"There's video evidence of me being like 16 years old playing to zero people in a coffee shop. So I'm like, trust me, the grind has been there forever."

David Osterhout of Bike Routes sits down to discuss the viral success of "World Apart," opening for Hawthorne Heights and Young Culture, and a surreal encounter with Bruce Springsteen.

David Osterhout of South Jersey's Bike Routes is having a massive breakout year, but don't call him an industry plant. He sits down with Brian and Lizzie to talk about grinding for six years in front of empty coffee shops, the sudden TikTok explosion of "World Apart," and a surreal Portland bookstore encounter with Bruce Springsteen that led to an E Street Band collaboration with Jake Clemons on the track "Delicate." David details the band's roots in the rich New Jersey DIY scene, the lead-up to the new album "Prairie," and the reality of transitioning from local acoustic gigs to full-band tours with Young Culture and Hawthorne Heights. Later in the episode, Brian and Lizzie stick around to unpack the recent scene controversy surrounding the Chaotic Good marketing agency. They discuss the reality of modern music promotion, the mechanics of mass clip creation pushing songs into the algorithm, and why the internet is suddenly obsessed with calling every rising pop-punk and emo band a psyop.

"It's one of those moments where I've planned my whole life, like if I ever run into Bruce Springsteen, I have to say this, this, this. I just walked up and I was just like, can I shake your hand?"

"My dreams came true the first time we played a show out of the state of New Jersey. That was a ceiling for me. I was like, the second we play a show across state lines, we're good."

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"Teen angst doesn't go away just because you get older. I think as an adult, you have less and less ways to relieve that stress of everyday life."

Multi-platinum artist Bryce Vine might be known for massive hip-hop crossover hits, but his musical DNA is pure Warped Tour.

Multi-platinum artist Bryce Vine might be known for massive hip-hop crossover hits, but his musical DNA is pure Warped Tour. From hunting down Blink-182's Dude Ranch on the radio as a kid to obsessing over the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtracks, Bryce has always been a scene kid at heart. He sits down with Lizzie to talk about blending those early pop-punk influences into his mainstream sound, navigating the reality of industry expectations, and what it’s actually like collaborating with scene heavyweights like John Feldmann and Travis Barker. Looking ahead to summer, Bryce talks about his placement on the Warped Tour 2026 lineup and getting to play alongside legacy acts like Third Eye Blind and New Found Glory. Stick around after the interview as Brian and Lizzie unpack the modern festival landscape, debate the mixed online reactions to the recent Warped Tour announcements, and question whether today's scene artists still get unfairly pigeonholed by outdated genre expectations.

"Teen angst doesn't go away just because you get older. I think as an adult, you have less and less ways to relieve that stress of everyday life and the things that are going on in your head, and then you just end up overthinking."

"There's a lot of pressure in the music industry... you kinda gotta consider it in a different way. So I really try to tell up and coming artists not to worry too much about that and just lead by example by putting out music because it's what makes me feel good."

"I just wanna make dope s***, and I think my fans get that. So if it's a punk song this time, then they learn all the words because they're invested now."

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"It's been a slow burn. It's not like a commemoration of a time that we blew up... It's just an album that became more successful later on."

Microwave sits down with Brian and Lizzie at the Salt Shed during their Much Love 10-Year Anniversary Tour. The band dives into their slow-burn rise to success following the 2022 Story So Far tour, the hilarious reality of crashing in Hot Mulligan's dorm lobby, and why they relate more to Jimmy Eat World than Midwest emo. Plus, rapid-fire reviews of new releases from The Maine, Enter Shikari, Bilmuri, and more.

Microwave is in the hot seat this week as Brian and Lizzie sit down with Nathan, Tyler, Tito, and Luke live from the Salt Shed to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Much Love. Despite what their Wikipedia page says, the guys aren't actually influenced by Midwest emo, and they break down tracing their true sound back to Jimmy Eat World rather than Cap'n Jazz. They discuss what it has been like to watch Much Love explode in popularity after their 2022 run with The Story So Far, validating their slow-burn success in the scene. The band also reminisces about the unglamorous realities of early DIY touring, highlighted by a hilarious 2016 story where they slept on the floor of a freshman dorm lobby while Hot Mulligan's roommate vacuumed around them. Following the interview, Lizzie gets sassy as she and Brian dive into rapid-fire reviews of the latest tracks dropping ahead of the spring and summer tours, sharing their unfiltered thoughts on new music from The Maine, Bilmuri, Enter Shikari, and more.

"In 2016 on The Wonder Years tour, we stayed at Chris from Hot Mulligan's freshman dorm. We assumed it was like a house, and we showed up and were sleeping in the lobby. I woke up to somebody just vacuuming right next to me."

"We weren't robbed of any of the experiences of developing a band. Some people, their s*** blows up when they're eighteen, and then they have the pressure of having to follow that up and do something just as good immediately."

"We kinda got grouped in with bands that are more directly influenced by Cap'n Jazz and American Football and Midwest emo. Our influence is more like Jimmy Eat World type stuff."

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