Latest Posts

Cold Blood MMXV

January 11, 2015

Editor’s Note: Guest interviewer, Ian Wardynski, recently caught up with Melody Seymour and Joshua Smith, co-founders and co-conspirators of COLD BLOOD MMXV, the first annual punk and hardcore fest set to take place January 17th at the Polish Library in sunny Buffalo, NY. Wardynski discusses with the two how and why they went about booking the festival, vegan hot dogs, and how the pair originally met. Ian Wardynski: So, you two, why go to all the trouble of booking a fest? Melody Seymour: I think that Buffalo’s a great place, and bands need to come into the city and experience that. I also feel that Buffalo needs to experience more hardcore from outside of this area. That’s kinda the biggest thing. It’s hard to get out of your own ass, ya know? Joshua Smith: We do get a lot of really great touring bands coming through, but I think it’s[...]

Black Dots

June 18, 2014

Josh Smith deserves a lot of credit, and not just because he’s a walking, talking encyclopedia of underground punk knowledge. Or because he owns and operates a basement record store, Black Dots, on the West Side of Buffalo. Or just because he runs a local label by the same name, or even because he also supplies a space for shows on the West Side. No, he doesn’t deserve credit for any one of these things, he deserves credit for all of these things. On paper, Smith should totally be Barry from High Fidelity. He’s been embedded in the underground scene in Western New York for years now. He’s shared the stage with members of Syracuse’s Perfect Pussy, among others. He knows about all of the bands you’ve never heard of, and can speak of them coherently and articulately. However, Smith is not that guy. “So I’m going to be releasing[...]

Joshua Smith of Black Dots

June 10, 2014

You have most likely walked by it a thousand times. You’ve probably totally ignored it, like it was invisible, like a vagrant. If it was a two headed mythological serpent of the future, it would have offered you it’s forbidden fruit. It sits drunkenly on the corner of Grant Street and Lafayette Avenue, like Dylan Thomas over a typewriter, directly across from Sweetness 7 Cafe. I am of course talking of Black Dots record shop. If you have ever wandered into the basement record store, you are familiar with it’s owner Joshua Smith. Smith can usually be found sitting behind the counter with the glow of his laptop dancing across his scruffy face.  Always sporting jeans and an obscure punk T-shirt, Smith will give a gentle nod as you enter the store, and calmly go back to his computer. He has a quiet demeanor, but if you can engage him,[...]