EPISODE 51: John Yates (Stealworks, artist, former Atlernative Tentacles co-worker)

Hello and welcome to TM pod SEASON TWO Episode 51 with my guest, the prolific, punk rock, political graphic art legend John Yates.

John and I met in San Francisco in the late 80's when we both worked for Jello Biafra at Alternative Tentacles. We've been in touch off and on ever since and I've never stopped admiring his artistic output over the decades. We talk about our time together in that very vital era of SF music before and after the dawn of the 90's. Working at the label gave us access to almost any show or concert around the bay and we were at the right age to take full advantage of that fact, going out every night. 

The conversation starts well before those days in a rainy coastal village in Cornwall, England. John tells us about his punk rock journey from seeing The Sex Pistols on the telly getting arrested on the Thames during the Queen's Jubilee to his moving to SF to work for Jello. He tells a hilarious story of his mom's question after he told her he had made up his mind to move to the states; "You're going to move to America to work for Jello Biafra? ...are you sure it's real?" It was real and England's loss has been our gain ever since.

Enjoy my conversation with John Yates.

Music:

NoMeansNo 'Rags and Bones'

Concrete Sox: 'Scientific Slaughter'

TM pod theme by Jason

John's site: Stealworks

John's IG: HERE

TraegerMethod Patreon

Venmo: @Jason-Traeger-1

Jason's art: TraegerMethod.com