Philadelphia pop-punk veterans The Wonder Years are set to make their long-awaited return to Australia this month, marking their first visit to our shores in over seven years. The tour will see them delivering a career-spanning set at venues across the country, with support from California punk favourites Joyce Manor and rising Melbourne indie-punk artist Suzi.
For nearly two decades, The Wonder Years have remained one of the most emotionally resonant and influential bands in the pop-punk scene. With landmark albums like The Upsides (2010), Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing (2011), and The Hum Goes on Forever (2022), they’ve consistently evolved while staying true to their deeply personal and anthemic songwriting. Their latest single, “Junebug”, proved they’re still at the top of their game.
Joining them on tour are Joyce Manor, a band that have spent over a decade cultivating a deeply passionate fanbase with their high-energy, melody-driven punk. Fresh off a sold-out US tour celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their breakout album Never Hungover Again, Joyce Manor have maintained their reputation as one of the most exciting live acts in the scene.
Ahead of their Australian tour, Rolling Stone AU/NZ brought together The Wonder Years vocalist Dan Campbell and Joyce Manor’s Chase Knobbe and Matt Ebert for a packed interview.
The long-time friends and tourmates sat down to discuss everything from their first bands and worst jobs to their mutual love of sandwiches, their chances of survival in Jurassic Park, and, of course, what fans can expect when they hit Australian stages from March 27th (see full dates below).
The Wonder Years Interview Joyce Manor
Dan Campbell (The Wonder Years): Y’all are from Long Beach but, I believe, came to Philly to make Never Hungover Again with Joe Reinhart. For the Australians reading, that would be like living in Perth and coming to Brisbane to make an album. My question is: what was the best part about living in the best city in the world for, presumably, a few weeks to make the album?
Matt Ebert (Joyce Manor): We actually ended up making the record with Joe in LA, but we did do some tracking/demoing in Philly early on in making the record. We stayed with the Algernon guys at their warehouse in the middle of winter, and I was freezing my ass off the entire week but we partied every night and had SO much fun. Philly has excellent food and really cool bars, but the people (and all the lifelong friends we’ve made there) are what make it really special.
Chase Knobbe (Joyce Manor): The best part about being in that city for so long to work on that recording was that Philly will always feel like a home away from home to me. My routine at home consists of having a coffee, finding a sandwich, and enjoying a beer so it didn’t take long to feel like I established a similar day-to-day in Philly. I’m forever grateful to everybody who spent time with us or showed us around in that time, we have always felt super welcome at the warehouse and in Philly generally.
D: How many 10-year-olds would it take to kick your ass?
M: Probably 3-5. I can probably hold off two but kids are really good at working together, and if they decide they are going to take me down then I have to believe that they will.
C: One reasonably strong 10-year-old could probably kick my ass if they have enough hate in their heart.
D: If Jurassic Park was a real place, how long would you survive and why?
M: Open ground seems like a no-go and a T-Rex can eat you out of a tree no problem, so I’m going to be looking for some kind of cave to build shelter in. Would not be surprised if the Raptors take me out in the first few days though!
C: That survival situation seems pretty exhausting and horrific honestly. I am secretly hoping (and probably likely) to be an early/sudden death i.e. the lawyer hiding in the restroom or Newman from Seinfeld getting sprayed in the face by that acid-shooting dinosaur.
D: What was the name and genre of your first-ever band? Bonus points for song titles.
M: In 9th grade my friends and I started a band that was called Fick for some reason. We wanted to play ska-punk but the guy we found to sing and play lead guitar was into prog and classic rock so it ended up sounding really freaky. I played a baaaaad Casio keyboard through a Crate combo amp for this band, and we did play one show at a coffee shop. Sadly, the band didn’t work out!
C: In the summer of 6th grade my friend Mike and I started a band called Fat and Happy. I didn’t know how to tune my guitar and we basically jammed on “Seven Nation Army” and the Bad Brains’ reggae cover of “Day Tripper” from their live album OVER and OVER again until we eventually got a bass player and started writing our own songs. One song was called “Talk Like a Pirate Day” and it was horrible.
D: What’s the worst job you ever had?
M: It probably wasn’t that bad of a job but when I was 14 I worked at Taco Bell for a couple weeks. It was right by my school so I would start work immediately after 6th period and all my classmates would come in for food right after – I was too young to be back in the kitchen so I basically just mopped and swept up after the jocks in my class. I’m proud of myself for getting into the working world as young as I did, but it was a drag at the time!
C: When I was 18 I was so broke that I dropped out of community college to get a job at Jamba Juice in Hermosa Beach. I had to wear a giant smoothie costume and pass out samples in the parking lot on my first day. We were also expected to learn specific cheers to yell out when somebody tipped or ordered a special. Still the worst job I ever had.
Joyce Manor Interview The Wonder Years
Joyce Manor: Whenever we are in Australia we spend a lot of time watching Rage, the music video channel, and have discovered beloved, legendary Australian bands that are more or less unknown in the States like The Angels and Australian Crawl. Do you guys also watch Rage and do you have a favourite Aussie band?
Dan Campbell (The Wonder Years): I wasn’t familiar with Rage! I guess the closest experience I have to that would either be standing in a record store in Melbourne when “Putting the Dog to Sleep” by The Antlers came on the speakers and [it] instantly became the most beautiful song I’d ever heard. But that’s not an Australian band so I’ll double down on stories and say that seeing WAAX play “Labrador” live at Good Things Fest was one of the most “holy shit” experiences I’ve ever had watching a band for the first time.
JM: Who did you see for your first concert, and where was it?
D: I’m separating “concert” from “show” here because I doubt the readers of this fine publication wanna hear me wax poetic about local hardcore bands. So, for “concert”, it was blink-182, Bad Religion, and Fenix TX in Camden, NJ. My dad’s friend’s kid had an extra ticket and they knew I loved Blink. I initially said no because the anxiety of going to a concert with a kid I’d never met was too much for me, but my parents talked me into it and it shifted the direction of my life. That kid and I started a band where I tried singing for the first time ever, and, twenty five years later, it’s still my whole life.
JM: For those who may not be familiar, Philly is a legendary sandwich town and I’ve never met a Philadelphian who didn’t have opinions on the topic. What is your favourite type of sandwich or sandwich-adjacent food on earth?
D: I could certainly drone on about sandwiches for a while, but I wanna be Hemingway-ian about it, so I’ll just say that the best sandwich I’ve ever had is on the Jersey Shore, which is where Philadelphia goes to the beach. It’s called an “Uncle G” and it’s a chicken cutlet, roasted red peppers, pesto aioli, and parmesan cheese on a sesame seed roll.
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JM: Which Australian animal are you most terrified of?
D: One day, when I was a teenager, my dad had a documentary on TV about the Irukandji jellyfish, and I’ve never fully recovered from seeing it. This motherfucker is under an inch in size and are absolutely venomous enough to kill you. They’re basically impossible to see when you’re swimming so you can’t avoid them. They can shoot the stingers out too, so you don’t even have to touch it. If it doesn’t kill you, it means days of excruciating pain all over your body. The people in the documentary were straight up moaning and saying it was like they were on fire a week after getting stung.
JM: Do you like coming to LA, and if so, what is your idea of a perfect day here?
D: I love LA. A lot like y’all working on an album in Philly, we’ve made three in Orange County and one in LA. We’ve lived for months in Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, and right off Franklin in Hollywood. My perfect day there 100% starts with Kettle Glazed Donuts which make a thing called the Blueberry Cruffin, but only if you call in advance. There’s also a sick Lebanese restaurant called RoRo’s Chicken that I’d hit for lunch. I’m always game to get out to the beach. I’ve almost drowned twice swimming near LA (once at Table Rock and once trying to surf at Sunset Beach), but I still love the water. I know this isn’t cool, but honestly, my favourite thing to do is play shows though. So, in the evening, we’d rip a gig – probably at the Fonda because I like that it has an alley outside for everyone to hang out in. After the show, I’d hit one of the city’s diners for pie and a hang with all our buds. That’s a great day.
The Wonder Years 2025 Australian Tour
With Joyce Manor, Suzi – Tickets
Thursday, March 27th
The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD
Friday, March 28th
King St Bandroom, Newcastle, NSW
Saturday, March 29th
Liberty Hall, Sydney, NSW
Sunday, March 30th
Waves, Wollongong, NSW
Wednesday, April 2nd
Altar, Hobart, TAS
Friday, April 4th
Northcote Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday, April 5th
Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide, SA
Sunday, April 6th
Magnet House, Perth, WA
