The Who Cares Anyway Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

From WilliamWinant.com:

2014 Grammy-nominated percussionist William Winant has performed with some of the most innovative and creative musicians of our time, including John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, John Zorn, Keith Jarrett, Anthony Braxton, James Tenney, Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell, Steve Reich and Musicians, Yo-Yo Ma, Frederic Rzewski, Ursula Oppens, Joan LaBarbara, Annea Lockwood, Joelle Leandre, Zeena Parkins, Danny Elfman/OingoBoingo, Mr. Bungle, Sonic Youth, and the Kronos String Quartet.

In this, the first newly recorded episode of the podcast in almost a year, we hear from the esteemed percussion maestro about moving to (and staying in) the Bay Area; studying (and teaching) at Mills College; collaborating with the likes of Mr. Bungle and Caroliner; hanging out with Harry Partch; and crossing genre boundaries, from contemporary classical to rock to free improv and beyond.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/ep-27-willie-winant-percussionist-extraordinaire/

While probably best known for his 1991 book England's Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, Jon Savage was also an early chronicler of the San Francisco punk scene, championing bands such as the Sleepers, Avengers, and Dils before most audiences outside of the Bay Area or California had even heard of them. In this episode, we hear about his involvement with the zine Search & Destroy; his trip to the West Coast (both L.A. and San Francisco) in 1978; his first-hand observations on the differences between the punk scenes in the U.K. and California; and more.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2025/06/01/wca-podcast-jon-savage-englands-dreaming/

From ChristineShields.net:

Christine Shields is an artist and musician from Northern California. She grew up in various locations, most of them rural, from the Central Coast to the Sierra foothills.... At the age of 17 she moved to San Francisco, attended the Art Institute, and played in her first band as a drummer. Her creative life, built around necessity and imagination, has taken many forms, including painting, comics, music and illustration. She currently resides in Sacramento, California.

In lieu of a pithy summary, I instead offer a list of hashtags to indicate some of the names or topics discussed:

#Bananafish #SFArtInstitute #ArchipelagoBrewingCompany #Caroliner #DameDarcy #DArcydDollinger #SeymourGlass #HarveyStafford #Revolver #BonerRecords #NevadaCity #Chameleon #Chatterbox #ValenciaStreet#BlueHole #IanChriste #GrouseMountainSkyride #ScrewMagazine #JamesGoode #JainaBee #Pencilvania #TheMissionSchool #AdobeBooks #LaraAllen #TimMooney #ChrisJohanson #RonnieBurns

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/12/07/wca-podcast-ep-18-christine-shields/

We begin with a brief flashback/rewind to the very beginning, as Joe answers a question I'd somehow never thought to ask before—namely, why "Truckin'" (of all songs)?

From there, we fast-forward back to mid-1983 and then wind our way through the Joe's Second Record (1984) and Joe's Third Record eras (1985-1986), with Joe sharing his memories of seeing Gregg Turkington (and eventual Pop-O-Pies guitarist) Kirk Heydt's short-lived band Hello Kitty on Ice; transitioning from 415 Records to Subterranean Records; touring the Southwest with the Bill Gould/Mike Bordin lineup of the Pop-O-Pies; working with producer Tom Mallon; and salvaging Joe's Third Record in the wake of some recording-studio disasters.

As if that weren't enough, Joe also offers his observations on the "punk-rock winter" of the late 1980s ("It just seemed like some kind of entity was trying to ... not completely obliterate independent music, but temporarily derail it for a time") and then walks us through his unique take on rock 'n' roll history as a series of 12-year cycles beginning in 1952 and ending in the year 2000.

Finally, there are some recollections of the 1993 "In Frisco" / "Squarehead" sessions (with Trey Spruance, Danny Heifetz, and Atom Ellis), as well as a bit about Joe's latter-day rock operetta "Lenny in Wonderland" and the recent reissue of the Pop-O-Pies' White EP.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/11/22/wca-podcast-ep-17-joe-pop-o-pie-pt-2/

Part One of a two-part blockbuster with the man behind the Pop-O-Pies. Here, Joe takes us from New Jersey to San Francisco, from recording the original "Truckin'" demo to putting together a live band, from landing a local college radio hit to signing with 415 Records, from touring the East Coast to meeting Courtney Love and hanging out with Jerry Garcia -- and more.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/11/14/wca-podcast-ep-16-joe-pop-o-pie-pt-1/

Much like previous guest Vincent Albarano, Ryan Weinstein is someone I met earlier this year via social media but had never actually spoken to before interviewing him for this podcast. Under the name Coffin Prick, he released his debut "solo" album Laughing (Sophomore Lounge) earlier this year—a colorful and gently warped collection of songs and instrumentals that brings to mind Ralph Records, Kramer/Shimmy Disc, and the Butthole Surfers at their most melodic.

In this interview, we talk about Ryan's early experiences as a member of sludge/stoner metal band Cavity; the time he booked Neil Hamburger to play in Miami; the influence of Ralph Records acts such as Tuxedomoon, Snakefinger, and the Residents on his music; and the process of recording Laughing and subsequently performing the material live (with two different backing bands) in L.A. and Chicago, respectively.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/10/26/wca-podcast-ep-15-ryan-weinstein-coffin-prick/

The one and only Barbara Manning joins the podcast to talk about her reactions to the book, her memories of Lowdown Studios, the concept of "Think Audience," her adventures in Germany and New Zealand, the Chico Daze era, life as a high school science (and, more recently, drama) teacher, and her recent/upcoming touring activities.

Links, show notes, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/10/05/wca-podcast-ep-14-barbara-manning/

For this "bonus episode" of the podcast, we speak with Vincent Albarano about his recently published book Aesthetic Deviations: A Critical View of American Shot-on-Video Horror 1984-1994 (Headpress) as well as his one-off zine, Pinhead Music, which delves into the strange-but-true history of the underground music scene in Keyser, West Virginia (population:~5,000). during the '80s and '90s.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/09/13/wca-podcast-vincent-albarano/

Suzi Skates was one of the main people I had in mind when I added the phrase "other creative figures" to the official description for this podcast ("series of interviews with musicians, writers, artists, and other creative figures on topics related to the book Who Cares Anyway....").

Granted, she moved to SF to study painting, and she did play in a couple of bands, but she made her name (quite literally) as Suzi Skates, messenger on wheels and one-of-a-kind punk-era celebrity.

Here, she recounts her move to San Francisco (where she enrolled at the Art Institute in early 1977), the origins of the Suzi Skates concept, her memories of a couple of legendary/infamous punk-era dwellings (1183 Howard and the American Can Company building), and her eventual move to New York City—where, among other things, she sang for a band called Aurora Bora (along with former Plasmatics bassist Chosei Funahara) and even played bass in an early version of Raging Slab (sic).

Show notes, liinks, photos, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/08/31/wca-podcast-ep-12-suzi-skates/

As a drummer, Phil Franklin has been a key member of bands including Caroliner, Faxed Head, and Sunburned Hand of the Man. As a singer-songwriter, he heads up Franklin's Mint, whose most recent album, Temporary,, was recorded in Australia (where Phil moved in 2019) with help from Mr. Bungle's Danny Heifetz. In this interview, we touch on all of the above, along with Mr. Franklin's memories of touring Japan, his thoughts on the New Weird America moniker, and his days in the late '80s groups Egg and the Dukes o' Pop alongside eventual Presidents of the United States of America frontman Chris Ballew.

Links, show notes, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2023/07/24/wca-podcast-ep-11-phil-franklin