Never did I think this episode would happen but here we are. Ladies and gentleman, recovering emo kids we are gathered here today to speak to the founder of one of the most influential music websites of all time, Jason Tate. We dive deep into the origin story, Jason originally created Absolutepunk in his bedroom as a fan site for blink-182 and MxPx. Fast forward 8 years he sells his site, 8 years after that he buys it back and retires it. But what happens inbetween? What's been happening since?

Jason tells us about the best and worst days in site history, from the loss of Beatz to Paramore crashing the site. We talk about his early interactions with everyone from P!ATD to Gabe Saporta to Hayley Williams to The Dangerous Summer. Along with this, Jason opened up and reflected on the darker parts of our scene, mainly issues regarding bands treatment of fans and the unfortunate behavior that plagues our scene. Yes, we talk about Jesse Lacey. For the most part though, this conversation was a celebration. A celebration of the songs that shaped all of us. A celebration of the scene that gave us a home. A celebration of the site that made me and so many others who we are today. A celebration of the music that mended our broken hearts.

Personally, I spent hours upon hours on AP when I was younger. HOURS. I remember refreshing like a maniac the weekend blink was coming back at the Grammys. I remember the goosebumps I get reading the retrospective reviews about Springsteen and Counting Crows records. I remember desperately trying to get my bands music on there. If this episode ends up on chorus.fm I am going to feel like the last 18 years have been vindicated. Thank you for doing this interview Jason, and thank you for creating the space that nurtured me into the music obsessed adult I am today. You're my hero bro, my John Cena (lol idk).

You can keep up with Jason on IG @JasonTate as well as at chorus.fm

Emo Kids Anonymous is a podcast about pop punk, emo, emo adjacent music and everything else. With new episodes every Wednesday along with artist interviews on Mondays and Fridays, Emo Kids Anonymous is the home of everything emo. Guests include Saturdays At Your Place, Kerosene Heights, Winona Fighter, Origami Angel, Greywind, sports., Riley!, and so many others.

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Emo Kids Anonymous is Amanda Valdivieso and Robb Laffoon.

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