Louis Posen founded Hopeless Records 30 years ago and has seen emo music evolve. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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Over the past few decades, emo music has gained mainstream popularity. Dashboard Confessional won a VMA in 2002, and most recently, Paramore won two Grammys in 2024. But most of the scene has always existed in an inconspicuous way, so inconspicuously that if it’s still relevant, it’s still there.
If you consider the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to be an authority, the answer is a resounding yes.
Rising above the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, Rock Hall looks like a giant glass pyramid. Music echoes through the rotunda outside, meant to emulate records, and fills the glass atrium inside, enlivening the space. A car from U2’s Zoo TV tour hangs from the ceiling. As you take the escalator downstairs, you’ll pass the giant hot dog where Phish played several New Year’s Eve gigs and see CBGB’s famous awning.
Just beyond these artifacts is a new exhibit featuring Hopeless Records and its bands, showcasing emo music at this esteemed company and ensuring that emo music not only still exists, but thrives. It’s clear what you’re doing.
new voices and new audiences
Hopeless is an independent record label based in California. Its roster includes some of the biggest names in pop-punk and emo music, from Sum 41 to All Time Low. But how did this small indie label end up on a piece of real estate just down the road from Taylor Swift’s catsuit and around the corner from an exhibition celebrating 50 years of hip-hop?
CEO and founder Louis Posen remembers it started with a phone call to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO Greg Harris.
A new exhibit at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum features Hopeless Records and its bands. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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Jack Barakat’s electric guitar from the band All Time Low is on display. NPR's Dustin Franz Hide caption
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“We called (Harris) and said, ‘Hopeless Records,’ and we thought he’d say, ‘I’ve never heard of that,'” Posen says. “But he said, ‘Hopeless Records, I’m really looking forward to getting on the phone with you guys.'”
Harris said the Rock Hall is known for honoring iconic musicians of the past, but that’s not all.
“It’s always welcome to do something more contemporary and bring new voices, new audiences into the museum and make connections. So it was a perfect fit.”
At the beginning of the exhibition, videos of Hopeless Bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Destroy Boys, Illuminati Hotties and The Wonder Years play on loop on a big screen, allowing visitors, whether they are fans or first-timers, to be immersed in the music. You can step into it.
Three cases filled with various Hopeless Band memorabilia celebrate its history and future, and highlight the community that sustains it. Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties has a colorful short sleeve, collared Dickies shirt. The old school vault of All Time Low, the bass of Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold. A copy of the first issue of Hopeless ZINE, which highlighted inclusivity and DIY ethics in the music scene. And there’s also a copy of Hopeless Records’ first release, punk rock band Guttermouth’s 1993 EP.
Artifacts from Hopeless Records’ 30-year history are on display. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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One of the exhibits is the safe used on All Time Low’s first tour in 2005. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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“Actually, the first song on the 7-inch was called ‘Hopeless,’ which is where the label’s name came from,” Posen says. “[Guttermouth]encouraged me to put out a 7-inch for them. So I went and bought a book called ‘How to Run an Independent Record Label’ and gave my brother and his friend $1,000. I asked them to release a 7-inch gutter mouse. And 30 years later, here we are. ”
Posen says it feels great to have Hopeless in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it’s not just their label.
“This is really about great artists, great teams and, of course, the fans who make this all happen.”
Hailey Cronin is one such fan. The 22-year-old is an assistant curator at the Rock Hall. She was the main researcher for the Hopeless exhibit. Cronin says that when people look at the exhibit, “we want them to feel a sense of belonging and community that punk, emo and metal are still alive and well.”
“If people see one of these artifacts in one of these video stills or one of the big picture walls here and realize they’re one of these bands, It means we’ve done the job,” Cronin says.
Haley Cronin said the exhibits create a sense of belonging. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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An ever-evolving genre
Their passionate community of fans has remained the same throughout Hopeless’ 30 years. But the bands making the music were.
“Right now, more than 50% of our roster is women or non-binary, and 40% of our roster is LGBTQ. So to see artists like this get noticed and be placed next to Aerosmith and the Beatles, it’s great. I’m happy about that,” Posen said.
He brings this up because this kind of music – emo, pop-punk, rock, whatever you want to call it – was founded by young white men and has dominated the scene for a long time.
Thanks in part to new bands like Spanish Love Songs, Hot Mulligan and Sweet Pill, that’s no longer the case.
Music video for Sweet Pill’s “Starchild” EP.
YouTube
Sweet Pill will sign with Hopeless in 2023.
“Sweet Pill has a very big, very rock, emo, very melodic sound,” says frontwoman Zeina Youssef. “It’s like asking them to bring Paramore and play math rock.”
Yousef says he can feel a real sense of community around Sweet Pill’s music when his band performs. Community was an early driving force behind emo, and Youssef sees it still being a big part of the scene.
“Here I write about my feelings. That’s the theme of our songs. I play them and I see people resonate with it. And they write about my feelings after the show. People come up to me and talk about what that word means to them, what the album means to them, what it means to them just to be at the show,” says Youssef. .
Zaina Youssef (center) and her Sweet Pill bandmates. Hopeless Records Hide caption
toggle caption A hopeless record
“It just makes me feel a little less alone, and I’m sure the same goes for them.”
Youssef says his identity is one of the things that connects him to Sweet Pill fans. She is a woman of color and was born in the United States to parents from Syria.
“One of the most incredible feelings is that you don’t show up for people who are probably Middle Eastern, or even Indian or Pakistani, or just people in general. comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, it’s really cool to see someone who looks like you doing something like this,”’ Youssef says.
“I agree. I think this is a really cool thing, because if I had seen this when I was younger, I would have thought, “I need to look different or act a certain way to fit a certain mold.” I shouldn’t have really believed that I had to. It feels so good to see someone being able to be who they are and embrace it.”
This exhibit is designed to introduce fans and newcomers to the world of emo music. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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Greg Harris says emo musicians could someday be inducted into the Hall of Fame. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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Hopeless Records CEO Posen believes supporting artists like Youssef and Sweet Pill and helping them truly connect with their fans is essential to moving the genre and his label forward. states.
“We want to be better at what we do. We don’t think of ourselves as a record label. We think of ourselves as a team that helps artists develop their careers. ,” says Posen. “Anyone who feels like they don’t have a home is desperate, and our community is that home.”
And now that community is based at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. But will Hopeless and other artists from pop-punk and emo labels achieve their ultimate status – Hall of Famers? It states that you should not.
Louis Posen and Greg Harris embrace while viewing the Rock Hall exhibit. NPR’s Dustin Franz Hide caption
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“When I started here, people used to say, I can’t believe Stevie Ray Vaughan isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I can’t believe Rush isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I can’t believe Tina Turner isn’t on it as a solo artist. Guess what? They’re all on it.”
So give it some time. And whether that happens or not, emo kids, past and present, will always have the music and the memories.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony show will be streamed on ABC and Disney+ on October 19th at 7pm ET.
If you can’t get enough, listen to the All Things Emo playlist that NPR’s Brianna Scott put together for this article.
