About this episode

Adam Rubenstein discusses his musical journey from Split Lip to Chamberlain and his solo work.

Adam Rubenstein has been making music since he was a teenager in Indianapolis, when he and his bandmates formed Split Lip on Christmas Day, 1989. Drawing early influence from Burn, Youth of Today, and Endpoint, the band became a cornerstone of the Midwestern hardcore scene. They released records on Doghouse before most of them could drive, and landing a track on the landmark 1996 Anti-Matter compilation alongside Quicksand, Farside, Snapcase, Strife, Lifetime, and Mouthpiece which was and is a document of everything that mattered in that moment. By 1995, Split Lip became Chamberlain, and the band pivoted toward a rootsier, more expansive sound that would go on to influence a generation of bands from Dashboard Confessional to Rise Against to The Gaslight Anthem. After Chamberlain went on hiatus in 2000, Rubenstein built a parallel career as a film composer, scoring acclaimed documentaries including Night School , 9-Man , Kid Danny , By Sidney Lumet , and Medora . After more than two decades in New York, Rubenstein made the decision to leave the city and relocate to Ohio — a move that became the emotional backbone of his new album Firebreak , his first solo record in a decade. We…

People in this episode

Host: Ray Harkins

Guest: Adam Rubenstein

Topics covered

• music history
• hardcore scene
• film scoring
• solo work
• influence on bands

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Split Lip, Chamberlain, Doghouse, Anti-Matter, Dashboard Confessional, Rise Against, The Gaslight Anthem

Books & works: Firebreak, Night School, 9-Man, Kid Danny, By Sidney Lumet, Medora

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