vivar-Beairsto, founder of Crystal Moon Public Relations and lead organizer of Punk Island. Arlene shares how she moved from booking all-ages DIY shows in New York through Taking Back Queens to helping punk, hardcore, ska, and underground artists build stronger PR campaigns without losing their identity.

The conversation gets into what bands actually need before releasing music, why realistic timelines matter, how PR is built on relationships, and why quality coverage matters more than a pile of copy-and-paste posts. Scott and Arlene also talk about Punk Island, all-ages shows, representation in punk, mixed-genre bills, Latino and queer visibility in DIY spaces, community building, and the real work that happens behind the scenes to keep DIY music moving forward.

Follow DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support on whatever platform you are listening on. It helps more people find the podcast and supports the work of documenting the people who keep DIY music alive.

Watch, listen, and read the full transcript here:
https://dcxpclive.com/scene-support-podcast

Guest: Arlene Vivar-Beairsto / Crystal Moon Public Relations
Website: https://linktr.ee/crystalmoonpr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystalmoon_pr/

DCxPC Live:
Website: https://dcxpclive.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking
Bandcamp: https://dcxpclive.bandcamp.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DCxPC_Live

Executive Producer: Trev Allen from Struggling Artist Record Club
Struggling Artist Record Club:https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/

Intro song by Joshua “Danger” Dobbs
Joshua “Danger” Dobbs / Danger Room Recording Services: https://www.instagram.com/joshua_danger_dobbs/

About Scene Support:
DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support spotlights the bookers, promoters, sound techs, zine writers, photographers, venue workers, label people, and community builders who keep DIY and underground music moving.

This week on Scene Support, Scott sits down with Max Kozol, a Massachusetts-based promoter, sound tech, and junior talent buyer at The Middle East in Cambridge. Max talks about going from booking shows for her own band to helping build bills across Boston and Cambridge, including her work with Broken String, O’Brien’s Pub, Warehouse 11, and the wider DIY scene.

The conversation digs into the realities of booking shows, supporting touring bands, building community, keeping scenes safe, learning through mistakes, and why hospitality, flexibility, and genuine care matter so much in underground music.

Scott and Max also swap stories about tour chaos, backline disasters, band names, burnout, and the people who keep showing up to make DIY music happen.

Broken String Booking IG

⁠DCxPC Live Website⁠DCxPC Live IG

DCxPC Live FB

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen - Struggling Artist Record Club

🔗 Subscribe for more episodes spotlighting the people who keep underground music alive.

Scene Support is a podcast from DCxPC Live highlighting the promoters, artists, organizers, and behind-the-scenes workers who make DIY culture possible.

On this episode of Scene Support, Scott sits down with New York promoter, musician, and community builder Nathan “Nate” Harris. From his early days booking shows at Gussie’s Bar to co-founding Leg Drop Productions, working with Punk Island’s Sister Rosetta stage, and building momentum through Nate’s Show Booking, Nate has become a vital force in creating intentional, inclusive spaces in punk and hardcore.

The conversation dives into how he curates mixed bills, supports touring bands, promotes shows, and keeps community at the center of everything he does. They also talk about all-ages spaces, learning to trust collaborators, balancing music with real life, and why kindness, empathy, and access matter just as much as the lineup itself. It’s a deep, honest look at the unseen work that keeps DIY culture alive.

Nate Show Booking

https://www.instagram.com/natesshowbooking/

https://www.instagram.com/maafahardcore/https://www.instagram.com/noweaponbkhc/

https://www.instagram.com/lakelaniernyc/

https://www.instagram.com/xtinguishthecodebxny_/

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

🔗 Subscribe for more episodes spotlighting the people who keep underground music alive.

Scene Support is a podcast from DCxPC Live highlighting the promoters, artists, organizers, and behind-the-scenes workers who make DIY culture possible.