Fat Mike of NOFX‘s newly launched project, Codefendants, are the breath of fresh air and the steel-toe-cap kick in the nuts music has needed for too long. Get Dead vocalist Sam King’s graffiti crew were giving tattoos and making flash art to raise money to help rapper Ceschi Ramos when he was in prison. Months later they met at the Gilman Street Project in Berkeley, California. They bonded, talking about their love of hip-hop and punk rock, over a bottle of Jameson. They didn’t know it yet, but they had just started Codefendants. Impossible to define by traditional standards, Codefendants were forged out of a desire to make an album that sounded like nothing else; a completely genre-fluid album, a cross between hip hop, new-wave, flamenco, and the Beatles. They call the genre ‘Crime Wave’.

Jakob Nowell and THE CASTLE is the solo project from Sublime frontman Jakob Nowell. Best known for walking in his late father’s shoes, Jakob took the reins as Sublime’s frontman in 2024. While he continues to tour and perform with the legendary group, Jakob now turns his attention back to his solo project ahead of the band’s new album, Lord Scumbag, scheduled for release in 2027. Previously signed to Epitaph Records and now releasing under Jakob’s own label, SVN/BVRNT, Jakob Nowell and THE CASTLE is a blend of old school meets new. Beach meets the internet. ’90s underground does hyperpop. Imagine lying face up on the beach as waves of retro synth melodies wash over you like static, your body slowly dried by the heat of the emerging sun and skank guitars. It’s both pretty and gritty. Active since 2022, Jakob Nowell has toured the country with emerging young artists like Sitting on Stacy, legacy musicians Jason Devore and Slightly Stoopid, as well as G. Love & Special Sauce, Common Kings and Long Beach Allstars. They’ve performed at numerous festivals, including Lollapalooza, Sublime festivals and the upcoming Sublime Reef Madness Cruise. While many have seen Jakob with Sublime, the enigmatic frontman continues to push THE CASTLE, SVN/BVRNT Records and the SoCal underground to new heights. He was recently featured on the cover of SPIN Magazine (August 2026), has been profiled in in-depth features by VICE and NPR, and has guested on countless podcasts, telling his story and that of THE CASTLE. With the burden of purpose and expectation held proudly, Jakob Nowell and THE CASTLE seek to break all convention and usher in a new era of California music.