Bethlehem’s DIY music scene creates connection through the community 

Music is more than just pleasure for Bethlehem’s DIY music scene — it’s community, connection and expression.

Shamus McGroggan, one of the producers and founders of Tape Swap radio, said he defines DIY rock as anti-establishment, meaning they don’t use any major agencies or labels, and pro-neighbor, with members of the community supporting each other. 

In 2013, Matt Molchany, co-founder of the radio station, told McGroggan about the Bethlehem music scene, and soon after the two started Tape Swap radio.

McGroggan was working for the WXPN radio station in Philadelphia at the time, which highlighted indie alternative music on the “Y-Rock on XPN” which was discontinued in 2010.

“When they discontinued that, I kind of took stock and I said ‘Well, they do a great job of focusing on the Philadelphia music scene’ and I thought it would be great to do a series focused on the Lehigh Valley, where I’m from, focused on all those bands,” McGroggan said. 

Tape Swap began as a radio show on WMUH located on the campus of Muhlenberg College in Allentown. 

After some trial and error, they settled on recording live sessions of local bands in Molchany ’s studio and airing them on the show, as well as putting them on the Tape Swap website.

In over 10 years of operation, Tape Swap has featured local DIY bands spanning genres from punk rock to psychedelic rock to anti-folk. 

“I was raised in the Lehigh Valley and growing up, the impression I got was that there wasn’t a whole lot going on here music wise,” McGroggan said. “When I met Matt Molchany and I started looking into doing Tape Swap radio, he opened up a world to me that really let me know there actually was stuff going on here. I just didn’t know about it.”

McGroggan said Tape Swap radio has expanded beyond a radio show, to meet the needs of the community.

In collaboration with local illustrators for cover art, Tape Swap ran physical cassette releases for many of their live recordings, until it became too much for their small team.

The station began hosting live shows in 2014, starting at The FunHouse and expanding their venue options to a stage at the Allentown Arts Fest from 2014 to 2019.

“Every show that we threw also raised money for community causes, and we raised over $20,000 for causes with our shows over the years, which we’re pretty proud of,” McGroggan said. 

Giving back to the community is a central aspect of the DIY scene for Leo Motolese, a member of the band “Felt Rite” and operator of the The Slop Sink, a DIY venue ran out of his backyard. All profits from the shows go to the performing artists.

Motolese said the name, The Slop Sink, is derived from an old utility sink in the house where the shows are held, which was full of old paint and other gunk.

The Slop Sink began serious operations last year in 2025, but Motolese has been involved in the DIY community for around 10 years. He played shows in the basements of Lehigh student’s homes with his band when he was 18 years old. 

Motolese said the local DIY scene is deeply supportive, with venues like the Icehouse, The FunHouse and National Sokols, hosting shows for bands to perform.

“When you see a new band, or friends that just started a new group, everybody is pushing them to keep doing their thing,” Motolese said. 

The community forged by the DIY scene was evident during the first show Motolese ever put on at The Slop Sink, when Lit Coffee Roasters, a South Side coffee shop, took bands and the crowd in when the show got rained out. 

Motolese said with the new venue he wants to provide a space for intimate shows, inspiring people who may be nervous to come play.

“I just love getting people together personally, you know,” Motolese said. “Those conversations that happen in the moment, the laughs shared, and the funny pictures that come out of it. Either we want people to go and find more art or go and share their art.” 

The connections made in the DIY music scene in Bethlehem have been foundational to many figures in the community. 

“I always say punk rock saved my life more times than I can count, and that’s part of why I still do what I do,” Chris Regec, founder and operator of the Lehigh Valley Apparel Company. 

Regec said he started printing T-shirts and booking shows in 2001, wanting to get involved in the DIY scene despite not playing any instrument or being in a band. 

Since Regec was introduced to punk music by his cousins in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, he said the DIY scene both locally and nationally has changed. Regec said there’s more money involved, provoking a more career oriented mindset for some, but not for all.

“Historically there’s not been money in this and I think a lot of people that do it, will do it for the same reason I do, which is it’s not about the money,” Regec said. 

McGroggan said post-covid, the scene has also seen an influx of young people populating shows and forming bands since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The new blood, the young minds and hearts are always what keeps these things alive,” Regec said. “Every show there’s somebody there that I’m old enough to be their dad.” 

Regec said while the Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations have expanded as an operation to more than just printing shirts — booking shows, putting out records, signing paychecks — he still does what makes the most sense to him, and that’s what makes the company  what it is. 

He also said what he ultimately learned as an individual from the DIY community is that every decision, choice and action matters. 

“What we do in our lifetime defines our value I think, and that’s not productivity or money,” Regec said. “It’s if you made your community better, because if you did, that’s a life well lived.”

Motolese and McGroggan echoed similar sentiments, saying the effort they’ve put into the DIY scene has been reciprocated in support from their peers and a more robust community for everyone to participate in and enjoy. 

“To me it feels like I’m sitting around a campfire with my friends, and I think that not only means a lot to me, but it means a lot to everyone,” Motolese said.