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Pop-punk is the new Polka

Pop-punk emerges from New Ulm through Hoffmann’s band Dirty-930

By Dylan Jackson 6 min read

NEW ULM – Pop-punk and emo would not come to the minds of people as genres hailing from New Ulm, but tell that to Braydon Hoffmann and his band Dirty-930.

Purchasing his first guitar a month before graduating from New Ulm High School in 2022, the origins of Hoffmann's musical journey can be traced back to his father's expansive CD collection. Despite the eclectic collection, Hoffmann gravitated towards pop-punk bands such as Green Day and Blink-182.

"He would get mad at me because he would be like 'I have all these other CDs, why is it just 'Dookie' from Green Day all the time, or 'Enema of the State' by Blink-182?'" Hoffmann said.

Inspiration from these bands led him to begin writing songs in seventh grade. As Hoffmann continued through school, he participated in choir, theatre, musicals, and plays, which he credits for his comfortability on stage.

"Being in a band you have to not care about being in front of audiences," Hoffmann said. "I'm a theatre kid at heart so that helps with everything."

Hoffmann joined songwriting, vocals, and his guitar playing with a band in 2023.

The original lineup of Hoffmann's band included guitarist London Watson and drummer Joey Kotten, who also plays drums for the New Ulm band The Ulmer Quartet.

"We didn't really get anywhere, we just wanted to jam out some songs," Hoffmann said.

The original lineup only played one show together before splitting up.

"Joey went to college, London went to work in the cities, and that left me having to rebuild the band with new people," Hoffmann said.

The new lineup emerged from both likely and unlikely places.

"I met my bassist and lead guitarist at open mic." Hoffmann said. "Open mics are insanely great ways to meet people."

The open mic in question was located at The 507 in Mankato, which closed in 2025.

There he met guitarist Carson Louis and bassist Bennett Barber. Drummer Nick Tonjum's arrival to the band went a bit differently.

"I met our drummer at Best Buy," Hoffmann said.

While living in Mankato together, Hoffmann and Watson were working on creating a studio in their home. At Best Buy, Tonjum overheard the two asking a worker about speakers.

"My drummer overheard us from the aisle over and was like 'yo I heard you're putting together a studio. I play drums,'" Hoffmann said. "He swooped in when Joey went to college."

Hoffmann created Dirty-930's first album "Throw Your Life Away" in their Mankato house. It was not the only thing that emerged from the home.

"There's a chalk wall that says 'The dirty 930' and it looks old as hell,” Hoffmann said. "It's a terribly built house, I'm convinced this was the worst house in 'Kato."

Terrible as it may be, the house gave Hoffmann his band's name.

Although recorded in the Mankato house, "Throw Your Life Away" spans years.

"There were songs that I wrote a month before I released the album and there were songs I wrote back in seventh grade," Hoffmann said.

Most of Hoffman's early songs have a special place in his heart, but his first song ever written, an unreleased song titled "Bleach Hair Boy" is the exception.

"Yeah I hate it, but I liked it at the time," Hoffmann said.

The album opener "Welcome to Okinawa" was written by Hoffmann and Watson in seventh grade. The song was written in German Park, which is also the setting of the music video for the song "Flowers."

Hoffmann said he would love to play the Concert in the Park series at German Park "if the people of New Ulm are interested in that (Punk music) sort of thing."

He also joked that a rooftop performance akin to the Beatles on top of Sweet Haven Tonics would be pretty cool.

Dirty-930 are no strangers to concerts, having recently wrapped up their first tour.

"It was the best experience of my life but it was the worst thing I've ever done because of how much planning went into it," Hoffmann said.

"It would be me reaching out to countless venues," Hoffmann said, "and I'd get denied or ghosted. And when I finally landed venues I would reach out to bands on instagram from those places and the same thing would happen."

The concert spanned seven days and included shows in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Saint Louis.

"I didn't get it all planned out until a week before we left," Hoffmann said.

Another struggle included their bassist being unable to join the tour.

"He couldn't make it because he's doing aviation stuff in college," Hoffmann said, "We had our buddy Caden fill in for us, he's our honorary fifth member."

Along with bass, Caden Rademacker plays drums and helps with sound during concerts.

Despite the chaos of planning, and a situation in St. Louis that left Hoffmann referring to the place as Gotham City, the tour was a great success.

For Hoffmann, the Chicago show was the highlight.

"It was a random Tuesday and there was an actual crowd there. I didn't think anyone would show up on a Tuesday, especially for a band they didn't know," Hoffmann said, "it was so sick."

Crowds get to know Dirty-930 through their originals, but the band also covers various songs.

"Constant Headache" by Joyce Manor is a standout cover. Hoffmann said that during longer sets they perform the song and have their drummer and bassists switch instruments.

"For older crowds we like to pull out our country roads cover and Ring of Fire in a pop punk setting sounds so good," Hoffmann said. "Sometimes it's not exactly right, but that's the beauty of covering a song. You're able to learn the song in your own way so it's going to be interesting."

Dirty-930 has a four-song EP releasing in December which they're taking on a four day tour and another full length album they plan to release in 2028.

For Hoffmann, the best part of being in a band is how much the group has gotten to experience in such a short time.

"Our first show was August 7, 2025 but that was with Joey and London. I like to say that our first show really started when Carson joined the band," Hoffmann said, "it actually just hit a year since our first show with him a little over a year ago."

Accolades for Dirty-930 include two live performances on the news, multiple radio shows, the release of their first album and going on the first tour.

"We have no plans of stopping ever,” Hoffmann said. "It may not be a genre New Ulm is into, but I assure you that every show is a good time whether you like the music or not. You will always have a good time."

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