Show Notes
We're joined his week to by Chris Conley, the founder, vocalist, and songwriter of Saves The Day for a comprehensive, career retrospective conversation… Featuring special guest co-host, Dr. Britty Drake of Pity Sex.
In this true 3.5 hour epic, we start from the beginning and deep deep into Chris and STD’s entire history… From discovering punk through free tickets to a Rancid show, instinctively writing music the second he touched a guitar, Sefler’s humble origin and demo quickly evolving into Saves The Day, working with Steve Evetts and Equal Vision records, Lifetime’s influence on the early days and Can’t Slow Down, dropping out of school to tour on Through Being Cool, taking a leap into the mainstream with Stay What You Are, the harsh reality check of In Reverie, all the way up to feeling “resurrected” by his family in 2026 and finding new ways to handle his lifelong battle with depression.
A true feast of information for any fan of the band, Chris, hardcore, punk, emo or beyond… Thank you to Chris and Britty for joining us. ___________
HardLore: A Knotfest Series, fueled by Monster Energy.
Shot, Mixed & Edited by Steven Grise Title sequence by Nicholas Marzluf
• Join the HARDLORE PATREON to watch every single weekly episode early and ad-free, alongside exclusive monthly episode. • Join the HARDLORE DISCORD.
• Get 10% off GUILTY PARTY site-wide with code HARDLORE and grab some of our favorite clothing brands of all time. • Get 10% off MILLS VINTAGE site-wide with code HARDLORE. • Visit GUITAR SANCTUARY for all of your guitar, amp, or pedal needs.
00:00:00 - Start 00:01:22 - Chris Conley 00:02:24 - Discovering Music in New Jersey 00:08:58 - Developing His Songwriting Chops 00:11:24 - Everything Comes From Hardcore 00:13:47 - The Show That Changed It All... 00:19:09 - New Jersey Word Association 00:28:56 - How Sefler Became SAVES THE DAY 00:34:13 - Saves The Day's First Hardcore Show 00:36:48 - Sefler 00:38:20 - Saves The Day's Relationship With Steve Evetts 00:41:44 - Equal Vision Records 00:43:21 - CAN'T SLOW DOWN 00:51:38 - Pardon This Interruption... 00:55:04 - Favorite Fret 00:57:37 - Evolving as a Teenage Lyricist 01:04:41 - First U.S. Tour with Bane 01:10:08 - The Story Behind "I'm Sorry I'm Leaving" 01:12:22 - Attending NYU 01:15:26 - Dropping out of NYU 01:16:57 - Can't Slow Down Songs that Resonate with Chris Now 01:18:20 - "Blindfolded" 01:20:35 - "Always Ten Feet Tall" 01:21:04 - THROUGH BEING COOL 01:30:50 - The Iconic Through Being Cool Album Cover 01:32:26 - "Shoulder to the Wheel" 01:35:31 - Saves the Day's First Consistent Lineup 01:37:24 - Shoulder To The Wheel Music Video 01:38:31 - Pop Punk vs. Emo 01:45:34 - "Banned From The Back Porch" 01:49:44 - Tours On Through Being Cool 01:51:39 - Vocal Conditioning & Early Voice Changes 01:55:12 - Reflecting on Through Being Cool 01:57:10 - "Sell My Old Clothes, I'm Off To Heaven" 01:58:06 - STAY WHAT YOU ARE 02:01:41 - "At Your Funeral" & Working With Rob Schnapf 02:07:53 - Chris' Voice Changing 02:09:15 - Stay What You Are 25 Years Later 02:11:06 - Growth Over The Years 02:19:20 - Criticism After In Reverie 02:22:19 - IN REVERIE 02:24:39 - Dreamworks 02:27:38 - In Reverie's Cursed Roll Out and Release 02:30:50 - Fatherhood Changing His Perspective 02:31:41 - UPS AND DOWNS 02:34:50 - Trilogy Chapter 1: SOUND THE ALARM 02:43:05 - Formulating the Idea for This Trilogy 02:45:50 - Trilogy Chapter 2: UNDER THE BOARDS 02:47:31 - Touring On The Records 02:50:28 - Trillogy Chapter 3: DAYBREAK (GOATED) 02:54:54 - Dealing With Criticism 02:58:10 - S/T 02:59:51 - Re-Signing to Equal Vision 03:02:58 - Five Year Gap Before 9 03:07:51 - Feeling "Resurrected" in 2026 Thanks to His Wife 03:15:15 - Next Chapter For Chris & Saves The Day 03:18:45 - Top 4 Hardcore Records
More from HardLore
No need to have a nervous breakdown, we've finally got the legendary KEITH MORRIS on HardLore, one of the founding fathers of hardcore music.
This week we’re joined by Andrew Kline, co-founder and guitarist of one of California hardcore’s most important bands: STRIFE.
Hello welcome! Decided to take a minute this week to reflect on the last 4 and a half years of the show and do a little deep dive into what are, in my opinion, our top 10 most important episodes. "Important" meaning episodes that we talked about often that felt like game changers in different ways: Creative growth, audience growth, and personal growth.
Let the chaos begin... In March of this year, Bo and I had an idea to let the viewers decide on our next bracket episode (since you're never happy with the bands we pick) and this was the result. The top 64 bands, as voted by YOU! Every matchup was random in our first ever truly unpredictable live tournament challenge.
This week we're joined by vocalist Ross Farrar & guitarist Anthony Anzaldo of the great CEREMONY...