MAKERS SPACE: JESSE HUBBARD

← Jesse Hubbard Bar Lead at Rye River Social & Creator of Punk Rock + Cocktails

REBEL, REBEL

How one bartender used cocktails to create an ode to punk rock

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Ally Schnaidt

When Henry Rollins—the famously angry and hulk-strong singer of the iconic punk band Black Flag (among many others)— tells you to do something, you should probably do it.

So when Columbus bartender Jesse Hubbard, a life-long fan of all things punk rock, corresponded personally with Rollins over email in early 2020, he made sure to listen closely.

Hubbard, the bar lead at Rye River Social, was able to get in touch with Rollins, as well as many other huge names in the punk scene, not because of music, but because of cocktails.

Hubbard’s the author of Punk Rock + Cocktails, a book for which he created 20 different original cocktails based on 20 of his absolute favorite punk rock albums.

To start the process, he reached out to every band to explain what he was doing, and also to ask for their permission. And guess who got back to him right away?

“Believe it or not, the first person I heard back from was Henry Rollins. Not his manager, not his bandmate, Henry Rollins himself,” Hubbard said. “I remember he said to me, ‘Hey man, I think that’s an awesome idea, go for it, but just so you know, you don’t even ask for permission. I write books all the time and I never do.’ And I was like, yeah, but you’re Henry Rollins, you can do whatever you want.”

For the Rollins Band album “Weight,” Hubbard created a cocktail called Imperfect Truth, which combines rye whiskey, aperol, lemon, and egg white, and—fitting for the imposing Rollins—spicy chili syrup. →

“I tried to capture the essence, the energy of these records that mean so much to me. I wanted to do them justice and pay tribute the best way I know how,” Hubbard said. “ And what do I do? I’m a barman, so I made cocktails to honor them.”

The book, which also features vignettes from Hubbard about his own memories of each band and why they’re meaningful to him, covers nearly 80 pages. It features everything from a bourbon, brown sugar syrup cocktail with smoked applewood for Hot Water Music’s “Caution,” to a bright, fruitforward drink with brandy, rum, pomegranate liquor, peach puree, and pineapple juice for the fast, fun ska album “Hello Rockview” from Less Than Jake.

And while nearly every band he talked with was supportive (excited even), there were still a few punk-specific hurdles that needed to be cleared. First and foremost was the fact that so many classic punk groups identify as straight-edge, meaning they abstain from all drugs and alcohol.

But just like a crafty bartender might switch out top-shelf vodka for the cheap stuff in a drink, Hubbard was able to navigate these situations.

“I was talking to Minor Threat, their management group, and the band is notoriously straightedge. They told me they were a little bit nervous about the whole thing at first,” he said. “So we talked about it and eventually we settled on making a low-proof [low ABV] cocktail for them.” →

↓ Face to Face (We Danced)

→ Noon as Dark as Midnight

↓ Jesse Hubbard's drink creations (L to R) Way Back Maveric, Face to Face (We Danced), & Noon as Dark as Midnight

" Listen, I’m a terrible musician. I’m a failed guitarist, but this has done so much for me. I can live out my rockstar dreams through my book now."

With a volume II currently in the works, Hubbard today finds himself in an interesting (and enviable) position. He’s too modest to use this term himself, but he’s become something of the official punk rock cocktail guy.

One of the bands in his book, the Menzingers, made their drink from “Punk Rock + Cocktails” in a video that was posted to their official Instagram account. He was also contacted by the former drummer of Less Than Jake, who’s forming a ska supergroup called The Inevitables. They’re releasing a surf-themed album later this year and asked him to make a cocktail that will be featured in its insert.

Ultimately, though, Hubbard doesn’t care all that much about the recognition. Sure, it’s fun, he said, but more than anything he’s just glad for the chance to really feel like a part of the punk scene he’s loved and been a part of his whole life, and for the chance to express himself the best way he knows how.

“Listen, I’m a terrible musician. I’m a failed guitarist, but this has done so much for me. I can live out my rockstar dreams through my book now,” he said with a laugh. ♦

POSER: Block 1

A movie dedicated to Columbus’ underground music scene earns a national stage.

↑ Noah Dixon, Creative Director of Loose Films

Ori Segev, Founder and Creative Director of Loose Films

here’s a moment in the movie “Poser,” in which the unassuming Lennon (Sylvie Mix) asks bands to describe their genre for her new podcast about the underground music scene.

“Queer death pop,” says one.

“I’m in a duo; we don’t really identify as a band,” says another.

“Our genre is junkyard bop, or family band,” says someone else. “Like if your really strange relative was a band.”

It would be easy to assume satire here, in this story following a young woman’s attempt to break into Columbus’ creative scene. But the first feature film from Columbus directors Noah Dixon and Ori Segev is more nuanced than that, at once poking fun at the local music scene while also, as Dixon puts it, creating a love letter of sorts to the community both men know and love.

“It’s a mixture of both,” Dixon said.

And while the film heavily features both the sights and sounds of our city’s artists and musicians, it has reached an audience far wider than central Ohio. “Poser” was featured last month at the 2021 Tribeca Festival—one of six films in the U.S. Narrative Competition, which featured work from breakout independent artists from across the country.

It was also one of six films to get accepted into Gotham Film Labs’ mentorship program after Dixon and Segev submitted a rough cut of their project in May. Through that program, they were able to finish the filming process while taking into account feedback from industry professionals outside the Columbus area.

In light of the pandemic’s impact on the music scene, Dixon said it felt good to emerge from lockdown with a film celebrating local music and art. (The brunt of the film was shot pre-pandemic, toward the end of 2019.)

↑Dixon and Segev editing scenes from the film

“We’re just excited that we’re able to show it in front of an audience,” he said.

Though this is the duo’s first feature film together, Dixon and Segev have been working together for years. The 29 year olds started working together on projects after meeting their junior year at Denison University and learned their way around filmmaking by doing music videos and documentaries for area bands.

“That’s also how we met a lot of the bands that are featured in the film,” Segev said.

Some of the prominent local musicians

Dixon and Segev spotlight in “Poser” include Son of Dribble, Joey Aich, Devin Summers, Damn the Witch Siren, and wyd.

Wyd’s self-titled track actually features heavily in the film, after the filmmakers fell in love with the song and wanted to include it.

“It kind of served as inspiration for the film,” Dixon said.

Before they even knew what the story was (Dixon served as screenwriter in addition to working with Segev on directing and editing), the duo knew they wanted to make a film based around the friends they made in Columbus’ underground music world.

They also knew they wanted to build a story around Bobbi Kitten, front woman for Damn the Witch Siren. Both Dixon and Segev were taken with Kitten’s charisma, energy, and comfort on camera while working with her years ago on a music video.

Though Dixon and Segev knew and loved Kitten, they had little knowledge of Sylvie Mix, who they connected with via a shared social circle. The directors had planned to work with an experienced actress for this role, designed to be the antithesis of Kitten. Mix, while a musician, had little experience acting. But after using her for a proof of concept teaser, Segev and Dixon were sold.

“We fell in love with her,” Dixon said. “We couldn’t really imagine anyone else being the character.” ♦

To learn more about “Poser,” visit loosefilms.com/poser