BIG show today! Mark and Blake chat with Bob Nanna of Hey Mercedes. Bob was kind enough to chat Braid, Hey Mercedes, and his seemingly endless list of other artistic projects. Bob shares stories about playing with Braid, moving on to Hey Mercedes, his solo projects, along with his Never Ending Polaroid Project, and other endeavors.  Hey Mercedes will be playing "Every Night Fireworks" at Fest this year as the band celebrates the 25th anniversary of the album. Bob shares stories about how that album came together out of the break-up of Braid and how sees the two bands as different. We also get into some of his Fest memories as well as memories of playing shows with Less Than Jake and Saves the Day. You can catch Bob THREE times at Fest this year: Hey Mercedes on Saturday at Bo Diddley Smiths cover band set Saturday night at Looseys Solo set on Sunday at Baby J's   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Greetings and welcome back to At Least There's Fest! Terrific show for you all today as Derron Nuhfer stops by the pod. Derron has DEEP Fest/Gainesville roots as he used to be in a band called Less Than Jake, played Fest 1 with Gunmoll, and has also been active in other bands to play Fest. We talk about his decision to leave Less Than Jake, work various jobs within music, playing with Gunmoll, Cutman, and Reconciler, and much much more.  We talk about following what brings you joy and then just going in that direction, collaborating with a yo-you company on multiple projects, and what makes Fest such a special weekend each and every year. You can catch Derron at Fest 24 during his sets with Cutman and Reconciler (both on Saturday) as well as during some shows in the days leading up to Fest.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Welcome back to At Least There's Fest! On today's episode we are joined by Jason Rockhill. To say Jason wears many hats is a tremendous understatment. Jason fronts two bands playing Fest this year, HAWGS and Cutman. He also does graphic design work for Fest and other shows, and has been to literally every Fest ever. We talk about his new band HAWGS and his old band that is making their triumphant return, Cutman. In addition, Jason talks about the challenges and joys of working venues during Fest and why he has really learned to love and embrace our favorite weekend of the year. You can catch HAWGS on Friday and Cutman on Saturday, both shows are at The Atlantic. You can checkout his art and other projects over on instagram using his Heckfire handle.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Thank you so much for listening to At Least There's Fest. Do us a quick favor, go rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast needs met.  Joining the show today is Adam Fletcher from The Copyrights. As an added bonus, with Mark away for the episode, we have a special guest as Jon Lewis of The Dopamines stops by to lend a hand. Adam shares some stories from the early years of The Copyrights, playing shows in the local punk house in Carbondale, IL, how they met Jon and The Dopamines, and more. We also ask Adam how the band ended up signed to Red Scare. Will he answer just like everyone else or will we finally hear a different version? Tune in to find out! Adam and Jon also take a walk down memory lane as they discuss the split their two bands did together over 15 years ago. It's a real thrill for Fest nerds. We also talk a bit about the split The Dopamines and Adam's other band, Dear Landlord did together. Bonus: If you're looking for details on the new music Dear Landlord is working on, Adam is generous and provides some details. Finally, we spend a lot of time on Fest. It's all good. It's often funny. We hope you enjoy it. You can check out the Copyrights on Sunday at Bo Diddley and we can all keep our fingers crossed for a Saturday set as well.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

It's the last day of August. That means tomorrow is September. That means next month is Fest. Get excited. In celebration of this big milestone we are kicking it up a notch: Starting this week you will THREE episodes a week until Fest! Kicking things off this week welcome in Laurie Cottingham, aka Brightr to the show. Brightr is no stranger to Fest and this will mark the fourth time he has made the trip to play Fest. We talk about being in bands when he was younger, playing around the UK, tour managing for bands, the pros and cons of being a solor artist and much more. You can and should catch Brightr at Baby Js on Saturday night at Fest 24.    **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Welcome back to At Least There's Fest and thank you so much for listening. Joining the show today we have Jeff Caudill and Guy Julian from the Southern California band, Gameface. The group has been around in one form or another for over 30 years and they are gearing up for their second Fest performance this fall.  In the episode we try our best to cover 3+ decades of band history and Jeff and Guy are great narrators of the story. We talk band formation, lineup changes, albums, and how bands change and grow over the years. You can catch Gameface at Heartwood on Saturday. Their newest EP "All My Friends" is out on Iodine at the end of September.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Hello Fest community and visitors alike and welcome to another episode of At Least There's Fest. Today we are joined by Jon Hernandez of Pressure Wheel. The Philadelphia based band is made up of Jon (Timeshares), Maxwell Stern (Signals Midwest), and Jeff and Dan (Restorations). It's honestly probably the most FESTIEST band that could ever be assembled. Jon talks to us about the New York Knicks, how Pressure Wheel fits into their already busy schedules, how the band formed, their first EP "Atomic Woe" and much, much more.  If you listen to the whole episode we get a special guest for a couple of minutes and that provides us all with some very mild fun.  Jon joined us from the recording studio where Pressure Wheel was working on new music. Exciting times. You can catch the band on Saturday at The Atlantic. Since we won't have them on the show I think we can safely say, go see Pressure Wheel instead of Lagwagon.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Welcome back to At Least There's Fest where we are fully dedicated to making sure everyone is fully ready and prepared for the hundreds of bands and artists playing Fest 24. Joining the show today is Logan Greene. Logan works primarily as a solo artist in Tucson, AZ, but as you'll hear in this episode, he's got his hands in all kinds of pots. In this episode we chat with Logan about where he got his start with music, being a solo artist, playing in bands, setting up shows, and how he's taking matters into his hands in the American SW. He's a joy. You can catch Logan playing at Fest 24 on Sunday at the Bull. **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Welcome back to At Least There's Fest! Joining the show today we have Jake and Brian from Night Mayor. The Gainesville band is new on the scene, but the Brian and Jake are no strangers to Fest. In fact, Jake has played at every single Fest! They both tell us about the formation of the band, what it's like making songs in a new band with old friends, and why playing in bands is something you just have to do. The group is currently working on recording new music. You can catch them at Fest on Friday at The Atlantic.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

Welcome back to another episode of At Least There's Fest. We are pleased to have Brian and Leslie from Sorry Sweetheart on the show today. The Colorado ska band released their debut full-length on Bad Time Records earlier this year and it is absolutely terrific. Brian and Leslie share stories about the early years of the band, how the lineup rounded out, their writing process, and what it's like being a ska band in Colorado along with why the scene there is so strong. You can catch Sorry Sweetheart on Saturday at Depot Village. It'll be quite the show.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**