The Fest in Gainesville Florida is considered by many to be the best punk festival in the United States if not the world. Folks from everywhere make the yearly trek to partake in 3 days of music, community and comraderie. I thought it might be fun to interview some of my and your favorite attendees, their bands, their brands, and see what makes this such a special event in the hearts and minds of so many. I'll try to get as many in as i can and hopefully convey a little of the joy it evokes!
Without further ado:

Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
Aaron Mattern, I’m from Vegas, and I’m Chief Sleeve-Removal Officer of PunksInVegas.com. I also play drums for the best band in Las Vegas named Brake Check.
Ha! I knew that and posted a photo of you with sleeves! The world will never know any different! hahahahahahahahaha
But seriously, thank you for talking to me because you and the other PunksInVegas people made me feel at home when i first moved there and I will never forget that.
How many times have you FESTed?
This year is 8. I just counted on my fingers 3 times, because I can’t believe it has been this many.
Wow! Who are you stoked to see this year? Anyone in particular?
I’m excited to see Bouncing Souls… they haven’t played Vegas in a while, and 4 albums… goddamn! Also excited for Cobra Skulls, I missed the Red Scare show here last weekend.
Oh man! That lineup was great! Tobey knows how to fill a bill!
Do you tour to Gainesville or fly in?
Not applicable for me… but here’s a good time to complain that there are no direct flights from Vegas to Gainesville.
Have a favorite Buccees snack? Or is that not on the table because you're flying?
Never been to a Buccees, but my roommate is from Texas and brings me back some ghost pepper jerky that fucks me up in the best way.
Well, then tell me what food you go for when in town?
RIP: Crane Ramen w/ their Pork Belly Bao. Of shit that’s still open in Gainesville? Flacos, or the hot chicken sandwich at Loosey’s.
Got any favorite Fest memories you'd care to share?
There’s so many. Most of them didn’t take place during the shows. Some involve drunk friends spilling their OWN coffee on their OWN bag and waking up mad about it, or someone getting waterboarded in the middle of the night.
One year, one of our friends had a seizure (it’s all ok, he’s fine) and went to the hospital. Several of us went with him, and hung out in the hospital waiting room most of the night.
In our friend’s FB Messenger chat, we let our other friends know what happened. However, two of our friends didn’t read any of the preceding messages and replied with:“Okay I just crowdsurfed a lot to dollar signs and samantha crowdsurfed and sang with Devon Kay. Can we talk about that?”
“I was on stage singing with Dollar Signs and Devon Kay, and I just had the best moment of my life”
We won’t ever let them live this down, so… let this be a reminder to catch up on your group chats!!
HAHAHAHAHA. and I know exactly who that was! (yay for homies lol)
Ok, one more before we go:
If you could choose, would you be the top drummer in your genre or mad cow disease?
What kind of choice is this? Fuck it… mad cow disease.
btw The earth is flat, birds aren’t real, chemtrails are controlling our minds, we’re living in a simulation, they replaced Avril Lavigne with fake Avril, and where the fuck is Andrew WK? Where is he!!???
Where is he indeed. Thanks for reading and thanks Aaron for chatting with me!
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