The legendary punk band Bad Brains once asked the question, “how low can a punk get?” If the current state of Nebraska’s hardcore punk scene is any indication, the answer may be “pretty damn low.” Compared to other genres of music in this state, the number of hardcore bands and shows seems down. Brock Stephens thinks kids just aren’t as into hardcore music as they used to be.

And he doesn’t like that.

Stephens, 23, has been involved with Nebraska’s hardcore scene most of his life, playing in bands such as Hercules and Bent Life and helping organize the Mad Ave. project. He’s co-organizer of the Nebraska Hardcore Showcase, a one-night, 15-band festival of volume happening this Saturday at Omaha’s The Commons. The festival is in its second year, expanding its roster to include such Nebraska hardcore acts as Acid Mouth, Back When, Feral Hands and a dozen more purveyors of punk. Hear Nebraska called up Stephens for an interview, presented here in its entirety.

Hear Nebraska: How did the Nebraska Hardcore Showcase come about?

Brock Stephens: The first one was kind of spur of the moment. It wasn’t even my idea. It was my friend Nick Miller. I’m in a band with him called Bent Life. Last year we were playing our first show, which was also going to be the first date of a week-long tour. He said, “Oh, we should have a huge show. Let’s get a ton of local hardcore bands.” And then we got like 12 bands for the first one, and that’s how it came about. We called it the Nebraska Hardcore Showcase. Then, earlier this year, we were talking about doing another one, and we figured “why not?” and decided it would be an annual thing where we added some of the same bands as before with some new ones, just as new ones come along.

HN: That seems like a lot of work. Why do it annually?

BS: We’re always trying to show more people hardcore punk music in Nebraska. I think a lot of people — a lot of touring bands, for instance — skip over Nebraska because they think there’s not a lot here. And there’s not a lot of people who are really into that anymore here, and I’m not sure why. I feel like it’s died off lately. So we definitely try to put this on, a mix of punk and hardcore bands, to maybe bring out some new people. This year, there’s some bands with a lot of younger people in them, so we’re trying to bring a younger crowd into it. Me and most of my friends got into hardcore punk music when we were really young, you know, 10, 12, 13 years old. I don’t see a lot of younger kids at shows anymore, so that’s my biggest thing. I mean, I’m only 23, but when it comes to punk and hardcore music, that’s pretty old to still be doing it. But I’m not seeing a lot of younger kids starting anything up. Hopefully, seeing a bunch of great bands can inspire them.

HN: Why do you think the younger generation isn’t taking as kindly to hardcore punk music anymore? I mean, you’re 23, I’m 22, I remember when I was 13 and loving the hell out of it.

BS: I think a lot of it’s just the fact that it’s so easy to find music anymore. I mean, I’m sure you know, when we were younger we had to actually, physically find bands. And now, it’s so easy for kids to go online and type in “top punk bands” or “top hardcore bands” and you can download entire discographies and then on the message boards people are talking about how this sucks and this is cool and no one really has to do much for themselves anymore. It’s super easy to hop online and find out what you’re supposed to like, and that’s what a lot of people follow. So I think a lot of people think this kind of music isn’t “cool” anymore, and a lot of kids kind of ride it off really easily and go onto whatever’s cool. I mean, it’s changing every six months, what’s cool. Before, when you got into hardcore punk music, you kept with it, but now it’s so easy to get into so many different things. People are overwhelmed with options. And there’s so much less work to do. You don’t have to make flyers for shows anymore. You just make a Facebook event. You don’t necessarily have to put out your own record, you just record something and put it online. It’s just a lot less legwork, so I don’t think kids have as deep as a connection to it anymore. It’s more of a hobby than a lifestyle.

HN: What, other than the showcase, are you doing to try to get kids interested in punk music again?

BS: We try to help out a lot of touring bands. There’s a lot of good people in Omaha and Lincoln and other smaller cities around Nebraska that help out a lot of touring hardcore punk bands. There is a lot more local bands sprouting up, and that’s awesome, so we try to put out records and go to other people’s shows and throw our own. A lot of bands around here are touring, playing outside of their local cities, so that’s cool. That kind of puts Nebraska more on the map. A lot of what I’ve been doing lately is putting a lot of younger bands in shows and having them promote to their high schools and stuff. That’s the age for kids to get into stuff like this.

HN: What’s different about this year’s showcase?

BS: The first year had a big lack of promotion for it. It was more just a big show and less of a big deal. This year we tried to make it more of an event rather than just some random show. We got Back When involved, headlining the whole thing, playing their older music. They’ve been involved with Nebraska music for over a decade. We’re hoping that brings in an older crowd. And I’ve got a lot of younger bands playing to bring in a younger crowd. It’s just a good mix of hardcore punk bands. I hope a lot of people come out this year.

“Little Shiny Things” – Back When from Jonathan Tvrdik on Vimeo.

HN: What makes the cut for a band to be “hardcore” enough to play the showcase?

BS: To me, hardcore has always been a pretty general term for loud, underground music. I know some people are a little more specific on the terms “hardcore” and “punk,” but I don’t know how to describe it as anything else. It’s not the specifics. It’s the kind of things you’re doing and the ideas behind it that makes it hardcore.

HN: So if all goes well this year, are there plans to keep this going as an annual event?

BS: I definitely want to do this every year around this time. I think it’s a good end-of-summer bash. Hopefully, if all goes well, kids will still keep making bands, people will still want to play it. I think this year will spark it so that next year and years beyond are bigger events. We want it to be really fun for anyone involved in underground music in the state. Something the punks can enjoy and appreciate.

Nebraska Hardcore Showcase II
@The Omaha Commons, 1258 S. 13th St.
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2:00 p.m.
all ages, $5

Casey Welsch is the editorial intern at Hear Nebraska. He was way too into Christian grindcore when he was in high school, but he’s much better now. You can contact him at caseywelsch@hearnebraska.org.