015: Pet Sounds Music Festival III

Interview with Jake Murray of Diner Pets, co-founder of the Pet Sounds Music Festival Written and edited by Eve Mikkelson, host of Brooklyn Buzz on WPIR      
Interview on 8/22/2026
[Names linked within text will be colored]

Welcome back to the show! This is so exciting!

I’m happy to be here.

For listeners and readers who may not know, you were on Brooklyn Buzz before back in April.

Yeah, I know we did it right before the last Pet Sounds.

And that feels like a lifetime ago already.

Yeah, I feel like a lot has changed. For the readers at home, we talked a little bit before the start of this about how my band, Diner Pets, has been preparing to finally put out our debut album. With doing a new Pet Sounds Festival, double the content has been exhausting. But cool! It’s been really fun but just a lot of work. My girlfriend, Jude, and I also just moved in so it’s been a lot. I don’t know if this will have a visual component but if it does, you will see our messy apartment.

I think it looks so cozy, I’m envious.

Thank you! It was interesting to lay out a studio apartment for a couple. But yeah, it’s been a very busy time.

I believe it! Last time you were on. You were talking about the Pet Sounds Music Banquet Volume II, and now that the third of this DIY music festival is coming up, you’re joining me again to talk up this third one because a lot has changed. There is so much we could talk about.

Absolutely! Even to the point where we changed the name. Last year it was the Music Banquet but now that we are doing it over two nights for the first time, we figured that if there was ever a time to do a minor brand change it would be now. So now it is the Pet Sounds Music Festival, happening September 18th and 19th. A lot of cool changes with a lot of new acts. I think this is going to be the best Pet Sounds we have ever done.

We will get into all these exciting details really soon, but just in case someone didn’t hear or read the last interview with you, do you want to give a little introduction to the festival to start?

The Pet Sounds Music Festival is a festival that takes place biannually at Rubulad in Brooklyn. I’m the founder of the festival, my name is Jake, and with my co-organizer, Jacob, we put on this festival twice a year. The main idea of it was always to feature acts that we loved from just being a part of our local scenes. He is much more integrated into the DJ-verse in NYC and I’ve been playing in bands around here for the last five or six years. I’ve played in 15 different bands, seen like a zillion acts around, and I thought “Why can’t we make a big event where we showcase the bands we like?” We wanted a casual, community feeling to the place, and in other ways create opportunities for other acts who are looking to get their foot in the door. Getting more acquainted with the local scene was always the ethos of why we did this.

The first festival did pretty well with about 150 people showing up last September. We did it again in April and we had about 400 people attend. It was great, honestly one of my favorite nights ever. It went so unbelievably well, to the point where Jacob and I were a bit surprised. We were wondering what the next thing we could do for this third one was, since we have been growing so quickly. We had the idea of doing two nights. It was definitely a big undertaking with a lot of coordination. The event is basically doubling in size but the team is not. It definitely created a lot of new and interesting challenges, with new ways of thinking about how to get the word out. How do we get people on board? Especially with bands having such busy schedules. What is really cool is just how much the word has gotten out about what we have been doing. Approaching some bands I haven’t had formal interactions with, offering them a spot in the festival, and having them say, “Oh I’ve heard of that. That is the thing with the hotdogs, right?” has been so cool.

We will be featuring acts that we previously had, as well as a majority of new acts that we have known for a while. That's a little bit of what is going on. We will feature a plethora of bands and our traditional open decks where there'll be DJs playing outside all day. One of my favorite things about the festival is that obviously people will often come to see a certain act, but what we have been able to get through to people is that this is really just a setting where everyone can hang out and meet new people. One of our last acts from April, Whirlybird, described it as reminding them what pre-Covid was like, which I think is one of my favorite ways of thinking about it. It’s not something I immediately had in mind, but in some ways we are definitely trying to aspire for a more friendly, communal vibe.

From personal experience as an attendee, it really is magical and huge. The whole last one was such a huge step-up from the first and it was mind-blowing. I can’t speak highly enough of it.

I think with the second one especially we started to understand what worked and what didn’t work.

Obviously the biggest change this time around is that it is two nights instead of one. Did that happen because it was growing kind of out of control or was it intentional from the start?

The second one was definitely starting to border on too much. I think Rubulad has an actual capacity of 350 so nearing 400 people – and of course there is a cross stream of people coming in and coming out – it was definitely getting packed. Which was really cool and fun, if you’re an event organizer that is the best thing. But there was a moment where we realized we didn’t know what the next one was going to be like. We felt like there would either need to be a venue change or we needed to figure out something else. So we went back and forth about trying another venue in the city. But, the thing is that the Rubulad staff are great and we have gotten really tight with the crew that runs that place, both with the manager and even the one-the-ground workers. They’re so great to work with. They have been really helpful. I think the venue itself has been so characteristic of what I think people come to expect from the festival.

For those who haven’t been there, Rubulad is an event space but also houses a lot of sculptures and art installations. Just the overall look and aesthetic of the place is really exciting and eyegrabbing. It is one of my favorite venues in the city. Moving to another venue seemed really sad! I told Jacob, “With each festival, we have gotten into a good rhythm of knowing what to do. Maybe we could do an extra night.” Jacob was kind of like “Woah… That’d be big.” But I was a little crazy about it. *laughs* The scale is double in every way, you know? Just a couple days after the last festival we asked Rubulad if we could do two nights, and they immediately were on board. “It’s yours.” From that moment, we started booking the next one, as soon as the festival ended. It’s been a hassle with occasional last minute changes, but now we have the lineup we have! Each one of the nights could be its own festival, they’re so great.

And the lineup is so intense!I think there’s 16 artists total which is insane. I was particularly excited because I already love Mikey Leão and Nara’s Room. But even as someone who prides themself in knowing a lot of the local bands, there were a couple I still didn’t recognize. And I’m excited to see Uncle Skunk and Fawn Ridge coming back. Last time you were on the show, we allotted some time for you to talk through all of the artists but that isn’t really possible anymore!

It would have to be a real lightning round. *laughs*

Exactly, so I guess more broadly: What kind of music can we look forward to? Maybe that is even too hard because just looking at the list, it is a really wide spread of genres and vibes which is awesome.

The Pet Sounds Music Festival kind of originated as an offshoot of Jude and I’s band, Diner Pets. I wanted to focus on bands that we had met or heard through the local scene, so they could have their moment to shine. Pet Sounds is a lot of things, but we want it to be a showcase for some of our favorite bands from around the scene. There are also a lot of scenes that we aren’t looking at here still, but these are the people that we have gotten to know. The curation of it is a very wide net, but if it counts for anything I would say that they are all very great, creative acts in the local scene. If you want to see that, we try to keep the tickets cheap. So, come by and check out a band that you haven’t heard of before!

Ugh, what a magical thing. Last time, in between shows there was live wrestling – you were getting in on that a little bit–, there’s open decks the whole night of course… Can we expect an intermission-type of show like that again at this next one?

Yeah! Last April we had SBCW have a couple acts in between, one of which I ended up hitting an RKO on a wrestler by the name of The Gardener. My back hadn’t been that screwed up in forever… *laughs* They will use just a padded mat, but it is sitting on packed dirt there. And we had never rehearsed it! We were talking right before and he was like “yeah we will just have a little exchange and then you’re gonna hit me with an RKO, you good with that?” So I hit it and immediately I had whiplash and my lower back seized up. But Rud, who is sort of the organizer of SBCW, was telling me “It might hurt, but the energy of the crowd is going to lift you up.” Which is exactly what happened.

This year however, we are going to have two different acts each night. The first night we will have the NYC Gladiators duel out in the courtyard of Rubulad. So it’ll basically be two guys in full-on knight’s armor legitimately fighting with swords. I actually caught wind of them through Mikey Leão because he had a show that featured them, and I was on hotdog duty that night. I was watching from afar like “Woah!” These guys are always down to do local events, so I got in touch with a knight by the name of Orpheus, and we were basically able to get a duel happening as an in-between band break. For people who are planning on going, I think it will be about halfway through the day. It’s the closest thing to Medieval Times that you will experience in the NYC.

The second night, we are going to have a drag show featuring Zalika and Zima Sparkles. Very sweet people, and they have incredible fits. I remember telling them about the festival and they thought it would be perfect for them. Outside of the bands, like I was mentioning before, there is going to be a full line-up of DJs performing as part of the open decks too. So, there is always something going on for people who may not be so band oriented and just want to hang out for drinks and hot dogs.

For those who might want to get in on that, how can someone get involved in the open decks?

It’s funny you mention that. In the past, we have had some adjustments we had to make to the open decks, basically trying to make a way for it to be accessible to people but also very equitable. So for this iteration, we are actually going to be doing it for free. If you want to be a part of the open decks line up, we sent out a post [a couple weeks] ago telling people to reach out. Uncharacteristic to our past iterations of the festival, it instantly filled up. So, we currently have a wait list. If you are interested in spinning the decks, in lew of a potential scheduling issue, DM Jacob or the Pet Sounds Music Banquet and we will add you to the waitlist. We were really surprised by the amount of intrigue. Last time we did it as a lottery system but now we have completely filled up the decks, which is really cool and exciting. If this is any indication of people attending and how big this is going to be, I think this is a terrific sign.

That’s a great problem to have. I also wanted to bring up that this time you are partnering with Radio Free Brooklyn – which is really cool – as well as Yeah. Magazine. How did those collaborations come about?

Yeah. has been doing a really great job of showcasing local acts and the local NYC scene. So it felt natural to reach out to them as a media partner. They have a similar mission to us and are going to be working to get newsletters and different posts out. They will also be conducting interviews with the bands and various acts to give them a chance to let their own voices be heard.

Our other partner, Radio Free Brooklyn, came about in an interesting way. Maybe it is the algorithm on the Pet Sounds account’s timeline, but we have been seeing a big outcrop in a lot of festivals around the city. I drum in other bands, like the band Speedrun, and we played a festival at the Sultan Room called Girl Noise. It’s a terrific festival and a great showcase of female artists in New York. One of the things I noticed there was that they had a Radio Free Brooklyn table. I knew about them already because our saxophonist, Ryan, is a DJ on their platform, but I was wondering why they were there. I eventually got word that they were livestreaming the audio to their radio station and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I grew up going to Gov Ball and Panorama, and knowing that you could hear the audio of those festivals on SiriusXM as a kid I always thought “Oh that’s awesome, I gotta tap in.” So I thought that would be a really cool thing to do. I guess this is exclusive to Brooklyn Buzz at this point, but Radio Free Brooklyn will be streaming the audio of the band playing in the festival to their website. In between the performances they will be conducting live interviews with the bands during transitions. On top of that, we will be on a few broadcasts with them and in their newsletter. They similarly are a great community organization and great platform for people who maybe similar to us were also a part of college radio and want to scratch that same itch. We reached out to them and they were ecstatic. They are going to be terrific when it comes to the day-of.

That’s so cool! I’m going to tune into that for sure (since I regrettingly won’t be in town the weekend of).

We will put out more information as we get closer to the festival for that.

Perfect. You mentioned briefly before: your band, Diner Pets, will be playing and it is a single release show for you guys! Can you tell us a little bit about the music that you have coming out soon?

We were going to put out a single about a month ago with an outdoor barbeque show in July. But anyone who has been in New York this summer knows the rain has been insane. Unfortunately, it got rained out. We didn't know what to do, since we had these shows coming up and we. That is ready to go sometime in the fall. We will be putting out a single in September! It will be called “Push and Pull” and it’s our barn-burner song, if you will, where everyone gets to go a little crazy. There has been so much business so we have been a little delayed in rolling out new music, so we are excited to actually do it. Especially on such a grand stage. We recorded an EP a year or two ago in various random bedrooms and practice spaces. This one was done formally in a studio, we worked with an engineer and producer, and I think it came out terrific. Additionally, we have a new bass player, Chloe Ross, who played a show with us recently at the Cobra Club and really kicked ass. I’m excited to enter this new chapter of the band. I think this single release will be one of those main first steps in doing so.

Man, you are working on so much!

Yeah, this is my second cup of coffee today. *laughs*

I seriously commend you for not even just trying to pull off something so huge but being so successful in doing so every time. It really blows my mind.

I couldn’t do it without Jacob and Jude keeping me sane through all the ridiculousness that happens. We do a lot of work to make this happen and it is really just because we want it to be as good as it can be, kind of for the love of the game. *laughs* I couldn’t do this alone. Jacob is doing so much work on the socials and legistical parts of the festival. Jude has come up with a ton of great ideas for the festival. For the first time we will have Pet Sounds merch. We will have tote bags that people can grab. Jude actually came up with the drag idea as well. It has been great working with them.

That’s wonderful. Well, we have covered a lot already. Is there anything I didn’t prompt you with that you want to mention?

I could go through a quick run down of who we have playing this year.

Yeah, do it!

Night one will be featuring the NYC Gladiators, as I mentioned. In terms of musical acts, we are going to have Wince, who has been a band that I have loved for years and have been in similar circles as our band. Nara’s Room, shoegaze legends. [Nara’s Room unfortunately had to drop, but Pat Faking will be playing in their place!] They are a phenomenal band. Self-Help is kind of a jammy, sort of Grateful Dead-esque band. Local Weatherman, local rockers. You’re going to love them. This will apparently be one of their last shows for a while so if you want to see them I recommend coming. Fritzleschats, who are a new hardrock post-punk band. Great young guys, they are the absolute future of the Brooklyn music scene. Bounty, similar post-punk band. I saw them at Alphaville and was pleasantly surprised by how great they were. I spoke to them after the show and was like “you need to be on this festival.” *laughs* And then one night only, a reunion of Pain Don’t Hurt. It’s actually Jude’s project and I’m going to be drumming on that. Maybe I’m a little biased but Jude is an incredible songwriter and I think it will be great to share music live for one night. That’s all night one, and Jacob will be leading us out at the end of the night as DJ Janky.

Night two will feature Fawn Ridge, a local singer/songwriter supergroup in many ways. Really excited to have them again. Janna Jamison, a totally awesome pop aficionado. Very fun sugar-pop music I absolutely love. Diner Pets of course – that’s us – a kind of retro-rock big band group putting out a new single. Uncle Skunk, local rockers who are oodles of fun to watch. Prophet II, a similar post-punk kind of feel but with a jenesequa to them that I really love. B.L.I.X. is similar to that with a kind of slow, methodical, but also punky vibe. And Mikey Leão, a real homie of mine who is going to be the alt. country twang of the night which will be stellar. Ending the night is someone who we have been trying to get probably since the first Pet Sounds, WTCHCRFT, who is a terrific, incredible DJ. And of course, Zalika and Zima doing drag in the middle of day two. It’s going to be great, I’m so excited.

When I was naming all of my excitement before, I totally forgot to mention that the Pain Don’t Hurt return was really exciting. I saw the album art behind you and I was really excited. What great line-ups. Thank you so much for coming and giving me some exclusives again this time around!

Thank you for letting me go on and on about this! I really love doing this event so I feel like I could talk about it forever. Thank you for letting me do my thing. *laughs*

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.