In my honest opinion, this current time period is a great time for punk, metal, hardcore and other genres of music that express angst about what’s going on in the world. Police brutality, bigotry, racism and misogyny is only a handful of the millions of issues that need to be addressed and for those who know, punk rock doesn’t shy away from expressing their opinions on social injustice. That is one of the reason why I fell in love with the genre of music; it’s a form of expression that I wasn’t able to articulate at a young age but through the tunes and the lyrics, I was able to relate and form my own opinions of these problems. Anything that was against social norms was my thing, listening to punk rock was right up my alley. Punk isn’t just a genre of music, it’s a way of thinking, it’s way of life.

It was a cloudy Sunday afternoon in Colorado when my girlfriend and I were coming back from Rocky Mountain National Park. On the car ride back to our Airbnb, I wondered if Colorado had a punk store. I can’t tell you where that thought originated from. I can’t tell what what prompted me to have that thought, just know that it all started with a thought. Anyways, I whipped out my phone and asked Siri about “Punk rock stores in Colorado “ and the first store that popped up was Chain Reaction. Immediately, I was intrigued and curious to check out the first, authentic punk rock shop I visited outside of Texas. After eating a sandwich at Schlotzsky’s Deli, we quickly headed over to the store before it closed. I only had a strong 30 minutes to check it out, shop and purchase some merchandise. As I opened the door to the establishment, it felt like I belonged there; patches, vinyls, cassettes, posters and more. It was a punk rock heaven and I didn’t want to leave. Eventually, I left with a couple of shirts, a smile and a bucket of happiness as I walked out the door. The only other punk rock shop I’ve been to was Aaron’s Rock and Roll In Austin, Texas. Since then, every time I went back to Colorado, I had to go to Chain Reaction and at least get something. This year, I was in a mission; I had to find out who owns this wonderful establishment and the story behind it. Early August I walked back in Chain Reaction to do a little shopping. As I went to the cash register I ask the guy if the owner was around to interview with. To my surprise, the guy who was helping me check out was the owner himself, Josh Lent. After a brief introduction, we agreed to meet up the following Monday at the shop to conduct the interview and photoshoot. I felt extra special because they’re closed on Mondays.

Born in Westchester County, New York , Peekskill to be exact, Josh moved to Colorado with his brother Justin when they were very young. He grew up in a little town called Carbondale, located in the Roaring Fork Valley, in between Glenwood and Aspen. His dad was a coal miner and a hippie who was really into The Stones and The Who. His grandparents stayed in New York so they would go back and forth for time to time.

Now and days, Carbondale is a cool, liberal town, but in the late 70’s and into the 80’s, the town consisted of hippies, coal miners and cowboys. A lot of fights broke out between all the drunk cowboy douche bags and the punks.

“It was strange, one of the most beautiful places in the state and in that you have the punk, metal , skate scene. It all blew tourist minds, there was no good reason why it was all there, it just happened “

Josh started to get into metal at an early age, he was introduced to bands like Kiss, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne around the age of 8 or 9. Josh and his brother would go back and forth to New York when they got older and bring back merch from bands like OverKill and Nuclear Assault and other various thrash metal bands. He eventually picked up skateboarding and would often meet at the local park to hang out with guys who were into punk rock and hardcore. When the Kent brothers got into punk, Justin dove right into the genre and stayed in it while Josh went back and forth with punk and metal. He reminisces on the time he was jamming out to Agnostic Front’s “Cause of the Alarm” and in that very same day he shaved his entire head and got combat boots, the whole punk fit. Always a fan on New York Hardcore, the brothers weren’t involved in it the scene, they were just residents there at the time.

With a heavy influence of the New York scene. Josh decided to bring that energy back and formula their own scene in Glenwood. Due to the lack of venues, they would throw shows in the woods and at the Garden Cafe; a small cafe owned by an old punk rock couple that lets bands play there as well. Not only was the scene influenced by the NYHC fashion and sound, it was also influenced by ABC No Rio, an establishment from NY that supported political activism, anarcho politics, anarcho punk, peace punk, etc. During this time, bands from neighboring cities would come through town, play shows and build friendships: Sunny from Donut Crew Records in Boulder, Somalis from Denver, just to name a few. I’m the midst of it, Josh formed a band called F.I.A (Fuck it All). They only had two tapes: the 1st tape sounded like “Tsol and Dead Kennedys put together “ and their 2nd tape sounded like Aus Rotten and Denied.

Things were getting heated in Carbondale/ Glenwood. There was constant acts of violence between the cowboys and punks, drug abuse was skyrocketing. It was getting to the point where cocaine was cheaper than marijuana. A move to Denver was necessary and on October 1, 1995, that’s where Josh crash landed. Justin formed the band Clusterfux prior to Josh’s arrival and asked Josh to join. Josh agreed to join the band. Sunny K asked Josh , prior to joining Clusterfux, if he would be interested in opening for Blank 77, punk band from New Jersey. Josh accepted the offer but didn’t have a band formed just yet. When he joined Clusterfux, he brought it to the band’s attention that he has an offer to open for Blank77. With two weeks of daily practice they opened for Blank 77. Clusterfux was together as a band for 15 years, broke up for 5-6 years then came back together for 3-4 years.

During those times, Clusterfux played a lot of shows in Denver and a countless number of other cities across the nation. The one thing that Josh noticed while being on tour was that majority of the cities had a record stores; Minneapolis & Extreme Noise Records, Las Vegas & Cash for Chaos Records, Southern California with Dr Strange and Radiation Records. Double Entendre Records in Denver was punk destination that was very political/anarcho punk, which ultimately hurt themselves because they didn’t sell enough records. During this time, the scene was small and all ages venues were scarce. Black Raven was an all ages venue but it got shut down. DIY venues like Garageland, Fallen Skateboard House and the Junkyard helped shaped the scene. Blastomat is a DIY, all ages venue that stuck around for 15 years and help solidify the scene. It later changed it’s name to 7 Circle. It had trouble at first, getting shut down by cops and other issues but when Aaron Say took it over and got the correct permits, it became legit and has been striving every since.

“If there is an all ages space, the scene goes up, if the space gets shut down, the scene goes down.”

Fast forward to 2014, Chain Reaction was born. Every since he was young, it has been Josh’s dream to open up his own record store. “It was tough [opening up Chain Reaction] but it wasn’t as tough as it could’ve been”, Josh says. It helped being in a band that toured consistently, getting to know and building relationships with people and other record distros all over the nation. With that many connections, it helped spread the word about Chain Reaction. Val, one of the originators of Chain Reaction who recently moved to France , gave Josh the extra pushed he needed to open up shop. To his surprise, Chain Reaction was placed on the list of top independent record stores nationwide. Customers from all over the U.S make the record store a destination, even corporate businessmen come through and buy vinyls during their business trips. Bringing in bands for other states like The Accused and Faction also helped them gain exposure. Chain reaction is ran by a good groups of people including Justin and coworker/ friend Dean. Josh’s main goal with the store is to keep it around for as long as he can, with his main concern being the unpredictable economy. If you are every in Colorado, esp Denver, make sure your check visit Chain Reaction and grab something! For more information, visit

www.chainreationrecords.com