Looking for a silent night? Not this season.
December’s meant for turning the volume all the way up, and there is no better place to do that than at the annual Spynemas! holiday show.
Spyne!, the New Jersey–based four-piece with Kyle Moyer on lead vocals and guitar, Liam Muhler on lead guitar, Toni Manousos on bass, and Eric Muhler on drums, hosts the event, transforming Crossroads in Garwood, New Jersey, into a loud, hometown celebration. Opening the night is Heartbreak, whose set sets the tone for an evening built on energy, community, and end-of-year chaos in the best way.
I was able to talk with Kyle Moyer about the event and why the band loves turning one of the year’s quietest seasons into anything but.
Off the bat, what is Spynemas!? How would you describe this event?
Spynemas! has been a long-running event for us; this is Spynemas! three we are on. It’s an event where we all come together and strive to promote the largest possible rock show featuring local and original musicians that we can. The first year, I think we had four or five musicians; it was crazy. But now, we just pick one band; it’s usually just two of us. It lets people listen to what is actually out there. Much like The Underground Edit, it gives people a chance to get music that you wouldn’t hear on Spotify. It’s also for those who are more interested in the live aspect of stuff, which we really take pride in.
Speaking of the one band, your special guest this year is the band Heartbreak. How did you find out about them, and why did you select them for Spynemas!?
It’s pretty funny. I went to school at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen with Anthony [Caicedo], who is in that band. He’s super awesome, super cool, and a long time ago, he ran the guitar club at the school. I was awful at the time, just God awful. I was 13 and had no idea what I was doing.
Eventually, years go by, and at The Stone Pony, he comes up to me and is like “Dude, you know me,” and I’m like “Dude, we are playing tonight,” and we played after Knocked Loose that night. It was a total reunion, and I told him we do a big Christmas show every year. He told me about his band and stuff, and I was like, listen, I want to hear what you guys got, I love putting new talent on the bill.
Spyne! have performed at Crossroads before, why did you come back for this event?
Crossroads is one of those venues where it’s always good whether it’s half full or fully packed. I hate to put it in numbers like that, but I am the numbers guy. Seeing the crowd out in front of me will always look good if there are 50 people or 200 people there. And when we had 200 people there last year, it looked really good; it made for some really good clips.
Also, the big thing is that it is 21+. Antoni in our band is still not 21. When he joined the band, he was 16, so all of his friends aren’t even close to that age range. We had to pick somewhere where, if we were doing a show that involves everybody that we want to come to, we have to make sure everyone is allowed to come to it.
Crossroads is one of the few places that serves alcohol and also allows people to play there. It opens the door for full families to come. It’s a lot bigger hurdle than I thought, especially when starting, but finding venues that are not 21+ to host the main show is really hard, and Crossroads makes it really easy.
What can fans expect from your set? Any specific covers? Christmas songs?
Usually, we don’t go crazy with the Christmas songs; my guys aren’t big on that. I am, I love my Christmas songs. I start the day after Thanksgiving. We usually do two newer songs that are kind of heavy; we have been going in the heavier direction. I don’t want to give too much away, but it is definitely not all Christmas songs, so people don’t have to worry about hearing Mariah Carey the whole time. It’s a lot of stuff, it’s way larger than anyone can really comprehend.
In general, since we are talking about a show that brings in the new year, what is 2026 going to bring for Spyne!?
We have been working on getting all of our new songs done. We released Out of Nowhere last year, so we pretty much had a year to write more music and really get everything prepared for the next album. The goal is the next album, but 2026 has some really cool shows coming up too. Right in January, we are back at The Wonder Bar opening for Fairies Wear Boots again, so that’s going to be a really good time. We also have a lot of local town shows that will be good. We always get on those gigs, and it is always an awesome time. It’s going to be the same as usual, pretty much, but just more behind-the-scenes work.
So where can people get tickets for Spynemas! if they are interested in coming to the show?
Tickets aren’t available online yet, but by DMing the Spyne! account, you could get some. The main goal is to get them at the door. It’s going to be the best bet because you can skip all the Ticketmaster fees. We are going to have space there; hopefully, we don’t overpromote it, but there should be more than enough tickets.
