“New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye…” book by RK

[Guest Admin]

“New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye…” book by RONEN KAUFFMAN

http://stores.channeladvisor.com/vinylhome/Items/sc036-0?

When I went to CMJ recently, I had the great experience of meeting Ronen Kauffman, author of “New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye…”. He invited me to do an interview for his podcast, Issue Oriented, which is one of the great podcasts centered around independent music. Ronen was so kind, he gave me a copy of his book which I read from cover to cover traveling back to Colorado from New York. Reading the book got me really excited and made me think that I should be carrying books on Vinyl Collective.

I loved the book and here is why. All of us have stories on how we found our connection with punk rock and as much as our stories are unique and define who we are, there are others who have had similar experiences. Ronen grew up in the New Jersey punk rock / hardcore scene and although there are plenty of differences, his story really reminded me of how punk rock really changed my life. It made me think of all of those early shows I attended which inspired me to get involved and start a fanzine. Ronen tells his story of how he got into punk and hardcore, how he started a fanzine, how he started playing in bands, and how these experiences helped him to become the person he is today.

I recommend everyone pick up this book not just because I loved the book, but because Ronen is one of the good guys and he deserves to sell a million books.

On my long list of things to do is to start adding more books to our store so stay tuned! We need something to do while we listen to records, right?

[benchwarmer]

jeesh virgil, this should really be posted in the other forum.

[Guest scriptedrain]

Hahaha

[Guest Admin]

jeesh virgil, this should really be posted in the other forum.

Yeah, I know, but honestly, I never have time to look at the other forum and feel that some books, although not vinyl, deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as all the records we discuss. The book has a lot of writings about vinyl if that counts.

[Guest falloutcollapse]

Does that book have any mention of Thursday in it?

That was a total fanboy question, sorry.

[monk0nuggets]

This sounds interesting indeed. Maybe when I get some extra cash I'll pick this up.

[oakland]

I think the main thing you'll find if you read this book is that it pretty much sounds like your own story (assuming you've been in a band that was even remotely good).

[Guest Admin]

not really any mentions of thursday, but many of the bands mentioned went on to form other bigger bands. Carl from Ferret and his band Nora is mentioned as well as a lot of other bands that people on this board would be into. It is a really cool snapshot of what was going on in the mid to late 90's which is the time I got super excited about independent music.

[thesack18]

its got the bouncing souls in it. im onto it

[cadetapplesauce]

lifetime is in it, i believe. it's at the record store back home, and i flipped through the pages.

[mattisr1984]

at first this didnt really interest me but i think i may eventually pick it up as ive been getting back into reading.

[jhulud]

I got this when Ronen first put it out...it's a great read for sure.

[scottheisel]

It's an alright book, although I feel like too many of the stories end up as "Oh man, this ALMOST happened" or "Oh man, we ALMOST got in a fight," or "Oh man, I saw a girl get a gun pulled on her and ALMOST tried to help but went inside my dorm room instead and she was beaten badly" (that last one is an actual story from the book).

Anyone can write a book about things in their life they ALMOST did.

[xfedaykinx]

god, i miss new brunswick sometimes

[oakland]

I'm with Scott on this one.

[monk0nuggets]

god, i miss new brunswick sometimes

I went their once. Scariest place I've ever driven. The roads are insane there. Directly after I left there, someone broke into my car and stole my CD player. Fucking bogus. That was when I went to see Thursday's holiday show with Mewithoutyou and Circle Takes The Square. Fucking awesome show, bogus drive back to my hometown. No music, no window, 25 degree weather.

[xfedaykinx]

god, i miss new brunswick sometimes

I went their once. Scariest place I've ever driven. The roads are insane there. Directly after I left there, someone broke into my car and stole my CD player. Fucking bogus. That was when I went to see Thursday's holiday show with Mewithoutyou and Circle Takes The Square. Fucking awesome show, bogus drive back to my hometown. No music, no window, 25 degree weather.

that shit sucks bro. definitely happens in the bruns, though. i went to college there and never had any problems myself, but have had friends whose cars were broken into, and one friend that got mugged real bad. definitely not the safest city in jersey, but at the same time it 'aint no camden either.

[thesack18]

ive always wanted to live in jersey. are there parts of it that are pretty safe?

[Guest falloutcollapse]

ive always wanted to live in jersey. are there parts of it that are pretty safe?

Brick, NJ.

[xfedaykinx]

ive always wanted to live in jersey. are there parts of it that are pretty safe?

dude, jersey is home to some of the richest towns and counties in the country. plenty of it is safe. all that shit on tv and in movies about scary italians and gangster thugs is pish posh. just gotta be careful in certain areas, say newark, camden and paterson. i guess new brunswick to a certain extent, as well. but i never felt threatened in new b.

[matt]

i apologize ahead of time for my lack of knowledge so if this all nonsense then disregard it. ive been to new york countless times but only made my first trip to jersey for the ill fated hellfest in 05. ended up going to the lifetime show in asbury park. basically some of the sketchiest stuff ive ever done. dude from the b9 board offered to give me a ride and i just needed to get on a train to hoboken and he would pick me up. i ended up sitting in the backseat of a two door toyota tercel while this dude smoked out of a can of PBR. went to a matinee show at bloomfield ave. seemed like a decent area from what i remember. then the drive to asbury park on the other hand, that shit was pretty wretched. had to stop by his place in camden after the show and that was even crazier. listen to your parents and dont get into cars with strangers...

[thesack18]

ive never noticed how jersey has been portrayed in movies and tv shows.

ill go there one day to look around

[xfedaykinx]

i apologize ahead of time for my lack of knowledge so if this all nonsense then disregard it. ive been to new york countless times but only made my first trip to jersey for the ill fated hellfest in 05. ended up going to the lifetime show in asbury park. basically some of the sketchiest stuff ive ever done. dude from the b9 board offered to give me a ride and i just needed to get on a train to hoboken and he would pick me up. i ended up sitting in the backseat of a two door toyota tercel while this dude smoked out of a can of PBR. went to a matinee show at bloomfield ave. seemed like a decent area from what i remember. then the drive to asbury park on the other hand, that shit was pretty wretched. had to stop by his place in camden after the show and that was even crazier. listen to your parents and dont get into cars with strangers...

oh man! that hellfest was the worst! yeah, i definitely should add asbury park to the list of no-no cities. that place went down the pipes a looong time ago. bloomfield ave. cafe, however, is in montclair, which is a pretty decent town. and camden, like i said, is the most dangerous town in jersey.

[rivalcycle]

new jersey isn't as bad as everyone says it is. sure, there some terrrrrible areas (new brunswick, trenton, camden, jersey city, etc.) but outside of those, it's actually really nice. i live in the town next to new brunswick and excuse my bias, but i think it's an awfully nice town. the further south you go, the more open everything becomes and the more farm land and open space you see.

with that said - i think the book portrays everything pretty nice. the jersey scene in the late 90's was really something special and i haven't seen such a sense of unity and DIY ethic in i don't know how long.

EVERYONE was throwing basement shows and it was such a GREAT community. my first show was midtown, thursday, and saves the day in what was supposedly geoff rickley's basement.

if anyone wants a better sense of what it was like for me and ronen kaufman growing up - go watch the dvd documentary bastards of young.

[bystand]

It's an alright book, although I feel like too many of the stories end up as "Oh man, this ALMOST happened" or "Oh man, we ALMOST got in a fight," or "Oh man, I saw a girl get a gun pulled on her and ALMOST tried to help but went inside my dorm room instead and she was beaten badly" (that last one is an actual story from the book).

Anyone can write a book about things in their life they ALMOST did.

Scott, it's quite clear that you missed the point of the book all together. And things he ALMOST did? Like spending a weekend with Lifetime? LIke going on tour with his own band? Like putting out a fanzine and doing shows? Sounds to me like ROnan did plenty. What do you do, other than sit back and talk about music?

Additionally, if it SO easy to write a book (of any kind), then where is yours?

Second - I read the book. Are we to believe that you, when faced with the prospect of being shot in the head, would take that risk to help someone? Amazing how you're so brave, especially in retrospect hypotheticals.

Ahh, another frustrated rock critic. Go listen to another Aiden record.