From the outside, Belmont native Alex Dow admits a hardcore punk show looks violent. But the community within the heart-hammering chords is one where he says anyone can feel at home.
“It’s the purest form of music in the sense that, while there’s a stage and an audience, and it looks violent and crazy…It’s coming from a place of ‘everyone is equal,’” Dow said.
Dow is the guitarist of Fiddlehead, a Boston-based punk band that formed in 2013. Fiddlehead is a “supergroup,” meaning the band members are all a part of other notable music groups as well. The other members of the band include Nick Hinsch, Pat Flynn, Alex Henery, and Shawn Costa. Pat Flynn, the lead vocalist, is a history teacher at Lexington High School.
The group met at shows across the city, coming together over their shared love for the music. Since the release of its first EP in 2015, the band has garnered millions of streams across Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Fiddlehead wrapped up a tour in Europe and are now playing shows across the United States, with a concert slated for November in Boston.
“The mission statement is truly friends getting together and playing [and] writing music, playing it live to people is kind of secondary to the creative process,” Dow said.
The band’s intrepid following has led to more shows and listeners, but Dow said it isn’t how they define success. Through its shows, the band has raised funds for charity and also runs a toy drive for local children in need. Fiddlehead has become a dominant presence in the world of punk — but that’s not what they set out to do.
“That’s not the dream of the band. We’re not trying to be a career band per se, but I would say it’s turned out that we are,” he said. “I like to call it ‘hobby plus.’”
Dow first picked up a guitar when he was nine years old at Belmont Music. Growing up, he’d travel into the city for hardcore shows where he met people across the state who shared his passion for music. In small venues in Allston, Brighton, and Cambridge, he learned what it means to create and perform hardcore music.
“This music community is really like it’s made off of a power chord,” Dow said. “It’s just a really do-it-yourself mentality.”
New Music From Fiddlehead
Fiddlehead released its latest EP “Baby I’ll Change” in June. The song on the EP by the same name has garnered nearly half a million streams on Spotify since its release.
The song “Baby I’ll Change” explores grief and the loss of a friend, serving as a tribute to Boston punk scene staple Jimmy Flynn, who died in 2023 after a decades-long battle with addiction.
“He was always just a source of inspiration and encouragement for me, honestly, since he was one of the early friends I made outside of Belmont High School in the music community,” Dow said.
The song’s music video was produced by Sam Hamad, a childhood friend of Dow’s and a fellow Belmont High School graduate. Primarily featuring Pat Flynn, the video depicts an Alcoholics Anonymous group, as well as recognizable shots of Boston’s MBTA Red Line. Dow’s father, Jim, also makes a short cameo in the video.
For Hamad, now residing in Holyoke, the video was a chance to tell a meaningful story and reunite with an old friend.
“It’s a total dream,” Hamad said. “Alex and I just go way back, and it’s hard to find time when you’re older to just kind of play around and have fun and to collaborate. It gave us a forum to do that, kind of like we’re back in high school, and that was really, really meaningful.”
