> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.longleaffl.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Loud, Local, & Taken For Granted - URL: https://www.longleaffl.com/loud-local-taken-for-granted/ - Published: 2026-09-27T01:34:37.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-27T02:33:46.000Z - Description: Panama City's hardcore scene goes back to at least the 90s. Writers Robyn Patterson and Jasper Dunesand aim to document that history. Here's the history of "Taken For Granted." - Author: Robyn Patterson - Tags: Arts and culture, Bay County, Florida, Gulf Coast, Panama City, Florida, hardcore music, Panama City music scene, Bay County bands, music, Panama City Beach, Florida, Punk Rock, News Two things Panama City has always been rich in: live music and great food. With over a dozen restaurant and bar choices, each one is different from the last, offering its own unique purpose to historic downtown. Yet there is one place that specializes in a bit of everything: *‘good beer, good food, good music, good times!’* Mosey’s Downtown has worked hard to become the place that sits before you today. With pizza slices the size of your face and as one of more than 40 businesses in the Downtown Social District, Mosey’s is considered a home to people from all walks of life. Offering a variety of events, from comedy nights to live bluegrass, there is no shortage of things happening in the dimly lit bar. But despite all of this, unless you read the flyers on the board near the bathrooms *(or the windows, the walls, and support beams),* you might not be aware of the hidden treasure this establishment has. A heavy music scene. Black Metal, Death Metal, Ska, indie, emo, Math rock, dad rock, the occasional rapper, and more! Including something that might be selling the most tickets: Hardcore. While this bar has seen far more than just local bands, there’s something special about walking into Mosey’s on a random Tuesday night and finding a hardcore band on the lineup. The intensity of the music, the mosh pits, and the different cliques that come out all become part of the experience. And it isn’t only newer bands bringing that energy. Some of these bands have been around since the beginning of the local hardcore scene. One of those bands is Taken For Granted. (TFG) TFG bassist Derek King considers himself one of three to bring this kind of music to the local scene back in the mid-to-late 90s. King spent his youth going to shows at DIY venues, but it wasn’t until 2006 that the band was formed locally, and it disbanded in 2009. After an almost twenty-year hiatus, they're back playing shows, releasing new music, and are officially signed to Real Hope Records. “Born out of a love for heavy and aggressive music. They pulled influences from youth crew bands and would converge with many other styles, like pop punk to beatdown-style hardcore. Every show was guaranteed to be a floor mover with heavy breakdowns and plenty of two-step and stomp parts.” Their STFG bassist Derek King considers himself one of three to bring this kind of music to the local scene back in the mid to late 90s. King spent his youth going to shows at DIY venues, but it wasn’t until 2006 that the band was formed locally, until disassembling in 2009. [via GIPHY](https://giphy.com/gifs/PureNoiseRecords-pure-noise-recs-rotting-out-jq0GElfMAi8CGwTkBX?ref=longleaffl.com) After an almost twenty-year hiatus, they're back playing shows, releasing new music, and are officially signed to Real Hope Records. “Born out of a love for heavy and aggressive music. They pulled influences from youth crew bands and would converge with many other styles like pop punk to beatdown style hardcore. Every show was guaranteed to be a floor mover with heavy breakdowns and plenty of two step and stomp parts.” While they have a description on Spotify, there’s a bit more to their story that shouldn’t be taken for granted. ## **2006 to now** Taken For Granted originally consisted of Derek King, Mike McAuliffe, John Aguirre, Stephen Peters, Jared Reshard, and a young drummer named Kiel Knight, pronounced Kyle. Knight’s introduction to the band is a story the members still laugh about. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/00/2500a768-e345-4549-914f-60eb5c31e59e/content/images/2026/09/IMG_4502.jpg) The band Taken for Granted poses for a photo in 2026\. Captured by Jasper Dunesand. Kiel wasn’t even old enough to drive when Derek saw him warming up with another band. Mike remembers the moment clearly. “He sees Kiel setting up his drums. Long-haired, scrawny kid, and he just starts ripping. And then Derek’s like, ‘We’re getting that kid.’” Derek, who was 26 at the time, knew almost immediately that he had found their drummer. Mike continued, “Derek then walks up to Kiel, tiny scrawny little 13-year-old boy behind the drums, he’s like, ‘Hey, you’re gonna be playing for us now.’” Kiel hadn’t even been playing with that band for very long before Derek recruited him. [via GIPHY](https://giphy.com/gifs/RespectiveCollective-hardcore-classical-music-sabotage-F7lLq0uoBnDdek5KFN?ref=longleaffl.com) “And he wasn’t gonna be,” Mike said, laughing. Kiel would eventually play with what would become Taken For Granted, while the band continued building its place in the local hardcore scene. TFG played from 2006 to 2009, releasing their album The Meaning of 500 in 2006\. Their last show was at Harpoon Harry’s during what was supposed to be the farewell tour for another band, Across Five Aprils. A few days before the show, Derek thought he should probably tell John, their vocalist, that they had a show coming up. When he made the call though, John realized that he had forgotten to tell the band he had moved to Orlando a short while before. Luckily, one of their friends, Chris McKernan, stepped in to fill the spot. “And then fell off the stage while he was playing,” Derek said, laughing. After that show, Taken For Granted went on hiatus. The hiatus lasted nearly two decades. ## Twenty years later The band’s return started when Derek was listening to Locked Shut’s new album and decided to call longtime friend and TFG vocalist Mike. Mike answered the phone with a simple question: “What? You want to start the band back?” It would take another year, but Taken For Granted eventually returned. Today, the band consists of Derek King, Mike McAuliffe, Brandon Garza, Kyle Izumi, and Juan Santiago Jr. While the lineup has changed throughout the years, Derek and Mike say this is their favorite version of the band. For Brandon, the energy has less to do with how many people are standing in front of the stage and more to do with the people standing beside him. “Like I’m hanging out with my best buds, I’m drinking beers, and doing what I love to do,” Brandon said. The members have come from different scenes and different points in their lives, but hardcore has remained the one constant. “One thing I can confidently say about everybody in this room is, I can guarantee that hardcore has been the one thing in our lives that has remained constant,” Derek said. “It’s like none of us care what direction the car is going; we’re all in it at the same time.” Derek’s wife, Amy King, has an even simpler way of describing the band. “They’re the most underrated band in hardcore.” The hiatus, it seems, had little to do with the music itself. TFG continued to have talented musicians, strong songs, and a community that remembered them. Now, they’re back with new music and a new chapter. ## New chapter, old songs Some of that history can still be heard in their older songs. One of the five tracks on their 2006 album, The Meaning of 500, is “DKC Anthem.” The song isn’t simply about tough guys ready to roll the dice and never back down. When asked what DKC meant, Derek gave a much more unexpected answer. “Dead Kitten Crew.” The acronym had taken on several meanings over the years, including “Death Keeps Calling” and, jokingly, “Dedication Kindells Comradery.” But Dead Kitten Crew was the name that stuck. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/00/2500a768-e345-4549-914f-60eb5c31e59e/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-195015.png) The Facebook profile for the "Dead Kitten Crew." “(DKC) originally started in Pensacola as a joke; at that time, wrecking crews were a big thing,” Derek said. What started as a joke eventually became something more established. People from Pensacola began coming out to shows, friendships formed between the two scenes, and the connection eventually led to Panama City becoming the second chapter of DKC. Over time, the crews spread throughout the country. The Dead Kitten Crew symbol can still be found on members today, carrying different meanings depending on who you ask. For many, though, the most important meaning is simple: brotherhood. That same sense of brotherhood can be heard in some of TFG’s newer music. Songs like “I Am the Knife,” “Honestly,” and “No Help” all carry pieces of the band's current identity. But one song in particular has become recognizable throughout the Pensacola and Panama City scene. “Boston.” The song was named after Paid In Blood bassist Jonathon Boston, who was known throughout the music scene as a father and brother. Originally titled “Unstoppable,” the song was written by Mike nearly two decades ago. But when he returned to the lyrics years later, he realized they no longer reflected his life. “It felt like I was doing a cover song,” Mike said. After Jon passed away, Mike decided to rewrite the lyrics. Working with Derek, the song became “Boston.” Mike said the lyrics reflected the way Jon lived. Derek had known Jon since he was 14 years old, and his passing was incredibly difficult. “These lyrics were the way Jon lived- anyone who knew Jon, he was this big, huge beast, but also an incredibly sweet man,” they said. ## More than music That sense of community becomes even more important when talking about the hardships people in the music scene might face. The band spoke about how many friends they have lost throughout the years: “We’ve lost so many close friends, a lot to suicide, even in the last three to ten years,” Derek said. “A lot of the time, mental illness coincides (with) hardcore; we all live it.” As Derek spoke, the rest of the band nodded along. For them, the support doesn’t stop when the show ends. That kind of support has no closing time. And in Panama City, that sense of community seems to be one of the things keeping the scene alive. [via GIPHY](https://giphy.com/gifs/muppetwiki-muppets-janice-electric-mayhem-JdpRTGu2HwBO2b11wN?ref=longleaffl.com) “Panama City does a good job with camaraderie,” Derek said. If they all go to Mosey’s together, they know they’re going to have a good time. A large part of that comes from the attention and care that local shows receive. Longtime booker, show-goer, and musician Stephen Washburn, also known as Steb, said hardcore has become one of the most prominent genres bringing people out to the local scene. “Everyone loves dancin’ around and actin’ a fool to some loud aggressive music.” According to Steb, Taken For Granted fits naturally into that environment. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/00/2500a768-e345-4549-914f-60eb5c31e59e/content/images/2026/09/IMG_6902-Enhanced-NR-1.jpeg) Jonathan Boston plays at T's on Thomas on May 25, 2025\. Captured by Alex Fernandez “They’re a perfect blend of tough and fun,” they said. “They’ve got macho energy with songs fighting but also take influence from pop-punk and have upbeat stuff that’s just fun to dance to.” To Steb, the members of TFG are more than just a hardcore band. They’re a “buncha silly ol’ dudes” who happen to be perceived as a scary hardcore band. And TFG isn’t the only locally loved band. The members themselves pointed to Oinkliteration, $plit and Uphold from Jacksonville as some of their favorite bands in the area. They also mentioned Kindler, Gentler, describing them as a band with a solid sound and, perhaps more importantly, beautiful people. For Taken For Granted, the music has always been about more than the songs themselves. [via GIPHY](https://giphy.com/gifs/chandler-bing-steve-o-joey-tribbiani-DQ94PFPPETZCM?ref=longleaffl.com) It’s about the people standing in the room, the friends they’ve made, the ones they’ve lost, the bands they support, and the kids who are just starting to find their way into the scene. Twenty years after their first run came to an end, TFG is writing new music, spending time with their families and friends, and supporting the next generation of musicians growing up in the Panhandle music scene. The lineup may have changed. The venues may change. The songs may change. But for Taken For Granted, the love they carry will stay the same. 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