TraegerMethod Podcast Jason Traeger

Episode 91 is a conversation with New York based artist, musician, curator, zine maker, scene maker Rich Jacobs.

After having moved in often overlapping punk rock/DIY friend circles for the better parts of our lives, I’m happy to say Rich and I finally got to know one another in the early days of the pandemic talking over the phone, just like we're doing here.

This episode covers his early years, discovering punk rock as a preteen in the early eighties, his family’s moves from So Cal to the Pacific Northwest, where he saw his first punk show, and then to Colorado where he started his first band Atomic Dilemma.

We talk about the punk rock zine culture we both were a part of and the skateboard/straightedge zine scene he cut his teeth in. Rich traces a line from these early publishing efforts to the work he is doing today; creating books of his paintings and drawings as well as acting as an art director on a forthcoming retrospective of the graphic work of our friend, the brilliant late artist/musician Rick Froberg. 

Along the way he pays tribute to many friends, collaborators and influences who have enriched his life and informed his ideas about art and music making and Rich shares some of his strategies for finding joy in an imperfect world.

I really enjoyed talking with Rich and I hope you find the conversation as inspiring and enjoyable as I did.

Thanks for listening!



              REST IN POWER GARY FLOYD



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LINKS: 

Rich Jacobs @movezine  Instagram

The art of Marian Zazeela

Tim Kerr’s Music



Music:

Big Boys ‘Red/Green’ from Live at Raul’s

Atomic Dilemma ’Scars’ 

Tim Kerr with Rich Jacobs ‘One Foot in Front of the Other’


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TraegerMethod podcast has finally made it to the 90’s!

Appropriately  Ep.90 is a conversation with a friend I met in the Olympia scene of the 1990’s; punk rock n’ roll multi-instrumentalist powerhouse Jessica Espeleta.

She shares the story of how she arrived in Oly as a teenager when she was recruited to give the scene a try by the guys in Lync after a show they played at 924 Gilman where she was volunteering. Her decision to jump in the van not only led to a new town but it also marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship and frequent collaboration with Lync’s Sam Jayne in Love As Laughter or LAL,  the moniker under which he’d make music for the rest of his life.

We recorded this conversation on what would have been Sam’s 50th birthday and to celebrate his memory she shares some stories of their days together recording and touring and describes the impact their friendship has had on her life.

Jessica has been in too many bands to name but I’ll name a few, that come up in our conversation: WitchyPoo (with Slim Moon), Weird War (with Ian and Michelle from The Make-Up and Niel Haggerty of Royal Trux), Frenchie and The German Girls (with Tobi and Maggie Vail), and SO many more….she and I even played together in a hardcore band called the Reagan Years .

Today ‘Jesspo’ lives in Los Angeles where she plays bass with Bart and the Bedazzled and Wayne Faler and works hard everyday to keep the flame alive in the big city.  We love her for it.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy the conversation!

Links: Jessica's Instagram

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Music in order:

Love As Laughter 'Nude Hose'

Reagan Years 'Cold War of My Own'

Lync 'Pennies to Save'

Black Fork 'Live in Rapid City'

Seasick Steve 'Live @ Hardly Strictly Blues Fest'

Bart and the Bedazzled 'Blue Motel' Live

Soddamn Inssein 'Live'


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Episode 89 marks the return Chris Squire for part 2 of our series that tells a history of San Diego punk through the life and lens of one of the scene’s legends.



Our conversation picks up where the last one left off in the latter part of 80’s toward the end of Squire’s high school career and the end of the old school SD punk scene. Part 2 moves into the acid drenched, post-hardcore years that in many ways were just as wild and wooly as the earlier period but were far more experimental and far out.



Squire shares his thoughts on the origins of the SD sound as he traces its way from the ground zero guitar work of Battalion of Saints’ Chris Smith filtered through the hands of his brother-by-another-mother Jon Reis who continues to spreads its gospel far and wide to this day with his many musical projects.



Chris and I recorded this conversation before the very recent, tragic and unexpected death of Mike Denny aka Mike Down of Amenity / Forced Down in a cycling accident. I mention in the intro that I got Mike’s contact information from Squire at the end of our talk and was planning to have him on the pod soon but sadly this wasn’t to be. Chris tells the story of how it was he who suggested to Amenity that Mike become their singer after Squire sang with the band at one of their practices. I’m glad we could share some memories of Mike here and we will do so again when we speak next time. RIP Mike Denny



Thank you for listening and supporting the pod: PATREON

If you dig the pod but cannot support it with $ please tell a friend! Word of mouth is the number one way indie pods like this one attract listeners. THANK YOU!

LINKS: Chris Squire Instagram



Music:

Battalion of Saints '2nd Coming' (with Squire on Guitar)

Amenity 'Follow'

Amenity 'This Is Our Struggle'


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Episode 88 marks the return of TM Pod’s VERY FIRST guest Los Angeles based creative / clown Paul Schlesinger.



Paul is one of my best friends and favorite collaborators so it’s a special pleasure to catch up with him in the pod context. Our conversation focuses on his life today learning, producing and performing in the very happening LA ‘clown community’. 



He explains that modern clowning has roots stretching back to European traditional clowning and the circus clowns which most of us think of when we hear the word ‘clown’ but that it is also informed by the worlds of performance art, experimental theater, stand-up and improv as well.



This talk couldn’t have come at a better moment for me with my very recent return to stand-up comedy. I hope it is just as interesting for you, dear listener.

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Links:

Paul Schlesinger Instagram

clownpoems Instagram

Eddie Pepitone comedy

Secret Room Press



Music:

Inside Miracles /Paul Schlesinger w/Jason Traeger

'Summer'

'Alt Break-up Song'

'Universe (Lovely Gift of Life)'




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The podcast is back. We were gone for a spell. Now we’re back. Episode 87 finds us easing back into the podwaters with a low-key ‘comfort food’ conversation between myself and TMpod regular Sean Kelly (father, Tight Bros From Way Back When, SUBPOP, K Records, west coast punk rock real one)



We share a warm hearted conversation that touches on the joy of vinyl records, old guitars, self directed programs of learning and growing and other stuff that confirms we are walking, talking embodied cliches of late middle aged Portland music/culture guys.



It’s all love and light with some very tiny dustings of existential horror and dread on top to keep things balanced. Thank you so much for listening and for supporting the pod. WE LOVE YOU.



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LINKS of stuff mentioned in episode:

Gossip

Language Transfer

Merle Travis

Los Escarabajos

Hipgnosis Documentary



MUSIC:
Intro:Come Closer ‘Castle Walls’ from 'We Died with Print' LP

Segue: Tight Bros From Way Back When ‘Hurricane’

Outro: Be Fair ‘Hadfield 5’


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Hello and welcome!



Our ‘Legends of San Diego Punk’ series continues on the pod…



Episode 86 is a conversation with one of the great flyer artists of early 80’s ‘Slow Death’ scene, the very talented artist / tattooer Bobby Lane.



Bobby paints a picture of his experiences going to his first shows as a teenager in 1980 just as the ‘hardcore’ era was adding a new even more aggressive and stripped down feel to the punk/new wave style that came before.



He shares memories of San Diego / Los Angeles punk graphic masters Mad Marc Rude and Shawn Kerri. Two greats whose styles informed his own and pretty much every other punk who’s ever picked up a pen in their wake, myself included.



We talk about tattooing in San Diego and the evolution of the craft from the earlier period of wall flash, sailors and bikers to the modern era of bespoke designs and market saturation.



We go on to discuss how the rebellious spirit at the heart of punk naturally leads to endless cycles of orthodoxy and overthrow as new generations reimagine, reinvent and make it their own. He cites SD experimental/ecstatic collective/band Crash Worship as the embodiment of this spirit without any of the proscribed stylistic cues. 



I know you’ll enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed talking with Bobby. I look forward to having him back on the pod soon.



Thank you for listening!

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LINKS

Bobby's Instagram

In reference to my episode intro:

Israel/Palestine vids from AJ+

How Israel Was Created

How Israel Automated Occupation in Hebron

Palestinian voice: Noura Erakat

Dr Gabor Mate On Trauma



Music:

Bobby's band Cholla

Crash Worship live in Bremen 1996

TMpod theme by Jason












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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason-traeger/support