Emilie Bach
IG: @supitsemilie
Could you introduce yourself to anyone who doesn’t already know you?
Hi everyone! My name is Emilie! I am Danish, currently living in Denmark, grew up in Southern California, but most recently lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest in Seattle. I lived there from 2014 to 2022 (and I’m hoping to move back to the PNW soon). I love reading, swimming, trying new restaurants, going to shows, and, of course, Northwest Hardcore.
What was your introduction to punk and hardcore?
I started listening to lots of alternative bands when I was in middle school (mostly My Chemical Romance, Blink-182, Panic at the Disco, etc). From there I learned about lots of bands from Tumblr, which is when I started getting into Warped Tour bands, pop punk, metalcore, and post-hardcore. Eventually that pop punk to hardcore pipeline clicked into place when I would go to pop punk shows that also had hardcore bands on the bill. My gateway bands were bands like Stick To Your Guns, Terror, Hundredth, and For Today (lol). They would all constantly play Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA (the closest venue to my hometown) so I had lots of chances to see them. Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest for college. I was still mainly into metalcore but started learning more about hardcore by going to shows. Then I went to my first RainFest in 2015 and I feel like that was the last push I needed to get really into hardcore. That fest singlehandedly showed me how incredible hardcore and the NWHC community are. RIP Rainfest but shout out to JAG.
You've lived in a handful of different places (WA, Southern California, Denmark and now Colombia). Thats a pretty wide range of cultures and scenes. Can you talk about the different hardcore and punk scenes in each area?
Every place has been super different. For example, growing up in Orange County, every single tour came through our area. We had Chain Reaction, The Observatory, and Programme within a 30 minute drive and every Los Angeles or San Diego venue within an hour drive. We always got every single tour. Then when I moved to Seattle, I started realizing that not every tour was going to come to me anymore. It really made me appreciate the local shows we had and the tours that did come through. It’s very similar in Denmark. The hardcore scene exists but is not as big as countries like Germany or Sweden so you learn to be very grateful for the shows we do get. In Colombia, they have great local bands (Raw Brigade, obviously), but they are also a place that doesn’t get a lot of big tours. Often bands are active for years without coming to South America, and I think that’s a huge missed opportunity.
You moved back to Denmark a few years ago and were running the google doc page with all NWHC shows. I for one really appreciated that, it’s easy for me to copy your homework and throw those shows on this site. I think it’s really cool that you did that for such a long time while on another continent and kept contributing to the local scene here. What made you want to do that?
I just love Northwest Hardcore. I feel like many people from outside of the PNW don’t realize how great our scene is. I just wanted to do whatever I could to let people know about shows so our scene can continue to grow and thrive. Hopefully I can continue to run it and people can use it to find more and more shows. I know we’re all very busy and sometimes miss an IG post or a tweet about a good show, so hopefully the calendar can be just one more resource for finding shows in our scene.
As far as shows in Denmark, how is the local hardcore and punk scene out there? Are there a lot of all local shows? It seems like American bands get out to Europe semi often, did you make it out to alot of touring band gigs while living there?
The punk scene is thriving, but the hardcore scene is a bit limited in Denmark. Obviously it exists, but it is not as big as punk or metal. I have only managed to go to one single show while I’ve lived in Denmark, and that was Citizen with Drug Church. Lots of bands tour the UK and Germany, but not as many bands venture to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Though great tours come to Europe, it usually means I have to travel to another country to see them. However, bands like Terror and Jesus Piece have recently come to Denmark, but both those shows happened while I’ve been in Colombia so I sadly missed out.
I've always heard bands joke about different shows and scenes over in Europe, how do people out there react to touring bands in comparison to people in the US?
I feel like it really depends on the country. I think the UK is more similar to the USA when it comes to fan interactions, but I have heard hilarious stories about Germany. Many Northern Europeans are super blunt and will NOT hesitate to share their opinions of your set, your merch, your music, etc. In Denmark, I think most people are just happy the bands are there. We can be blunt, but we're also very polite. Everyone will just be thrilled that your band is visiting our country at all.
What are some of your favorite shows that you’ve attended while in Denmark, or other parts of Europe if you travelled and saw a show elsewhere?
My all time favourite European show was when I saw Expire (yikes) and Knocked Loose in Vienna, Austria. It was the final Expire tour in Europe and the first Knocked Loose tour in Europe. The show was at a venue called the Viper Room, which was built wayyyyy down below street level. It seemed like it was built in an old bomb shelter. People were smoking cigarettes inside and I really felt like I was getting the real European experience.
Also the Citizen show I went to earlier this year in Copenhagen was sooooo cool. I feel like Citizen is huge in the USA now, so seeing them in a room with only 200 other people was incredible. The beauty of a slightly smaller scene in Denmark is how intimate all the shows are.
Have you been able to make it out to a show in Colombia yet?
Not yet! In November I will be going to see Movements. It’s their first show ever in Colombia so I’m excited to see one of my favorite emo/pop punk bands from Orange County all the way out here in Colombia. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to a hardcore show before I leave.
Who are some of your all time favorite NWHC bands? And who are some European bands that you would suggest people check out?
I am a Lower Species stan until the day I DIE (Waylon if you’re reading this, please bring us an LS reunion). Some of my other NWHC favorites are End of Dayz, Odd Man Out, Lowest Priority, Instant Death, Payback, Land Lost, Gag, By All Meanz, Cherub Chains, Singled Out, Red Scare, Climate, Trust Issues (IYKYK), INGROWN, Witness Chamber, and Mala Racha just to name a few.
For European bands, everyone should listen to Night Fever, Sidestep, Akimbo, Demonstration of Power, Speedway, Last Wishes, Despize, Gray State, Pest Control, The Flex, Big Cheese, and Bulls Shitt.
What do the NWHC, Southern California, and Denmark scenes mean to you? I’m assuming each has its own memories and things you care about?
NWHC and OCHC mean everything to me. I have met some of my best friends and even my partner because of hardcore. Orange County, Programme, and Chain Reaction created my foundation for loving hardcore and then NWHC, Rainfest, Vera Project, and Real Art Tacoma locked me in for LIFE. Now I’m loving the chance to get to know the hardcore scene in Denmark and make new friends there. Hardcore is just this amazing gateway for meeting new people and creating friendships all over the world through our common interest. I love my memories of Rainfest, but I also love my memories of traveling to Outbreak, Sound & Fury, FYA, FTC, etc. Some of my best NWHC memories are usually of local shows or amazing shows at our local venues. I loved getting to experience the last Red Scare show at Black Lodge, seeing Power Trip play Real Art Tacoma, seeing Turnstile play Chop Suey, and now watching the insane growth of JAG at Real Art.
Who are your favorite current locals or bands you think people are sleeping on?
I think hardcore is sleeping on our entire scene but obviously I’m biased. I think End of Dayz and Witness Chamber deserve to blow up enormously. I also love that bands like Ingrown and Apex Predator are getting out into the whole USA, because two bands spreading the good word of NWHC do a lot for promoting our scene and making people realize what they’ve missed out on in the northwest.
Is there anything you’d like to leave people with?
I am a big believer in the collective. Coming from Denmark, we have a more collectivist culture compared to a country like the United States. Many people are very individualistic in the US, but I think one of the reasons I love hardcore is because of the collectivist nature of the scene. When one of us thrives, the entire scene thrives. It’s all about moving forward as a whole instead of moving forward as just one person, one band, one region, etc. I think NWHC is a prime example of the collectivist mindset. From Portland to Tacoma to Vancouver to Calgary, we all love our scene and our region of the world. Hardcore is all about community and I’d like to continue to see that thrive for a long, long time.
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Make sure you check out Emilie’s NWHC show calendar. She keeps it way more updated than the one i have on this site!