What is it about early-aughts rock that makes the transition to coffee business owner so seamless? Hawthorne Heights frontman JT Woodruff has Greenhaus Coffee, former Spoken bass player Jon Allen opened a little known roastery in Arkansas by the name of Onyx Coffee Lab, and Millennial guitar god Paul Waggoner of Between the Buried and Me is the owner of North Carolinaโs Nightflyer Roastworks. Whatever it isโmaybe itโs the dedication or the willingness to lock yourself in a room alone and do the same repetitive task over and over again until you get really good at itโthe Gen-X/Elder-Millennial-rock-musician-to-coffee-guy pipeline has never been stronger.
If you know that last name, youโve pretty much outed yourself as prog- and extreme music-friendly (but not pop bands who call themselves prog) and are the target audience for this very story. Benjamin Weinman, a founding member of the mathcore/metalcore band Dillinger Escape Plan is opening up Alkemy Coffee Co in Flemington, New Jersey.
If you don’t know what any of these words mean, the video below should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the band and the genre.
I’m not too ashamed to admit (yes I am) that I’m at least 100 of that videos 1.7 million views.
As reported by My Central Jersey, Alkemy is a collaborative effort between Weinman and his fiancee Valentina Killough and will be taking over the space previously occupied by a different coffee shop, Factory Fuel Co. “Crafted with care and a touch of sorcery,” per their Instagram, the soon-to-open shop will rely on Killough’s training as certified aromatherapist and herbalist and will offer a blend of coffee, tea, aromatherapy, wellness workshops, and even live music, which is a little more threatening than one would normally expect from a cafe (see video above).
The coffee for Alkemy will be provided by Golden Lantern Coffee Roasters (featured here as part of Build-Outs of Coffee feature series), an Orange County roaster co-owned by Misha Mansoor of progressive metal/djent band Periphery and frequent tourmate of Weinman’s. (The pipeline is hummin’.)
The grand opening was originally scheduled for this weekend, with festivities planned for April 6th and 7th, but as it so often goes with opening a cafe, the date has been pushed back due to “various setbacks beyond [their] control.”
So until then, you’ll have to get your Weinman fill by catching him on tour with iconic skate punk band Suicidal Tendencies, where he has joined on as the rhythm guitar player, or in Chicago in August for the Dillinger Escape Plan’s show celebrating the 25th anniversary of their breakout album Calculating Infinity.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.
