Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals helped me immensely in my healing from my mother twice abandoning our family. The pain that was expressed in Movies like Juno, Leaving Songs, and Bobby Markos Posi Talk reflected the same exact type of pain that I was feeling and when I first heard those songs it felt too coincidental and surreal to be true. Shoutout to Park Jefferson.
kind of crazy finding this in 2022. i met nick through super smash bros lol. to my recollection, somewhere in the mid-2010s he started showing up to local house tournaments/parties in west michigan. he was always a good dude to me. ironically, i was thinking about those days, really missing them, and listening to some midwest emo in my 3am nostalgia, and the rabbithole led me here. thanks for the video.
Throughout my research, I've seen mentioned he was (and I'm sure still is) a big fan of smash bros. Still love me some melee haha I'm glad you enjoyed the video thank you for watching!
Jack Senff is definitely a goat in the emo genre, he deserves to be on the mount rushmore without a doubt. He's been in Merchant Ships, Midwest Pen Pals, William Bonney, North Folk, and Knola just to name a few, all highly regarded and highly influential emo bands. Love this video, great stuff, incredibly jealous you got to see La Dispute so early on at local shows.
Dude, I was telling someone at work the same thing about him being on the mount rushmore of midwest emo! Glad you enjoyed the video. La Dispute had a certain energy I never witnessed before. Way more impactful then any of the warp tour bands I saw that year and the next two after.
I mean, based off of what Jack said in that interview about being so influenced by Lions of the north sound. I would put Doyle Martin there too. His work in grown ups is unmatched in my book, and even though cloakroom is nothing like this genre, he still has my heart when it comes to emo.
Three things I think you missed: 1. "Ship Pals Garbage" there's a whole collection of around 25 alternate versions of songs and tracks that never were released for Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals 2. Jack and Nick left Merchant Ships because they were straight edge. They caught Dwayne and Michael at a place where teenagers go to get high (Austin's House). 3. IIRC, CYLS got them to get back together. Other than that they probably missed the old band.
it some ways it feels like a certain part of my musical life is somehow intrinsictly connected to jack projects. from designing some merchant ships merch, playing fill in bass once with them, playing RPMP and Cabana House, hanging out at the house (including when If A Bear Is Hungry got recorded), and playing bass on one of the Boy Rex albums. (and playing the first last WB show.) … jack changed the local scene as a kid and didn’t even know the impact he was going to have.
kinda crazy to see how legendary they became. i remember listening to for cameron when i was in middle school. i always thought i stumbled on some hidden gem and never shared them with anyone lol
love this, ty. breaks my heart i lived an hour away and never knew about this genre yet or this beauiful scene existing :/ then the reunion show a few years back got canceled . bleh.
Great memories, 2010-2012 last years at highschool, I was part of that little group of weird/rare/geek homies (I said weird cuz most of the students from public schools likes hear reggeaton and sh*ts like that, It's so damn rare find young guys hearing rock), a day finding some new music at TH-cam at that time, I discovered a group call "merchant ships" and damn it was so fn awesome hear the energy of this guys making music, most of his song described some sad parts, problems, etc. of my life and I'm pretty sure the people feel the same thing about this band, this video bring me great memories, ty brother PD: much love from Perú🇵🇪 to all my brothers and sisters to love this band, stay safe 🤘🏻(srry for my bad English)
This video is great!!. Listening dying from merchant ships, then movies like juno from midwest penpals, then the line "I wonder if she's heard those songs I wrote about her?" From sailor heart in "phone call #1" makes me appreciate Jack so much, musically and as a person, I can't stress how hard his music hits me. Fucking awsome. (Sorry for my english, not a native speaker).
This is so informative and well put together. I learned so many things and genuinely had my mind blown by a lot of the info in here. Thanks for this and great work!
Hey man, I grew up in the south bend scene and have been going to shows since 96' or 97'. You should cover other bands from the scene like Clark, Space and Noise or Cape Renewal!
being a total outsider in this scene, i totally feel like i missed out on great experiences just because I was born a decade later and about 500 miles away haha, =)
I actually made that wiki about Jack Senff that you linked in the desc and submitted it to Wikipedia, unfortunately, it got denied and it got uploaded as an unofficial wiki. I hope I can get Jack an official page soon lol
I wonder if the members ever get back together and talk any more. My name's Nick and he looks JUST LIKE Mike ursuy two doors down from me. He was really good at piano but never went to shows
I looked into them yesterday after reading your comment. Loving their of the Thick project! I'll need to look into their lore but they are on the list.
does anyone know about the Bola Fonja songs/EPs? it's mainly Jack and Nick, and the band We Are The Colossus, I know Jack was in that but idk who else was
th-cam.com/channels/ck_6ufgQlbAmLG7Cquii_w.htmlvideos Here are some of the songs from Bola Fonja. Also some Park Jefferson goodies. Also, Here is something I just found. "Jack Senff: Bola Afonja was a collaborative effort between Nick and I at the end of 2008, maybe sometime in 2009 (early), but otherwise a long time ago (i think right before that EP with Luck and Long Term). Back when myspace was cool, a lot of scene girls/guys would post extremely ridiculous things on their profiles…and so, we copied and pasted what we thought was “too much” into Word, hit record, and Nick played guitar while I/we sang it. These are, for the most part, totally unrehearsed and recorded the first time we actually played it. Listening to it now I have no idea how they turned out this well, and I think it’s because of this band I’m still best friends with Nick. The Bola Afonja discography includes the LOVE EP, which has five of the above mentioned songs, and then the LOVE EP b sides, which includes a Puddle of Mud cover and three originals. Pretty sure this is the best improvisational acoustic music you’re going to find, and thank goodness it’s from your Merchant Broz" Hopefully you learn something cool from this!
Hey just so you know, you forgot one little detail about that Podcast and that was that Jack had been in a band before Merchant Ships called "We Are The Colossus"
Yes! Honestly, I debated on adding We are the Colossus before recording the voice over process but left it out because I solely wanted to capture Merchant Ships's legacy from the start. Now if I plan on working on a Jack Senff retrospective, we're starting there. Good catch! I love that podcast episode.
www.discogs.com/release/6159197-Merchant-Ships-For-Cameron From this discogs page, the EP was released on cdr by the band themselves. There wasn't a lot printed I'm sure.
i loved this thank you
I hope to have told the lore in a clear and respectable fashion. Thanks for watching homie.
legend
the internet tough guy rises
mr steal your lunch money pulled up
I would kill to be at a local show like these
Local shows were the best. I’m from nj and was in hs during the 2000’s. We had some awesome shows in church basements and backyards!
Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals helped me immensely in my healing from my mother twice abandoning our family. The pain that was expressed in Movies like Juno, Leaving Songs, and Bobby Markos Posi Talk reflected the same exact type of pain that I was feeling and when I first heard those songs it felt too coincidental and surreal to be true. Shoutout to Park Jefferson.
This band is the sound of youth, energy, and the problems accompanying both.
I can see where you're going there!
Seeing how they signed under Empire Empire (one of my all time favorite bands) is insane
got so excited when i found that out, two of the best
kind of crazy finding this in 2022. i met nick through super smash bros lol. to my recollection, somewhere in the mid-2010s he started showing up to local house tournaments/parties in west michigan. he was always a good dude to me. ironically, i was thinking about those days, really missing them, and listening to some midwest emo in my 3am nostalgia, and the rabbithole led me here. thanks for the video.
Throughout my research, I've seen mentioned he was (and I'm sure still is) a big fan of smash bros. Still love me some melee haha I'm glad you enjoyed the video thank you for watching!
yep still into melee
Absolutely love this bad, cried the first time I ever listened to "For Cameron"
Jack Senff is definitely a goat in the emo genre, he deserves to be on the mount rushmore without a doubt. He's been in Merchant Ships, Midwest Pen Pals, William Bonney, North Folk, and Knola just to name a few, all highly regarded and highly influential emo bands. Love this video, great stuff, incredibly jealous you got to see La Dispute so early on at local shows.
Dude, I was telling someone at work the same thing about him being on the mount rushmore of midwest emo! Glad you enjoyed the video. La Dispute had a certain energy I never witnessed before. Way more impactful then any of the warp tour bands I saw that year and the next two after.
And boy Rex.
Knola is one of my favorites
I mean, based off of what Jack said in that interview about being so influenced by Lions of the north sound. I would put Doyle Martin there too. His work in grown ups is unmatched in my book, and even though cloakroom is nothing like this genre, he still has my heart when it comes to emo.
Im 28, i heard this band in 2010, and i never heard better band.
Favorite and best band. Ever.
Three things I think you missed:
1. "Ship Pals Garbage" there's a whole collection of around 25 alternate versions of songs and tracks that never were released for Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals
2. Jack and Nick left Merchant Ships because they were straight edge. They caught Dwayne and Michael at a place where teenagers go to get high (Austin's House).
3. IIRC, CYLS got them to get back together. Other than that they probably missed the old band.
2. Is a pretty weak excuse, in hindsight.
(didn't one of them have a nazi tatoo or was that saetia?? All these bands went bad and had to cancel reunions bc of shit like that)
@@ashzerodude no relation, but I haven't heard that about a member of merchant ships. Not saying it's untrue tho.
@@ashzerodude That was Aaron Montaigne of Heroin
straight edge bros
This band is one of the few that ever touched me so deeply
it some ways it feels like a certain part of my musical life is somehow intrinsictly connected to jack projects. from designing some merchant ships merch, playing fill in bass once with them, playing RPMP and Cabana House, hanging out at the house (including when If A Bear Is Hungry got recorded), and playing bass on one of the Boy Rex albums. (and playing the first last WB show.)
… jack changed the local scene as a kid and didn’t even know the impact he was going to have.
thank you sm for this video i LOVE merchant ships
Glad you enjoyed!
i was ready to drive 17 hours to go to that reunion show, bummer it didn't go through
damn! where were you going to drive from? I believe it was supposed to take place at The Well?
kinda crazy to see how legendary they became. i remember listening to for cameron when i was in middle school. i always thought i stumbled on some hidden gem and never shared them with anyone lol
love this, ty. breaks my heart i lived an hour away and never knew about this genre yet or this beauiful scene existing :/ then the reunion show a few years back got canceled . bleh.
Great memories, 2010-2012 last years at highschool, I was part of that little group of weird/rare/geek homies (I said weird cuz most of the students from public schools likes hear reggeaton and sh*ts like that, It's so damn rare find young guys hearing rock), a day finding some new music at TH-cam at that time, I discovered a group call "merchant ships" and damn it was so fn awesome hear the energy of this guys making music, most of his song described some sad parts, problems, etc. of my life and I'm pretty sure the people feel the same thing about this band, this video bring me great memories, ty brother
PD: much love from Perú🇵🇪 to all my brothers and sisters to love this band, stay safe 🤘🏻(srry for my bad English)
i really love these 'story of' videos! hope to see more :)
Woah, i started listening to them recently and immediately fell in love with their music. Thank you for sharing this story
This is great, I'm excited to watching your other videos on these bands I loved
Great video! You reminded me of myself and my friends searching for merchant ship information on many blogs years ago. Good times
Hell yeah man! that's what I hope a lot of others feel also. I remember getting stoked when new updates came from local band's tumblrs.
i found these bands and songs in 2016~2017 and i will take this for the rest of my life. thanks for it :))
"I don't know much about screamo" and then proceed with citing the most obscure sreamo bands
I would do anything to live in Chicago 50 years ago
great video! merchant ships is one of my favorite bands of all time, hands down, and it's good to hear other people have such a passion for them!
This video is great!!. Listening dying from merchant ships, then movies like juno from midwest penpals, then the line "I wonder if she's heard those songs I wrote about her?" From sailor heart in "phone call #1" makes me appreciate Jack so much, musically and as a person, I can't stress how hard his music hits me. Fucking awsome. (Sorry for my english, not a native speaker).
I would give anything to go back in time and see Merchant Ships and Native play a basement show just one more time
Great work! Absolutely demolisging band. Good Weekend is one of my fav emo songs of all time and Inside Jokes is still unmatched imo.
Well done! Thank you for putting this together.
Thank you! It's always good to record history. I'm happy you enjoyed.
This is so informative and well put together. I learned so many things and genuinely had my mind blown by a lot of the info in here. Thanks for this and great work!
Glad it was helpful!
Hey man, I grew up in the south bend scene and have been going to shows since 96' or 97'. You should cover other bands from the scene like Clark, Space and Noise or Cape Renewal!
Terrific work, one of my fav bands :>
awesome video. thank you
Thank you I’ve been listening to them for years not religious but here and there but never got into the lore !
Thank you for putting this together.
the fact that i found “for cameron” right after cameron left me :,(
I absolutely adore Midwest Penpals
Also Midwest pen pals is just so fkn good
It is so crazy to see this scene getting some attention. It was interesting times.
I love merchant ships ❤
reminds me of marietta
thank you, merchant ships is my favorite band.
I still can’t believe Lil B sampled Midwest Pen Pals
HAHAHA BASED.
This is beautiful thank you 😊
Thank you
Great video man
Great awesome video Kaz! 🥰
Thank you! 🤗
This is amazing
damn i didn’t know two of my favorite bands have shared members… i knew the voice sounded familiar
0:15 Those denim hot pants, man 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤣
straight up! Jesus Christ.
Dude good shit. I love merchant ships.
the GOAT
this guy is doing God’s work
HAHAHA I appreciate the comment and your support dude
Great video Kaz!
Thank you bro! I hope you are very well!
@@KazonYT Same to you homie!
being a total outsider in this scene, i totally feel like i missed out on great experiences just because I was born a decade later and about 500 miles away haha, =)
Can you do a story of the band old gray
Wow, this is crazy long live merchant ships
6:23 do you have a link to this video? I'd like to watch it, amazing set
th-cam.com/video/rVUGc2-9rSs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ma38rRfoV63j00wE
Here is the full set : )
They weren’t committed. They could’ve been the next Saves the Day.
Damn that ending is what I realized why I liked merchant ships
best part of high school by far
ong
I actually made that wiki about Jack Senff that you linked in the desc and submitted it to Wikipedia, unfortunately, it got denied and it got uploaded as an unofficial wiki. I hope I can get Jack an official page soon lol
Thanks for your contribution to the cause friend! That would be great, he deserves one.
There's a lot of videos for a small town like South Bend... Not as many videos were taken in Saginaw I think...
I wonder if the members ever get back together and talk any more. My name's Nick and he looks JUST LIKE Mike ursuy two doors down from me. He was really good at piano but never went to shows
th-cam.com/video/cq2FvO8yHNc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lWrmNsu0AhQSXsEr
They recently got together and hung out : )
That tumblr post @ 10:03 is that “next” band Jack’s referring to William Bonney?
Can you do a deep dive on the emo band Mallard
hey nice they played my basement! not sure i could add much to this idea though. they played a great set, but went on their way (like the mallard..)
I looked into them yesterday after reading your comment. Loving their of the Thick project! I'll need to look into their lore but they are on the list.
@@KazonYT I picked them because they have the same kind of cult following status like merchant ships
Watch this video for 3rd time
Need some William Bonney love
does anyone know about the Bola Fonja songs/EPs? it's mainly Jack and Nick, and the band We Are The Colossus, I know Jack was in that but idk who else was
th-cam.com/channels/ck_6ufgQlbAmLG7Cquii_w.htmlvideos
Here are some of the songs from Bola Fonja. Also some Park Jefferson goodies.
Also, Here is something I just found.
"Jack Senff: Bola Afonja was a collaborative effort between Nick and I at the end of 2008, maybe sometime in 2009 (early), but otherwise a long time ago (i think right before that EP with Luck and Long Term). Back when myspace was cool, a lot of scene girls/guys would post extremely ridiculous things on their profiles…and so, we copied and pasted what we thought was “too much” into Word, hit record, and Nick played guitar while I/we sang it. These are, for the most part, totally unrehearsed and recorded the first time we actually played it. Listening to it now I have no idea how they turned out this well, and I think it’s because of this band I’m still best friends with Nick.
The Bola Afonja discography includes the LOVE EP, which has five of the above mentioned songs, and then the LOVE EP b sides, which includes a Puddle of Mud cover and three originals.
Pretty sure this is the best improvisational acoustic music you’re going to find, and thank goodness it’s from your Merchant Broz"
Hopefully you learn something cool from this!
@@KazonYT thank you! I love finding out things about them
Where is the Hospital they talk about skating at?
Anyone know?
I LIVE IN SOUTHBEND
could you do the story of 'reasons'? their song 'i waited for you' is one of the most beautiful songs i've heard
Reasons comes up quite often. I’ve been meaning to look into them. Thanks for the suggestion!
great video :>
Please more midwest emo video essays
I got more on the way :)
BEST SCREAMO BAND PERIOD...
What happened to Dwayne?
You should do grown ups, more songs is easily one of the greatest albums of all time and it’s the band after lion of the north
TRUUUUUUUUUUUUTH! I listen to grown ups a lot. They are most definitely on the list.
Bro it's gonna be a major fucking bummer if you don't make a video on snowing.
Who was the vocalist of this band?
Nvm it was Jack lol
I love this video, where did you find the blink 182 cover?
Nevermind I found it haha th-cam.com/video/qKA7vueKyOQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=V-4CqbMvqITq6Bdb
👏👍
I love you
Hey just so you know, you forgot one little detail about that Podcast and that was that Jack had been in a band before Merchant Ships called "We Are The Colossus"
Yes! Honestly, I debated on adding We are the Colossus before recording the voice over process but left it out because I solely wanted to capture Merchant Ships's legacy from the start. Now if I plan on working on a Jack Senff retrospective, we're starting there. Good catch! I love that podcast episode.
@@KazonYT Can't wait to see that video!! Subscribed so I can see more video essays on my favorite underground bands.
Correct me if im wrong, but i dont think for cameron was ever released on cd, only vinyl and cassete tapes
www.discogs.com/release/6159197-Merchant-Ships-For-Cameron
From this discogs page, the EP was released on cdr by the band themselves. There wasn't a lot printed I'm sure.
you forgot the secret side project william bonney
1:30 Hooooooooly smokes. It took me about 11 extra minutes to watch this video because I just had to hunt down and listen to this EP.
Lion of the North. Legends.
Hey , not to sound racist or anything but this anyone what happened to black guy that was the drummer?
you should do father figure the band
You mentioned MAKE ME??? no. Absolutely no way.
He sounds like a better version of Corey Lockwood
Should have included all the times Nick scammed bands and friends for money
drinkinmusicisbetterthansobermusicunlessnooneleseisdoingit