A lot of people think the biggest perk to this job is meeting your favorite bands. For me, it's meeting the people that back those bands. Generally, they're the biggest fans. I'm speaking about label owners. I've written a piece pertaining to them and the bands that make up their small communities. The biggest question I want you to think about is what does a label mean to you past the music? Is it just a brand? Besides the music it puts out, what else about your favorite label makes you gain garner interest in it?

I went and saw the Bayside/Saves the Day tour the other night and it got me thinking a lot about longevity. How did those two bands last so much through one of the most progressive times in the music industry? How did they survive against the elements of death, label issues and pleasing longtime fans? Hit the replies and let's talk about not what makes a hold any sort of longevity past "putting out good music." What makes you continue to see your favorite bands year after year or multiple times a year at that?

In light of today's news that rocked the hardcore community, what are your thoughts on reunion shows? I wrote a little something here, but I want you guys to hit the replies to talk about the pros and cons. My friends in As Cities Burn are doing a one-off in December, but will it be like seeing them in the small venues and churches back in the day back home? Will I still have that same feeling? I'm covering Fun Fun Fun Fest next weekend, a festival known for its many reunion sets - and this year is no different. What reunions have you seen that have been phenomenal? What reunions didn't live up to your expectations and why do you think they didn't?

The mysteries of the meanings behind certain self-cherished songs are one of the wonderful things about music. It may just be one of the most personal connections a fan can make between the piece of art presented to them and an artists' intentions. It really separates the subjectivity of what is good and what is bad in the eye of the beholder. Like what Thursday's Geoff Rickly said about artists putting their music out there and it no longer being their own work, but interpretation to the general public thereafter - one has to admit that there's lost translation between the actual meaning and interpretation of a song or album. More recently, sites such as this one and others have been...

The beginning of July was quite a month. In the span of the first week, I had seen one of my favorite bands perform for the last time (an article I'm still killing myself over in producing some sort of justice, but will hopefully surface next week). Then I caught two more bands that were ten years back down the road from which I have traveled. Next month I'll be 25, and I think the next five years will be a good time to reflect on the music that mattered and nourished my senses in my late teens and early "adulthood" - or that span of awkward life we all have or will live. You can read my thoughts on the Taking Back Sunday/Thursday tour here.

For the users my age, I ask you this: What...

Two A.V. Club writers recently had a discussion about music fans, even themselves, getting too old to find new music that matters.

From the Article

People like us split music into genres and eras, but in reality, music is a continuum, formed by a long chain of artists and songs that—if you choose to follow it—will take you deep into the past or carry you into the future. Listening to “old” and “new” music side by side, in the present tense, re-affirms this view....Champions of the new want to argue that a dozen or so instant classics are released each year by musicians who are pushing their respective genres forward, while those who prefer to stay stuck in the past would argue ...