For author Paige Owens, penning her debut book 500 Essential Pop-Punk Albums has been a dream. Published via Ruffian Books, the book acts as a guide to a genre that has taken off in the mainstream rock world since the start of its rebellious roots in the 1970s to its influence in modern music. Zooming from her home in Ohio, Owens is excited to chat about her latest venture in the publishing world. At nearly four pounds, the collection is the ultimate anthology for any seasoned pop-punk music fan. Whether a fan of established pop-punk groups such as Fall Out Boy or Simple Plan or a newcomer who connects to a new generation of artists such as Machine Gun Kelly or Maggie Lindemann, there is something for everyone.
Owens’ path to music journalism started early in life—She told her mom that she wanted to be the editor-in-chief of Alternative Press Magazine at 10 years old and diligently took steps to achieve her goal, launching her music journalism career in 2015 as a freelancer before earning her BA in Journalism from Pennsylvania State University in 2016. She is the current editorial & digital marketing director of Idobi Network and former editor-in-chief of Alternative Press. She is also the author of 500 Essential Pop-Punk Albums and 500 Essential Emo Albums, both released via Ruffian Books. She was a contributing editor on The Big Book of Emo Album Covers, released by Alternative Press Books in 2019. Based in Cleveland, OH, she has been a fan of the scene since her first pop-punk show in 2008.
This was not the end of publishing for Owens—The author has another book on the way titled 500 Essential Emo Albums, being released in January. On 500 Essential Emo Albums, Owens adds “From the roots of the Washington D.C. hardcore scene—with pioneers like Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty, and the first all-female emo act Fire Party—to the confessional intensity of Jimmy Eat World and American Football and the heart-wrenching grit of The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance and In Love and Death by The Used, 500 Essential Emo Albums compiles all of the genre’s mainstream and deep cut moments into one book.
This expansive collection showcases the albums that forged emo’s legacy and will be a must-have for lifelong elder and novice emo fans alike.” As the genre continues to twist and turn, experiencing an ebb and flow of popularity and relevance in modern culture and social media platforms like TikTok, 500 Essential Emo Albums explores the records that defined and redefined emo across the decades. From its post-hardcore roots to its 2000s mainstream takeover and now to its DIY resurgence marked by raw, intimate self-expression, this collection captures the records that shaped emo’s impact on the music world—and, more importantly, its fans.
Owens sat down with New Noise to chat about her new book 500 Essential Pop-Punk Albums, her journey in the music industry, her love for the alternative community, and her upcoming book 500 Essential Emo Albums set to be released in January 2025.
How did your relationship with Ruffian Books and the path to writing a book on rock music start?
Essentially, Mike Shea, who I had worked under at Alternative Press for years—He and I stayed close after he sold the company, and I had left. We got together in January or February of 2022, and he started telling me about Ruffian Books. I loved the idea, and I wanted to be a part of it. I love being an editor for Mike, and I loved being a part of his projects. We had started talking with Tim Segal, another Alternative Press writer, about a massive book called Anarchy in the Studio,”and its focus was on 1970s punk. That book grew beyond what its original iteration was meant to be. When it started taking on a life of its own, we knew that it would take us longer to get that history cemented down and had to correct some history. From that expansion, Mike had the idea to do something like the 500 Essential Pop-Punk Albums book.
In the beginning, it was meant to be 250 albums, and it was pretty easy getting those 250 down. We looked at it and said, ‘We need to go way beyond what we did at Alt Press.’ so it went from 250 to 300 to 400. Then it was like ‘Fuck it. If we’re already at 400, let’s just round it up and do 500.
What was the process of writing 500 Essential Pop-Punk Albums like for you?
It took a couple of months. We went back and forth on artists and albums to be included for a while. One of the things that was important to us while putting this book together was the definition of essential. There are albums in the book that are essential because you think of pop-punk when you hear Blink-182, Sum 41, and Green Day. That’s great, but some of the albums were included as essential not because they’re the most well-known but because of the messaging, diversity, and the inclusivity and the push forward for this new generation of artists and listeners. That was important when we were finalizing all of this.
Congrats on publishing a book! Who and what helped you take on such a big task?
I’m so happy to work with and under Mike Shea because he does foster talent and he’s so encouraging but also so knowledgeable. There are things that he would remind me of, and it was so cool because some of these things we’re talking about are things that were happening when you and I were children. It was nice to be able to have that perspective from somebody who lived in that period and was so ingrained in the community. Yes, I was on Napster and MySpace, but I was a child using it. Mike Shea was an integral part of the music community and saw the effects of MySpace on the industry as a whole, artistry, and the release system. To be able to have those conversations with him, to fully understand the breadth of what was happening in the community back then was important. I was a member of the community, and he was a member of the industry, so to be able to hear those perspectives was so helpful.
I’m very appreciative of every person who allowed me to pick their brains for this book and talk to me about their differing experiences of what this community looked like while it was going through these changes and shifts. A lot of friends, a lot of industry friends, made this possible. I could not have done this without Mike, all of my friends in the industry, the people I work with at Idobi Radio whom I’ve talked to at length about these things, members of my previous Alt Press team, my mom who got me into music, and my husband, who’s a massive music fan and loves this community just as much as I do.
How did you turn off the noise that can accompany writing a book about rock as a woman in the music industry?
At that point, it was just noise in my head. Nobody knew about the book. It wasn’t like it was something solid for me to latch onto. I never really had a lot of that at Alt Press. I never really got people who would be like ‘Fuck that girl; fuck that writer.’ It’s not lost on me that I did get very lucky. I got brought onto Alt Press when I was 23. I was fresh out of college, and I got lucky.
At the end of the day, I have to give myself credit. I was determined when I was in school, and I moved to different places to take opportunities that I thought would get me to where I wanted to be, which was Alternative Press. So when I started to think about how to get past all of the theoretical noise in my head, I had to remind myself that I had been saying that I wanted to be in this industry and be part of this community since I was 10 years old. I was telling my mom from when I was 10 years old that I wanted to be the editor-in-Chief of Alternative Press Magazine. I didn’t become that because I knew somebody. I worked hard for that. I need to remind myself that the opportunities that I am afforded, I have worked hard for them. I decided that I wasn’t going to let the theoretical noise and the potential of people not liking what I had to say or the albums that I had selected get to me.
The best thing to do was to be authentic. I love this community. It’s all I do with my life. I work full-time in music, and after I get off of my full-time job, I go and write my books and edit. No part of my life isn’t wrapped around this community. There will be people that say I’m stupid or I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about or think I don’t belong there, and that’s OK. At the end of the day, I know that I do.
I hope that what people can take from this collection is that the space is changing. It’s changing for the better, and I think we have to keep pushing that positivity and optimism and pushing for the discovery of new music and stop thinking it’s this blueprint of Blink-182 and Green Day. They are essential, but they’re not the end-all be-all, and we need to stop looking at these genres and saying they’ve already peaked or that they’re dying. It’s so alive, and it’s flourishing. As music industry people, consumers, and concertgoers we need to be open-minded and realize what these artists are doing is essential. It just might not be essential in the way that you think.
You’re working on a second collection titled 500 Essential Emo Albums. What can you tell us about it?
Each album will have a little write-up underneath the photo. I’m super excited because I love pop-punk, but I love emo more. If I had to pick one to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be emo, I’m sorry. (laughs) The biggest challenge of doing 500 Essential Emo Albums has been listening to emo music 24/7, and it’s some fucking sad shit. It’s sad but fun.
Follow Paige Owens on Instagram to keep up with her in the future.
Photo courtesy of Paige Owens
