Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

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Yeah, exactly. Like, the mid-2010s version of what like an MCR superfan who just got into them ‘coz of like the “Helena” video in ’05 — 10 years later, that kid would’ve been at one of those Lil Peep shows. Book Review — “Where Are Your Boys Tonight: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008” by Chris Payne The oral history format has some limitations, namely that it's a ton to read about, it doesn't always follow a linear format, and of course, these are people talking about themselves with bias, since we all do, and also having the benefit of hindsight. Doesn't make it "bad," just something to keep in mind. This song was huge. Got huge in a really unlikely way. It was on their album The Papercut Chronicles, which basically sounds like The Roots but emo. It came out just before Fall Out Boy became superstars, in early ’05. And then it was one of those things where the scene gets bigger, Fall Out Boy –who had discovered and put on Gym Class Heroes — they get way bigger. So there’s a bigger platform for their follow-up album. But it’s this old song that catches on with radio.

Egan: Bill Carroll, Vagrant’s head of radio, and our publicist Brian Bumbery had really sold MTV on Dashboard. So they got all of MTV down to Irving Plaza to watch Chris. That was the tipping point. Greenwald: Alex Coletti was a major voice and tastemaker at MTV. Alex saw Chris live, understood it, and was the person inside MTV championing him. Marsh: I don’t particularly care for how campy it was, if I’m honest. I didn’t like it at the time; I don’t like it now. They put a lot of emphasis on something that happens at every show. But overall I had a great time with Where Are Your Boys Tonight? There were so many bands and songs that I hadn’t listened to in such a long time that I found myself looking up again. It was an amazing trip down memory lane as well as a look into stories and behind the scenes information that I hadn’t heard before. I definitely recommend this book if you’re a fan of this era of emo music. Wood: We all felt like it had to be some crappy high-school party. Okay, well, what makes you not belong? Not wanting to be in my underwear at this party!

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Marsh: I remember I couldn’t get my armpits to stop dripping. I couldn’t get my legs to stop moving. Chris was the same. Chris Carrabba (front person, Dashboard Confessional): This is when things really started to snowball for Dashboard. When people started to have a real sense of community. It was a mix. And some people – there definitely were like youth group kids, who will say like, “Oh, I love the Underoath and Norma Jean and Emory and Mewithoutyou, because I wanted to be into this music but the Christian bands were all my parents would let me listen to!” So there was those youth group kids, and then there were kids who had no idea who just loved it because it was like heavy music that sounded really like of the time. Lefler: When the Strokes didn’t win, they bailed right away. I was disappointed because I wanted to hang out with them.

and eminem starting up a conversation with chris from dashboard confessional and talking about the band and rattling off songs and asking about future projects and then being like “you got a sister, what’s her name” and signing a napkin for her....also legend behavior. The book’s priorities seem to line up with the priorities of the people featured in the book, and that’s a problem from a journalistic perspective. Maybe the allegations against Lacey were not the most important thing to the people interviewed in the book, but they are certainly one of the most important things about the story.

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Adkins: We hadn’t done many videos up to that point, and we certainly had never done anything with a narrative behind it. Carrabba: At award shows, they stage a camera near you. I was really aware of the camera. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I remember them announcing the names of the nominees, which included the Strokes and Norah Jones. Norah was sitting not far from me, and I could see the camera on her. The Strokes were a couple rows behind me. Carrabba: They just said me. Wait, I think we won this. Avril was sitting right in front of me. I remember her turning around to clap when they announced my name, which I thought was nice. Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.

But yeah, you were talking about the river as this separator — and despite how close the suburbs and New York City were, it really does feel like two different worlds in terms of what held influence. And also, some of it was bands who played all-ages shows, stuff that was accessible to kids in the suburbs, versus bands in New York City who played 18+ or 21+ shows. And also it was expensive and took a lot more time than you would think to get to a show in the city at like, Webster Hall or Mercury Lounge, if you were coming from the middle of New Jersey. How It’s Made — Internet, Blogging, MySpace, Napster, AbsolutePunk.net, Alternative Press, LiveJournal, record companies like Fueled by RamenTom Mullen (marketing, TVT Records, Equal Vision Records): I was so amazed that people were paying attention because emo was largely ignored for so much of my life. Lefler: From what other people have said, we played “Screaming Infidelities” like seven times. I don’t remember that. It was a very unusual situation to be in, when two weeks prior you’re a waiter who’s never heard any of these songs before. Egan: She didn’t even pronounce “Dashboard Confessional” correctly. She’s like, “And the winner is Dashboard Confessions … ‘Screaming Infidelities!’” John Lefler (guitarist, keyboardist, Dashboard Confessional): The first show of note we did as a four-piece was the Unplugged. I played guitar and keys.