In the midst of Ariana Grande (whoever that is) and Justin Bieber, the old cliché “Rock n’ Roll is dead” lingers and seems to be truer than ever… or is it? Although teenage pop sensations are sweeping our nation, brainwashing our youth and taking over the radio, there is at least one alliance who’s repulsion of this “teen-takeover” has lead them to throw their feet down and say, “No! This sucks,” and that alliance is King Pizza records.

If you haven’t already heard of King Pizza records it won’t be long until you have, actually, now you have. This start up label and “band family” is based in Brooklyn, New York, and it consists of over thirty local bands, which vary across a broad array of music from hard rock, garage rock, to glamour pop. The label focuses on supporting and promoting each band while maybe intentionally or accidentally providing one another with a little friendly competition. Why? To ensure the good rock n’ rollers of New York that Rock n Roll is not dead, and that the label has collectively taken a defibrillator to the chest of the “Frankenstein” that music has become, ensuring that Rock n’ Roll is very much alive.

Greg Hanson is the founder of the label, and the king of pizza himself is a visionary dedicated to preserve the music we all love.

“There are all these bands and nobody is paying attention to them, nobody’s doing anything,” he says, perhaps inspiring the congregation of all the bands on the label.

Hanson runs the label out of his studio apartment in Brooklyn along with his roommate Seth Applebaum who records for King Pizza bands under the name of Ghostload Sound. After everything is recorded Hanson organizes the ordering of tapes. Yes people, tapes, like cassettes. And while many people dig through their junk draws in search of their long lost Walkman, others question the use of the antiquated technology. Tapes are cheap, and to all you people who love throwing the word hipster around without being able to think of a viable definition of such an ambiguous word, don’t worry, each tape comes with a free digital download.

Hanson also curates events for the King Pizza family. His first was a three-day rooftop extravaganza which featured over twenty bands. The festival was held on top of a Brooklyn apartment building, and despite the numerous noise complaints, the police weren’t able to enter the building; only a pizza delivery boy who probably made his monthly salary in that one day. You can also find Hanson hosting shows at King Pizza’s home field, Don Pedros, a dive bar and venue located in Brooklyn. It is here where King Pizza showcases take place, where friends gather, support each other’s bands, get drunk, eat tacos and rock!

So for those who think that Rock n’ Roll is dead, I pity you. There are plenty of artists—people who write their own music—still impacting the underground music scene. And people bash the word underground, but it is the root of modern music; real music; un-phased by auto-tune and greedy record labels who capitalize on the naïve public; who force feed people what should be cool, what they should listen to and what they should wear. While in hindsight, they don’t care about the music as they take your money and give you the middle finger.

If there is a God, he will give strength to the people listening to top-forty shenanigans to stop! It’s devastating that people who were captivated by bands like The Beatles would even allow this on their radio and on their televisions. And I am not alone in saying that I have a debt to repay to not only Greg Hanson but to the entire King Pizza community. Hanson and the King Pizza family supported my own band and gotten us some great exposure, and because of which I have had the privilege of befriending people that I wouldn’t have ordinarily met on my own. And for that I am grateful.