How Sound and Fury Festival continues to thrive on the bleeding edge of hardcore’s evolution

For much of the first 30-plus years of its existence, hardcore music was, for the most part, predictable. While there were outliers such as Bad Brains and Orange 9mm, many acts never veeredfar from the sound set in place by bands like Minor Threat in the early 1980s. Subgenres like metalcore (and other styles of music with “core” added) blossomed into their own scenes and sounds, but the central tenets of hardcore remained fairly constant — often with hordes of angry fans deriding anything that stepped too far in one way or another.

But over the last five to 10 years, the latest generation of musicians from punk rock’s slightly more aggressive cousin has expanded into new sonic territory. Bands like Baltimore’s Turnstile, Kentucky’s Knocked Loose and Santa Cruz’s Scowl have pushed the genre in new directions — gaining acclaim and popularity outside the hardcore scene, sometimes at the expense of its die-hard fans.

“It’s very awesome to be a part of that wave,” Knocked Loose vocalist Bryan Garris says. “I think there are a lot of bands that are bringing in new things and opening a lot of doors for everybody else. It’s like the generic saying, ‘A rising tide raises all ships.’ I truly believe there’s room for everybody to win, so it feels really good that all these brand-new opportunities are opening for everyone. You see younger hardcore bands really going for it right off the bat, and we’re very fortunate to be a part of the era that’s taking it to new heights.”

That’s why it’s only fitting for Knocked Loose to be headlining this weekend’s Sound and Fury Festival, bringing two full days of the best modern hardcore to Exposition Park. Since its inception in 2006, Sound and Fury quickly established itself as the event for hardcore and hardcore-adjacent music (from the heavier side of emo bands like Anxious to more extreme, metal-leaning acts) first in Los Angeles and then across the country. Just as the festival’s lineup and footprint has expanded both in size and musical variety over the years, Knocked Loose has seen its own popularity skyrocket as the band has continued to push the boundaries of what hardcore could be.

“From a sonic perspective, all these bands bringing in new influences to hardcore was pretty polarizing at first,” Garris says. “You had all these bands that toured and participated in the hardcore world but didn’t sound like a traditional hardcore band — and people really made that extremely controversial for an annoying amount of time. Once that barrier was broken, it allowed for so many unique artists and bands to bring new things to the table. Bills and touring packages became more diverse, and I think the coolest thing is when you put a tour package together that makes sense on paper but sonically makes no sense at all. It keeps things interesting and doesn’t create such a monotonous atmosphere at a show.”

For Knocked Loose, one of the biggest steps outside of “traditional hardcore” it could possibly take was collaborating with pop-turned-metal artist Poppy on last year’s “Suffocate” — a gamble that paid off handsomely, introducing the band to a whole new audience and earning the group its highest-charting single and a Grammy nomination for metal performance. It’s a track that Garris still considers “definitely one of [his] favorite songs” while also allowing the band to get “weirder” and experiment in ways it might not normally consider.

While the band is already considering how it can continue to push the envelope even further without losing what makes Knocked Loose work at its core, the group is mindful of its history in the hardcore scene both as fans and artists. No scene is quicker to disown an act for its commercial success, and Garris (along with guitarists Isaac Hale and Nicko Calderon, bassist Kevin Otten and drummer Kevin Kaine) is fully aware of the line the band walks.

“We’ve never been writing a song and felt like we had to check in with how [hardcore fans] would feel about it, but when it comes to how we present the band, that’s where we keep hardcore in mind,” Garris says. “That’s where we come from and what we’re used to. Even though we know the band is obviously not going to be playing crazy small DIY, no-barricade hardcore shows anymore, it allowed us to create an experience on a much bigger stage. Then we do things like play Sound and Fury or put hardcore bands that we like on our bills because we still feel very passionately about these things. We’re very fortunate to be able to play these massive shows and have conversations about [pyrotechnics] and lights, but we’re still hardcore fans and that’s never changed.”

With acts like Knocked Loose, Scowl and England’s Basement on the bill this year, Sound and Fury continues to show why it’s arguably America’s preeminent hardcore festival, bringing together dozens of rising bands with just enough nostalgia acts (such as this year’s Forced Order reunion and Poison the Well) to remind the younger generations of those who came before. It’s a lineup you won’t see anywhere else, with a DIY hardcore vibe that fit just as well when hardcore fans and artists Sean Riley, Robert Shedd and Todd Jones held their initial event at the Alpine in Ventura 19 years ago.

“There are a lot of festivals in the mainstream rock atmosphere where the lineups are essentially the same,” Garris says. “For example, two years ago or so, every major rock fest in America was headlined by Metallica. That’s no diss at all, but Sound and Fury is such a different thing and the lineups feel so organic and exciting. They’re very good about scratching an itch that you didn’t know you had.”

“I think [hardcore fans] are seeking more context than what they’re getting from the mainstream — and since most of the people here arrive through that filter, it makes for a very open and welcoming space,” Riley adds. “So whether it’s being straightedge and eschewing drugs and alcohol, or whether you are someone who likes wearing corpse paint in public, or you’re a person who likes to dance at shows, this is a place you can come and be yourself without judgment. Combine that with hardcore shows being, in my opinion, the rawest form of live-music experiences you can find, it’s a freeing experience.”

Although Riley is the only one of the three original founders still working on Sound and Fury — currently teamed with Martin Stewart and Madison Woodward — he’s made sure to keep it as true to the hardcore ethos as possible year after year. Despite numerous venue changes and growth that many corporate festivals could only wish to have, Sound and Fury today is as instrumental to and beloved by the hardcore scene in Los Angeles and beyond as it’s ever been. It’s found a way to speak to multiple generations of hardcore kids (and adults), and now some of its biggest fans are the ones onstage.

“[Sound and Fury] has never been our ‘day job,’ but more of something we do in our off time that can hopefully inspire people — knowing how empowering and meaningful this DIY world has been for us and our lives outside of this music scene,” Riley says. “We’ve seen attendees start bands that play the fest, put out zines that they sell at the fest, start businesses or become food vendors that operate at the fest, and even people who now help us run the fest and have actual ownership stakes in the festival. Seeing it grow year after year in a very organic way really validates our approach and hopefully means it’s serving its purpose.”

“When we were preparing our year, [Sound and Fury] was one of my most anticipated shows of the year because I am such a fan of the festival,” Garris adds. “I’ve gotten to watch the festival grow from a fan’s perspective, and I remember going to the fest when it was like 1,000 people total. To see what it is now is amazing. It’s setting the bar for hardcore every single year and taking it to new places, because it was never supposed to be that big. The people that put it together care so much to protect the festival and to scale it to these unimaginable places — all while keeping it feeling DIY and like a hardcore festival. We’re just so excited to be a part of it.”

Or, as Scowl vocalist Kat Moss put it, “I would argue Sound and Fury is the best hardcore festival ever.”