The Philly band Paint It Black includes the squeaks and squeals of a SEPTA trolley on one of the tracks of their newest album, Famine, writes Cory Sharber for Billy Penn at WHYY.

“Riding SEPTA’s a great place to pick up sound,” said Dan Yemin, vocalist and lyricist for the hardcore group.

It’s the band’s first record in a decade, and it comes after a long musical and personal journey for Yemin.

Yemin fell in love with music, particularly punk rock, after he found his mom’s old guitar in a closet.

Meanwhile, he picked up a psychology degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a doctorate in psychology from Widener University in Chester.

He started the band Lifetime, then Kid Dynamite. Both bands broke up.

He poured himself into his work as a licensed clinical psychologist then, at 32, he had a stroke.

“There’s something really life-affirming about having your mortality shoved in your face,” Yemin said.

Paint It Black grew out of a life re-evaluation when he realized that creativity and art were most important to him.

The group’s first album, CVA — aka cerebrovascular accident — was released 20 years ago.

Find out more about Dan Yemen and Paint It Black at Billy Penn at WHYY.