As the singer, guitarist and founding member of Teenage Bottlerocket, Ray Carlisle has performed all over the world, shared the stage with some of punk's most legendary acts and been an ever-present part of his own band becoming a modern punk rock mainstay over the course of its two-decade run. After more than a year away, Teenage Bottlerocket is back on the road again, and they're making national news in the process. The band is headlining a show in Florida this weekend that has a "No-Vax Tax" cover charge of $999 for people not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Prior to that show, Carlisle spoke to My First Band host Tyler Maas about the stir the unconventional concert has caused, the process of writing and recording Teenage Bottlerocket's forthcoming album (Sick Sesh!, out on Fat Wreck Chords on Aug. 27), and memorable moments from the band's 20-plus years of existence. Of course, Carlisle also spoke about his pre-Bottlerocket projects, including an elementary school group called Carlisle Crew, a short-lived metal band called Vehicular Homicide and an accomplished high-school-age punk project called Homeless Wonders. Along the way, Carlisle also talked about some of the goals he hopes to achieve before he's done playing music. The ball is in your court, Green Day!
My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and Teenage Bottlerocket ("Ghost Story").
