Hey, here’s something cool! Luis Aponte, drummer for the great Philadelphia beatdown hardcore band Jesus Piece, is about to play on the sort of stage that few punk or hardcore musicians have ever gotten to touch. This coming weekend, when Paul Rudd hosts Saturday Night Live, Charli XCX will be the musical guest, and Luis Aponte will be with her.

This past July, Jesus Piece played in a Pennsylvania VFW Hall as part of a massive all-day gig intended to highlight the return of live shows. Jesus Piece played alongside bands like One Step Closer, Year Of The Knife, Gridiron, Raw Brigade, and Life’s Question. A show like this is a big deal in the DIY hardcore world, but it’s not the kind of thing that’s likely to get someone a job playing with a pop star on TV.

The Philadelphia videographer Sunny Singh, who filmed that whole VFW Hall show, has been tirelessly documenting the hardcore scene for years, making high-quality videos of hundreds of bands playing live. Singh must work constantly; he posts tons of videos every week. Singh’s Hate5six YouTube channel is an amazing resource for anyone paying attention to hardcore and underground music these days. Lately, Singh has posted more and more drum-cam videos, focusing on the drummers whose work so often goes ignored. In those videos, we can see just how hard those drummers are rocking.

In October, Singh shared his drum-cam video of Luis Aponte playing that Jesus Piece VFW Hall set. The video got around, and apparently, it got the attention of Charli XCX’s representatives. Charli’s team saw the Hate5six video and other drum-cam videos of Aponte at work. As a result, Luis Aponte is playing Saturday Night Live this weekend. Aponte is clearly a beast, and he clearly deserves it. Sunny Singh proudly told the whole story on Twitter today.

Below, check out the video of Aponte crushing shit at that VFW Hall show.

If you haven’t heard Jesus Piece’s 2018 album Only Self, you should really do yourself a favor. Check out the Hate5six Patreon here.