About two years ago on a warm Sunday in February, I came across
the nucleus of what would eventually become an up and coming
punk band hangin’ out on the boardwalk in Asbury Park.
What caught my attention that day was about four kids (the
Blacktop Kids are in their late teens/early 20’s), huddled
around one of the benches facing the ocean, playing Catch
22 and Bouncing Souls tunes on a couple of acoustic guitars.
About thirty minutes later on my way back from walking the
boards, I stopped to talk to the guys, told them that it was
cool that they were playing some great local bands, as they
were playing “for the hat.”
The big spender that I am, I threw a buck in, and we talked
for a bit. I gave them my card, and said that if they put
a band together to look me up.
Sometimes that’s the end of it, but about a year later
I got an e-mail from Steve, asking if I remembered him, and
that they had put a band together, and they were playing at
Asbury Lanes. He also said that they were putting together
an album that was being produced by Pete (The Pete), Steinkopf,
guitarist for the Bouncing Souls. Wow, what a difference a
year makes! Unfortunately, I couldn’t make The Lanes
show, but I did review their CD when it came out later that
year.
Fast forward to December 27, 2011 on a dark and stormy night
in front of The Stone Pony, and myself and the Blacktop Kids
are getting drenched standing under The Pony’s awning,
doing an interview about an hour before they were set to open
for the Bouncing Souls on their Home for the Holidays four
day run.
The interview was about a fifteen minute round-robin talk
with Dylan, Max, Steve, and Sam.
As I mentioned it was dark, rainy, and even with their youthful
exuberance, I knew that they wanted to get this over as quick
as possible (myself also). I didn’t get a chance to
differentiate between the band members answers, so I’ll
just use BTK (Blacktop Kids) for most of their responses.
Q: The first time I met you guys was pretty much over there
on the boardwalk playing on a bench facing the ocean. Was
it all four of you guys?
BTK: Yeah, it was all four of us!
Q: As I walked by, you guys were playing for the hat, I think?
BTK: Yeah we were playing for lunch money (laughing)!
Q: I think the reason I remember it so well was that I had
just come from Asbury Lanes, and they were having their Record
Swap. It was really nice sunny, Sunday afternoon in the middle
of February. As I walked by you guys were playing songs by
Catch 22, and on my way back you were playing Bouncing Souls
songs, and I even threw a couple of shillings in the hat!
BTK: Sums up my childhood…Catch 22 and the Bouncing
Souls!
Q: So, how do you get from playing for fun, and for the hat
on the boardwalk to opening for the Bouncing Souls at The
Stone Pony?
Max: Well, Dylan, Steve, and Sam had a band for what seemed
like forever, and I did merch for them for a while. Ever since
we saw the first Home for the Holidays show (this was the
Souls fifth year), and saw Static Radio, we really wanted
to do a kind of hardcore punk thing. Then, the band that Dylan,
Steve, and Sam were in played a Battle of the Bands- and they
lost (laughing)! After that I asked Sam if we could do this
(form a new band together), and he said, ‘Yeah!’
So, we went and wrote our first song titled, “Home for
the Holidays” (you can find it on their new CD, Right
in the Street), that night, and now here we are, almost two
years later.
 BTK:
We also talked to people… we just approached people…
you can’t be afraid to get a, ‘NO!’ One
of us went up to Pete (Steinkopf, Bouncing Souls guitarist,
and he also produced Glen Burtnik and Lashley), and said,
‘Do you want to record us?’ And he said, ‘Yeah!’
Max: I approached him three times actually, and on the third
time I actually worked up the guts to ask him to record us.
Then he just gave me his number and his e-mail, and that’s
how it happened!
Q: You had sent me a Cd to review awhile back, which I thought
was good. Is there anything else in the works for you guys?
BTK: Actually we just recorded five new songs with The Pete,
and were not sure when it’s going to come out yet. It’s
being mastered and it’s taking kind of long, but it’s
going to be called, Complex. We’re going to play all
of it tonight!
Q: I don’t want to keep you guys much longer, it’s
getting pretty nasty out, and you go on in about 45 minutes,
but is there anything else you would like to add?
BTK: It’s like a dream come true! It’s kind of
surreal… we’ve been seeing this band (Bouncing
Souls), for like ten years. I did the math in my head…this
is the 30th time we’ve seen them (they were about 12
for their first show)! It’s just weird because as we’ve
grown, we’ve kind of evolved with them as well. They
sound different (better), and we now we have a band, it’s
just weird (great)! It’s very personal for us. If you
would have told us two years ago that we would be starting
this band, and we would be playing with the Bouncing Souls
I think we would have laughed in your face. We would have
been like, ‘No way’! We’re extremely appreciative
that were getting the chance to even play with all three of
these bands (White Wives and Title Fight also played that
night)! Title Fight is amazing…and White Wives is cool.
They’re a side project of Chris #2 from Anti-Flag. I’ve
jumped on board with that and I’ve loved everything
that they’ve done so far. You get to play shows with
your favorite bands…that’s awesome!
Blacktop Kids got their name from playing at Rec Centers,
playing outside on the “blacktop.” During the
show when White Wives were playing, one of their band members
mentioned how fortunate they were to be playing with the
other three bands, and how great it was to be playing in
front of fans that supported the scene. He also said that
the Punk community is really an extension to anyone helping
each other in any way that you can. The Blacktop Kids are
carrying on that spirit, and we’re all the better
for it!
For more information, visit blacktopkidsnj.com
JerseyBeat.com
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covering punk, alternative, ska, techno and garage
music, focusing on New Jersey and the Tri-State
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