Ludvig Gür and Ralph D'Amato on their Tony Hawk Video Game Doc

It isn't very often that we find punk rock and video games coming together. It definitely didn't happen back in the late-90's and early-2000's where the most advanced consoles were the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation 1. But there was one video game series that brought those two worlds together and that was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The connection between skateboarding and punk rock was already very clear back in 1999 when the first game of the series was released. Video games were something that both of those had no real notable contact with until then.

Not only did the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video games explode in popularity, but they also got more kids into skateboarding and they exposed many kids to their first doses of punk rock and ska. The first two editions of the game especially had legendary soundtracks with songs from bands like Goldfinger, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Kennedys, The Suicide Machines, Bad Religion, Rage Against The Machine, The Vandals, Lagwagon, Swingin' Utters, Millencolin and many more.

Almost two decades since the release of the very first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, a documentary is being made about the video game franchise. Director and mega-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater fan Ludvig Gür and producer and former Neversoft producer Ralph D'Amato (who worked on the first eight Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games) have come together to make Pretending I'm A Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story with the help of fans via an Indie Go Go campaign. So editor Ricky Frankel spoke with Ludvig and Ralph about the upcoming film, some of the history of the game series and the amazing soundtracks that these games had. Listen to the interview below or on iTunes.

Getting to know Vasudeva

Instrumental indie punk band from New Jersey, Vasudeva has been jamming out for about nine years together and has built a catalog of post-rock, ambient songs together. The close-knit band toured and played numerous house shows throughout their tenure as a band and have evolved together to create a musical blend that crosses music genres. The band will be releasing their second full-length album titled No Clearance this Friday, March 31st, 2017 on Skeletal Lightning. Punknews editor Samantha Barrett spoke with guitarist Corey Mastrangelo to chat about the new release.

DFL Streams 'The Tape Show!' (Punknews Exclusive)

Today, we have got a Saturday treat for you and what a treat it is! Today, Punknews is THRILLED to stream The Tape Show, the "alternate album" by hardcore heroes DFL!

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the band's fantastic Grateful album. But, when they released that album twenty years ago, they also released an alternate cassette version of that album called The Tape Show.

The Tape Show was really cool because while it included most of the tracks from Grateful, it also included alternate versions, live cuts, out-takes, and skits and was mixed like a homemade mixtape. Now that the release is twenty years old, DFL and Epitaph are working on a re-issue. But, in the meantime, for the first time ever, the band is streaming the whole release for free! Check that out below along with a short interview with the band's guitarist Monty Messex!

Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up on the Zodiac, Drugs, and Punk

Fucked Up's Mike Haliechuk has returned from a journey- physical and meta-physical. The guitarist and mastermind behind the band recently ventured to Nepal in a sort of pilgrimage. Meanwhile, he has indulged in psychedelics and explored the inner-working of the human mind. The band's new record, Year of the Snake, out this Friday via Tankcrimes, dwells on these topics, amidst a trippy, sorta Pink Floydian mindscape.

So, to dig into this mysterious slab, Editor John Gentile spoke to Haliechuk about the new record, drugs, and the guitarist's view of himself. Check it out below.

Hard Core Logo Live with Trigger Happy's Al Nolan

This Thursday, March 9 the play Hard Core Log Live premieres in Toronto, starting a run at the Dance Cave at Lee's Palace that will run through the 26th. The BFL Theatre production will star Al Nolan from Toronto punk legends Almighty Trigger Happy as Joe Dick. Al recently took some time off from rehearsals to talk with Punknews' Adam White about the show.

Hard Core Logo: A Punk-Ass Play is a stage adaptation of Bruce McDonald's cult 1996 film. The play features original music by D.O.A.'s Joe "Shithead" Keithley along with live performances of music from the film.

Sustaining the attack of The Fullblast

After a 10 year break up, the men of The Fullblast has returned to the stage with brand new material. They grew older and more mature as people. Bringing this new found insight to restart something that they hold near and dear to their hearts. They spent some time working to craft and perfect a new EP titled Attack.Sustain.Decay, something the band can feel proud to call their comeback EP. Making sure to keep the new material as energetic and fast as they possibly can with a newfound mature lens on life. The EP is due out February 24, 2017 digitally. Editor Samantha Barrett sat down and spoke to vocalist Ian Stanger about the bands sustaining the attack of fast music while doing it yourself.

Jen Razavi and Poli Van Dam (The Bombpops)

The Bombpops have been a force to be reckoned with in the Los Angeles and San Diego punk scenes for nearly a decade. By releasing several EP's through Red Scare (and self-releasing another in early 2015), playing tons of local and DIY shows and opening for bands such as Swingin' Utters, The Suicide Machines, NOFX and the Descendents they have made quite a name for themselves. 2017 is going to be their year though. They were recently signed to Fat Wreck Chords and they are releasing their first full-length called Fear of Missing Out on February 10, 2017.

Punknews editor Ricky Frankel caught up with vocalists and guitarists Jen Razavi and Poli Van Dam to talk about getting signed to Fat Wreck Chords, the new album, the label "female-fronted band," how Brandon Carlisle of Teenage Bottlerocket helped with what would become one of the songs on the new record, the current Los Angeles punk scene versus the San Diego punk scene and quite a bit more. Plus, Ricky introduces the theme song for his podcast interviews! Listen to the conversation below or on iTunes.

Photo Credit: John Paul Allen

Jess Townsend teaches YOU how to play the drums

Jess Townsend is a freight train crammed into a 5'7'' frame. As the drummer for the band/carnival show that is World/Inferno Friendship Society, Townsend has kept that pack of animals rocking along with her heavy, energetic boom-bap for nearly seven years. Finding anyone who could get the Inferno crew to act in unison is an exercise in futility, but somehow, night after night, Townsend is able to crack the whip and get the crew rocking along with her forceful finesse.

But not only that, she's backed early La punk legend Alice bag on tour, has supported legendary feminist-rocker June Millington, and has played in Parlour Bells.

Now, in addition to drumming in Inferno, she's giving out lessons and you can get schooled on that here. In the meantime, check out Editor John Gentile's interview with Townsend below.

The Best in Punknews Zingers 2016

Happy New Year! We're wrapping up our end of year festivities. We've still got the end-of-year podcast and site wide "Best of" to post, but that's about it. So, today, we're posting some of the most quotable quotes and some of the most delightful declarations from Punknews interviews in 2016. Click "read more" to see what bands and other artists had to say to Punknews in 2016. (FYI- guest "Best of" lists will run in early 2017).

Tim Commerford (Wakrat/Rage Against The Machine/Prophets Of Rage/Audioslave)

Tim Commerford has been involved in music for over twenty years with bands like Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave. He was the backbone of both bands because of his high-skilled bass playing and aggressive back up vocals. Now he is doing the same in Prophets Of Rage and he is the lead vocalist of the band Wakrat, who released their self-titled debut on November 8, 2016 (it was no accident that it came on election day) via Earache Records.

So because 2016 has been such a busy year for him, Punknews Editor Ricky Frankel recently interviewed Tim to talk about Wakrat's new album, the future of Prophets Of Rage, some of the more unique moments in Rage Against The Machine's history, the current state of politics and why he pulls out his own teeth. Listen to their conversation below or on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Travis Shinn

The Damned's Captain Sensible on “punk,” Lemmy, and the band's new LP

The fact is, Captain Sensible IS punk rock. Not only is he a founding member of The Damned, one of the first three English punk bands (and the first to put out a record), but, just as the genre was codifying itself based off those early punk masterpieces, Sensible and the boys laughed at the "rules" and suddenly started playing psychedelia, pop, goth, and maybe even a little prog, proving that punk has no boundaries. Since then, the Damned have been hurtling through the galaxy of music, playing whatever tickles their fancy. The fact is, whatever "punk" may be, it's definitely what the Damned are doing, and no one does it like them.

Now, the band is celebrating their 40th anniversary with some UK and USA shows. They also have a new album coming up on the horizon and, knowing the Damned, it could sound like anything. So, Punknews' John Gentile called up Captain Sensible to talk about just a fraction of the adventures that the Captain has had over his four decades of smashing it up. They talked about the concept of "punk," Lemmy, the Ramones, and that time Sting got kicked out of the Damned's dressing room.