Heartwells – Everything Is Punk Until It’s Not

12th February 2025 Music News

Two members of the rapidly rising Southern California punk band Heartwells — lead vocalist and guitarist JT/Justin Tauch, and bassist David “Moki” Marino — have announced the launch of their new indie label, HEY!FEVER Records, based in Long Beach.

Heartwells’ LP ‘The New Old School’ is out now, and the band is currently in the studio working on their upcoming EP, slated for early summer 2025. In addition to the upcoming release of Heartwell’s next release and their brand new videos for “Death Of Rock n Roll” and “Lovely Day In Hell”, HEY!FEVER has also announced the signing of fellow Southern California bands Empired, Stoke Signals, and Upper Downer.

JT and Moki will be discussing the launch of the label on the Rachael-O-Rama Punk Show @rachaelorama on 104.7 KX FM Laguna Beach/KXFMRADIO.org. Tune in to listen from 10pm-12am PST.

Empired’s new single, “Money,” will be released on February 14th and will appear on their upcoming label debut, slated for release this summer. The track was recorded and mixed by guitarist Cam Mosavian, with mastering by legendary producer Paul Miner. “Money” pulses with righteous anger, critiquing the struggles of navigating a capitalist society, as the song explores the difficulty of finding work-life balance amid stagnant wages and shrinking workers’ rights. “An anthemic indictment wrapped in a beautiful melody. It’s hard to find peace when the rent keeps rising,” says Empired frontman Bruce Zebal.

Upper Downer will release a new single sometime in early Summer.

Regarding the launch of HEY!FEVER, JT reflects, “I started listening to punk when I was in the 1st grade. I was handed a Ramones cassette and a Blondie cassette by my mom. I hated the top 40 pop that was coming out and she knew these 2 bands would change my life. This was in 1992. Life definitely put me on the path of punk rock and I soon discovered all the 90’s bands immediately after. I remember hearing Op-Ivy for the first time, NOFX, Rancid, you name it. I was all over it. This never stopped, I even started forming punk bands and played my first show at 15 years old. I have devoted my life to this music and wanted to make sure that I could build a home where I can preserve it and expose more people to it. The bands that we are working with on the launch of this label are some of the hardest working independent punk bands we know in Southern California who are embodying the DIY ethos that HEY!FEVER celebrates. No one needs a label in 2025, but we all want to create a larger community celebrating this music we love. I am excited to share this with the world and we are super proud of what we are creating in the punk world. I guess that “lifer” tattoo I have makes more sense than ever.”

Moki adds, “Over the years, I’ve toured the world, played shows and festivals with several bands, and met amazing people in the punk rock community. It only seems fitting to pay it back, to a family that has treated me so well all these years, thus creating and co-founding, HEY!FEVER RECORDS with JT. This provided us an opportunity to promote, curate and prolong punk music that has impacted and changed our lives. HEY!FEVER RECORDS is about the music, while building community with ambitious artists who have a DIY ethos. HEY!FEVER RECORDS is a second home for artists – we want to spotlight them for the world to hear and see live. Anyway, less talk, more rock! Everything is punk until it’s not. See ya at the show!”