Jason speaks with producer Erin Yanke about the 'It Did happen Here' podcast, a documentary pod about the battles waged in the wake of the 1988 murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw to liberate Portland Oregon from the terror inflicted on the punk scene and the broader community by neo-nazi skinheads. Erin tells us about how she came to work on the project with co-producers/hosts Mic Crenshaw and Celina Flores, and explains why the stories of the anti-racist streetfighters, activists and ...
Jun 29, 2021•1 hr 11 min
TM pod has the WORLD EXCLUSIVE interview with Martin Sprouse (@3chordpolitics) aka "The Elon Musk Billboard Guy". Jason talks with him about going hugely viral last week and his subsequent stonewalling of all press contact. Funny stuff. The two go on to talk about the early 80's SF band Crucifix , the mysteriously underwhelmed reaction they and the world have had toward recent US government admissions that UFO 's encounters are a common occurrence, the mystery of early 90's SF Henry Rollins trib...
Jun 21, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 36
TM pod 35 Jason talks with music and culture writer Tony Rettman about his life and work. The story starts in Trenton with a 11 year old Tony being drafted into punk by his older brother who was a DJ at the city's legendary City Gardens venue. From there he branches out to nearby Philly and NY to explore those scenes and most importantly in his telling to buy as many records and zines as he could. He describes his immersion in the straight edge hardcore scene of the late 80’s and his work with T...
Jun 14, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 35
This week Jason talks with Tobi Vail about her life in music and activism. Tobi's story starts with her teenage parents taking her to the Tenino Rock Festival in 1969 when she was six weeks old and it only get wilder from there! LINKS: Tobi's band GSP have a soon to be released LP on Thrilling Living Records. Bikini Kill will be touring extensively in 2022. Pussy Riot's Maria 'Masha' Alyokhina is currently under house arrest and is facing a possible sentence of ANOTHER two years in prison merely...
May 31, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Episode 33 is a free form conversation between the real-life tight bros from way back when: Sean, Quitty and Jason. Serious TM pod listeners can try to spot all the references to the Derek Tape the trio make as they talk about life, love and Gene Simmons' wig. Thanks for listening! Music: TM theme by Jason Closing music by Behead the prophet NLSL.
May 25, 2021•1 hr 21 min
This is a very special short episode of TM pod. This week Jason talks about a marbles-like game called 'Gears' that was passed down through generations of kids in the 70's at his elementary school in Kenmore Washington. He also remembers a fantasy he had as a child of a computer in the woods behind the school. Thank you for listening and supporting the podcast!
May 18, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Episode 31 is a conversation with Los Angeles based stand-up comic, writer, actor and podcaster Amy Miller . The two met over a decade ago after Amy relocated from the Bay Area to Portland and the two became fast friends, sharing countless comedy stages and green rooms around the Pacific Northwest. It was only after they'd gotten to know one another that they discovered they may have also breathed the same air many years before when Jason was active in the San Francisco punk scene and Amy was a ...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Episode 30 is an addendum to Episode 29. It is The Derek Tape in its entirety. WARNING: This conversation is peppered with offensive language and threats of violence. 'The Derek Tape' was made in Los Angeles in 1993. It is a 43 minute long recording of a phone conversation between stoned record store employee Kurt and one of his frequent customers, heavy metal/hard rock obsessed maniac Derek. The tape begins with Kurt asking Derek if he was able to get a parking enforcement 'boot' off his car, a...
May 03, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Episode 29 is a first for the TM Pod in several ways: It is the first appearance of Jon 'Quitty' Quittner, the first featuring multiple guests and the first dedicated to a specific subject rather than a look at a guest's biography. The subject: 'The Derek Tape' 'The Derek Tape' was made in Los Angeles in 1993. It is a 43 minute long recording of a phone conversation between stoned record store employee Kurt and one of his frequent customers, heavy metal/hard rock obsessed maniac Derek. The tape ...
May 03, 2021•1 hr 24 min
This episode Jason speaks with archivist/artist/healer/historian Margarat Nee both about her life coming of age as a punk girl at the cusp of the 1980's in North County San Diego and about her work today documenting the era with her ongoing project the San Diego Punk Archive . The two attended the same Encinitas High School five years apart. Margarat shares tales of San Dieguito she says she wasn't a problem child but was physically removed by a bouncer from the only dance she ever attended, so ...
Apr 27, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Episode 27 is conversation between Jason and his high school friend Mark MacFarlane. The two recently began trading DM's on instagram after Mark reached out in response to the TM podcast. This conversation is the first time they have spoken since the last day of school 1985. In catching up Mark shares sometimes funny and sometimes gory stories about his years flying Blackhawk helicopters for the army, the crooked educational path he took to his career as a land surveyor and lots of North County ...
Apr 19, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Episode 26 is a conversation between Jason and his old friend Walter Glaser. A Bay Area punk, Walter was the longtime MaximumRockNRoll cassette reviewer and the face on the cover of the influential Gilman Street Project 2x7” comp ‘ Turn It Around '. He might protest but a case could be made that this appearance makes him the honorary ‘Face of Gilman Geek-Core’. What is ‘ Geek-Core ’ you might ask? If you picture the pit filled with Big Wheels and jumping jacks instead of moshing and slamming you...
Apr 12, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Episode 25 is a conversation with artist, musician, photographer and host Jason’s dear friend Tae Won Yu . The two met in the fertile scene that was Olympia, WA in the early 90’s and immediately bonded over their shared devotion to music, art and the creative process, though their paths to that meeting couldn’t have been more different. Jason’s move to Olympia was a return to his home in the Pacific Northwest after his years in California, Tae was a transplant from NYC whose childhood had been s...
Apr 05, 2021•1 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Episode 24 is an interview with filmmaker Scott Crawford, director of DC punk documentary Salad Days and Boy Howdy: The Story of Creem Magazine. The conversation starts with Scott’s punk rock biography beginning with his stint as a post-pubescent zine maker in the DC scene of the early 80’s and moves through to his forthcoming project; a documentary film about Canadian punk pioneers DOA and frontman Joey “Shithead” Keithley ’s current political career in the band’s hometown of Burnaby B.C. Jason...
Mar 30, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Episode 23 is a conversation with Eddie Joseph of early Orange County hardcore/punk/new wave pioneers Eddie and the Subtitles . Already a veteran of the Haight-Ashbury ‘Summer of Love’ scene that had fizzled out a decade earlier, he was in his early 30’s as the first wave of LA/OC punk splashed over from the 70’s into the 80’s. Not only did he write and perform one of the most iconic songs of the era with The Subtitles, 1980’s ‘American Society’ he also worked as a manager for bands like Social ...
Mar 22, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Jason speaks with Chris Chacon founder of the influential San Diego based international hardcore punk cassette label Bad Compilation Tapes , later renamed as Borderless Countries Tapes , commonly known as BCT . Chris tells the story of his late entry into early So Cal punk in 1979 at age 25 after hearing The Urinals on a new wave/punk show on the local rock station KGB. From there he dove headlong into the subculture and never looked back. He formed BCT in 1982 as a means of contributing to the ...
Mar 16, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Jason and Pat's talk begins with more about their old San Diego punk friend the late John Murphy , then they veer off into the Venice scene, the new documentary film about The Olympic Auditorium , and ither things before the conversation ends with Pat telling us how cool Lenny Kravitz was toward high-end retail drones like himself back in his days as Romeo Blue . Along the way they ask the question "what do punks have against toilets?" Music: Excel : 'Split Image' from their 'Personal Onslaught'...
Mar 09, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Episode 20 is a talk with Joe Lally. The conversation focuses on his formative years and traces the journey from pre-teen soul / funk fiend through his suburban stoner teens as a dedicated acolyte of eclectic doom pioneers The Obsessed . Joe describes the profound impact touring the country in 1986 as roadie with Beefeater had on his life. He pays special tribute to the band’s late guitarist Fred Smith who invited him on that tour. Jason and Joe met for the first time when the band arrived in Re...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Kevin Seconds is a true American punk/hardcore D.I.Y. indie icon. Jason and Kevin met in 1984 when he interviewed 7 Seconds for Leading Edge fanzine backstage at Perkins Palace in Pasadena and they have been friends ever since. The two lived together in Reno for a time and Jason was roadie on the band's 1986 North American tour. This conversation focuses on Kevin's origin story. We learn about the hardscrabble circumstances he and his family experienced after arriving in Reno in the mid 70's, an...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 19
TraegerMethod episode 18 begins as a podcast. Martin (@3chordpolitics) and Jason look at back recent TM guests and share recommendations for some other pods including James Call’s ‘Punk Lives!’ about San Diego scene history and ’It Did Happen Here’ about the battle in the 80’s and 90’s to defend the Portland punk scene from nazi skinheads and how it evolved into a wider effort to drive them from the city altogether after the 1988 murder of Ethopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw. Around the 30 minute ...
Feb 16, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 18
TM Pod Episode 17 is a conversation with Jason's dear friend, D.C. punk legend Cynthia Connolly . A prolific photographer, documentarian, punk rock mover and shaker, she painted the cover of Minor Threat's Out of Step EP and wrote the book on DC punk: Banned in DC. TM theme by Jason Additional music: Minor Threat 'Out of Step', Eddie and the Subtitles 'American Society'
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 25 min
Episode 16 of TM Podcast will make you think twice about the value and virtue of teenage employment. Jason and return guest Sean Kelly explore their shared first experiences in the entry level of the North County San Diego workforce of the 1980’s. Pizza pranks, racist managers, larceny, drawings of a floating head named 'Charly' and the role of crystal meth in the local economy are all examined in this conversation. “Can I get a price check on a Nestler Codpiece?” Bumper music by Paul Schlesinge...
Jan 26, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Jason and Rick became friends in the mid 80’s through their respective punk zines Leading Edge and Subculture . Their bond only deepened through a shared background and love of all things BMX. This episode is very BMX heavy, so get ready to get gnarly! Among all the bike talk the two get into the story of Rick's path to punk and how he qualified to be the singer of his first band Pitchfork through his willingness to do it and more importantly his ability to buy a cheap P.A. set up. Also discusse...
Jan 19, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Jone Stebbins was guitarist and a founding member of all-girl early 80’s hardcore punk pioneers, Reno, NV.’s The Wrecks . She and bassist Bessie Oakley also produced the beloved and influential Paranoia fanzine in that era. Since the 1990’s she has been making music with Wrecks drummer Lynn Perko-Truell as bassist of Bay Area super-group Imperial Teen . Jason and Jone became friends in 1983 as penpals, they met later that year when she and Bessie spent a number of months in Los Angeles running S...
Jan 11, 2021•57 min•Season 1Ep. 14
The conversation begins with Jason and Don's introduction at “the weirdo wall’ of San Dieguito High School in the mid 80’s and from there they go backwards and forwards to put together a picture of their enduring friendship and Don’s biographical timeline. Don was a founding member of Pitchfork, a band that helped define the post-‘Slow Death’ San Diego post-hardcore era. He talks about forming the band with John Reis and Rick Froberg at this transitional period as they sought alternatives to the...
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 13
You may know Sean from late 90’s early 2000’s Olympia band Tight Bros From Way Back When . You might not be aware however that the only reason he came to live in Olympia was because he and I were tight bros from waaaay back before that. The episode begins with an account of our date with destiny in high school marine biology class, how it led to his first dip into the choppy waters of ’Slow Death’ San Diego punk and a life of rock n roll weirdness beyond that. Among many other things, we discuss...
Jan 02, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Episode 11 is a little different. The first half is a conversation between Jason and Pete Chramiec . The two dissect the timeline and events of a West Coast tour Jason went on with Pete's band Verbal Assault in 1986. Pete goes on to share stories of a South / Midwest tour VA did with NYHC legends Agnostic Front a couple years later. The second half of the episode is something like a therapy session between Jason and his friend and collaborator Paul Schlesinger . In the course of the session Jaso...
Dec 28, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Episode 10 is a conversation between Jason and old school skating / San Diego punk rock legend Andy Newton aka @lord_shanty aka #OMA . Though the two didn’t know one another in the San Diego punk scene of the early 80’s they were in many of the same rooms, seeing the great hardcore line-ups that were a weekly occurrence in those days. In that era Jason and his friends were straight edge teens doing their best to see the bands and have a good time without getting beaten by the older, drunker more...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Episode 8 is a patchwork quilt featuring clips from an aborted episode with visionary musician and comedian Paul Schlesinger and fragments of a technically flawed conversation with the missing piece of the Leading Edge fanzine puzzle Greg Lipman. This episode's music is also provided by Paul. In addition to these morsels we introduce a new segment called 'Mailbag' in which we share comments and DM's from listeners and followers of the TM insta feed. A big 'thank you" to all who have commented an...
Dec 16, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Just to keep things totally hermetically sealed, in this episode Jason and Martin begin with talk about last episode's guest Pete Chramiec, and Martin's cursed relationship with his band Verbal Assault . From there the conversation veers to D.C. band Beefeater 's first tour west and the New Method warehouse where they played a show with 7 Seconds . The two dissect the distinctions between 'Peace Punk' and 'Crust Punk' which leads the two to reminisce about their stop by the ant-infested barracks...
Dec 11, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 7
