Hat City Stories

Samantha Levin is an archivist documenting the teen nightclub, Images that was located in Brewster, NY in the late 80s. It was the place to hear new wave, goth and industrial music. It wasn’t uncommon for a New Order song to play followed by Ministry where the crowd cleared and a pit was formed. Temporarily of course until a danceable Blondie track come on. That was a generation

In high school we spent our evenings and late nights drinking coffee at diners because there was no where else to go and we thought it made us look cool. How hilarious that is when I think about it now. Early on in my Junior year at Bethel High School a new business popped up in Downtown Bethel. We always noticed when something new opened. Change was rare and slow in Bethel.I belie

This episode is about 24 Buttonball drive in Newtown CT, The home of Jim and Joe Roberto back in the day. It’s in that basement where amps were blown, distortion pedals were engaged and many bands were formed. I chatted with Ernest Latanzio and Joe Roberto as they reminisced and shared that deep history and all the music and collaborations that came out of it.One quick note. As y

Litmus is an ever expanding and contracting improv band who started in 1996. There’s a core group of 6 musicians but they’ve had as many as 12 musicians on stage at one time. Each show is a totally unique experience. There’s no songs, no plan and no one knows what to expect. Neither the musicians or the audience. I got to chat with 4 of the members.Justin Emerson - Keys, Samp

Morgan Williams was a DJ in the early days of WXCI. It was a platform for him to play alternative and new music that wasn't being played on commercial stations. He worked with Darryl Ort during WXCI's transition into a platform for new music. He went on to host New Music Wednesday at City Limits in Danbury. He also mentored Jeff McKay and Anne who DJ'ed at Images, th

I didn’t get to attend as many ska shows as would have liked, but the one band I would try to catch was Sgt. Scagnetti. Front man Steve Lonergan and I got to connect recently as he shared his own Danbury stories. A hip hop kid out of Seymour, CT who somehow found his way to WXCI one night long before Google maps were a thing as his parents were suddenly cool about a 2am curfew to

In this episode I had the honor of speaking with Greg Vegas. A pioneer in the early days of WXCI with his show Large With Everything where he played pretty much anything as long as it was new and cool. Greg was also singer, songwriter and guitarist for local legends Monsterland. The only band at the time who got signed and even had a music video on MTV, which at that point was a hu

This is episode 5 where I talked with Craig Colorusso from the band China Pig that performed in Danbury in the mid 90’s and toured throughout the country. He ran the indie label Mudd Industries and produced albums for G’nu Fuz, Hed and Monsterland. After catching a live show from G’nu Fuz he wanted to find a way to contribute to the band but wasn’t sure how. He decided he�

This is episode four where I talked with Malcolm Tent to learn about the history of Trash American Style, an indie record shop and used clothing store, or a psycho thrift shop as he describes it. Trash had a physical location in Danbury from 1986-2007 and now continues it’s legacy online. Trash was all things punk rock, goth and new wave. A place to dig through cassettes, CDs and

This is episode three where I talked with Wendy Cahill. A singer from the band Sans Cherubs that was around in the mid 90s and the owner of Molten Java, a small coffee shop in Bethel, CT.Wendy talked about the importance of coffee shops, specifically Seattle Espresso and the role they played at the time. There was always support for local artists and musicians as well as being a pl