Having come across a band that shares many of our own ethical stances, we jumped at the chance to interview SL.AP, Pennsylvania's Po-Dunk Post-Punk Pariahs. Together since 2017, with 3 studio albums under their belt and another on the way, SL.AP is made up of "Uncle" Sean Bandy on vocals, Stevie "The Frogman" Neidert on lead guitar, Joe "Super" Favoroso on the drums, and Matt "Matt" Bandy on bass guitar. The self described "GoonWave" quartet's music is loud, raucous, and even sometimes offensive, with an anarchic, paranoid edge. But, since their beginnings as a high school garage band, they've always held the standard that it's about the music and the community, not the money. Whether it's always having their music available digitally for free, or their two time "Goonfest" music festival that raised money for local charities, they believe that art and music is a vital part of life that everyone should be able to partake in.

Having been together since 2017 and starting as a high school garage band, what’s the single biggest lesson you’ve learned about navigating the punk scene as a unit?

Steven (guitar): Having been playing since 2017, I’d say that we’ve had our fair share of strange and straight up uncomfortable shows. We’re all a bunch of anxious guys and I think we use that to our advantage by using our emotions to fuel our live performances. We’ve learned to give it everything we’ve got no matter what.

Joe (drums): I came into the band relatively late (circa 2022), but it didn’t take long for me to feel like I’ve known Sean and Steven my whole life. The biggest lesson so far is that the people part of your scene will be there when it counts. If you’re making something other people love, they’ll come back for more.

Can each of you describe, in one sentence, how your personal style or attitude influences the band’s overall sound?

Joe: My jazz-inspired improv, mid-show costume changes and flair for making a scene makes each show a unique experience.

Matt (bass): I bring a mix between a grungy and bluesy sound to the band.

Steven: My guitar playing roots stem from hair metal and thrash influences.

Sean (vocals): I am very impatient and I think that's probably why most of our songs are so short.

"Goonwave" is a fantastic and provocative self-description. What does Goonwave truly mean to SL.AP and how does it translate musically and lyrically?

Joe: GoonWave is a reaction to a scene covered in the miasma of derivation, unwilling to do anything that doesn’t fit into an established mold. Every song challenges the last; every album twists its predecessor’s sound; the music must challenge both us and our listeners. We aren’t in it for clout, or consummate appeal, or any other superficial reason. Goonwave fully embraces music as an end to its own means; we play because we love making music.

Your music is described as loud, raucous, and sometimes offensive. Where do you draw the line between pushing boundaries and simply being provocative, and what message do you hope listeners take from that intensity?

Joe: There’s always a deeper meaning to our pushier songs - yes, even stuff like DFA and Driving In Delaware. The music, however, should speak to what is left brash lyrically.

Sean: We want to make people uncomfortable, in the same way that a John Carpenter film might make someone uncomfortable when they're watching it, to give a visceral energy and palpable raw emotions. I write lyrics mostly about my own experiences, or dumb inside jokes. I draw the line at making fun of people in harmful or vulnerable situations. Anything offensive or uncomfortable is either directed at pretty monstrous people that still go unnamed, or it is directed at myself. I don't really believe in "dark humor" for its own sake. There's either got to be a purpose behind the joke, or you have to be part of the community that the dark joke is about, or you're just a dickhead for making it. I hope that with any of my lyrics, especially the ones I've made since being an adult, the shocking or offensive bits make people remember the songs, and the actual content of the lyrics make people reflect.

What can you tell us about the upcoming fourth album—how is it an evolution or continuation of your previous three studio albums?

Joe: SL.AP’s fourth album has gone through many revisions since we started working on it. Names, genres, and entire songs we’ve written have been either shelved or scrapped as we try to get towards something that speaks to the changes we’ve been experiencing in our lives.

Sean: This next album is our first with Matt on bass, as I used to do bass before this. I'm really thinking that a fourth head will diversify our sound and make room for some chaotic, trance-like moments through the album that wouldn't be possible if I were still writing bass parts to sing and play at the same time. Some cool and experimental stuff some of the punk-purists might hate, but we’re excited to play around with. Most of all, it’s gonna sound great live.

There are enormous ethical problems that many musicians (and record labels) have with corporations like Amazon and Spotify, from support for ICE to providing cloud services for drone strikes and targeted assassinations in Gaza to just generally fucking over artists. Can you articulate the specific ethical reasons that ultimately led SL.AP to remove your entire catalog from Spotify and Amazon Music?

Matt: We know Spotify is greedy, but knowing that the company was OK with airing ICE recruitment ads was the last straw. I know I don’t want my money going to support the mass incarceration and deportation of people, illegally here or not. Nor would I want to keep my music on a platform that deems its ethical to air ads to recruit for these assholes. Even if it is a small stand, we hope it encourages other artists to take their music off of Spotify.

Joe: Fuck Daniel Elk & Helsing.

Your guiding standard has always been about the music and the community, not the money. How do you consistently uphold that principle, and what sacrifices, if any, have you had to make?

Sean: We've cut off a lot of local connections because we care more about the community than money. I'm not going to go into detail, but there are lots of credible accusations of rape almost everywhere in our south/central Lancaster scene. Upholding that we won't work with rapists or rape apologists has been shockingly difficult with how many people are seemingly okay with that, as long as they can get a bit of money or clout locally. But if we hear a firsthand accusation that someone has been a predator or enables predators, we won't work with them, full stop. That makes it hard to get us on a bill sometimes. We also make our merch as cheap as possible, sometimes selling these things at a loss just so more people can feel like they are participating in local music and getting physical media without having to pay more than what they did to get in the door. SL.AP is a money hole for us pretty much all the time, and is operated as cheaply as possible.

Why is it so vital to SL.AP to always have your music available digitally for free?

Sean: Digital files are just digital files. If someone connects with our music in some way or wants to check us out, I don't want money to ever get in the way of that connection. I've found music that was being "pay what you want" digitally on Bandcamp that has absolutely saved my life. If someone can stumble onto what we've done and feel like it makes their life a little easier, or makes it make more sense, I'd rather that than a couple dollars. Art belongs to the culture, and is meant to be experienced. Why would I want to stop someone from experiencing something I've put so much love and effort into?

Joe: Our music isn’t a commodity - we just want to share our work with people who like what we’re doing. If you want to support us you can buy merch or pay what you want on Bandcamp.

Beyond "Goonfest," what role does community engagement play in the band's day-to-day existence and creative process?

Joe: Often times we’ll turn down payment for shows and redistribute our money to the other bands. There are people struggling more than us that could use that money more. I also run a small DIY venue where we collect non-perishables for a local mutual aid group. We’re currently looking into raising money for local charities and food banks, too!

In a world increasingly driven by digital metrics, what does success look like for a band like SL.AP?

Sean: Success is fake. I feel success when I complete an album, or play a great show. I am happy to see when lots of people are listening to us, or when our follower count grows a bit, but trying to measure success like that is a losing game. I measure our success based on how we are doing as members of our community, and on how much I enjoy listening to the music we've made. Everything else can get bent.

How important is the physical medium (vinyl, cassette, CD) to SL.AP, especially in light of your decision to remove music from streaming platforms?

Joe: SL.AP typically prints to CDs just because it’s the most accessible form of physical media. Everyone with a car or an old boombox has a CD player, and most people with a computer can easily get their files saved so they can listen on the go. Still, Bandcamp downloads are probably the easiest way to get our music.

Is there a local Pennsylvania venue or community that you feel has been particularly essential to SL.AP's development?

Joe: No comment.

Steven: SL.AP has outlived or is older than probably 50% of the venues we have played at. That being said, we’ve jumped around a lot of places. We would frequently be playing one venue and 6 months later it wouldn’t exist. I think that really shaped who we are and how we act as a band. Each place allowed us to discover more about what we want as a band, everything from songwriting to scene politics. I don’t think I can name one particular venue that molded SL.AP, they all pitched in for better or worse.

Sean: Several communities of trans/nonbinary artists and musicians have been very receptive to our music, or at the least supportive. Thank you friends <3

Did the decision to remove your music from these platforms cause any internal debate or disagreement within the band? If so, how was it resolved?

We were all in agreement about the removal.

How has the immediate fan reaction been since the removal, and are you worried about alienating fans who primarily use those services?

Joe: We’ve put up resources for how to transfer playlists from Spotify to Bandcamp, and our music is still on the internet - just not being used to generate money for those two specific AI surveillance companies.

Sean: Fans seemed to be in support of this, though I imagine many of them still use Spotify. I don't check streaming numbers so I don't know how many listeners we had there or on Amazon, but I don't imagine it was too many. And even so, if you *only* listen to music you can find on Spotify, I think you're a bit of a dullard anyway, and don't engage with music as artistically as you should. If that alienates fans they probably weren't paying attention and didn't really care about our music in the first place. It is still so easy to find, and if they aren't willing to put in that tiny bit more effort, good riddance.

For fans who are now looking for your music, where can they consistently find it, and what is your preferred method for sharing your art?

Joe: Music - https://sl-ap.bandcamp.com,
show info - @sl.ap_band on Instagram

Sean: Right now, it's still streaming everywhere EXCEPT Spotify and Amazon. I know many of these other companies are directly or indirectly funding the genocide in Gaza and many other atrocities through the world, but if we spread our focus too thin and try to get everyone to boycott everything, it's gonna collapse. Our preferred method for you to get our music is to download it at a pay what you want model from Bandcamp. It's free but if you want to stream it on the Bandcamp app you can pay one dollar per album, minimum. You could also just DM or email us and ask me to give you the files.

What message do you hope your action sends to other independent artists and the broader music industry regarding streaming services?

Joe: You don’t need to pay a fief to cloud feudalists for people to get your music.

Matt: I hope other artists begin to leave Spotify. It doesn’t matter if they’re large, or small - I think a message needs to be sent that the streaming services would have nothing without the labor and love of artists.

Do you believe major streaming platforms can ever be reformed or operated ethically, or is the model fundamentally flawed for independent artists?

Joe: Any for-profit endeavor will always prioritize the interests of the owners rather than the creators. Bring back Napster, Lars was wrong, etc etc.

Sean: I don't believe any art should be an industry. Streaming works great for cataloguing and making easy access to music, but when we try to commodify art it's always going to fail and leave independent artists in the dust. I'd argue, at least in the attention economy, streaming has been great for independent artists. But if you're in this to make a living in capitalist America, you've already lost. Government subsidies for artists is the only way I see that artists can be fairly compensated while also keeping the barriers to experiencing and enjoying art as low as possible. But seeing as that's not happening any time soon, all I'll say is that the music "industry" needs to crash and burn. Streaming has just accelerated the process.

In the current landscape, what alternative platforms or distribution methods do you see as being more aligned with SL.AP's ethical standards?

Joe: File-sharing. We aren’t in this for money. Buy a CD if you want to support us financially, it’ll go towards printing more CDs. People can download our music for free, and they can host it on their own media servers if they want.

Sean: Seriously, pirate our music. Go ahead, this is me giving you permission. I love selling our CDs because the CD itself can be a piece of art, for sure. But if you just wanna listen to the music, a digital file costs nothing for us to produce. Yeah there's studio and equipment costs, but I'd be paying for that stuff anyway whether or not someone listened to our music. We never got into this for the money, and don't think others should either. Ethically it is your duty to pirate our music and get it as easily as possible.

Was there a "last straw" or a particular event that solidified the decision to pull your music?

Joe: Daniel Elk’s investment of $600M into Helsing.

Matt: The ICE Ads.

Sean: The inciting incident for me to take action and pull the music was seeing the local musician Body Garden pulling their music due to ICE ads and genocide support. I really respect them a lot and everything they do for their community, and in that moment I knew that if I was inspired by such a small action from someone I respect, maybe others would feel the same. I'm so sick of hearing small artists complain about Spotify and the payouts, and post about the horrors committed by Israel and the IDF, but never put even the smallest thing on the line for either of these causes. But how hypocritical would it be for me to complain about them and still have music on there? We are all disgusted by the actions of Israel, and we don't really care if we get money from streaming. So, it just seemed logical to do so and try to make people more aware of the power we all have collectively through this.

If you could open for any punk band from history, who would it be and why?

Joe: No comment

Matt: Bad Religion, without a doubt. I grew up listening to them, and got to see them live twice. They’ve influenced a lot of my playing and taste in punk music, so opening for them would be a dream come true.

Steven: Guttermouth. They were one of Sean’s earliest influences for the band and we’ve all grown quite fond of them.

Sean: Most punk bands I'd wanna actually watch, rather than open for. I'd be too tired to enjoy their set by the time we're done. But it would be really cool to have had the chance to meet Polly Styrene, so I'll say X-Ray Spex.

Anyone you'd like to thank for their support?

Joe: Big thank you to Tomato Jake, FrogOnHead, and Ryeder for friendship, great shows, and encouragement with our music. Thank you to my partner Julie for always supporting me. Thank you to my Mom for loving me and raising me to do the right thing.

Matt: Mom and Dad and my wonderful fiancee

Steven: Albie Von Schaaf may he rest in peace. He was the first person to see something in us way back during our first live performances outside of a high school talent show.

Sean: Huge thanks to Body Garden (@b0dy_garden), Frog on Head (@frogonhead), Tomato Jake (@tomatojake), Cowboy Corpse (@cowboy_corpse), and DJ Skware (@skware_dj) for being upstanding pillars of our local scenes and supporting art and community over profit. Shout out to Playboy Manbaby (@playboymanbaby) and Intercourse (@intercoursenoise) for being two bands that inspired me to keep SL.AP in the "pay what you want" model. Their music is so fucking good and unique yet they just give almost all of it away for free. Real cool shit that I respect immensely.

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