Interview: Owen Wexler and the History of Hardcore at UMD

Author: Ashton Newton

It’s 2002. The dim, cramped Live Room at WMUC is packed to the gills as showgoers file in from the narrow hallway to see local hardcore acts Worn Thin, Time Out of Line, Storm the Tower, The Infamous, and Moment of Youth. It’s Thursday, a weeknight, but the room’s energy is nonetheless electric as the first band takes the stage – or the wall-to-wall carpeted floor, rather.

For show promoter Owen Wexler, nights like these were once a frequent occurrence. At 43 years old, he now works as a software engineer. But as a Freshman film major at UMD, he began booking hardcore shows around campus to show his appreciation for the local music scene, which accepted the Hyattsville local as he returned to his hometown upon graduating from a Connecticut boarding school.

“I got into punk through a friend at a boarding school I went to … called the Grove School,” Wexler said in an interview over Zoom. “He was also from the DC area. Before summer break, he was like, ‘you should come to a punk show with me.’ I was a big hip hop head at the time, punk wasn't even on my radar.”

In spite of being a newcomer to punk and hardcore music, Wexler was immediately enthralled. “The show was Sick Of It All, Good Riddance, In My Eyes, and Kid Dynamite at [now-defunct DC nightclub] Nation on July 4, 1999,” he said. “And what I saw blew me away.”

While his taste for underground music grew, he enrolled at UMD. Wexler’s time studying film lasted from 2001 to 2006. Growing up not far from College Park, he chose UMD partially out of convenience, as his father was a professor of musicology at the School of Music from 1975 to 2014. “I probably shouldn’t have even been in college then, to be honest,” he said. “It took me much longer to figure out what I wanted to do and I was mostly focused on punk shows and band things.”

It wasn’t long before he started booking shows himself. “I’d been going to shows for about a year and a half, and I wanted to find some way to give back and be a contributor. I didn’t know how to play an instrument at that time,” he said. “Booking shows was how I was going to give back.”

His first ever show was Chernobyl Kids, Looks Like Rain, Super Chinchilla Rescue Mission and Fearless Vampire Killers on February 2, 2002. Per Wexler, he originally planned to hold the concert at The Electric Maid in Takoma Park, but a week prior, “some punks” broke a window and trashed the area around the venue. The event was moved to WMUC instead, which at the time frequently opened up its Live Room to independent shows. As a student, the station was easily accessible, and Wexler would go on to book many shows at WMUC.

As his booking operation grew, so did the lineups. “Once I did a few all-local shows, the emails from touring bands started flooding my inbox,” Wexler said. Of touring acts he booked, he named Philadelphia hardcore legends Blacklisted as one of his proudest, alongside Boston-area Oi punkers Some Kind Of Hate and North Carolina straight edge outfit The First Step.

In tandem with booking concerts, Wexler also co-hosted a radio show on WMUC called Ninjacore alongside friend Rudy Enrique. Ninjacore ran from 2003 to 2005 playing “HARDCORE bands ONLY! No weak shit,” according to its now-defunct website. 

After founding the show together, Wexler would later join Enrique’s band Twin Cheek Assault as one of a “Spinal Tap rotation” of bassists. With Enrique on vocals, the rest of the band’s ranks were filled by Avi Kulawy on guitar and Chris Moore on drums, both of whom are better known for grindcore titan Magrudergrind. Already close to the end of its lifespan, the band quickly dissolved as Magrudergrind became a priority for half of its members. Wexler would go on to play bass in other area hardcore acts, including In My Eyes and later Spinebuster. 

Wexler also booked plenty of shows in the surrounding areas, going as far as Fredericksburg, Virginia. He cited three major venues – DIY event/storage space The Hideout, pool hall Shooter’s and rock club KC’s Music Alley as hubs for the Fredericksburg underground.

“Fredericksburg had a huge scene back then,” he said. “Maybe people had less to do down there, or more disposable cash.”

“My last show I ever booked was June 6, 2006 – 6/6/6,” said Wexler. “It was TAEA [Virgina band Today and Everything After], Nick Fury, Not So Fast, In My Way, and And Down Goes Frazier at KC’s Music Alley.”

Nevertheless, he affirmed his favorite spots were around UMD. “All the different, really cool venues gave the scene there a very special feel,” he said.

Though it’s been twenty years since he booked a show, Wexler expressed gratitude for the community he fostered. Moreover, he emphasized that promoters deserve gratitude in return.

“Promoters go through a lot,” he said. “They deal with pretty much everything under the sun, and they're the ones who are critical in making these awesome memories for you guys. So appreciate your promoters.”

Author: Ashton Newton | Artist: Owen Wexler