Back On The Grind

Tape and Tears join Pepe Bandit to talk about their first DIY tour & everything that comes with learning it on the fly, from forgetting to count merch money until they were nearly out of gas, to the venues that never mentioned how or when they'd get paid. They dig into the community that carried them through it, from bands like Swamp Rats letting them crash on couches & jamming Mischief Brew songs in the living room, to the mentorship or generosity of Mike Wilson (from Harley Poe) & other people from the folk punk scene at large. The conversation opens into the origins of the band itself — Gilliana's mental health crisis while studying abroad in Berlin, the queer folk punk community there that pulled her back toward the music, & how "Tape and Tears" became both a band name & a way of holding pain & progress together. They close with practical tour wisdom (pack a cooler, eat before you're hangry) & a shared belief that showing up with heart matters more than sounding polished.Support the podcast to get bonus episodes & goods (there’s a join for FREE option) • patreon.com/BackontheGrind Connect with Tape And Tears:instagram.com/tapeandtearstapeandtears.bandcamp.com/musictapeandtears.com/

In this episode, Pepe Bandit talks with members of the band Ruen. They start with fire — how a century of replacing Portugal's natural forests with pine and eucalyptus monoculture has made wildfire season a recurring catastrophe across southern Europe — then dig into the punk, DIY, & squat subcultures of Portugal & the Netherlands. The rest of the episode is dedicated to their new concept album, The Tragedy of the Commons. You'll hear samples of songs as they explore land rights, enclosure &, resistance — including the present-day fight against lithium mining in Boticas — along with the influence of books like When the Wolves Howl & Re-Enchanting the World.Support the podcast & get bonus episodes & goods (there's a join for FREE option) • patreon.com/BackontheGrindConnect with Ruen: instagram.com/weare_ruen weareruen.bandcamp.com/music

Jimmy of The Looms joins Pepe to revisit personal authority, DIY shows, and spirituality from the earlier Lomes of Pigeon Pit episode. From there, they open into new territory: including how the things that upset us most in others are often things we haven't dealt with ourselves, the pull toward revenge instead of actually improving things, why anarchism might work at the level of a house show but strains under mass civilization, Jimmy's own path through Buddhism and monastery life, and a back-and-forth on Spinoza's determinism and what's left of a person once every external identity is stripped away.Support the podcast & get bonus episodes & goods • patreon.com/BackontheGrindconnect with The Looms:instagram.com/theloomsband/thelooms.band/thelooms.bandcamp.com/music

Yell At God — the Philly-based folk punk band sits down with Pepe Bandit for a deep dive into hope. First they start with the dichotomy of touring: the exhaustion of the road paired with the explosive connection of a live show. From there the conversation opens into hope itself — why it's an actionable practice rather than a feeling you either have or don't, how social media can drain it, and why hopelessness and complacency are closer cousins than they seem.The band also works through a question passed along from a previous guest, Lomes of Pigeon Pit, about whether hope can distract from other opportunities/the present. The conversation closes with concrete, low-stakes ways to rebuild a sense of agency: text a friend, plan a show even if five people come, go to the library, buy the next person's coffee. We close out playing Folk Punk Birthday Song.Support the podcast & get bonus episodes & goods• patreon.com/BackontheGrindConnect with Yell At Godinstagram.com/yell_at_god/linktr.ee/yellatgod

Lomes of Pigeon Pit, joins Pepe Bandit for an unguarded conversation that starts with songwriting as alchemy — puking out the fucked-up parts of the world and finding gold in the filth — and follows it into personal authority forged through hardship, acid trips, and a philosophy of spiritual anarchism built on empathy. They discuss the work of transmuting hope and gratitude into action, the magic of DIY shows and what gets lost and gained when a band outgrows the basements it started in. The conversation also turns toward the strange weight of being someone strangers cry in front of, and what it means to carry that without claiming credit for someone else's survival. Pepe shares why this one is personal for him — his own kid found Lomes's music during the years he was locked up, long before the two of them ever met. We close out playing the Pigeon Pit song "Thread The Needle."Support the podcast & get bonus episodes & goods• patreon.com/BackontheGrindConnect with Pigeon Pit:linktr.ee/pigeonpit (for show tickets and more)instagram.com/pigeon.pit/?hl=enpigeonpit.bandcamp.com/music

Amy fronted Evil Robot Us' a DIY folk punk band out of Buffalo that shared its first bill with Against Me! and later toured and recorded with Erik Petersen — but this story follows where that punk ethic took her next: ten years as a children's librarian, a decade as a professional aerialist and storyteller, and now grad school to become a therapist for kids and families. Pepe and Amy trace the thread connecting it all - while swapping stories from the early 2000s scene, talking through parenting during incarceration, raising a neurodivergent kid, recovering from long COVID, and closing by honoring Erik Petersen's lasting influence.Support the podcast & get bonus episodes & goodspatreon.com/BackontheGrindFor more Evil Robot Us' or to connect with Amyevilrobotus.bandcamp.com/musicamykgodfrey.com/