In this episode of Scene Support, I sit down with Lara Hope — musician, community builder, and Director of Music Programming for the O+ Festival in Kingston, NY.

We dig into the origin story of O+: how a brewery owner, a dentist, and an artist-activist turned a simple idea — trading art for healthcare — into a nationally recognized nonprofit that’s rethinking what it means to truly support artists. Now in its 15th year, O+ has grown from a grassroots festival into a year-round ecosystem providing musicians and visual artists with access to dental care, primary care, acupuncture, chiropractic services, and more — all through a creative exchange model.

Lara breaks down:

• How the submission and curation process works

• Why healthcare need factors into booking decisions

• The challenges of booking headliners on a barter model

• The expansion into a year-round exchange clinic

• The launch of O+’s new 334 Wall Street space for all-ages shows, workshops, and community events

• What it really takes (staffing, volunteers, grants, donations) to sustain a mission-driven festival

We also talk about ego, community responsibility, DIY ethics, and how working in service of something bigger than yourself can reshape your perspective as an artist.

This isn’t just a conversation about a festival. It’s about infrastructure. It’s about care. It’s about how scenes survive when people build systems that support each other beyond the stage.

If you care about DIY music, artist sustainability, and community-driven models that actually work — this one’s for you.

O+ Festival

https://opositivefestival.org/

https://www.instagram.com/opositivefest/

https://linktr.ee/opositivefest

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

On this episode of DCxPC Live presents Scene Support, Scott Pasch sits down with Peter Aaron, arts editor at Chronogram and frontman of the legendary New York punk-blues band Chrome Cranks.

Peter has spent decades doing the work that keeps underground music alive—writing, booking shows, playing in bands, and documenting scenes that would otherwise be forgotten. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, AllMusic, and All About Jazz, and his books dig deep into punk history, lineage, and influence. Long before bands like Nirvana, the Flaming Lips, and White Zombie became household names, Peter was booking their early shows in small rooms for small crowds.

The conversation moves through Peter’s path into punk, hardcore, and experimental music, his time booking shows in the Midwest and Northeast, the evolution of the Hudson Valley scene, and why cross-pollination between genres is what keeps music alive. Scott and Peter also dig into live music as documentation, the importance of physical media, all-ages spaces, and why scenes in smaller towns often matter just as much as major cities.

This is a wide-ranging, deeply personal conversation about punk as community, memory, and responsibility—how scenes survive because people show up, take care of each other, and do the work week after week.

Peter Aaron

https://www.instagram.com/peter_aaron_rocknwrite/

https://www.facebook.com/peter.aaron.353

https://www.facebook.com/p/Peter-Aaron-Musician-and-Author-100063018471273/

https://www.chronogram.com/author/peter-aaron/

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support spotlights the people who keep DIY and underground music alive—not just the bands on stage, but the artists, organizers, and builders behind the scenes.

In this episode, Scott sits down with David Gregg, a Baltimore-area artist, guitarist, father, and longtime small business owner whose visual work has quietly shaped the look of the regional punk and hardcore scene for years. Dave talks about designing flyers, album covers, logos, and merch for countless bands and venues, balancing creative work with family life, and why visual identity matters just as much as sound in DIY spaces.

The conversation digs into the realities of unpaid or underpaid creative labor, the relationship between punk ethics and design, how scenes evolve visually over time, and what it means to keep showing up week after week to support a community—not for recognition, but because it matters. Along the way, Scott and Dave swap stories about Baltimore shows, touring, recording live music, merch culture, and the unseen labor that holds scenes together.

An honest, wide-ranging conversation about art, community, sustainability, and doing the work that keeps underground music moving forward

David Gregg

https://www.instagram.com/crizdizzle_art/

https://www.instagram.com/sickmovemusic/

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

In this episode of Scene Support, Scott sits down with Caroline Borolla, founder of Clarion Call Media, to unpack what music PR actually looks like in 2025—and why it’s harder, messier, and more human than most people realize.

Caroline traces her path from college radio, journalism, and record stores to building a DIY-minded PR company that works with independent bands, labels, and festivals without compromising ethics or authenticity. Together, they talk candidly about the collapse of print media, the rise (and problems) of pay-to-play blogs, navigating album vs. tour press, realistic timelines for releases, and why mid-level bands often struggle more than new or established acts.

The conversation digs into expectations versus reality—what publicists can and can’t do, how bands and labels should think about long-term growth instead of instant results, and why story, community, and trust still matter more than algorithms. Caroline also shares practical insights on pitching, release lead times, burnout, boundaries, and why she only works with music she genuinely believes in.

An honest, wide-ranging look at independent music promotion from someone who’s been inside the system long enough to know what’s broken—and what still works.

Clarion Call

https://www.instagram.com/clarioncallmedia/

https://www.clarioncallmedia.com/

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

In Episode 23 of Scene Support, Scott Pasch sits down with Lisa Root, founder and editor-in-chief of New Noise Magazine, one of the last remaining print publications dedicated to punk, hardcore, metal, and underground music.

Lisa traces her path from early work with AMP and other 2000s-era music magazines to launching New Noise in 2013, driven by a belief in documentation, community, and the lasting value of print media. The conversation digs into what it actually takes to keep an independent magazine alive today—balancing print and digital, navigating rising production costs, sustaining distribution worldwide, and resisting the pressure to abandon physical media altogether.

Scott and Lisa also connect over shared roots in ’90s punk and hardcore, the importance of archiving scenes before they disappear, and why mixed bills, flexi discs, and liner-note culture still matter. Along the way, Lisa talks about New Noise’s evolving work beyond the magazine, including live sessions, Rough Trade events, podcast collaborations, and her commitment to mentoring new writers and amplifying emerging bands.

This episode is a deep, honest look at the unseen labor behind independent music journalism—and a reminder that scenes only survive when people are willing to do the long, unglamorous work to support them.

New Noise Magazine

https://www.instagram.com/newnoisemagazine/

https://linktr.ee/newnoisemag

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

Episode 22: Devil’s Advocate – Artist Management, DIY Metal, and Learning from the “No’s” with Sophia Morekis

In this episode of Scene Support, Scott talks with Sophia Morekis, the force behind Devil’s Advocate, an artist management and consulting company rooted in Savannah’s metal and hardcore community. From ballet kid raised on old-school metal with her dad to media entrepreneurship major in Atlanta, Sophia traces the winding path that led her into booking shows, running cereal-themed fests like Crunch Fest, and eventually managing bands full time.

Scott and Sophia dig into what artist management really looks like on the ground: building trust with bands, navigating different personalities and group dynamics, handling tour logistics, coordinating studio time, merch, press, and vinyl releases, and figuring out when to say yes—or no—to new projects. They get into the realities of Savannah’s scene, from sludge and metal roots to all-ages struggles, the economics of bar venues, and the importance of building relationships with bookers, festivals, and other managers across the region.

Along the way, Sophia talks about pushing for more femme-forward and inclusive lineups, challenging lazy assumptions about women in heavy music, and normalizing representation without making it a gimmick. She also shares how “Fail Con” in college reshaped her relationship with mistakes, why learning to live with rejection is crucial, and how the most rewarding moments are often the ones where no one even notices the invisible labor behind a seamless show.

If you care about the people who keep underground music alive—from the first cold email to the last load-out—this episode is for you.

Devil's Advocatehttps://www.instagram.com/thesophiaeve/

https://www.instagram.com/themaxinesband/

https://www.instagram.com/oshinerofficial/

https://www.instagram.com/lordcarrion/

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

Scene Support Episode 21 dives into the world behind the board with producer/engineer Joshua “Danger” Dobbs of Danger Room Recording. We talk about how the legendary “Danger Room” went from a cramped storage space behind his job to a fully mobile studio he can take anywhere—and still make records sound massive. Josh breaks down his philosophy on recording punk bands, why knowing your gear matters more than fancy rooms, and how he chases performances that make you need to see a band live.

We also get into his (self-admitted) control-freak tendencies around mastering, why he often ignores the old “don’t mix and master your own record” rule, and his frustration when bands sit on magic because a lineup changes. If you care about how punk records are made, how to capture energy instead of perfection, and what makes a recording truly honest, this episode’s for you.

New to the show? Scene Support is a DCxPC Live podcast about the photographers, engineers, label folks, and other behind-the-scenes punks who keep our scenes alive.

Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

https://www.instagram.com/joshua_danger_dobbs/

https://linktr.ee/joshuadangerdobbs

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song & Outro Song By Joshua "Danger" Dobbs

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠⁠

In Episode 20 of DCxPC Live Presents: Scene Support, host Scott Pasch sits down with Dave “Face” Boccio, the eye behind Face Photo and one of the Hudson Valley’s most prolific punk photographers. From shooting street life and alligators in Florida to capturing raw moments at hardcore, ska, and metal shows across New York, Dave’s journey is as DIY as it gets.

They talk about his start photographing bands like Dissolve, his evolution from street photography to live shows, his friendship with RBNX and other Hudson Valley acts, and the art of documenting punk in its most chaotic, beautiful form. Dave shares stories of getting clocked in the pit, shooting Dropkick Murphys and Bad Religion, and finding inspiration from legends like Mick Rock and Cynthia Connolly.

Whether you’re behind the lens or in the pit, this one’s for anyone who believes that punk isn’t just heard—it’s seen.

Dave "Face" Photo

https://www.instagram.com/facephoto_77/

https://www.facephoto77.com/

DCxPC Live

https://www.instagram.com/dcxpc_live

https://www.facebook.com/dcxpcbooking

https://dcxpclive.com

Intro Song: "Cheap As You" By Runnamucks

Outro Song: "Middle Finger" By Dropkick Murphys

Executive Producer: Trev Allen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/struggling_artist_record_club/⁠⁠