Everyone loves firefighters, even hardcore punks! And thus, in that spirit, comes the Forever Wildland Festival, organized by wildland firefighter Brandon “Robo” Robles. The festival— which is to be held on Saturday, November 8 at Scribble in Highland Park in Los Angeles, California—promises a packed night of ferocious hardcore punk, with Ventura County melodic punk act Romper, Los Angeles-based hardcore act Sweat, and fellow Los Angeles-based zen hardcore band Monk.
The entire festival benefits Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, an organization that’s been fighting for proper pay and benefits, job classification, and overall wellbeing of wildland firefighters, people who put their lives at great risk every fire season to protect the forests. With such a worthy cause and such a stacked lineup, the festival promises to be one of the biggest and most exciting events of this fall in Southern California.
We had a chat with Robo to talk a little bit about the Forever Wildland Festival and his overall work to advocate for firefighters.
How did Forever Wildland come about and how did you get involved with the charity Grassroots Wildland Firefighters?
Forever Wildland came out of a few years of experimenting with live events. What started as a comic book reading and panel discussion grew into a live comedy show, then a live music show, and now a yearly hardcore event. It all just grew naturally, piece by piece.
Along the way, we started connecting with members of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters through our shared love of writing and our drive to do right by our fellow wildland firefighters. Their mission — fighting for better pay, housing, and mental health support — lined up perfectly with what the comic and the event are all about, so working together just made sense.
How is the We Move Mountains With Spoons graphic novel tied into Forever Wildland?
They’re tied together because I created both. The comic came out of a really hard time in my life, when I was healing from an injury. It became a way to show the outside world that wildland firefighters are just as human as anyone else — we struggle, we get lost in the off-season, and we deal with the same messy stuff everyone else does.
For me, it captured that alienation you feel after spending seven or eight months on a crew, living for the job, fighting fire — and then suddenly the season ends. You go from the highest of highs to that inevitable crash when the weather changes and you’re not needed anymore.
The comic kept me connected to my old crew and to the larger fire community. It also turned me into more of an advocate for fellow wildland firefighters, which is how I connected with Grassroots Wildland Firefighters. They fight for better pay, housing, and mental health services — the same issues the comic and the event both shine a light on. So it felt natural that Forever Wildland and the comic would go hand in hand, because those causes are at the heart of everything I do.
What are the criteria you look for when looking for bands to play this festival?
I dive deep — recommendations from buddies in the scene, bands I catch at shows, or even ones I stumble across online. If I hear a band that sounds killer, I’ll just reach out and see if they’re down.
What makes it exciting is that Forever Wildland is still growing. The bands we book now are growing too, and hopefully we’ll keep crossing paths as both they and the festival get bigger. The idea is to showcase music that rips, give newer bands a platform, and build relationships that last for years.
It seems like much of what you do is related to firefighters, who are always thought of as the more noble civil servants compared to, for example, the police. There’s the old joke that “Nobody ever wrote a song called ‘Fuck the Fire Department.’” Why the focus on supporting firefighters?
A retired firefighter once told me he’d “hated the cops since before it was cool,” which is kind of an old joke because there’s always been a rivalry between fire and police.
For me though, the focus on wildland firefighters comes from knowing what it feels like to be forgotten. Most of us are seasonal, so when the season ends, people collect unemployment, go back to school, or work whatever jobs they can get. That “what now?” feeling hits hard.
It takes a community of checking in and taking care of each other to make sure we come back the next season if we choose to. That’s why I’ve held onto this motto for years: “I’m going to make sure no one forgets us.”
There are so many stories in this community — beautiful, painful, joyful, and terrifying — that rarely get told. If Forever Wildland and the comic help even one person feel seen, then it’s worth it.
What’s your pitch for why people would want to check out Forever Wildland?
Forever Wildland started as a way to make sure wildland firefighters weren’t forgotten, but it’s just as much about the music. This is a hardcore show through and through — loud, raw, and built for the crowd. Every year we’re getting bigger, putting new and upcoming bands alongside bigger names.
We’re not going anywhere. Forever Wildland is more than a show — it’s a growing community. Come for the music, stay for the cause, and be part of something that’s only going to get louder.
Get your tickets for Forever Wildland here. Follow We Move Mountains With Spoons on Instagram for future updates.
