Sunny Singh knows was work is. At this year’s This Is Hardcore Fest, I watched Sunny as he wielded his video camera overhead for long stretches, capturing every single one of the forty bands that performed over the course the three-day fest. Sunny is the Alan Lomax of hardcore punk. For nearly a decade, he has captured and published thousands of hours of footage of punk and hardcore acts through his site hate5six.com, revealing the scope and scale of an artistic form that is constantly in flux. Being a first-generation American, he learned from an early age through the example of his parents, that taking risk does not end after one has crossed the threshold, but has to be worked through continuously with grit and determination. It is through Sunny’s sense of stick-to-itiveness that enabled hate5six to thrive and garner an audience that continues to grow. In this conversation, Sunny and I discuss matters of identity, the changing trends in the punk scene, and whether or not it is still possible to promote political action through music and community.

11. Sunny Singh, Punk Archivist

Ryan Shaner is a livewire. I saw him perform at Helium months ago at a local showcase and competition where he delivered a killer set that would later send him onto the championship. Of 250 comics, he beat out 248 others to get to the final round. Shaner claims that his work is apolitical. He doesn’t do political jokes; he doesn’t touch political material. This, in and of itself, may seem like a political choice, but the truth is, there are other things that Ryan would rather share with you than how he feels about the current climate. Frankly, it’s a welcome breath of air in a climate paralyzed by the current political moment. For those looking to talk, or a laugh about something else, Shaner’s your man.

10. Ryan Shaner, Stand-Up Comedian

Though Brian Allen has lived in State College, PA since he was 10, his influence on the city of Philadelphia cannot be understated. Brian is the artist behind Philadelphia’s most notorious export of the past few years: Gritty, the new Flyers mascot. At first, Gritty got a lot of hate. Fans were confused, if not bummed out that the organization had decided to adopt a mascot in the first place. The Flyers had gone all of these years without one. So why now? And what is this thing? Some kind of muppet or monster? Brian was gracious enough to talk about Gritty’s inception, the design brief he received from the Flyers, the rejected mascot concepts, as well as what happened to Gritty’s identity after he was unleashed upon the world.

9. Brian Allen, Mascot Designer / Illustrator

Max owns Brewerytown Beats, my favorite record store in Philly. He is also an archivist, a curator, and historian, who is dedicated to preserving and amplifying stories from the city’s musical past that, often, resonate with our present and future. Every time I talk to Max, I learn something. While he might be the record store guy you want to impress when you lay your selection down on the counter, you can take comfort that your taste is your taste. Beats is a judgment free zone. And the folks there are always happy to help you find your groove.

8. Max Ochester, Record Store Guy / Archivist

Joe grew up in Elk County, PA, outside of Pittsburgh. The county’s name doesn’t come without reason. From the way Joe talks about it, it’s a woodsy place, where the elk may not outnumber the people but the wilderness certainly informs the pace of things, the way people live and relate to one another. Joe comes from several generations of journeymen, skilled laborers who know how to build, mend, and weld. This kind of legacy comes with a both a wealth of wisdom to mine as well as a heavy burden of identity, of subscribing to specific ideas about what it means to be a man. Joe manages this inheritance gracefully. When he isn’t confronting notions of toxic masculinity, he heads the woodshop at Peg and Awl.

7. Joe Lovenduski: Woodworker

One might have had to look up where in the world Mull is, but in listening to Nomi and Rose talk about the second largest isle off the coast of Scotland [Wiki], it isn’t hard to understand what it is, or at least what it means to them. For one, it’s Rose’s home. But the way Nomi and Rose describe it make it sound like something out of fantasy. A land where ramps and chanterelle mushrooms lay for the picking on a path leading up to a lighthouse on the coast. They make the most of their time when they visit. They forage, they cook, they explore, they write. And what’s more, it seems like a place where time is precious, where one can slow down long enough to really look and listen to another, and savor their company.

6. Rose Skelton and Nomi Stone: Wild, Garlic Pesto Season

Since moving to Philadelphia about a year and a half ago, Raylo has been busy. An acquaintance asked if she knew of available venue space for a concert; Raylo offered hers up. No Face Studios is a printshop and DIY venue space where Raylo puts on shows of a genres for all kinds of people on the regular. When she isn't silkscreening booth signs for the Philly Tattoo Convention or hosting thrash metal at her venue space, she is studying as a tattoo apprentice. During our conversation, we touched on what it's like to work with skin, the lessons she learned after hosting her first show, and how playing rugby in college taught her how to abide by a code of ethics and morals that she still follows today.

5. Rachel "Raylo" Lopez: Working with Skin

Search and Rescue Squad is the result of a decade’s long obsession with fashion, design, art, culture, and history. At Search and Rescue Squad, Tawqeef curates a selection of streetware, mid-century modern furniture and objects, found canvases, classic American-made apparel from folks like Schott and Woolrich, and more. When entering his new space in a newly refurbished warehouse space in Brewerytown—which acts something like a gallery, store, coffee shop, and living room all at once—one cannot help but feel their curiosity and wonder start buzzing.

4. Tawfeeq Gaines: Search and Rescue Squad

Hannah is a dance student at Temple. She’s been dancing since she was 3, when her folks put her in dance classes to give her an outlet for her energy. She says that her first language is her body language. There is a new, guest instructor leading her modern dance class right now, which is exciting to her, especially since they are focusing a lot of their attention on improvisation, which she was gracious enough to share with us during the shoot. I chose the song: a movement from Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint,” as recorded by Johnny Greenwood. As soon as the first note hit her ear, she took off; her body took over and immersed itself in conversation with the music.

3. Hannah: What happens if you fall?

Listen to Damian talk about any number of his passions—design, art, guitar, fashion—and you’ll know within moments that the man has done his homework. Founder of the culture blog Point of References, Damian’s mind is a repository for the nitty gritty details of whole design and cultural histories, namely but not only, that of the Fender Stratocaster. He has a yin for fashion, and through his website and Instagram page, publishes street-style fashion photography

2. Damian Munoz: '63 Custom Seafoam Green Fender Strat

Excluded from the interview excerpt below is just another chapter in a longstanding debate between Lee and me over Kanye West—the artist, the iconoclast, the mess, the genius. Like Kanye, Lee grew up in the Chicago suburbs, south of the city, in a town called Flossmoor. Growing up there gave Lee an opportunity to engage with the city, its best parts, when he wanted to. That privilege, however, comes with the essential responsibility of understanding, feeling, empathizing, connecting with the experiences of people less fortunate. Lee has done the work. His sense of right and wrong stands at his core, which might explain what led to his life in politics, or why Rahm Emmanuel lost his support after the Laquan McDonald verdict. Lee’s love for Chicago is complicated; he is both proud and critical, which is what what I believe it takes to be a responsible citizen: you believe this place can be better than when you first arrived.

1. Lee Whack: Chicago

Interview podcast that features interviews with Philadelphia's leading influencers in the arts, commerce, and just about everything else.

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