Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

“Everything was just really based on music... Punk, ska, goth, New Wave... being powered by the music.” 

Retail Slut wasn’t just a store; it was a site where punk, fashion, and commerce collided, shaping a scene that still resonates in the present.

Join Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird in a discussion with Helen O’Neill, the original force behind the influential boutique. This episode covers a wide range of topics, including what Melrose meant for the punk scene, what inspired Helen to create her own clothing line, and how punk individuals were and continue to be policed in Los Angeles. Helen O’Neill is the founder of Retail Slut. Under Helen’s fearless direction, Retail Slut broke every rule - serving as a sanctuary for those who embraced counterculture. Since closing its doors in 2005, Helen’s vision continues to evolve–proving that punk isn’t just a style, it’s a way of life. For 40+ years, Helen O’Neill has supported LA local punk and expanded punk infrastructure, leaving an impact that will last a lifetime.

Recorded February 2025.

Links + References:

Retail Slut

Resident at Nude Healing Center-Harbin Hot Springs.

Bike Ventura - local bike advocacy. 

Friends of Bates Beach - Coastal Clean-up.

Artwalk Ventura 

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Co-hosted by Tequila Mockingbird.

Guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird.

Editorial support: Melissa Hernandez – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast on the Punk Scholars Network.

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is back—weekly.

After years of building, recording, and collaborating, Punkast returns with a growing archive of conversations and a new rhythm: weekly episodes exploring punk in the historical present through critical inquiry, dialogue, and experimentation.

We’re kicking things off this Friday with our first new episode, and new episodes will drop every Friday.

>>> Subscribe and follow to stay tapped in.

In this trailer:

A quick update on what we’ve been building, where we’ve been, and what’s ahead for Punkast.

Related Projects + Collaborations:

Punk Scholars Podcast on the Punk Scholars Network

MEI, the Podcast (Marshallese Educational Initiative): Spotify

Jahmi Roc’s Jottings – S3E4 “Frequencies of Relief"

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

IG: punkastucla

New episodes every Friday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This “Behind the Scenes” episode is the final episode in the PUNKAST/Adobe Punk: the concert Mini-Session Interview series. It features Jessica Schwartz in conversation with Theresa Chavez, Gabriel Garza, Dorothy Hoover, and Sage Lewis, who discuss their inspirations and contributions to Adobe Punk’s creation and production. Theresa Chavez highlights About Productions' collaborative approach, which has been building projects from the ground up for decades. Gabriel Garza emphasizes the intergenerational and historical aspects of Adobe Punk, while Dorothy Hoover and Sage Lewis elaborate on the set design and soundscapes, respectively. The conversation touches on future plans for the production and educational outreach efforts, aiming to deepen the connection between youth and historical and cultural contexts through the medium of punk theater.

For more information: https://www.aboutpd.org/adobe-punk

Dorothy Hoover

https://www.dorothyhoover.com/

IG: _dorothyhoover

Gabriel Garza

https://gaberealgarza.com/

IG: gaberealgarza

Sage Lewis

https://sagelewismusic.com/

IG: sagelewis

Song Samples:

“Sound Collage” constructed by Sage Lewis for Adobe Punk, 2022.

“Camera Shy,” Theresa Chavez and Nina Diaz, 2022.

Interview Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/SahkVXNiMPtBJRz1v67ZY1W2

This episode was recorded over Zoom on May 23, 2004. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jimmy Alvarado has been active in East L.A.’s underground music scene since 1981 as a musician, backyard gig promoter, writer, poet, bouncer, flier artist, photographer, podcaster, and historian. He has authored numerous interviews, articles, and shorts spotlighting the East Side scene, and an episode of his Eastside Punks documentary series about first-wave East L.A. punk band The Brat was named best documentary short at the 2020 Highland Park Independent Film Festival. He writes for Razorcake and also plays guitar in the bands La Tuya and Our Band Sucks. Alvarado says “while punk has been an inspiration and refuge to many in Los Angeles County, precious little attention has been given to the greater Eastside’s contribution to the scene until very recently. A rich diverse, multi-generational, multi-disciplinary group of artist are now being heard, through a variety of avenues, resulting in a more holistic history of the Eastside, and Los Angeles, underground music scene that counters the long prevailing myth that punk has always been a ‘straight white boy thing’.” Visit latuya.bandcamp.com and razorcake.org for more information.

Links:

latuya.bandcamp.com

razorcake.org

Song Samples:

(0:00-0:20) La Tuya, “La Tuya,” La Tuya, 2019.

(0:00-0:39) Patti Smith, “Gloria,” Horses, Arista Records, 1975. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPO0bTaWcFQ 

(0:00-0:35) La Tuya, “Thirteen,” La Tuya, 2019.

(0:10-0:45) La Tuya, “Tribes,” La Tuya, 2019.

Interview Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/uUxv73Bv8cdKBcHG6fdvo7Ah

This episode was recorded on March 24, 2024, in Pasadena, in front of a live audience at the Lineage Performing Arts Center. Bella Gerard edited the audio and interview transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teresa Covarrubias was born and raised in the Boyle Heights section of East Los Angeles and became the lead singer for The Brat, a Chicano punk rock ensemble (lead guitarist Rudy Medina, and alternate lead and rhythm guitarist Sidney Medina) originating from the barrios of East Los Angeles, California. From their conception in late 1978, to their eventual break-up in1985, The Brat contributed to the customization and intermeshing of multiple musical and cultural models that culminated in the distinct East Los Angeles, Chicano punk sound. They are best known for their five song EP Attitudes, released in 1980 (Fatima Records), while contributing to the understanding of the many ways culture transforms and challenges dominant hegemonic ideologies. Musicians such as Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Benny Goodman and David Bowie had a heavy influence on Covarrubias and inspired her to seek alternative forms of music that deviated from the mainstream. This drive to seek alternative forms of media was only heightened when her sister shared D.I.Y. punk fanzines sourced in Germany.

Links:

http://www.thebrat.net/

Song Samples:

(0:00-0:23) The Brat, “Attitudes,” Straight Outta East L.A., RockBeat Records, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqwgDmsDuI&list=OLAK5uy_kWbiEOUxWrfD7otT51pciNFBjWOo19x9o&index=12 

(0:23-0:43) The Jam, “Going Underground,” Compact SNAP!, Polydor, 1983. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzkpgf2oXwo 

(0:00-0:24) The Dickies, “Walk Like An Egg,” The Incredible Shrinking Dickies, A&M Records, 1979. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4QxUjZeUvM 

(0:00-0:50) The Brat, “The Wolf,” Straight Outta East L.A., RockBeat Records, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye6XfmltEjE&list=OLAK5uy_kWbiEOUxWrfD7otT51pciNFBjWOo19x9o&index=7 

(0:21-0:54) Los Lobos, “La Pistola Y El Corazón,” La Pistola Y El Corazón, Slash Records, 1988. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGn89hK1U9E 

(0:15-0:50) The Brat, “Misogyny,” Straight Outta East L.A., RockBeat Records, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrY3yQrJJJI&list=OLAK5uy_kWbiEOUxWrfD7otT51pciNFBjWOo19x9o&index=10 

Interview Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/Rqjcqmt2j29k5KZNK9aS496P

This episode was recorded on March 23, 2024, in front of a live audience at the Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena. Bella Gerard edited the audio and interview transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Fancher’s venerable Frontier Records celebrates 44 years of independence, its initial releases include debut albums by the Circle Jerks, Adolescents, TSOL, China White, Christian Death and Suicidal Tendencies. Two decades after this impressive string of hits, Frontier discovered Portland’s Heatmiser, featuring the great Elliott Smith. Fancher is a San Fernando Valley native. She worked at record stores like Bomp!, Vinyl Fetish and Licorice Pizza in North Hollywood. She recalls: “We were the black sheep, punk store with Cliff Roman from the Weirdos, Kid Congo, writer Don Snowden and members of the Quick…” In high school Fancher wrote about the Runaways and lines from the piece became part of the inner sleeve of their self-titled debut album. Also while attending John H. Francis high school, she mimeographed her first fanzine, Academy in Peril, and went on to publish subsequent ‘zines, Street Life and Biff! Bang! Pow! as well as writing for Bomp!, Back Door Man, New York Rocker and L.A. Times (fired by Robert Hilburn for being “too enthusiastic”) and L.A. Herald Examiner. She witnessed punk shows at the Masque, Cuckoo’s Nest, Starwood, Whisky a Go Go, Fleetwood et al, somehow finding it completely routine to run like hell from cops wielding batons before, during and after gigs, including the Elk’s Lodge riot and infamous Black Flag gigs at the Whisky. In the early ‘90s, Fancher revived the legacy of the great, pre-hardcore L.A. punk label, Dangerhouse Records (X, Avengers, Weirdos, the Bags, Blank Randy, The Eyes). Switching gears and morphing into a “punk rock Rhino” (OC hardcore combo, Middle Class; the Stimulators; reissues by Lilys). Fancher now owns a streaming radio station: predictably, the call letters are KXFU! She explains: “After being stiffed again and again over and over by dozens of record distributors over 30+ years, I co-founded Independent Label Distribution with Mike Beer from Beer City Records in 2011.” Visit frontierrecords.com for more information.

Links:

https://www.frontierrecords.com/

Song Samples:

(0:00-0:41) TSOL, “Love Story,” Dance With Me, Frontier, 1981. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-R5kDGaaY 

(0:06-0:40) Circle Jerks, “Back Against the Wall, Group Sex, Frontier, 1980. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2lVud0v3RA 

(0:00-0:45) Adolescents, “LA Girl,” Adolescents, Frontier, 1981. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldy-micKe5U 

(0:00-0:37) Thin White Rope, “Elsie Crashed the Party,” In the Spanish Cave, Frontier, 1988. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vczgw9JH4w 

Interview Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/wG3hT7iSTJ8ay3A6tH6rSxvh

This episode was recorded on March 22, 2024, in front of a live audience at the Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena. Bella Gerard edited the audio and interview transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose. He began a solo career with the 1994 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, and has since released three additional solo albums. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder, a member of the art rock group Banyan and is involved with several other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges. In November 2008, Watt received the Bass Player Magazine lifetime achievement award, presented by Flea. The Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their best-selling album, 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, to Watt. Watt continues to create and perform a wide array of projects. He wrapped up a 58-date North American tour with mssv (main steam stop valve) in the fall of 2023, and more of his musical collaborations will be released in 2024. Visit mikewatt.com for more information.

Links:

‘mike watt’s hoot page’: http://hootpage.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wattfrompedromusic/

IG: wattfrompedro

Song Samples:

(0:04-0:46) Mike Watt + the Missingmen, “Spillage,” Missing the Minutemen, !Angrr!, 2014. https://archive.org/details/missing-the-minutemen/Mike+Watt+%26+The+Missingmen+-+Side+B+-+Missing+the+Minutemen.wav 

(0:00-0:37) Minutemen, “Jesus And Tequila,” Double Nickels on the Dime, SST Records, 1984. https://archive.org/details/Minutemen1987/Minutemen+-+39+-+Jesus+And+Tequila.wav 

(0:00-0:33) Mike Watt, “Tell ‘Em, Boy!,” Ball-Hog Or Tugboat?, Columbia Records, 1995. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReX5bkDxOWo&list=OLAK5uy_lV1Hh-Ue67bhtiEnGFBNIruG6YgHQ5uAA&index=13 

(0:00-0:41) Minutemen, “Viet Nam,” Double Nickels on the Dime, SST Records, 1984. https://archive.org/details/Minutemen1987/Minutemen+-+04+-+Viet+Nam.wav

Interview transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/tC8Bfuvef4zFH8Zis46ZhT1K

This episode was recorded on March 17, 2024, in front of a live audience at the Frida Kahlo Theater in Los Angeles. Bella Gerard edited the audio and interview transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesse Velo co-founded Los Illegals in the late 1970’s. Jesse says, “With our backs against the wall, facing an impenetrable, almost segregated Hollywood industry, we partnered with radical elements and (OSF) nuns of the Catholic church to co-found Vex, the first alternative music and art space in East L.A. We kick-started an Eastside L.A. Renaissance that brought together major world-class artists, musicians, actors, and writers with elements of agitprop in a display to the world as a show of unity across racial and economic lines. Our signature song (“El Lay”), with its Dickensian description of the plight of Latinos and all marginalized people, garnered accolades and endorsements in major world media segments from Italy, France, Japan, and the UK. The recognition also included accolades from notables such as The Clash, MC5, Rage Against the Machine, and even the likes of Mick Jagger. Not to mention an appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman.” Velo has also been cited/quoted in Rolling Stone, The Harvard Crimson, and major local news publications across the U.S. and in over 30 political, music, and art university textbooks. He is a retired US Federal Civil Rights Analyst/Investigator.

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xiuy.velo/

      https://www.facebook.com/losillegals/

PBS SoCal (Live @ the Ford): https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/live-the-ford/clip/los-illegals

Songs Samples:

(0:00-0:45) Los Illegals, “A-95,” Internal Exile, A&M, 1983. https://archive.org/details/08themall/12+A-95.mp3 

(0:08-0:55) Los Illegals, “El Lay,”  Internal Exile, A&M, 1983. https://archive.org/details/08themall/12+A-95.mp3 

(0:12-1:10) Los Illegals, “We Don’t Need A Tan,”  Internal Exile, A&M, 1983. https://archive.org/details/08themall/12+A-95.mp3 

Interview Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/uc7S6E9tVvZGSzgFXf8ScAAZ

This episode was recorded on March 16, 2024, in front of a live audience at the Frida Kahlo Theater in Los Angeles. Bella Gerard edited the audio and interview transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nina Diaz (co-songwriter and musician/performer) made her theatrical debut in 2019 as part of The Neighborhood Band in About...Productions’ Evangeline, the Queen of Make Believe. Now off-stage, Nina has co-written with Theresa Chavez the punk songs for About...Productions’ 2022 premiere of Adobe Punk. Nina Diaz's musical career began at the age of 13, as main writer and front woman for San Antonio all-female punk band Girl in a Coma. By the time she turned 17 the band was signed to Joan Jett's Blackheart Records where they released four albums. The band toured widely sharing the stage with Morrissey, Tegan and Sara, and The Smashing Pumpkins to name a few. Nina Diaz' vocals and songwriting style compare to artists like Bjork, Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, Garbage, The Smiths, Patsy Cline, Patti Smith, Hole, Stone Temple Pilots, The Breeders, Alanis Morrisette, Nirvana or Gwen Stefani. Recently, her vocals were featured on the Spanish-language reissue of Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ This Year’s Model titled Spanish Model. Nina kicked off the album with her version of “No Action.” Now a full-time solo artist/producer/engineer, Nina released her sophomore solo album in 2022, I Could Be You, You Could Be Me, under the label BeatGirlProductions. Visit ninadiazsolo.com for more information.

Links:

https://ninadiazsolo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ninadiazsolo/

https://www.instagram.com/ninadiazsolo/?hl=en

https://ninadiazsolo11.bandcamp.com/

Song samples:

(0:00-0:45) Girl In A Coma, “Smart, Exits & All The Rest, Blackheart Records, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIL6P2_B3gA 

(0:12-0:33) Nina Diaz, “Diddly Squat Teaser,” 2022.

(0:44-1:00) The Bags, “Survive,” Survive EP, Dangerhouse, 1978. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivDsKQtou_w 

(0:32-1:00) X, “In This House That I Call Home,” Wild Gift, Slash Records, 1981. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFlGMARnaTQ 

(0:07-0:46) Nina Diaz, “Personality Confession,” I Could Be You, You Could Be Me, self-published, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzHrTCMRNWQ

Interview Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/VXvadvTVygfFqYDNuDkHxM9C

This episode was recorded on March 15, 2024, in front of a live audience at the Frida Kahlo Theater in Los Angeles. Bella Gerard edited the audio and interview transcript. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing…. a PUNKAST mini-series: Adobe Punk: the concert, Mini-Session Interviews

In this introductory episode, Jessica Schwartz (Punkast host/producer) and Theresa Chavez (About Productions, Adobe Punk co-creator) discuss their unique collaboration that produced mini-session conversations with punk trailblazers about their formative contributions and ongoing vital roles in the dynamic subculture. These conversations between Schwartz and each guest (see list below) were recorded live before each performance of Adobe Punk: the concert. Chavez locates Adobe Punk: the concert as a musical extension of the theaterwork she co-created with Gabriel Garza, and we are treated to some music, which Chavez co-composed with Nina Diaz (Girl in a Coma). Situating the issues explored in the mini-session conversations within the larger aims of the March 2024 musical performances, Chavez touches on the importance of topical threads, such as the meaning and evolution of punk, punk ethos and artistic freedom, L.A. punk geography, squatting, and punk feminism, that animate Adobe Punk and position its energetic songs and stories amidst the broader history of punk and the people who live(d) it. 

Adobe Punk: the concert took place in front of live audiences at the Frida Kahlo Theater (Los Angeles) from March 15-17, 2024 and the Lineage Performing Arts Center (Pasadena) from March 22-24, 2024. Each night, after a brief introduction by Chavez, these one-on-one conversations kicked off the concert by offering distinct punk perspectives from: Nina Diaz, Jesse Velo (Los Illegals), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, The Missingmen), Lisa Fancher (Frontier Records), Teresa Covarrubias (The Brat), and Jimmy Alvarado (Razorcake, La Tuya, Eastside Punks video series).*

*in order of episode and nightly appearance

For more information: https://www.aboutpd.org/adobe-punk

Song Samples:

(0:00-0:51) Theresa Chavez and Nina Diaz, “Not to Scale”, Adobe Punk, About…Productions, 2022.

Episode Transcript: https://sonix.ai/share/ZSnCCzcUAUozUwZs9rogyvyp

This episode was recorded over Zoom. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"I owned a record store and all of a sudden I had a record. You know, why is RF7 anything? The only limit is what you put on yourself." Join Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird as they speak with FELIX ALANIS  - singer-songwriter of RF7 and founder of Smoke 7 Records - about paving a DIY punk path in the early LA scene and reflecting on its historical importance as well as unpacking his music from the early years to now! 

Bio:

In 1979, Felix Alanis co-founded the punk rock group RF7. A year later he started the record label Smoke 7 records as a vehicle to gain visibility for RF7. In 1981 the label released the compilation Public Service which included songs by Bad Religion, Red Cross, Circle One and RF7. The compilation received international recognition and helped establish the label on the punk music stage. Felix and RF7 have continued releasing albums to this day and with the original line up until 2017.  

Links:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/rf7_felixalanis/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/people/Felix-Alanis/61556547583235/?ref=xav_ig_profile_web

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RF7_FelixAlanis

Audio Samples:

‘Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)’ - The Stranglers

‘Live Fast Die Young’ - The Circle Jerks

‘Jesus Loves You’ - RF7

‘Song For Tequila’ - RF7

‘Viet Vets’ - RF7

‘Day At The Crisis’ - RF7

Recorded on June 1, 2023, this episode was part of the UCLA course “Punk: Music, History, Sub/culture,” open to a live student audience. It was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz and features co-host and guest producer Tequila Mockingbird. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“So, what does it mean to speak about punk pedagogy?” asks Prof. George Grinnell on his Punk Pedagogy website. Check out this episode (and, of course, the website linked below), to hear Prof. Grinnell share his educational provocations -- with insights on punk and settler colonialism, punk memoirs, and, crucially, critical approaches to open-ended DIY, in academia. 

Bio:

Dr. George C. Grinnell (he/him) is an Associate Professor of English and Cultural Studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus, where he teaches theory, Romanticism, and punk studies. He is the author of two books in literary and cultural studies and has published on punk memoirs in several journals.

Links:

Faculty bio: https://fccs.ok.ubc.ca/about/contact/george-grinnell/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/alwaysacharlieparty/

Punk Pedagogy: https://punkpedagogy.com/what-is-punk-what-is-pedagogy/

Recorded on October 20, 2023, this episode was part of the UCLA course “DIY: Punk Organizing as Social Justice,” open to a live student audience. It was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PUNKAST BACK TO SCHOOL MINISERIES SPECIAL!

“SoCal music spaces: Scene, Emo, and EDM” (part 3 of 3). 

“There’s more to us.. We all want to be seen, heard, and exist… The art you are creating is part of your soul.” 

Returning from spring break, we are back with the third and final part of our Back to School mini-series with guest host Kristy Martinez, a PHD Candidate in Musicology at UCLA. In these episodes, we meet some of the early-2000s scene and emo kids in SoCal. This episode features the second part of Martinez’s conversation with the musician Xtine Reckless (listen to the first part here), and fitness and health instructor Tiffany Young. Tiffany Young has introduced alternative music and other genres into her spin classes. Her cycle rides have included emo, pop-punk, Central American music, and rock. This episode discusses representation in the SoCal music scenes, how music is an extension of an artist’s identity, incorporating alternative music into untraditional spaces, addressing the erasure of POC contributions, the intersection between race and participation in music scenes, and SO MUCH MORE! 

Guest Bios. 

Xtine is a vocalist, guitarist, and essential figure in the OC and LA rock scenes with her previous band, Pretty in Stereo, and is currently in the band Xtine and the Reckless Hearts. Xtine has played Vans Warped Tour and various iconic venues and spaces in SoCal.// Tiffany Young is an Afro-Latina fitness and health instructor from Alhambra, the San Gabriel Valley, and now West Covina.  She grew up listening to a wide variety of music, such as emo, pop-punk, neo soul, pop, and R&B. Young now incorporates the sounds she grew up with in SoCal into spin classes and heavily nostalgic-themed rides. 

Links

𝚇𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 & 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝙲𝚔𝙻𝚎𝚂𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝙰𝚛𝚃𝚜 | Linktree 

Pretty In Stereo | Spotify 

IG: @pwrcyclewtiff 

PWR HQ Strength and Training | Try a Class! 

Music mentioned: Taking Back Sunday, Senses Fail, Offspring, System of A Down, Metallica, Aaliyah, Ashanti, Mariah Carey, Thursday, Eminem, Neo Soul, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, The Paradox, Kid Cudi, Childish Gambino, Dance Gavin Dance, Norma Jean, Isadora Crane, Hot Water Music

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We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas and guests. 

Instagram: punkastucla

Email: punkastucla@gmail.com 

The Punkast theme music is excerpted from “Bitchathon” by Lady Bits. All rights reserved. 

This episode was recorded on Oct 27, 2025 on Zoom. Kristy Martinez hosted and co-produced this episode with Jessica Schwartz. Melissa Hernandez edited the audio and audio-synced transcript, available here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s here… the Punk Scholars Podcast! 

Co-hosts and producers, Jessica Schwartz (UCLA) and Paul Hollins (Bolton), set out to explore the seemingly paradoxical role of punk (and punks) in the academy and break with oft-generalized dismissals by highlighting the pivotal contributions and necessary interventions made by punk scholarship.

And, who better to kick off the first episode than Punk Scholars Network (PSN) founding members Mike Dines (Chair and Co-founder of the PSN) and Russ Bestley (Designer and Writer). Our two illustrious guests have been at the forefront of the formation and development of the PSN, and we get in deep about issues of institutional legitimacy and the absolute necessity of punk scholars’ (networked) camaraderie. Both informative and poignant, this inaugural episode of the Punk Scholars Podcast (PSP) sets the stage for what promises to be an educational, engaging, and dare we say entertaining first season! 

About Our Guests

Dr. Russ Bestley is Reader in Graphic Design & Subcultures at London College of Communication. His areas of interest include graphic design, popular culture, subcultures, comedy and humour. He is Lead Editor of the academic journal Punk & Post-Punk, now in its thirteenth year, Series Editor and Art Director for the Global Punk book series published by Intellect Books and a founding member of the Punk Scholars Network. In 2013, he established the Graphic Subcultures research hub at the London College of Communication, before going on to form the UAL Subcultures Interest Group in 2022. 

Mike Dines is Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader of BA (Hons) Music at Middlesex University. He is Chair and co-founder of the Punk Scholars Network and Series Editor for the Global Punk Series with Intellect Books. He has written extensively on punk (specifically spirituality and Krishnacore), subcultures and New Age Travellers, with recent volumes including the co-edited Exploring the Spiritual in Popular Music: Beatified Beats (Bloomsbury, 2021) and Punk Identities, Punk Utopias: Global Punk and Media (Intellect 2021). He is Lead Editor of the ground-breaking The Intellect Handbook of Popular Music Methodologies due for publication in 2025. He is an avid supporter of Portsmouth Football Club.

For More Information 

Russ: www.hitsvilleuk.com

Mike: http://itchymonkeypress.com/

Both:

https://www.intellectbooks.com/global-punk-series

https://www.intellectbooks.com/punk-post-punk

–

We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas: 

Contact us at: punkscholarspodcast@gmail.com

The PSP theme music is excerpted from “Crows” by Watch You Drown. All rights reserved. 

Season 1, Episode 1 was recorded on May 22, 2024 on Zoom with participants in the UK and the US. Paul Hollins and Jessica Schwartz co-hosted and co-produced this episode. Jessica Schwartz edited the audio and transcript.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Jessica Schwartz in conversation with Pleasant Gehman and Theresa Kereakes, as they discuss their pivotal roles in the early LA punk scene and the importance of recognizing the LGBTQIA+ foundations of punk subculture and communicating such significance across generations. Known for their influential first-wave punk zine, Lobotomy, they have found continued success in a variety of endeavors --from podcasting to photography to writing books and reading tarot to playing music to hosting War Stories, which gives a space for other notable early LA punks to share their stories. 

Artist Bios: SEE Punkast Website!

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Song clips and audio samples 

Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack - 'Sweet Transvestite' 

Black Randy & the Metrosquad - 'Trouble at the Cup' 

Siouxsie and the Banshees - 'Happy House'

Summer of Sam - 'Hello From the Gutters'

The Mumps - 'That Fatal Charm'

Websites and Social Media 

Pleasant Gehman:

http://princessfarhana.net/

www.princessfarhana.com

www.pleasantgehman.com

www.thedivinationnation.com

www.facebook.com/pleasant.gehman

www.facebook.com/princess.farhana

www.twitter.com/PrincessFarhana

www.twitter.com/PleasantGehman1

www.instagram.com/princessofhollywood

Theresa Kereakes:

Instagram. @punkturns30

Web: punkturns30.com

And a brief history of Lobotomy 

http://lobotomy-magazine.blogspot.com/

An audio-synced transcript of this episode can be found on the Punkast website.

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This episode was produced and hosted by Jessica Schwartz. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript. Questions were furnished by a live audience of UCLA undergraduates in the Fall 2023 MSC IND 13 course.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Jessica Schwartz in conversation with Gary Leonard, acclaimed photographer of LA punk history and LA history more broadly as they discuss everything from being there to capture the nascent scene....and becoming part of LA punk history in the process...to having your work front and center in the Las Vegas Punk Rock Museum (among other notable locales and media). 

Artist Bio: Gary Leonard has spent the better part of the last 63 years photographing Los Angeles. His work has been featured in countless books, magazines, newspapers, and exhibitions. Published books of his photography include Make the Music Go Bang; Symphony in Steel: Walt Disney Concert Hall Goes Up; and Take My Picture Gary Leonard.

Song clips and audio samples 

‘Midnight’ - Venus and the Razorblades

‘Red Eye #9’ - The Plugz

‘Obviously Five Believers’ - Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs

Websites and Social Media 

Gary Leonard's website: https://takemypicture.com/

IG: tmpgaryleonard

This episode was produced and hosted by Jessica Schwartz. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript*.  Questions were furnished by a live audience of UCLA undergraduates in the Spring 2023 MUSCLG 13 course. 

*Time-synced audio-transcript is available on the Punkast website episode page.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join co-hosts Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird as they talk with Stephen Hill of Atomik Kangaroo about his longstanding involvement with punk, indigeneity, inclusivity, and his conceptual, performance-based practices around speaking your mind and improvisation.  

Artist Bio: BIO: AtomiK:kangaroo

“What is Atomik:kangaroo?”

“Atomik:kangaroo found on recordings is finally here.”

Has been actively performing and recording music since 2004. Its founder Stephen Hill has been involved in the PUNK ROCK scene since 1983. and performing in punk bands of one form or another until the creation of atomik:kangaroo, which has been his main focus to current date.

Atomic Kangaroo in live performance art has gone at the stage for the last 19 years for the most part without a Setlist. 99.9% of the shows are completely improvised. In the moment pieces of performance art ;that are moving at a high generated level of playing, but with the ethics of punk rock. In attitude towards the performance stage that neither the Art nor the persons spectating are not separate in the moment when the music and performance are occurring. A platform for current event protest. A platform to show utter freedom in music. Keys or structure aren’t even discussed amongst the musicians. Most of the time the audience is completely unaware, that what they have seen is improvised ….This is giving away huge differentiation about what Atomik:Kangaroo is in comparison to bands that rely on this other concept of music entirely. However, at the same time the total construction of a set can happen within days, and then go be performed with the complexity of music ranging from Miles Davis to the Dead Kennedys. We are still asking ourselves that question who operate within the band itself 

“What is Atomik:kangaroo?”

“Atomik:kangaroo found in performance is finally here!”

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Song clips and audio samples 

‘Song for Lucy’ - Beefeater

Live Show at Old Town Pub, Pasadena - The Engine Room/Atomik Kangaroo

‘There’s a Fire on the 13th Floor’ - Atomik Kangaroo

Websites and Social Media 

Atomik Kangaroo website: atomikkangaroo.com

IG: atomik_kangaroo

Audio synced transcript available on the Punkast website: https://www.thepunkast.com/episodes/s2-e13-stephen-hill

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This episode was co-produced and co-hosted by Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird. The audio and transcript were edited by Bella Gerard.  Questions were furnished by a live audience of UCLA undergraduates in the Spring 2023 MUSCLG 13 course.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join co-hosts Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird as they talk with singer/songwriter Gitane Demone of the seminal deathrock band, Christian Death, to explore her wide-ranging repertoire and many issues, such as poverty, (international) touring, pregnancy, and motherhood in a deathrock band; jazz, minimalism, electronic music, experimental music, solo work, "inventing" Cabaret Noir with Rozz Williams, and collaborating with 'punk heroes' Rikk Agnew and Paul Roessler in the Gitane Demone Quartet. 

Artist Bio: Gitane began recording and performing in 1980, first emerging on the LA punk/new wave scene with band Pompeii 99 (80-83, lp Look At Yourself, 7”s Ignorance Is The Control, The Nothing Song), before moving into seminal deathrock band Christian Death as the keyboard player, backing vocalist (83-89) for which she is well-known by the goth and punk community, touring and recording a cache of lps and 12” singles. Living in London, UK, she also gave birth to a boy in 1984, and a girl in 1987. She left the band in 89, moved to Amsterdam, Holland, and began her solo work, collaborations with other artists, and delving into free jazz, writing, recording, and touring under her own name. She produced studio, live, and collaborative LPs and singles, until 96, returning to Los Angeles. There she continued her solo work, guesting as lyrical writer and vocalist on various recording projects, putting bands together for shows, and touring across the US and Europe.

Gitane began writing on guitar, producing the band Crystelles (Attach and Detach lp 2008). In 2013 she formed Gitane Demone Quartet with punk illuminated Rikk Agnew, Paul Roessler, and with Deb Venom (Past The Sun, Substrata Strip lps), a band with an art punk avant-garde approach. Taking a hiatus with the band due to Covid, she collaborated on recording projects: Despair- an untraditional opera, and a symphonic conceptual album The New Young Kings Of Midnight with Paul Roessler, which will both be released in 2023. She is a visual artist showing occasionally in galleries and has released two prose poetry books, The Blood and Vexata Quaestio.

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Song clips and audio samples 

‘Love Me For My Mind’ - Pompeii 99

‘Awake at the Wall’ - Christian Death

‘Flowers’ - Rozz Williams and Gitane Demone

‘Ring of Fire’ - Bad Habits

Gitane Demone's Websites and Social Media 

Bandcamp: https://gitanedemone.bandcamp.com/

Website: http://gitanedemone.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gitanegdq/

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This episode was co-produced and co-hosted by Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird. The audio and transcript were edited by Bella Gerard.  

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The audio-synced transcript of this episode is available on the Punkast website: https://www.thepunkast.com/episodes/s2-e12-gitane-demone

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and co-host Dr. Runchao Liu (S2 E9) speak with Steven Kochones, the director of KCET's Artbound: Chinatown Punk Wars about his critical choices in portraying a crucial, yet relatively short, period of time in LA's punk history (and punk history more broadly). He also offers insight into sound design, musical placement, and editorial decisions that make the film a challenge to other histories of LA punk and demand that we contend with the taken-for-granted framings of the people and places that comprise its foundations.

STEVEN KOCHONES

DIRECTOR & PRODUCER BIO

Steven Kochones is an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He has directed and produced 20 documentaries including Country: Portraits of an American Sound, released on Netflix and other premium outlets, and Who Shot Rock & Roll, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Four of his films have been broadcast on the Emmy® winning KCET series Artbound, including Water: Our Thirsty World, made in cooperation with National Geographic. Kochones’ series of special venue films, commissioned by the Annenberg Space for Photography, include The War Photographers, which recounts the stories of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalists, and Frans Lanting: The Evolution of LIFE, which visualizes the evolution of life on Earth through the lens of the nature photographer. Kochones directed America’s Library, which explores historic milestones in the vaults of the Library of Congress and features never-before-seen treasures unearthed from its vast holdings. The filmmaker recently completed Chinatown Punk Wars, a documentary that tells the unlikely tale of two Chinese restaurants that became the epicenter of punk rock in late 1970s Los Angeles.

Kochones’ films comprise a broad range of subjects including music, arts and culture, climate change, and history. His films have been screened at over 75 film festivals, winning 14 awards. In 2018, he was selected as a filmmaker envoy for the American Film Showcase, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America and founder of Arclight Productions, a creative studio producing non-fiction work and branded content.

Steven's Websites and Social Media 

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1729138/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skochones

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/stevenkochones

Arclight Productions Website: arclightprods.com

Chinatown Punk Wars: https://www.pbs.org/video/chinatown-punk-wars-xhb3rm/

Chinatown Punk Wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKa3g_I78wY

Audio-synced transcript available on the Punkast website: https://www.thepunkast.com/episodes/s2-e11-steven-kochones

This episode was produced and hosted by Jessica Schwartz and was co-hosted by Runchao Liu. The audio and transcript were edited by Bella Gerard.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the first episode of a Punkast mini-series: 

"Free and Appropriate Education?: DIY Punks' Take on Disabilities Education Legislation." 

This past Monday, October 30th, 2023 marks the 33rd anniversary of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act." Coincidentally, UCLA's Disability studies major was just announced, making it the first of UC and Cal states to offer such a program. So, in critical punk fashion, I want to interrogate the system in which I am implicated in order to understand where we've been and where we can go on the subject of punk, disability, and education.

This Punkast mini-series will delve into conversations about specific disability legislation concerning education and punk's historical time frame, namely. The episodes will delve into the impact of public education-based disability legislation on the beginnings, growth, and developments in punk subculture. We'll be getting into historical aspects of past legislation and historically prominent actions that are relatively contemporaneous with DIY and commercial punk generational shifts. For example, the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act", the EHA, was signed into law in 1975, when punk subculture was in its nascency. Both this law and punk came about during the post-conformity age in the US that followed the long 1960s. In just two years later, in 1977, punk exploded....

In 1990, the legislation was reauthorized as the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act," or IDEA, which promised to, quote, guarantee a free and appropriate education to all school-aged children, end quote. Just two years later, in 1992, the documentary "1991 The Year Punk Broke" was released, and just two years after that, Spin Magazine famously pictured Green Day on the cover with the caption "1994, the Year Punk Broke." The time period around the pivotal moment of the IDEA reauthorization (late 1980s and early 1990s) sees punk subculture as changing again in significant ways. But, how do these changes align with disability legislation and punks' experiences at school? I want to hear from YOU, so, please DM me on my IG or email me to share your ideas and/or story about punk, disability, and education. 

And, as, always, thanks for listening! 

Contact

IG: punkastucla 

Email: punkastucla@gmail.com

Featured Songs 

Dead Kennedys, “Hyperactive Child”

The Clash, “1977”

Green Day, “Basket Case”

The Alice Bag Band, “Survive”

About 

This episode has been produced and hosted by Jessica Schwartz with research and editorial assistance from Daisy Stephens. 

Transcripts are available on the Punkast website and (we're working to get them) on Spotify.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode, Jessica Schwartz along with guest co-hosts, UCLA Librarians + Archivists Kelly Besser and Courtney Dean sit down to facilitate an intergenerational conversation among predominantly local (LA-based) punks–Tequila Mockingbird, FUPU (Fuck U Pay Us; Jasmine, Tianna, Urhuru), and mirrored fatality (mango + samar). 

Featured Songs 

mirrored fatality - “Utopia”

Fuck U Pay Us - “Don't Touch My Hair”

Tequila Mockingbird and The Blonde Moondust - “Disco Ranchero”

mirrored fatality - “Invalidation”

Fuck U Pay Us - “Spiritual Warfare”

For further information on our featured guests, check out the following:

Tequila Mockingbird

https://tequilatattoo.wixsite.com/lapunkmuseum

Fuck U Pay Us

Our website - https://www.fuckupayus.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/fuckupayus/?hl=en

Our Go Fund Me - https://gofund.me/9376b97a

Go Fund Me for Uhuru's Nephew - https://gofund.me/ecfcb8c3

✧༺mirrored fatality ༓☾༄

https://mirroredfatality.com/

instagram

bandcamp

facebook

youtube

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz and features co-hosts Kelly Besser and Courtney Dean. It was edited by Erika Pesca.

It was made, in part, with assistance from the HASoM Dean’s Opportunity Fund.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz talks with Dr. Runchao Liu about the LA Chinatown Punk Scene, sensationalist media interventions, and the often blurry line between appreciation and appropriation. We also discuss questions about her work on "badness" with respect to punks and Asians, countering the problematic stereotype of the model minority, and how punk has been part of the violence it often derides, which opens possibilities for divesting from such violence with thoughtful representations, collaborations, and inclusivity. Towards the end of the episode, Dr. Liu shares some of their inspirations and ideas for a more just future. 

All this and more...Check it out! 

Here's her/their bio: 

• Dr. Runchao Liu is a media and cultural studies scholar with a research focus on sound-mediated cultural practices for ways they intersect with social justice, cultural identity, and creative activism. Liu’s publications address such topics as the intersectional and transnational cultural politics of aural racialization, Asian American popular music, musical orientalism, ethnic rock music, and critical pedagogies of popular music. Before joining the University of Denver, Liu taught various media theory and production courses at the University of Wyoming and the University of Minnesota and was a postdoctoral academic fellow at the Center for Black, Brown, and Queer Studies and a visiting scholar of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University. You may find her/their academic writing in Cinéma & Cie: International Film Studies Journal, Critical Asian Studies, M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture and edited collections Critical Race Media Literacy (Routledge), The Cultural Politics of Femvertising (Palgrave Macmillan), Sound Affects (Bloomsbury), and The Handbook of Music and Art (Bloomsbury).

Song clips & audio samples 

Avril Lavigne - ‘Losing Grip’

Paramore - ‘That’s What You Get’

Blondie - ‘Heart of Glass’

Mitski - ‘Why Didn’t You Stop Me?’

No Party For Cao Dong - ‘缸’

The Linda Lindas - ‘Racist, Sexist Boy’

Bands recommended by Dr. Liu:

No Party for Cao Dong

Hedgehog 

social media link:

 https://twitter.com/runchaoliu

And, a message from Dr. Liu: If anyone wants to make recommendations to the Asian American rock music archive that I’m creating, I’d love to hear from them. 

Email: runchao.liu@du.edu

Images:

Episode art features photos of buildings that once housed Madame Wong's and Hong Kong Café. Photos taken by/courtesy of Runchao Liu. 

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz. It was edited by Bella Gerard. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird talk with Mat Gleason of Coagula Art Journal and Al's Bar about 'punk literacy,' critical 'evisceration,' astrology, and managing one of the best-known punk spaces of early LA punk.

Here's his bio: 

Mat Gleason is best known for founding and publishing Coagula Art Journal, a critical slam of the pretensions and personalities of the art world. He published the print edition from 1992 thru 2012. His Gallery, Coagula Curatorial was a leading independent art space in L.A.'s Chinatown 2012-2019. Born in Fullerton in 1964 he was transformed by punk in 1979 and started a public access television show MEDIA BLITZ with his brother Joe and high school friend Gary Tate, who later changed his name to Gary Blitz after his time on the show. Many leading L.A. punk bands would tape at Media Blitz and Flipside Magazine's Al and Hud were regular record reviewers on the show. Mat got sober in 1993 and went on to many successes through his writing and publishing, including film and television appearances. Through it all he maintained a connection to those suburban punk roots in his aesthetic and his commitment to an evolving sense of insisting on delivering his truth, free of any commitment to the illusion of a punk orthodoxy. He lives near Downtown Los Angeles.

Song clips & audio samples 

‘The Grand Illusion’ - Styx

‘God Save the Queen’ - Sex Pistols

‘Kids of the Black Hole’ - Adolescents

‘Jazz Police’ - Leonard Cohen

‘Five Fuckin’ Minutes’ - The Starvin’ Band

‘Paper Imitation’ - Popdefect

check out: 

https://coagulacuratorial.com/

Images:

1976: Mat and his brother Joe Gleason, Christmas Day 1976

1990: Mat and writer Mary Ann Swissler drinking with Charles Bukowski in San Pedro. Polaroid by Linda Bukowski.

2012: Mat and artist Roland Reiss at the Brewery Artwalk Open Studios in Los Angeles.

2019: Mat and his wife, artist Leigh Salgado.

other: Al's Bar graffitied walls & Coagula Art Journal logo

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird.  It was edited by Bella Gerard. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PUNKAST BACK TO SCHOOL MINISERIES SPECIAL!

“SoCal music spaces: Scene, Emo, and EDM ” (part 2 of 3)

Here at the Punkast, we're continuing our special summer-to-fall mini-series with guest host Kristy Martinez, a PhD Candidate in Musicology at UCLA , bringing special guests - per Kristy's introduction: 'In these interviews, we meet with some of the early 2000s scene and emo kids in SoCal. This episode is made to highlight the contributions of women creatives and music promoters. First, part one of our interview is with Xtine Reckless of Xtine and the Reckless Hearts, a musician of the band Pretty in Stereo, who were part of a very viral Fox 11 news clip on television about the sensationalism of emo and scene kids in California. Xtine is influential to the LA rock scene with her previous band and current band, Xtine and the Reckless Hearts. Celeste, a friend from high school in El Monte, was early on with a unique scene-raver look and frequented many of the Myspace-famous nightclubs. Celeste is a promoter and has experience in music. In the early 2000s, Celeste appeared in various photobooth night club photos like DANCE and was an important promoter for events such as Nocturnal.'

Bands/Artists mentioned: Pretty in Stereo, Xtine and the Reckless Hearts, Silverstein, Showbread, Garbage, Chiodos, Lunachicks, Thursday, Fear Before the March of Flames, Saosin, Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, Hot Water Music, My Chemical Romance, Saves the Day, Oh Sleeper, A Skylit Drive, Dance Gavin Dance (Kurt Travis), Jem and the Holograms

Guest Bios. 

Xtine is a vocalist, guitarist and essential figure in the OC and LA rock scenes with her previous band Pretty in Stereo, and currently is in the band Xtine and the Reckless Hearts. Xtine has played Vans Warped Tour, and various iconic venues and spaces in SoCal. // Celeste is a psychology major and lifelong music lover, who grew up in the golden era of emo, hardcore, and screamo, living the scene lifestyle, and later explored early 2000s electro and house, leading into the rise of EDM.

Links

IG: Indigenouspunxarchive 

𝚇𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 & 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝙲𝚔𝙻𝚎𝚂𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝙰𝚛𝚃𝚜® IG

Pretty In Stereo | Spotify

Pretty In Stereo IG

Pretty in Stereo Last FM

Nocturnal Wonderland 

Polite in Public

-

We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas and guests. 

IG: punkastucla

Email: punkastucla@gmail.com 

The Punkast theme music is excerpted from “Bitchathon” by Lady Bits. All rights reserved. 

This episode was recorded on August 6, 11, and 12, 2025, on Zoom. Kristy Martinez hosted and co-produced this episode with Jessica Schwartz. Bella Gerard provided editorial assistance. Martinez edited the audio-synced transcript, available here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz talks with Barry Seidel of the Hong Kong Café about how his life and career in music led to his pivotal role in the LA punk scene and, of course, the Chinatown Punk Wars. 

Songs & sound clips 

Fear - Foreign Policy

The Plugz - Electrify Me

The Germs - Richie Dagger’s Crime

The Alley Cats - Nothing Means Nothing Anymore

The Dead Kennedys - Live at Hong Kong Café Set 2 

KISS Soundcheck

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.  It was edited by Bella Gerard. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming at you from the sunny mean streets of Hollywood in hot new technicolor vision 

Lovers of dreams, loud guitars, mountains, that silver moth dust, cracked sidewalks, motel ritual magick, we are everyone, everything, you, us....

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird speak with Sean Paul Lampon, aka Sean Shimmer, of the band, Shimmer Bed, to explore musical creativity and experimental spatio-temporalities where sonic reverberations seep through cracks in the Hollywood stars. 

Links:

Bandcamp: https://shimmerbed.bandcamp.com/

Instagram is @shimmer_bed

And @sean_shimmer

Songs:

"The Young Age"

"Bathroom Bedroom"

"Sunset, Hollywood, and Satan"

"Breath"

"Squaremind"

"Constant"

"Bloodstream"

"I Want to Be a Wannabe"

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz and features guest producer and co-host Tequila Mockingbird.  It was edited by Erika Pesca.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz speaks with Evan Rapport, an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at The New School. He is the author of Damaged: Musicality and Race in Early American Punk (University Press of Mississippi, 2020) and Greeted with Smiles: Bukharian Jewish Music and Musicians in New York (Oxford University Press, 2014), about the musical life of Jewish immigrants from Central Asia. He is also an active saxophonist and composer. 

Links:

Evan Rapport Faculty Page: https://www.newschool.edu/lang/faculty/evan-rapport/

Damaged: Musiaclity and Race in Early American Punk: https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/D/Damaged

Spotify playlist for Damaged (the book): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mVyB4g0V8BvOqCAVfD0Ly?si=b02a373fa1c24391

Songs:

The Stooges - “I Wanna Be Your Dog”

Devo - “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

The Clash - “I’m So Bored with The USA”

Dead Kennedys - “California Über Alles”

Bad Brains - “Big Take Over”

Descendants - “Suburban Home”

X-Ray Spex - “Let’s Submerge”

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz and edited by Erika Pesca.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz speaks with the founders of Colectivo Archivo Contracultural Uruguay (the Countercultural Archive of Uruguay, CAC): Allie da Silva Srulowitz and Eugenio Amen. CAC is a collective focused on the recovery, preservation, digitization and access to the different materials that emerged from the Uruguayan underground countercultural scene of the 1970s to 2000s. CAC promotes meetings and exchanges between the community and archivists, in order to share experiences and knowledge about the treatment and accessibility of various media saved within their personal collections. One of the main objectives of the “Colectivo Archivo Contracultural" is to support the community to preserve their collections and raise awareness of the importance of preserving underground, punk, and often lesser-heard memory. Da Silva Srulowitz and Amen intend to expand CAC with the participation of those involved in the project, prioritizing a representative and diverse collective as well as integrating histories, by listening and visualizing community collections, moving out of heteronormativity and the patriarchal model, and inclusive of women, queer, trans, Afro-Uruguayan, immigrant, and indigenous communities.

Links 

Colectivo Archivo Contracultural: https://linktr.ee/archivocontracultural 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archivocontracultural/  

Email: colectivoarchivocontracultural@gmail.com  

Mamá era punk: An important document of the Uruguayan underground community: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l822azA0cXg  

 Songs 

Monkelis - “Yam” 

Polución Sonora - “Su Consciencia” 

4F Ciudad Junk - “Love” 

Chicos Eléctricos - “Don’t Look Back (Demo)” 

Motosierra - “F.U.C.K.” 

3D - “Desorientada” 

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz and edited by Erika Pesca.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Punk music finds life in one of L.A.’s oldest adobe homes in this original theaterwork. Set in the early 1980s in working-class Bell Gardens, three young punk musicians, from disparate cultures, squat in a vacant house. Inspired by the bands X, the Minutemen, and the Bags, the trio builds its punk songbook and a life-size zine, as they define their artistic identity and find their place in the musical and historic landscape of L.A.” (About…Productions)

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz talks with Theresa Chavez, theaterwork director, who co-created the narrative with her son, Gabriel Garza, and wrote the songs with Nina Diaz (Girl in a Coma). They discuss the importance of the theaterwork in offering this alternative perspective about early LA punk. 

Links

Adobe Punk (About Productions) website  

Plaza de la raza

Review from The Eastsider 

Music Connetion Review

Playlist 

Blondie - "Dreaming"

X - "The Hungry Wolf"

Blondie - "Detroit 442"

Adobe Punk, Bell System - "Diddly Squat"

Adobe Punk, Bell System - "Not to Scale"

Adobe Punk, Bell System - "Bell Underground Garden"

This episode was hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz, and Erika Pesca did the editorial work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz talks to Ziba Pérez (Young Adult Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library), Yago Cura (bilingual Adult Services Librarian for the Los Angeles Public Library, and owner of the small press HINCHAS), and Lorena Villegas (Young Adult Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library) about the Los Angeles Public Library's Zine Collections and Zine Club. We talk about the importance of non-commercial press, public access and accessibility, creativity, and intergenerational communication. And, our guests share their work!

"The Zine Club members meetup in a virtual space to co-work, chat and share inspiration for whatever projects we're working on. Zine Club is based on the idea of gathering together to create zines, share zines we like, zines that we are working on, music to make zines to, and much more." (On a personal note - Jessica has been going to the LAPL Zine Club, online, since Sept. 2021, and has found community and drawn inspiration from every meeting)

Please check out this episode to learn more and get involved!

https://www.lapl.org/zines

This episode was produced, hosted, and edited by Jessica Schwartz. Erika Pesca helped with sound and content checks. 

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Uncompromising, gender-queer, acoustic & experimental solo artist/ collaborative musician in Orange County, CA. 

Josie Wreck is a 1st generation transgender Xicanx musician, vocalist, speaker, community organizer, DJ, and hostess of Aural Displeasure. She carved a space out for herself in the mid 00's Orange County punk, goth & art scenes by shrieking and abusing her distorted guitar in the genderfucking 3-piece HEIDI WU, and with her dark, abrasive doom folk stylings as an acoustic artist. She/they are most noted for their work in the bands Popsical, QTPi Xpress, Moonlight Squalor, for her solo work, and as the producer & hostess of her own music podcast Aural Displeasure. She manages, archives, and releases music under her Bandcamp digi-label of the same name. 

Listen to this first episode of our second season as Josie Wreck takes us on a journey through the Santa Ana/OC punk scene, detailing how an uncompromising vision and commitment to amplify their voice created space and community for queer, trans and punks of color in the midst of cis-male dominated and white supremacist spaces. 

Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird talk with Josie about these histories, musical projects, creative philosophies, and more. Check it out!

The songs in order of appearance are:

Moonstra - Toast

Moonlight Squalor - I am Swan

Amongst Animals - Aching Debt #2

Popsical - Canine Concerns

QTPi Xpress - QTPi Theme

QTPi Xpress - Punch A Nazi In The Face

Josie Wreck - Porcelain Doll

Josie Wreck - The Hollow

Check out Aural Displeasure/ Josie Wreck:

https://auraldispleasure.bandcamp.com/

https://linktr.ee/AuralDispleasure

https://www.instagram.com/auraldispleasure/?hl=en

This episode was produced and hosted by Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird. It was edited by Erika Pesca.

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In this, the Season 1 Finale, Jessica talks to Matt Grimes about punk, scholarship, and Birmingham’s often-overlooked music scene.

Matt is the General Secretary of the Punk Scholars Network and co-ordinates the PSN International affiliates. He is a member of the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR) where his research interests include anarcho-punk and DIY punk scenes; ageing within popular music scenes; popular music, memory and nostalgia; DIY music cultures/subcultures and scenes; music industries, innovation and entrepreneurship. Matt sits on the editorial board for the PSN Global Punk book series, Punk & Post-Punk and Riffs: Journal of Experimental Writing on Popular Music. Matt is also Course Director for the BA (Hons) Music Industries and a Senior Lecturer in Music Industries and Radio at Birmingham City University, where he teaches primarily on the BA (Hons) Music Industries course in the Birmingham School of Media, as well as on a range of undergraduate and post-graduate programmes across the Birmingham Institute of Media and English and Faculty of Art, Design and Media. Publications include the co-edited Punk Now! Contemporary Perspectives on Punk (2020) and Punk Identities, Punk Utopias: Global Punk and Media (Intellect, 2021). He also has chapters in the forthcoming edited collection on punk pedagogy entitled ‘A Punk Pedagogies Manifesto by the Riffs Editorial Team’ (with Raine, S., Draganova, A. and Taylor, I.) and Exploring the Spiritual in Popular Music: Beatified Beats entitled ‘“Message from Thee Temple”: Magick, Occultism, Mysticism and Psychic TV’ (with Dines, M).

Listen to the episode for a crucial question Matt asks himself, and perhaps all of us listeners, to contemplate when making tough decisions…

Check out:

https://www.punkscholarsnetwork.com/matt-grimes

https://www.punkscholarsnetwork.com/

https://www.birminghammusicarchive.com/

https://homeofmetal.com/

https://museumofyouthculture.com/

Songs, in order of appearance:

 Satanis Takut Hantu - Tabraklari

N.I.B. - Black Sabbath

Blame on Me - Steel Pulse

Girls on Film - Duran Duran

Reject of Society - Crass

Lokomotif - Tabraklari

This episode was produced and hosted by Jessica Schwartz and was edited by Erika Pesca.

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Torn Apart is the largest exhibition of punk and new wave graphics ever shown on the West Coast. The show includes around one-thousand pieces of graphic design ephemera produced from 1976 to 1986, mostly from England and the US, and includes posters, flyers, publications, clothing, stickers, and buttons. The work is pulled from Andrew Krivine’s Too Fast to Live collection, curated by CalArts graphic design faculty Michael Worthington, and is accompanied by a selection of vintage punk photographs by renowned music photographer Sheila Rock.

Torn Apart includes work by well-known designers  Barney Bubbles, Jamie Reid, Malcolm Garrett, Peter Saville, Chris Morton, Vivienne Westwood, Mike Coles, Gee Vaucher, Winston Smith, and Raymond Pettibon. Equally important are the spectacular works by designers less exposed to US audiences such as John Angus, Martin Kaye, X3, and Alex McDowell, alongside works designed by the musicians themselves, and a plethora of unknown and uncredited designers, both amateur and professional.

In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and Nico Rosario sit down with Torn Apart's Andrew Krivine and Michael Worthington to talk all things about the exhibit --from the content to its larger political and social implications. Check it out the episode, the exhibit, and the links provided by our guests:

Torn Apart: https://www.tornapart.graphics/

Steven Heller interview for Print Magazine (his Daily Heller blog) --

https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-punk-reprised-rethunk/

Benton Art Museum's upcoming exhibition page for Wild Youth: https://benton.uconn.edu/wild-youth-the-punk-scene-of-the-1970s-and-1980s/

GQ UK piece on Too Fast To Live --

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/too-fast-to-live-too-young-to-die-punk-and-post-punk-graphics

Guardian slideshow of images in Reversing Into The Future --

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/oct/02/punk-and-new-wave-posters-reversing-into-the-future-in-pictures

Article by Emily Gosling, for AIGA's Eye On Design (last November), on New Wave graphics-- https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/why-new-wave-graphics-are-the-most-influential-designs-youve-probably-ignored/

Songs excerpted in this episode:

"Art School" - the Jam

"Going Underground" - the Jam

"What Do I Get?" - Buzzcocks

"She's Lost Control" - Grace Jones (Joy Division Cover)

"God Save the Queen" - the Sex Pistols

"A Message to You, Rudy" - the Specials

"Art School" - the Jam

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PUNKAST BACK TO SCHOOL MINISERIES SPECIAL!

“Alternative in the I.E. 2000s and more in the Inland Empire” (part 1 of 3)

If you couldn't already tell by the title for Part 1, we, here at the Punkast, have a REALLY special summer mini-series for you! Your regular host, Jessica Schwartz, is handing the mic over to Kristy Martinez, a PhD Candidate in Musicology at UCLA and the OG TA for UCLA's "Punk" online course, who does amazing, compelling work (see 'host bio' below), and is bringing exciting guests into the Punkast mix for your 'back to school' listening and learning. Anyways...Here's Kristy's introduction to this episode: Jase Felder grew up in Moreno Valley and Riverside. As a BIPOC and gay man, Jase was heavily involved in the punk, indie, and dancey electro scenes in the Inland Empire. We discuss living in the I.E., punk at the Showcase theater, 2000s dance “scene” clubs, the rise of social media, as well as influential artists and soundtracks. 

And, amidst all that, Kristy and Jase provide the punk+ talk & tunes to supercharge your 'back to school' punk podcast playlist.

Bands/Artists mentioned: The Bravery, AFI, Lady Gaga, Interpol, The Bled, Taking Back Sunday, Shiny Toy Guns, Dashboard Confessional, The Voids, Bloc Party, Rihanna

Guest Bio. 

Jase Felder was born an Inland Empire It Girl turned regular New Yorker. I look back on growing up in San Bernardino/Moreno Valley and think, it was pretty badass. However, you kind of have to leave it to really love it. The food, the music, the house parties, the mixed-culture, …Bakers—it all hits. I graduated in ’05 from Canyon Springs High School, did some time at RCC, which, by the way, is still one of the most beautiful college campuses I’ve seen (at least during my stint), and did what most of us from the area eventually do and moved. My choice: New York City. Since 2011, I’ve been in Brooklyn, living with my super chill Bull Terrier. I earned my Master’s in Public Health Policy and now work as an Infectious Disease Researcher at NYU’s Bellevue Hospital. It’s a long way from being carried out of Club VIP for doing the absolute most.

Host Bio.

Kristen Martinez (she/her/they) is a UCLA PhD Candidate in Musicology as well as a vocalist, mother, and archivist. Growing up in El Monte, her 

work examines subcultural movements in the San Gabriel Valley as well as ephemera, nostalgia, placemaking, musical analysis, and identity with a focus on punk, post-punk, and emo. She has created a D.I.Y. digital punk archive to document the various global Indigenous music movements called the "Indigenous Punx Archive" on Instagram. IG: Indigenouspunxarchive 

Links

IG: Indigenouspunxarchive 

remembering ezzat soliman | Jerk of All Trades

VIP-Nightclub.com

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We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas and guests. 

IG: punkastucla

Email: punkastucla@gmail.com 

The Punkast theme music is excerpted from “Bitchathon” by Lady Bits. All rights reserved. 

This episode was recorded on July 2, 2025 on Zoom. Kristy Martinez hosted and co-produced this episode with Jessica Schwartz. Martinez and Schwartz edited the audio-synced transcript, available here.

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Let's Go to the Beach! Don't Be Afraid to Pogo! ... it's Axxel G. Reese of the Gears, DIs, and Star Party. Join Tequila Mockingbird and Jessica Schwartz in conversation with this punk surf-billy legend! 

Songs, perforned by the Gears, in order of appearance: 

"Let's Go to the Beach"

"Don't Be Afraid to Pogo" 

“Wasting Time"

"Hard Rock"

“Teenage Brain

"FUF"

“Psychotic Sweetheart

"Down in the Basement"

Photo of Axxel by Becky Cerecedes

Check out the film Don't Be Afraid to Pogo !!! 

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Low Brow Art. Cats. Hot Rods. Painting. Music. Cat Museum. Anti-Capitalist Philosophies, DIY and Found Art. Tequila Mockingbird and Jessica Schwartz talk scrapping the system with Artist, Musician, Author-- Anthony Ausgang. 

Songs, performed by Cat Museum, in order of appearance: 

"Cat Museum Artillery"

"When the Rain Hits" 

“CIA 022820"

"Cats in Space"

Photos borrowed from the internet. 

check out:

Anthony Ausgang: https://ausgangart.com/

Cat Museum: https://soundcloud.com/the-cat-museum

Excerpted: Tequila TV #21 "Anthony Ausgang" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72kk6L-JxxM

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Machines. Punk rock. Psychology. Lyrical recitation. Opera. EHarmony. Mismatching. Abilities. Crip punk movement. Tequila Mockingbird and Jessica Schwartz interview Professor Galen Buckwalter of the band Siggy. 

Songs, in order of appearance (citing personal correspondence with Galen Buckwalter): 

Idiots Blocking Traffic

“Love is War”  (‘the quintessential Idiots Blocking Traffic song’). 

Siggy 

“Diva” 

“When Women Rule” (‘the yet to become feminist anthem’)

“Wire Mother” (‘our anti-institutional science manifesto’) 

“Spend A Day” (‘the genre-defining, folk-punk piece’)  

Idiots Blocking Traffic was Tony "The Jerk" Defazio (guitar), Steve Carter (Bass) and Chris Flemming (Drums). Siggy is Ryan Howes (Guitar, music), Deborah Buckwalter (Bass) and Paul Netherton (Drums).

Photos courtesy of Galen Buckwalter and Paul Sharkey

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In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird speak with drummer Martin Atkins from Pigface, Ministry, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, and Public Image Limited—among others—in which he delves into his DIY philosophy surrounding punk creativity. Martin is also an author and educator, coordinating the music business program at Millikin University. His knowledge about, passion for, and inspired approach to music collaboration and community—and keeping engaged and active using all means necessary—drive this episode.

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Increasingly, people are recognizing the LA band, the Doors, for their wide-ranging influence on punk, notably inspiring Iggy Pop, Patty Smith, X, Joy Division, and Siouxsee and the Banshees. In this episode, we speak with the Doors’ venerable guitarist and song-writer, Robby Krieger, to learn about his musical journey, contemplate how the Doors shaped punk, and share some of his more recent work, including collaborations with the seminal LA punk bands X and the Mau Mau’s. Inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and named one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone, Krieger wrote or co-wrote some of the Doors’ most famous songs, including “Light My Fire” and “Love Me Two Times.”  

Guest commentator David Schwartz offers personal reflections and political context to situate the intergenerational impact of the band.  

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'[Punk] is a music genre and a subculture and a whole way of living that is full of contradictions, hypocrisy…’ 

Does punk promote inclusion or exclusion? Violence or protection? And what about health, accessibility, self- and communal care? Join Jessica Schwartz and PAUL FIELDS for this special interview in three parts as they discuss his research on punk and the sometimes contradictory ideals in the scene and academia.

Guest Bio. 

Paul Fields is an associate professor at Buckinghamshire New University where he teaches various music-related courses such as Songwriting and Music Production and Events Management. His research is largely focused on punk, drawing from his own experience in the scene during the 1990s and 2000s.

Links

Paul Fields’ research repository

Paul Fields’ university email: paul.fields@bnu.ac.uk

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As mentioned in the introduction, click links to find more about the Punk Scholars Podcast, on which Francis Stewart's episode and many others are featured!

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We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas and guests. 

Instagram: punkastucla

Email: punkastucla@gmail.com 

The Punkast theme music is excerpted from “Bitchathon” by Lady Bits. All rights reserved. 

Season 2, Episode 21 was recorded in person on December 20, 2023, December 12, 2024, and August 6, 2024 in the UK and US, respectively. Jessica Schwartz hosted and produced this episode. Bella Gerard edited the audio and transcript, which is available here.

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