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After multiple years of sold out dates, album playthroughs, emo reunions, and a sea of tears, the iconic scene festival When We Were Young returned to Las Vegas, bringing together the most black nail polish the Vegas Strip has ever seen for yet another year of nostalgia under the neon lights.

In between crying sessions, wild mosh pits and plenty of crowdsurfers, The Noise had the chance to sit down with some of your favorite artists to discuss not just When We Were Young but also when they were young. 

To see what bands like The Cab, Pvris, I Prevail, Taking Back Sunday, The Used, and Arm’s Length had to say about some of their first-ever scene experiences – like first shows, first musical purchase, where they discovered new music – be sure to read below. Afterward, make sure to follow @TheNoise on Instagram to see even more from this year’s When We Were Young!

PVRIS

When you were young, what was your method of discovering new music? 

Lyndsey Gunnulfsen: When I was young, my way to discover music was on iTunes when they would still play like a 10 to 15 second clip. And I would see if I liked the clip, and then I would go to LimeWire and download it.

And give your family’s computer a bunch of viruses. 

So many viruses, so many Bill Clinton's.

When you were young, what was your preferred social media of choice?

When I was young, my preferred social media was – honestly, Myspace was really fun. I was always trying to get into the top eight on someone's [profile].

What was one of your first music purchases? 

I think it was Britney Spears. Fuck. What's the album? Sorry, I don't know if I can swear. What's her first album? Like I can see the cover. She's like sitting and she's like [poses] yeah I should know it off the top of my head. I'm so sorry, Britney. 

What was the first scene/emo show you went to when you were young?

The first scene or emo show I went to was – I don't know if this counts, but I mean, they're on the festival today. But my best friend wanted to go see the Plain White T's and they were playing at the mall. So I tagged along and was like, “This is cool.” 

Also bring back mall tours. 

Yeah. Actually, don't. Turn malls into venues because malls are like liminal spaces now.

What's one trend from when you were younger that you wish would come back and one that you wish would stay in the past? 

The first trend that I don't want to come back is skinny jeans. I know there's debate on if they are back or if they're coming back. I don't want to do that to my body ever again. So probably that. 

What should come back? You know, the big, like, big teal beaded necklace. Those could be fun. They might be back. I don't know. I saw that the side part might be back after the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. I don't know if I'll partake, but it's kind of [back]. But do your thing. If you or if someone has a side part, I'm not going to judge. I don't want to do it though. 

Are there any bands on this lineup that you listened to when you were young or even played shows with?

Definitely Avril Lavigne. I mean, “Sk8er Boi,” Let Go. I got that album at Christmas and yeah. My parents pretended that Santa dropped it in the snow because they forgot to bring it out, I guess. And they're like, “We found this in the yard. It's crazy!” And I remember jamming that a shit ton. 

Shout out Santa Claus.

Shout out Santa, shout out Avril.

I PREVAIL

When you were young, what was your method of discovering new music? 

Eric Vanlerberghe: When I was young, my goto for finding new music was definitely YouTube, right? In the early days, it was either that or my friends burning me mixed CDs. And then after, once YouTube came along, I would just spend hours I feel like just going through watching a video and then seeing the related and going, “Oh, what's that? Oh what's that?” and then going down the rabbit hole of heavier and heavier and heavier music. And that was probably the main way I found a lot of the new bands and Guitar Hero.

What's a band that you remember discovering on YouTube for the first time? 

Oh man, there's so many bands I remember discovering on YouTube. Bring Me the Horizon’s “Pray for Plagues.” I found that video, and then from there, it was like Dr. Acula, Carnifex, Despised Icon. And just going down that rabbit hole of metal and yeah. Oh man, I'm just reminiscing right now, thinking of all those music videos growing up on, like, my family room computer.

When you were young what was your preferred social media of choice? 

My preferred social media choice when I was a kid was Myspace. Myspace was the big one. I’m trying to think if there was anything else before that. But Myspace was like, “Alright, I'm home. I gotta go check my Myspace and see if there's any comments on it.”

What was one of your first music purchases?

You know, my first musical purchase, I remember being in Barnes and Noble or something and I was a kid. I was real little. I think the first CD I bought was called Elephunk by The Black Eyed Peas? And then, shortly after that, it was 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Those are the first two records I remember like going and picking up and going “Mom, can I buy this?” But after that, man, I can't remember. Every concert I was going to, I was buying CDs. I was going to Hot Topic, I was buying CDs. So it starts to blur a little bit after that. 

What was the first scene show that you went to when you were younger? 

The first scene show I went to was Fall Out Boy. I think it was right before Folie à Deux came out. I saw that show, and then like a month later, I went and saw Carnifex and Despised Icon. So those are like my first two scene shows that I saw when I was young. 

Are there any bands on this lineup that you either listened to or played shows with in the early days?

To be honest, I looked at it once when it was announced, I was like, “Oh shit!” and then haven't looked at it again. So when I got here, I'm looking and walking through the green room zone like “Oh shit, they're here? Oh, my boys are here.” We Came As Romans – that's actually a band that I went to their CD release show at The Hayloft in Mount Clemens, Michigan for To Plant A Seed. And it was with, I think, I See Stars and I think there were some other bands on it but I've been listening to them since – when was that, ‘08 or ‘09 when that record came out? And now we've toured together, they’re some of our good friends and, yeah, stoked to get some backstage hangs with them.

THE USED

When you were young, what was your method for discovering new music? 

Bert McCracken: When I was young, my goto method for discovering music was a little record shop called Crandall Audio. They would allow you to open up a CD before you bought it and you could listen to the whole thing. 

Dan Whitesides: And you *points to Jepha* grew up where he did. 

Jepha: I grew up near Bert, so I would do the same thing. I'd go to Crandall and also I'd order those “get ten CDs for $0.01,” you know? And then later on they scam you and it turns out you have to pay double or something like that.

Bert McCracken: 100 CDs for .99 

Jepha: “It’s so great! This is the best thing ever!” It was pretty cool.

When you were young, what was your preferred social media of choice? 

Bert McCracken: When we were young, there was no social media.

Jepha: Letters.

Bert McCracken: We’re that old. 

Joey Bradford: Pagers

Bert McCracken: Handwritten letter. “Do you like me? Yes or No?”

Dan Whitesides: Call over to the house. “Can I come over?” Or you just show up. 

Bert McCracken: You just show up. “Can I jump on your tramp?”

Dan Whitesides: Everybody had a tramp back then. 

Bert McCracken: Everybody had a tramp. Tramps all over the place. 

Jepha: Lord, there was a lot of tramps. 

What was one of your first music purchases?

Bert McCracken: When I was little, I think I was in sixth grade, I had a girlfriend who gave me the first Rage Against the Machine record and Pearl Jam’s Ten and kind of changed my life. 

Dan Whitesides: I stole a Sex Pistols tape. 

Jepha: Oh man, you all are going to laugh at me.

Dan Whitesides: Def Leppard? 

Jepha: Def Leppard! Yes. On a fucking record. Hysteria on record. 

Bert McCracken: Pour Some Sugar On Me, baby! 

Jepha: I didn't have anything other than a record player. 

Bert McCracken: I used to play that song on repeat on the jukebox at Classic Skating Waterslides. 

Joey Bradford: That’s not a real place. 

Jepha: Yes it is, dude.

Joey Bradford: I had a sampler. Two Boys II Men songs. Two All-4-One songs. 

Jepha: That's cool. That's cool. 

Dan Whitesides: That’s fuckin funny!

Joey Bradford: That’s something to make fun of. 

When you were young, what was the first show you remember attending?

Bert McCracken: I was kind of late to concerts. I remember going to Weezer with No Doubt. It was a really good show.

Dan Whitesides: I was always playing shows, local shows. I was kind of a local celebrity. 

Bert McCracken: What was the first show you went to, celebrity? 

Dan Whitesides: I was kind of well-known. It's like the heyday of my life. 

Bert McCracken: Back in high school, I used to throw a football over that mountain. 

Dan Whitesides: Man, the good ‘ol days. 

Joey Bradford: My brother took me to see a band called Noise Ratchet at a church. I remember they were screaming and, like, jumping into the drums. And I said, “I think I'll do that. I think I'll do a little of that.”

TAKING BACK SUNDAY

When you were young, what was your goto method for discovering new music? 

Shaun Cooper: My friend, Nick, would tell me what was cool. Yeah, like, there was no internet. So you just had to rely on friends or, like, older brothers and older cousins and stuff.

Adam Lazzara: There was a store in Greensboro, North Carolina called BB’s Compact Discs and you could go in there and listen to anything. You just brought the CD to the front, and then they would put it in a player and you could listen. And I would spend hours in there, like listening to stuff. They were buuuummmed any time I came in there.

John Nolan: Did you not buy anything?

Shaun Cooper: “Agghh this guy” 

Adam Lazzara: I would, like, get something when I could afford it, which was rarely because I was a kid. 

So when you were younger, I know social media didn't really exist at the time, but when it finally started popping, what was your preferred social media of choice? 

John Nolan: I liked Twitter. Like, I don't know, it's a long time ago now, 10-15 years ago or so...

Adam Lazzara: There was kind of a golden era. 

John Nolan: Yeah. I was about to say the same exact thing. There was a golden age of Twitter and I really enjoyed it. And, not so much anymore.

Shaun Cooper: I gotta go Myspace.

John Nolan: Oh, wow. 

Shaun Cooper: Because I met my wife at a bar, but she didn't have a phone at the time, so I had to track her down on Myspace. I saw her and sent her a message. I was like, “Hey, had a really nice time with you. If you want to hang out sometime, give me a shout.” And I was happy. I tracked her down and we made it happen forever. So yeah. Myspace. 

John Nolan: Good work, Tom. 

When you were young, what was one of your first music purchases whether it's an album or even just a musical instrument?

Adam Lazzara: I told this story not too long ago, but I remember getting the single of “Jump” by Kriss Kross. It was like the cassette.

Shaun Cooper: Who produced it?

Adam Lazarra: David Kahne, son! 

John Nolan: Who we ended up working with. 

Adam Lazarra: Yeah. And then years later, we ended up working with him. So that makes me think of that.

John Nolan: I was just thinking about this the other day. So I got my first electric guitar at, like, around 15. And I thought when you plugged an electric guitar in, it sounded like a distorted electric guitar. And I was so disappointed. 

Shaun Cooper: “What is this crap!?” 

John Nolan: So for my next birthday... I think I got the electric guitar for one birthday, and the next one, I finally got a distortion pedal and that changed my life, that distortion pedal. It was a BOSS, one of those orange BOSS distortion pedals. 

Shaun Cooper: It was a long long year of playing folk songs. You just wanted to rock. 

John Nolan: That's all I wanted to do. Is that so hard? 

What was one of the first memorable shows you remember playing with any of these types of bands when you guys were younger? 

Shaun Cooper: The Sean McGrath benefit was a big one. 

Adam Lazarra: Huge. Yeah. Midtown and Saves the Day? The one at Irving Plaza? That was awesome.

John Nolan: Yeah, that was a big one. 

Adam Lazarra: Because we drove, right? Like we were on tour. 

John Nolan: I think so, we like ended the tour there maybe? 

Adam Lazarra: No, I think we were on another tour and then did some ridiculous drive so we can make it there. 

John Nolan: Was that the first time we played Irving Plaza, too?

Shaun Cooper: Yeah

John Nolan: Because that was a huge deal to me because I went to shows there. And at that time, even though Irving Plaza is not that big, that felt like if you can play there, you made it kind of thing. 

Adam Lazzara: Yeah. 

John Nolan: So I felt like we made it then. 

Shaun Cooper: And what I remember too from that is, I felt like we were kind of like, we had been around all those guys and stuff but I felt like we were the bratty little brothers.

John Nolan: They finally accepted us. Begrudgingly.

Shaun Cooper: It was that show the crowd went crazy for us and like, I felt like we were finally accepted after years of trying like, “Oh, these guys are alright. They're not little jerks.” 

Adam Lazzara: Oh, you're so right. I remember, oh my god.

Shaun Cooper: So that was a really nice feeling.

THE CAB

When you were young, what was your method for discovering new music?

Alex Deleon: So funny enough, I think when we were young, a lot of us would go on Tumblr and we would listen to...we would read other people's kind of blog posts. Like, for example, when Pete Wentz posted, “I like this local band in Las Vegas called Panic! At the Disco.” I was instantly on their PureVolume listening [and] went to their first show ever. So the internet? But the internet was very different back then. So, I would say Tumblr, PureVolume charts, Myspace, and word of mouth. Honestly, old school, just word of mouth.

Dave Briggs: Alternative Press. 

Alex Marshall: My internet was usually too slow, but once I did, it was mostly Myspace. PureVolume. Yeah, kind of along the same blood stream.

When you were young, what was your preferred social media of choice?

Alex Deleon: I mean, high school is Myspace. Myspace is the only reason The Cab got signed to a record deal. I mean, we communicated with fans, friends, and family on it. 

Alex Marshall: AIM. AIM was big. 

Alex Deleon: That wasn’t social media though.

Alex Marshall: That was my version. That was pre [social media]. 

Alex Deleon: His internet was so bad he didn't know what social media was. 

What was one of your first music purchases? 

Alex Deleon: With my own money, my first music purchase was Nelly’s Country Grammar. That CD. If you want honesty, that's what it was. 

Dave Briggs: I want to say it was a Sublime record. 

Joey Thunder: Metallica’s St. Anger.

Alex Marshall: Ja Rule. 

Alex Deleon: He's lying. 

Alex Marshall: No, that’s honest!

Chance Chantry: I literally bought a cassette tape. Citizen King - I've seen better days. That was my first music purchase with my own money.

Alex Deleon: You never forget your first purchase.

Alex Marshall: My mom was so mad.

When you were young, what was the first scene show that you went to growing up? 

Alex Deleon: The first rock show that I went to – I don't know if it was scene, but I would say the first rock show I went to was Incubus. I love Brandon Boyd. The first scene show I went to – oh my god, when I started off, I started in punk so I'd go to like Rancid shows, NOFX, Anti-Flag, Death by Stereo, No Use For A Name. Like I really started in punk and then punk gradually got a little more pop and started getting into like AFI, early Good Charlotte, stuff like that. And then that kind of went into Fall Out Boy. 

Dave Briggs: I think my first like rock show was actually blink-182. And I think the first, like, scene band was at House of Blues, actually, The Glass House: Thrice.

Joey Thunder: I was kind of thrown into the local scene in Vegas. And my first scene band, probably more hardcore, was just, like, really heavy. And I was playing with people that were like 6’5, 7’2. And I'm just a little fairy prancing around on stage, much like now. 

Alex Marshall: I mean, growing up, the Vegas scene was awesome. The Higher was like our favorite band. Growing up in high school, we went to all their shows. 

Chance Chantry: First rock show, Green Day. American Idiot. Great first rock show. And then more scene, Taking Back Sunday was my first scene show. 

Are there any bands on this lineup that you either listened to or played shows with when you were young?

Alex Deleon: So I mean, Panic! At the Disco’s A Fever You Can't Sweat Out was my favorite album in high school. 

Alex Marshall: Definitely. 

Alex Deleon: They signed us to a record deal when we were 17. So to say that we aren’t over the moon fucking pumped to see that in its entirety... I mean, I want to see the deep cuts like I'm still a fan, you know what I mean? So I think personally, for me and Marshall, that album specifically in its entirety is pretty much a summarization of our high school music life. Being fans, getting signed. Our first tour was the Rock Band tour with Panic! [It was] our first big tour. So that's going to be a dream to see that as a fan and as friends.

Dave Briggs: I want to say blink-182. It's kind of cool to be playing the show with them. And then also, dude...The Starting Line. I love The Starting Line. Excited for the new record that just came out. 

Alex Deleon: They play right after us on the same stage. So we're going to get off stage sweating. We're all just going to stand there and just wait.

Alex Marshall: We're just going to try to stay on stage. 

Dave Briggs: Yeah, that's what we're going to do.

ARM’S LENGTH

When you were young, what was your goto method for discovering new music? 

Allen Steinberg: Wow, that is actually such a fucking good question. I can't wait to kick us off here. Well, first off, I'd say, like, fucking YouTube. That's a big one. We all grew up with the internet. YouTube was absolutely instrumental in that. I would also say, like, cool family members for me was a big one. My mom used to play Matchbox Twenty, Third Eye Blind, Sum 41, Green Day, blink-182, yada yada yada. Lifehouse – sorry, I can’t leave them off. So, I had a cool mom. I had a cool cousin. Shout out Rob, he showed me A Day To Remember. That got me into heavy music I'd say, like, music that has screaming in it.

Jeff Whyte: I used to click on, like, Modern Baseball on Spotify and then I'd scroll to the related artists and I would look – I just kept getting deeper until it was like, Joie De Vivre… 

Allen Steinberg: I was just going to say them!

Jeff Whyte: Algernon Caldwaller. What else would be in that? Like, Snowing would be in that. Marrietta. That was on the YouTube recommendations, the YouTube emo playlist “My Lawn's Emo So It Cuts Itself Vibes.” Like, that playlist, some of you know. But yeah, like Spotify related artists honestly, and like the YouTube algorithm, you know? Like Remo Drive was on there. Tiny Moving Parts was on there.

Jeremy Whyte: I feel like the first time I thought I found like a band that nobody fucking knew – which is, like, not true – was Coheed and Cambria coming up on the YouTube recommended. And that was my first experience with music that was like *throws up rock sign* this is different and sick. And that was so amazing. We had the chance this summer to go check out their show. Fucking awesome. And then just from there, it just kind of went from like the post-hardcore kind of thing and then like, well, Jeff is my brother, so it's just, like, growing up and [being] like sick and this is sick. And then we met Allen, and he was like, “Yo, have you checked this out?” And he was like, “Yo, oh shit!” 

Allen Steinberg: This British screamo band called Healing Powers. Shout out. I don't know if you you even care about music anymore, but we fucking love your music. We wouldn't be a band without you. 

Jeremy Whyte: If you're out there, please let us know. And if you exist, please. You're the most important thing that's ever happened to this band. 

Ben Greenblatt: I was a Bandcamp user. Through and through. One of my favorite bands is William Bonney. I found them through Bandcamp. Very important music. Very grateful to have lowkey had an android and had to download shit directly to my phone. 

When you were young, what was your preferred social media of choice? 

Jeff Whyte: iFunny. Always on iFunny every damn day.

Ben Greenblatt: I was a Facebook user. I used to post “like for a TBH” and people would say “TBH you're pretty funny.” Rate 7. So...

Allen Steinberg: I'll be very real. Facebook was the big one for me. I was like the first one to use it a lot. Just got to be real here... Omegle. I was a very, like, lonely kid. Like, I was trying to make friends on that shit and also... partners, but it went bad because I was 11 and they were all like really old. Also got to be really honest as well. I used to play a lot of Happy Wheels. I was like a level creator on Happy Wheels. Search up Allen Waffles. And I was in a lot of Happy Wheels forums at the time. No one in those forums were particularly nice to me or good people, probably. But I was still in them because I was ten. 

When you were young what was one of your first music purchases?

Jeff Whyte: Dude, this is a crazy one because it was either Aerosmith, one of their albums, or Smosh, all of the albums, or Godsmack, one of their albums.

Jeremy Whyte: You did pick up Godsmack mad early.

Jeff Whyte: Back when we were getting iTunes gift cards, I picked up a Godsmack album because I found them on either Rock Band Metal Pack or Guitar Hero Metal Pack. Either way.

Jeremy Whyte: I'm going to follow Jeff up here really quickly. I so distinctly remember getting AC/DC’s Back In Black Deluxe Edition on iTunes with the booklet, like the e-booklet that played “Hells Bells” when you opened it that had all the credits and lyrics and everything and that was like the coolest shit ever to me.

Ben Greenblatt: The first CD I ever bought was The All-American Rejects’ Move Along. And then that night they performed at the VMAs. I will never forget, I was like, “Damn, you can have a CD and be on award shows? That sounds fucking cool.” 

Allen Steinberg: A lot of my first purchases were very like Canadian coded. The first band that clicked for me, like, “holy fuck, what am I listening to?” was Sum 41. They were on a Canadian compilation called Big Shiny Tunes and I remember listening to “The Hell Song” for the first time. And actually, the most natural reaction I've ever had in my life was listening to that song and thinking it was sick and like, “wow, I need to hear more bands like this.” I was also, like, five. So I thought their band name was 741. And I remember the next day after hearing them, I talked to my mom. I was like, “Can you go get all the 741 CDs and [can] we listen to them?” and she went and she actually brought back all the Sum 41 CDs which is like the most beautiful thing ever.

Jeremy Whyte: Shout out Jenny

Allen Steinberg: Yes, shout out Jenny, she took me to like a lot of Sum 41 shows. So that band clicked for me early on. I remember buying a Simple Plan CD really early on, they're also playing today, which is cool. It's the album that has like *starts singing Welcome To My Life.* So, yeah, those were like some early bands I guess I connected with which wasn't the question but also my mommy bought them. 

What was the first scene show you went to growing up? 

Allen Steinberg: Answering right now: Counterparts headlined. Hundredth co-headlined but they played before. Being As An Ocean. Capsize. Handguns. My Iron Lung. Hard Luck Bar Toronto. It was like July 2014. Fuck yeah bitch. 

Jeremy Whyte: Okay, I think I can answer for Jeff and I. Indeterminate headliner. Hail The Sun. Too Close To Touch. Rest in peace, rest in peace. And a local band called if no, no something raccoons. No no no no no. Fuck. What were they called? They had a raccoon on the album cover. There were so good, Toronto band post-hardcore vibes. 

Ben Greenblatt: On April 21st, 2013, I went to the Pierce The Veil Spring Fever Tour with You Me At Six and Mayday Parade and it was awesome. And I'll never forget it. And the day will live in my mind forever. I kept a piece of confetti in my phone case for seven years.