Not Just a Stop on the Metro North: An Interview With Hardcore In The 914

By Staff | January 7, 2026

For years, if you wanted to catch a legendary hardcore set or dive into a pit, you headed south to the five boroughs. But over the last 5 years, something has shifted. The energy is moving north, and new movement has taken over the 914. After the influential NYHC Comics, owned and operated by Deba Da Pro and Lee Farrelly, started Hardcore In The 914, with a dedicated group of local bands and punks they turned Westchester from a quiet suburb into a mandatory stop for touring bands and a breeding ground for new local talent. With acts like Murphy’s Law, Subzero and Rebelmatic anchoring recent shows, Hardcore In The 914 is quickly becoming a major player in the scene. We had a chance to sit down with the guys themselves for a wide-ranging interview about what goes into bringing hardcore up to the 914.

You started with shows at NYHC Comics. How did the experience of running a physical storefront shape the way you approach organizing shows and building a community today?

Lee Farrelly: Running the shop taught us that community isn't something you can just 'book'—you have to host it. At the shop, we weren't just selling comics, skateboards and toys; we were providing a community hangout. That retail experience gave us a customer-first mentality, but for the scene. We approach shows the same way we approached the shop: it’s about the vibe the second you walk through the door. Because we had a physical home base, we realized that people don’t just want to see a band and leave—they want to belong to something. Now, even without the four walls of the shop, we treat every venue like our home. We make sure the merch is set up right, the sound is dialed in (as best we can), and everyone feels like they’re part of the inner circle, not just a door charge.

Debo and Lee

You made a major shift toward monthly events at the end of 2024. What was the lightbulb moment that made you realize Westchester was ready for a consistent, monthly hardcore presence?

Our shows started to get larger turnouts and everyone who came kept telling us how much they loved seeing bands again without traveling to NYC/Brooklyn and how much westchester needed this.  All of sudden bands started reaching out to us after hearing about a certain show or looking to fill a date on their tour calendar. With the brick and mortar shop closing its doors Debo and I needed something more than our regular day jobs.  The shop had such a close knit community and shows were just another way for us all to keep getting together and let loose. We found different locations around the county to fit the size of each type of show we were trying to book.  Whether it be a small dive bar, bigger beer distributor or the basement speakeasy we found a location for any size show.  

Without spoiling the secret lineup, what can fans expect from the massive June 13th festival in terms of scale? How will it differ from your monthly club shows?

We are really excited for the Festival we are doing with Outsider Magazine.  We are bringing bands from all over the tristate area together for a punk/hardcore festival in Yonkers.  We do a lot of mixed bill shows as it is but this will be a split between punk and hardcore bands from surrounding states. We are going to bring everyone together from Connecticut, Massachusits, the Hudson Valley, the boroughs, NJ and Pennsylvania all in Westchester to kick the summer off. Our monthly shows bring anywhere from 50 people to 300 people depending on the venue and lineup but this event should bring around 500 to 700 punks and hardcore kids.  We are finding sponsors, booking bands and lining up vendors. It's a lot of work but should be an amazing event.  

Jimmy from Murphy’s Law - Hardcore In The 914, December 2025

Westchester is pretty fucking cool (mostly), but it's often been overshadowed by the NYC scene. Why was it important for you to brand this specifically as Hardcore In The 914 rather than just being an extension of the city?

Westchester is a big place and there are a lot of us into the music and forget about the Hudson Valley, there's a huge scene up there. It always felt like to see everyone together it had to be at a big show in the city.  Otherwise people wouldn't want to take the trip, pay for parking or whatever the case may be.  Having these shows 10 or 15 minutes away from our homes makes it easy for anyone to just pick up and check out the show without a big commitment. There are so many bands scattered around the county giving them a place to play monthly was a no-brainer and now we have our own thing up here and its growing.   

You’ve held events at a wide variety of spaces, from Yonkers Brewery to the Saw Mill Tavern. How do you choose your venues, and what is the biggest challenge in bringing a high-energy hardcore show into a non-traditional space?

You really need to know your crowd when picking the venue but we are lucky to have found a handful of spots that can fit most situations.  When we are booking a bigger band or older band we choose a location that can obviously hold more people but also has seating and serves food.  If we are booking a grimy punk night we go to a bare bones dive bar where we can wreck the place if we want. You also don't want to book a place that is going to feel empty if only 60 people show up.  We like to keep the crowd tight with enough room for people to let loose. We have acquired enough equipment to be able to fill most any location with enough sound as needed.  Most of the equipment has been donated to us from bands, friends or bought with left over door money. 

Rebelmatic - hardcore In The 914, September 2025

You prioritize stacked lineups with Westchester bands. Who are some of the local acts right now that you feel truly embody the sound and spirit of the 914?

Deadline, God's Favorite, Shatterhand, Grave Heist, Mickey's Crew, Maintenance, Burden of Chris, In Decay, Omnism.

You’ve invited bands to message you if they want to play. How important is it to you to give new blood a chance to share the stage with legends like Murphy’s Law or Subzero?

For us getting the kids into punk and bands and keeping the scene going and growing is the most important thing. At the shop we were able to get a lot of kids listening to good music and some of them did end up getting together and starting bands. Getting new bands to play with legends has got to be the best way of doing this. 

Your last two shows of 2025 with Subzero, Crown of Thornz, and Murphy’s Law were huge. What was the energy like in the room, and did those shows feel like a turning point for the fest?

Absolutely the energy was crazy at both shows.  We got to get all the local bands we could on one or the other show to finish out the year.  Both shows ended with 2 iconic Hardcore bands Crown of Thornz and Subzero together for November and Murphy's Law with 25 Ta Life for December  Over 300 people showed up to each show and everyone was supporting the bands buying merch, dancing and enjoying the night. Seeing that kind of turnout and feeling the happiness and energy in the room we knew we could do more and go bigger.  

CHAKA - Hardcore In The 914, January 2026

What have you learned from working with veteran bands like 25 Ta Life and Murphy's Law? Do they give you any feedback on the Westchester scene?

One thing that surprised us was the support the veteran bands showed for the other bands on the bill, they all showed up early and stayed late to catch all the bands sets and chill afterward.  That being said its such a tight knit scene everyone has some kind of connection to everyone else so there was never any kind of awkwardness or Hollywood type attitudes. Most of the bands have played Westchester before but not for many years and were surprised to see the scene thriving again.  In the 80's, 90's and early 2000's there was a lot more going on around here, lots of places let us have shows like the low down, 7 Willow Street, Rockn' Rex, Streets, The Smokey Tooth, Barney McNabbs, VFW halls and Rec Centers, The Roadhouse, Gryphons. 

Organizing a full-day music festival is a massive undertaking. Between the two of you, how do you split the responsibilities—who handles the business end and who handles the bands?

There is a group of people working with us on the festival but mainly its Debo and myself (Lee) and Holly Outsider. Debo does the social media and promotion and I do most of the booking.  Together we get the art work together for flyers, posters, stickers and merch.  Holly and the Outsider Magazine crew are a huge part of the festival helping us with all aspects, especially organization and keeping us on the right track.  Holly also works with In Effect and does an awesome radio show with Chris where she will help promote the event and the bands playing.  Raising money through sponsorship, renting equipment, signing up vendors, marketing and everything else down to parking and outhouses we just knock it all out together as it comes.  

Fans at the show

As the shows get bigger, how do you maintain that intimate, friends and family vibe that started back in the comic shop?

Even as the rooms grow from dive bars to festivals, we’re still the guys at the door, running cables, printing flyers and picking people up off the floor in the pit. We treat every venue like it’s our old shop. We prioritize local bands and vendors, keep the security 'family-style' where everyone looks out for one another, and make sure the bands and attendees are as happy as we can make them. That 'shop' vibe was built on conversation and shared passion; as long as we keep talking to the kids in the front row and the legends in the back, that intimacy isn't going anywhere.

When people look back at the history of NYHC and Westchester punk ten years from now, what do you want the legacy of Hardcore In The 914 to be?

I want people to remember that we put Westchester back on the map as a destination, not just a pit stop on the way to the city. The legacy should be that we built a self-sustaining ecosystem where local bands like Deadline or Shatterhand could grow, thrive, and headline. If ten years from now there’s a new generation of kids starting bands because they saw a legendary set in a Yonkers basement or at our June festival, then we did our job. We want the '914' to stand for a scene that was inclusive, high-energy, and completely unapologetic about its roots.

If you're a band and want to apply to play Hardcore In The 914, how do they go about getting on the bill?

We are always looking for new blood. Don't be shy—the scene stays alive because of new bands. The best way to reach us is through Instagram at Hardcore In The 914 or NYHC Comics. You can also send us your EPK, demos, or just a link to your music at info@hardcoreinthe914.com or nyhccomics@gmail.com. Tell us who you are, what you sound like, and come out to a show so we can meet you.