Features / Regular Columns

Last year was a strange year. A lot happened in my private life which led to me not doing as much as I wanted to do. Some negative, but mostly positive. However, no matter how positive the events were, it cost me a lot of energy. With my energy and … Read more

Lately I have been struggling with something of a writer's block. But what better way to deal with that than writing about it, huh? I started this year off with the intention of writing a bit more, as I realized I didn’t review as much as I had wanted to. … Read more

I’ve talked about having a writer’s block this year. So when I set myself down (after a stern talk to motivate myself) I looked at this blank page thinking: what on earth should I discuss this time around? At first I thought I would put another couple of labels in … Read more

Let's have a chat about preaching to the choir. It's that thing where the message you are putting out there with your music isn't really getting past the people who may already know the message. I'm getting up there in my years and experience. By the time we started The … Read more

In February 1996 late novelist David Foster Wallace released a modern masterpiece, Infinite Jest, uncovering a wellspring of contemporary criticism and psychological diagnosis. Granted his prose is maddeningly bratty to some readers and unapologetically obsessive, most of it is just damn good by my standards. Say what you will, his … Read more

In this installment of Beyond Casual Observation the moving picture becomes a partner with technological advancements and forges an enduring storytelling medium. Filmmaking is a conversation. A conversation between the viewer and the filmmaker. A conversation between characters. Among the elements that a filmmaker uses to communicate information with the … Read more

Back in the early '90s, I found my people. My punk rock family. My own personal group of weirdos and misfits. Some of us wore the uniform of leather jacket, shocked out hair, big black boots. Some of us had long hair, flannel shirts and sneakers. Some wore Fred Perry … Read more

I was a teenager in the early '90s when a single song from a little punk trio out of the Pacific Northwest single-handedly destroyed a whole genre of music on the radio with one song. As a pre-teen in the 1980s, my music taste was 100% based on whatever I … Read more

A handful of years ago, my friend Jay sent me the demo of his new band. Jay had spent years fronting the legendary Detroit punk/ska band, The Suicide Machines. A few years had passed since they released War Profiteering and broke up. Jay was fronting a new band now. That … Read more

I think about music all the time. Always have since I was a kid. One of the many ideas I've pondered and debated with my peers is the recurring trend of bands putting out an amazing first record, gaining some form of notoriety or fame, and then completely bombing their … Read more

I know this punk guy named Tony. You probably know the same guy. I met him many years ago when he was in his teens and had a rockabilly band called Al and the Black Cats. Then his band The Chernobyl Babies infected my little punk bar with pogo punk … Read more

Todd Congelliere is an ex-pro skater. He is also the founder of Recess Records, and a key songwriter in groups such as Underground Railroad to Candyland, Toys That Kill, FYP, Stoned at Heart, and as a solo artist. Scene Point Blank is proud to bring an exclusive stream from the … Read more

A couple of years ago I drew up a gigposter for a show I was putting on and used one of my friends as the model for it. It was a cartoony number with her on a couch drinking and playing video games. When I finished it she had mentioned … Read more

I hate this place. I really hate this place. I have three half-Korean adult children. Two of them currently call Chicago home. One builds beautiful violins and the other is an amazing cartoon artist. My youngest still resides here in Grand Rapids. MI. He is a fantastic chef and he … Read more