Greetings everyone and Happy Friday! We are five weeks away from Fest 24 and to celebrate this joyous milestone, Todd Congelliere stops by the show.  You know Todd from his work with all of his bands under his Recess Records label: F.YP, Toys That Kill, Underground Railroad to Candyland, Clown Sounds, and Jumpstarted Plowhards. Many of these bands have played Fest multiple times, it is possible that Todd has played more Fest sets than anyone in history. We talk about his early years skateboarding in Southern California in the 1980s and taking his earnings there to start Recess Records. Todd also talks about some early shows he was lucky enough to see during this time, it's a pretty fun topic if you're a punk nerd. We really cover so much ground in an hour that it's impossible to summarize it here. Do yourself a favor, listen to this episode for some real good chat on running a record label, being in bands, and the beauty of Fest. It's excellent stuff. You can catch Todd at Fest with Toys That Kill on Friday, URTC on Saturday, and with FYP and Jumpstarted Plowhards on Sunday. Shocker, Todd will be busy.   **Itsa Cookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL** **Go visit GEEKS during Fest**

Hello and welcome back to At Least There's Fest! We have a real good one for you here today as we welcome Mike Sosinski to the show. Mike owns and operate Bad Time Records, one of the more fun record labels out there. We ask Mike about forming the label, the ups and downs of the work, and why starting up a ska label is so important. Bad Time is a Fest sponsor this year and Mike tells us about some of terrific bands from the label that are playing Fest next month. Along with his label work, Mike is also the lead vocalist for Kill Lincoln. We dig into the formation of the band, having an official hype-man, forming a ska band while ska was "out", their live shows and much more.  You can catch Kill Lincoln Saturday Night closing out the ska showcase at Depot Village. It will be a situation. Get there.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL** **Go visit GEEKS during Fest**

Hey! We've got a first for all of you today as we welcome our first Fest wrestler to the show. Brandon St. James is returning to Fest Wrestling again this year to defend his belt.  Brandon tells us all about how he got into wrestling, why it is so fun, what his co-workers think, and most importantly, why professional wrestling is not anything like you think it is. You can check out Fest Wrestling as it returns for the 10th year at Fest 24 on Sunday night at Vivid.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL** **Go visit GEEKS during Fest**

Hello internet! Welcome back to another episode of At Least There's Fest. We are getting dangerously close to Fest 24 and to mark the occasion we've got a packed house on this episode as we talk to almost all of Orange Blossom Trail. The Orlando band is new to the scene and new to Fest and will be playing the first time next month. The group chat about the evolution of the band, their changing sound, the real world challenges of touring, and one of the more amusing stories you'll ever hear about how a band landed on a name. The group has only a handful of songs out now, but has a number of things in the works including their first full-length album coming out in the coming months. You can catch Orange Blossom Trail on Friday night outside of The Bull.   **Itsa Coookie on Instagram** **Theme song "The Walk to Heartwood" by Jukebox Romantics** **Check out Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, FL**

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**