A continuation of yesterday’s post, aka, Part I (2000-2004).

- 2005: Finishing law school and becoming an actual attorney was the big personal story in 2005, but for Pastepunk, it was the juggernaut of social media that changed the way zines and music blogs operated. MySpace and PureVOLUME (to a much lesser extent) became the dominant place for bands to advertise their music (and image), and this, along with the decline of CD sales, would alter forever the role of the music label. As both a zine editor and a music fan who is always on the search for the next incredible band, this was overwhelming, and likely, the final nail in the coffin for the word “underground.” DC area friend Alex Harisiadis joined Pastepunk’s staff this year as “Metal Editor.” His average of 15 posts a year would greatly disappoint for the rest of the decade (but our In & Out list rocked). My #1 release of 2005 was PAINT IT BLACK’s epic second full-length Paradise. I’d say I picked well.

- 2006: This was the year of the big blur. I worked 60+ hours a week for the whole year, and along the way, the wife and I bought a house in the DC suburbs. For the first time since Pastepunk began to generate revenue, that component was no longer a priority in my life, and I began to dread putting on the “salesman” and “collections” hats after a day in the Office. Even worse, I went to all of one show in 2006, but it was a killer, with STRIKE ANYWHERE, IGNITE, and MODERN LIFE IS WAR. Towards the end of the year I signed a deal with IndieClick to handle all of our ads and from that point on, I only had to worry about the music. The Pastepunk bank account was lighter, but it lifted a huge burden from my head. James [Hepplewhite] and Corey [Schmidt] became prominent Pastepunk writers this year which helped a ton when I simply couldn’t muster up the energy to work on the site in the evenings. Not surprisingly, my #1 album of the year was IGNITE’s Our Darkest Days, and Alex and I once again made an attempt at an In & Out list for the next year.  The closing of Tower Records left a personal void that has yet to be filled.

- 2007: Compared to the roller-coaster of the year before, 2007 was long sought stability. Still working long hours, but with a changed attitude about how Pastepunk was “the little hobby that could not die,” everything fell into place. One of my favorite features from the year was a detailed studio journal from MIKOTO that followed the band as they recorded their debut full-length with Beau Burchell. In a sort of related bit, Century Media imprint/quasi-independent label Abacus Records shutdown after an incredible five year run that included the signing of SICK OF IT ALL, IGNITE, SWORN ENEMY, GLASS CASKET, THE AGONY SCENE, CANCER BATS, and much more. I had grown to love this label, and their demise stung. Opposite to this was Bridge Nine Records and Vinyl Collective blowing up in 2007. My #1 release of the year was MODERN LIFE IS WAR’s Midnight In America, with CRIME IN STEREO’s … Is Dead, a close second. Two years later, I would have reversed that order.

- 2008: Becoming a father in early 2008 was this year’s ultimate story. You’ve probably heard it said a thousand times, but parenthood has a way of changing everything. Pastepunk faced a dip in content for the first months of me being a Dad, and for the first time ever, our daily traffic sagged. But it wasn’t long before things smoothed out, and in October, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a limited edition Pastepunk coffee mug and an awesome free MP3 compilation put together with the help of Bear Trap PR. MySpace and Twitter continued to dominate social media for bands, but Facebook became a new player for them too, and a blizzard of other digital media and marketing outlets upped the ante on self-promotion. With CD sales truly in the tank on an indie level, labels recalibrated back to their earlier days with less staff and more DIY efforts. Vinyl sales and its place in independent music would return to level not experienced in probably 15 years. On the touring front, $4 a gallon gas put a serious crimp into the road activities of bands during the summer. PAINT IT BLACK’s New Lexicon topped my Best of 2008 list, and H2O’s long-awaited “comeback” album, Nothing To Prove rang loudly throughout Pastepunk HQ.

- 2009: With “the great recession” making money tight for just about everyone in music this year, anything grandiose seemed to be on hold. Labels with a reputation for holding down costs (Rise and Deathwish to name a few) seemed to flourish, but the unabashed prevalence of  MP3download blogs, and well, knowing how to use Google, seriously challenged the business model of trying to get people to pay for music (and Spotify or the latest hyped music site surely will not be a savior). We launched our seventh design in the spring of the year, and converting the whole thing over to WordPress was messy to say the least, which explains the awful formatting for anything in the early archives – my bad. My #1 release of the year was SET YOUR GOALS’ high-energy declaration, This Could Be The Death of Us. I’ll be 30 years old in a matter of days, but dammit, I’ll be running around my office finger pointing and self-moshing to this release as long as my body holds up. Despite my feelings about the eventual demise of song or album purchasing, this year ended with me starting a new venture – obtaining the digital distribution rights to out of print hardcore/punk/etc. releases that have a personal importance to me. Our first two re-releases, SILENT MAJORITY’s You Would Love To Know EP, and BLOOD RED’s Hostage full-length (both formerly of Initial Records). can found on various digital music sites right now (iTunes, AmazonMP3, MySpace Music), and look for more releases to be announced in 2010, and our efforts to support them. Thanks for hanging with us this decade, it’s been a serious trip.