With wild crowds and rowdy college students, Glassboro and the surrounding area are the hosts of a bustling music scene. From See Plus to FEELSGOOD, the South Jersey music scene is thriving with fresh faces and on-the-rise artists. A group of three creatives is on a mission to highlight the South Jersey music scene and to get the scoop from the bands themselves. 

Mia Colucci, 20, Mikayla Kobler, 21, and Ethan Hillman, 20, came together to create Scene Scream. With the use of brightly colored zines and their SCEENSCREAM NJ YouTube account, the group directly interviews bands in the South Jersey scene, for audiences to get a more personal look and understanding of the artists behind the music. 

The group made its social media debut in July of 2024, launching a three-minute video interviewing the group, GIMIC. Alongside a video, an array of graphics and information followed in a zine format Instagram post. The group went on to interview Bristoltooth and Hotdress, while also highlighting other artists on their social media accounts. 

The trio may have been interviewing South Jersey bands since the summer of 2024, but the group isn’t new to music. Since the three were children, they were involved in music, and their years of music experience and experience in their own bands give them an upper hand when interviewing local musicians. 

“I think our time in bands have definitely given us more insight on what it’s like to make the music, and you can kind of just connect to people more,” said Hillman. “Like, we’ve all just been very interested in music our whole lives. So it goes a long way when trying to understand where certain ideas for songs come from with bands.” 

The South Jersey music scene may be thriving, but the trio thought the area lacked proper coverage of the community. With the long-lasting love of zines, passion for music, and the creativity of video production, the group came together to create Scene Scream. 

“I was obsessed with zines when I was in high school…and then one day, Mikayla just texted me asking if I wanted to start one, and the answer was obviously yes,” said Mia Colucci, or as the music scene knows her, MJ. 

With an idea and an interest in zines and music, the two artists turned to Hillman to help with video production, and that group of two became a group of three. Each member of the group contributes equally, and each has their own specialties that they bring to the table, according to Scene Scream member Hillman. 

The love for covering South Jersey’s music goes deeper than just spotlighting the bands. At the root of their creation is a deep love for music. 

“We feel like there wasn’t enough of anything documenting the local music scene in South Jersey. You know, we are all very active in it. We go to all the shows as much as we possibly can. You know, we love music. It all kind of circles back to how we love music,” said Kobler. 

Despite their busy schedules, Scene Scream is hopeful to get back to posting and highlighting the local music scene. With the possible release of new music from the Estrogents, the trio is hoping to cover and highlight the release and wants to continue creating physical zines and uncut YouTube videos, according to Kobler. 

The nation may be filled with talented musicians and upcoming artists, but the group sees something special in the South Jersey music scene, and they want to cover that. 

“I think that there’s genuinely something special about the like South Jersey-Philly scene that is unlike anything else around, and being able to kind of get those raw, unfiltered interviews and understanding, more about the band members, more about their music, just more about the process that they make their music with. I think it’s very important just to have that, because it deserves to be shown off,” said Hillman.

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