chemical-x out of New Jersey who formed in late 2020 have been gaining a lot of momentum recently with a relentless do it yourself approach which includes three cross country US tours and the release of their latest album “Is This Tomorrow?” which came out on Creep Records back in June. The entire band contributed replies to this interview which took place in mid-August just after they arrived back home from their latest tour that saw them play 29 shows in a month’s time that included stops in not your everyday punk towns like Shiprock, NM, Yuma, AZ, Pocatello, ID, and Grand Junction, CO. Their new album absolutely RIPS with a blazing fast yet clean sound that should make chemical-x a lot of people’s new favorite up and coming punk band. chemical-x is: Adam Avila; vocals, Jaden Mangino; guitar, Scott Mangino; drums, J.C. Baltodano; bass. Lead photo by: Face Photo. Graphics by: Jeff Snapshot.
IE: The new chemical- x album that came out in June is called “Is This Tomorrow?” For someone reading this who has never heard of the band before what can you tell them about the band and in particular the new album?
Adam: We always wanted to be the band we never saw. We want to play with as much power, honesty and integrity as we can. The album is a refined version of the sound we’ve been crafting for five years now. Pure aggression mixed in with a good amount of melody. Our message has always been to be true to yourself and think for yourself. Don’t allow yourself to be told “no”. “Is This Tomorrow?” clocks in at just under 20 minutes, with 12 songs. Each song is a reflection of us and where we were at when we wrote it. They all range from interpersonal falling outs to the monotony of everyday life. Our single, “Going Through The Motions” is about exactly that. Refusing to live a life you don’t want, and refusing to live your life behind a desk, chasing a dream that you were sold when in reality, it really was never there to begin with.
IE: Leading up to your “Daze Of Hate” album in 2025 you had a long string of singles and EP’s but the band has now gone back to back with two longer releases averaging around 20 minutes between the two of them. Would you say the band right now is in a creative sweet spot with ideas just flowing?
Adam: I would say so. Even when we aren’t actively sitting down and writing we’re always listening to new things or noodling around on our instruments and saying “Hmmm… that could work somewhere.” and having new experiences that we can write about. Touring helps with that part.
(opens in new tab)IE: Can you take a guess as to how many new songs there are either completed or being worked on since the new album came out?
Adam: Since we left so shortly after the album was released, we haven’t had much time to sit down and write some new songs. Ideas come and go, but the good stuff takes time and attention to detail. But like I said, all of us are always finding and seeing something new that inspires us. The album dropped on June 20th and we left for tour on July 7th, returned home on August 7th, and have spent the last week just getting back into the groove of home life. We plan to start writing again for the next LP real soon.
IE: That tour that you recently completed started in Kentucky of all places. Kind of an odd jump off point for a band from New Jersey. Can you talk about setting this whole thing up and do you have any words of advice for bands that are looking to do similar touring?
Adam: We’ve always booked our own tours and we wanted to start off somewhere we hadn’t firmly placed our boots on the ground before. We took a few months to sit down and route it out and with the power of the internet, we posted in Facebook groups, subreddits, DM’d local acts and promoters on Instagram and were lucky enough to have it all come to fruition. This tour was just as great as the last. We returned to some old spots as well as some new spots we’d never hit before. A word to bands wanting to tour, you can do it. There are plenty of avenues to find local acts and venues and each of them is in the same boat you’re in: They just want to play badass music with their friends. Whether it’s rock music, blues, or whatever genre you’re in, there are like-minded people out there doing the same thing.
IE: I love looking at flyers for long tours and seeing if bands play towns that are not always looked at as hotbeds for punk and hardcore. And you had a bunch of them this time out. Were there places that you may have not expected a crazy turnout or crowd response that sort of snuck up and surprised you all?
Adam: Colorado and Idaho! There are so many killer bands from all over the country, but when we got to those states the first time around we weren’t sure what to expect. But there was a great crowd in both states that went absolutely nuts. We loved Colorado so much we’re going back in September for a few days.
IE: Away from the stage and playing music what were some of the highlights from this trip that will stay with you for a long time?
JC: There are many things, the one that makes me the happiest is that we have met fans all around the country. It is surreal to believe that there are people across the country listening to our music. It always seemed like a dream but seeing it in person really is something else. It makes it all that more worth it.
IE: Any crazy, scary or funny stories that you would like to go public here?
JC: One for me was in the state of California. We played two shows in one night and they were fantastic! Outside the venue a guy was doing drugs in his car. Once I got up he started eyeing me down and got up asking me if we had an issue? I walked away… but inside the venue I realized there was spit all over my hair and my shirt… Went outside to find him and he was long gone that bastard.
IE: Fav things you had to eat while on this tour?
JC: Everyone will agree with me on this! At Stay Gold in Oakland, our friend and photographer Kevin Chica bought us a brisket platter. Smoked brisket, beef links, BBQ ribs, and a bunch of appetizers. Seriously, the best thing we have eaten in the history of every tour we have done. Especially coming from weeks of living off of McChickens and Taco Bell.
IE: Worst sleeping arrangement?
JC: Man sleeping in that van really is an art. Three people in the back and one in the front. The front person lays across the passenger and driver seats while the belt buckle digs into your rib, or you lean the driver seat back and hope you are able to close your eyes. For the three guys in the back, one takes a bench and the other two sleep on the floor shoulder to shoulder. I gotta say, sleeping in that van especially when it’s hot outside can be torture.
IE: When you got back home and into your own beds did you or the other members of the band have more of a sense of what the future of this band could end up being?
Scott: Oh, totally. Every time that we go out on these week-long journeys, we have a bigger itch to get back out on the road by the time we get home. We’re extremely hungry to play and to spread the message about chemical-x, and to keep making new fans and friends. We’ve done three U.S. tours now, multiple regional tours, and weekenders. We’re trying to stay as active as we possibly can. The more places we play, the more cool people we meet, the more great bands we play with… they will all allow us to keep doing what we’re doing (putting ourselves on tour) until we’ve got the help and means to move on to bigger and better shows, and hopefully tours. We have been nothing but consistent in our past five years as a band, and we don’t plan on losing that consistency any time soon.
IE: What bands that came before you would you say helped mold what chemical-x is today either sonically.. in your message, the way you carry yourselves or a combination of all of these things?
Scott: Bands like The Ramones, The Descendents, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks have all helped mold our band in one way or another. Whether it be the attitude that we have towards playing our instruments, the ways in which we have gone about putting pretty much all of our tours together (DIY style), the ways in which we tour in general (four guys cramped in a van, living in the van, booking as many shows that we possibly can all around the country in the time we are able to stay out on tour), and pretty much the idea that we play the type of music that we want to play. Regardless of what’s popular, regardless of what we are being told we should do. We owe so much to these bands, and they have most definitely shaped who and what we are today.
IE: Do your parents, siblings and or close relatives keep tabs on chemical-x and what kind of feedback do they give you if so?
Scott: All of our family members are super supportive in what we’re trying to do, and always have been. Of course, when we were much younger and just starting out in the band, there were questions, doubts, and concerns about what we all truly wanted to do with our futures. We just kept putting music out, kept pushing ourselves to become better musicians, kept booking tours (that just kept becoming bigger and more expansive)… pretty much all of our family members have now seen what we’ve been able to accomplish so far as a band, and are all in agreement that we’ve put way too much of our time and effort into the band for us to quit. Not that we had ANY plans on doing so. Our parents are always coming to our shows, supporting us at the shows as well as while we’re on tour. Sometimes that help is financial, sometimes it is emotional… wearing our merch (although it could be a bit embarrassing haha). Our parents, or at least one parent of each of us, are responsible for introducing us to punk and or rock and roll. They planted the seeds and they didn’t even know it at the time.
IE: How did the name chemical-x come to be? Who thought it up and what exactly is the meaning behind it?
Jaden: The name “chemical-x” came from my love of cartoons. I thought of the name one day when I channel-surfed past the intro to Cartoon Network’s “Powerpuff Girls”. Simply because I thought it was a name with staying power. With the right artistic stylization, I think that most people familiar with the show would immediately recognize the fact that our logo is somewhat of an intentionally-made easter egg. Those who don’t recognize this tend to ask us if the “X” is a symbol of our straight edge identification, which I can verify it is not. We do not glorify or romanticize the usage of drugs in our music, music videos, or social media presence. The name doesn’t really have a deeper meaning behind it. I just thought it sounded cool… and looked even cooler with the finalized logo.
OUR USUAL “INTERESTING FACT ABOUT THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BAND” QUESTION NETTED A WIDE RANGE OF RESULTS SO WE WILL WRAP IT UP IN A SHORT SUMMARY DESCRIBED BELOW:
WHEN THE BAND STARTED IN 2020 THE BAND MEMBER AGES WERE: JADEN: 20, ADAM: 19, SCOTT: 18 AND JC: 16. ADAM LIKES “COMIC BOOKS AND COOL OLD TOYS” WHILE J.C. LIKES TO COOK AND ALSO BARTENDS. SCOTT WAS ABLE TO PLAY “MYAGE” WITH THE DESCENDENTS AT THEIR WELLMONT THEATRE SHOW IN MONTCLAIR, NJ ON AUGUST 2ND, 2025. SCOTT HOLDS OUT HOPE OF A CHEMICAL X OPENING SLOT ON A FUTURE DESCENDENTS TOUR… CLICK HERE(opens in new tab) TO WATCH A VIDEO FROM THAT SHOW. SCOTT DESCRIBED THE EXPERIENCE AS “LIKE THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE”. SCOTT’S BROTHER JADEN IS AN AVID COLLECTOR AND SELF-ACCLAIMED CONNOISSEUR OF VINTAGE ITEMS. “I’VE BEEN ADDING TO MY 80’S NINTENDO PARAPHERNALIA HOARD SINCE I WAS 10 OR 11 YEARS OLD AND I’VE BEEN CONSISTENTLY ADDING TO MY PHYSICAL MUSIC COLLECTION FOR ALMOST THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN SURROUNDED BY UNIQUE AND INTERESTING COLLECTIONS OF PHYSICAL MEDIA AND MY COLLECTIONS ARE SOMETHING I’VE ALWAYS TAKEN GREAT PRIDE IN.”
CLICK HERE(opens in new tab) FOR MULTIPLE CHEMICAL X LINKS INCLUDING STREAMING OF THEIR NEW ALBUM “IS THIS TOMORROW?”, MERCH AND MORE. CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THEIR RECENTLY RELEASED MUSIC VIDEO FOR “GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS” 
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