Category: Podcast

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 3, Episode 2 with Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!
 
Alexis Krauss is the lead singer of the popular band Sleigh Bells. Their noisy blend of grindcore guitars and pop beats may not be the most suited for casual radio listening, but it feels me and many others with great joy. I got to speak to Krauss about her time with the pop group RubyBlue, working on a TV show as a young teen, working as a session musician, and how a fateful meeting at a restaurant brought Krauss back to playing in a band.
 

Sleigh Bells’ latest release, Texis, is available for you to enjoy NOW! The band is currently at the tail end of a North American tour, and will be kicking off another round of dates in early 2022. You can find an up-to-date schedule here. Bay Area folks can catch them TWICE this weekend: October 23rd at The New Parish and October 24th at Rickshaw Stop. Please remember to vaxx up and mask up at these shows for the safety of the band and your fellow fans!

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 3, Episode 1 with Rhian Teasdale of Wet Leg + US TOUR DATES AND A NEW SINGLE!

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Most episodes of this show are with someone that has had a long and storied career. I mean, that’s the premise of the show. However, the opportunity to bring Rhian Teasdale of the great Wet Leg, the best thing to come out of the Isle of Wight since The Who’s best live album, onto the podcast was too good to pass up. We talked about deciding to pivot from your academic studies to studying rock n roll. We talked about becoming a headlining act on the strength of a single, absolutely killer song. We talked about becoming the next big thing in the middle of a pandemic. And, most importantly, we talked about the difference between American and British names for a frozen, whipped dairy treat. 
 

Life moves quickly for a young rock n roll band. Since we recorded this interview, not only has the band released their second single, “Wet Dream,” which I can assure you has more blush-worthy lyrics than “Chaise Longue,” but might even be more danceable. And you should get your dancing shoes ready because Wet Leg is coming to the US for THREE SHOWS!!
 
Dec. 8th Brooklyn, NY Baby’s All Right
Dec. 14th Los Angeles, CA The Moroccan Lounge
Dec. 15th San Francisco, CA Popscene at Rickshaw Shop

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 7 with Julie Schuchard

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!
 
Julie Schuchard is the co-founder of Tricycle Records, (Download their latest free compilation here!) who has given us records by local acts such as The Hot Toddies, Everyone is Dirty, Andrew St James, Rich Girls, Geographer, and more. She also has done marketing for SF Sketchfest, Mezzanine, and about a dozen other local venues, has served on the board for the SF chapter of the Recording Academy, and can often be found around town DJing from her impressive vinyl catalog. We got to talk about her history with music, the struggles of running a label, and also her move from focusing on music and to the world of graphic design. 
 

She also has a Nasty Woman tattoo on her wrist as a reminder that being a woman in this industry (and in this world in general) takes an extra level of nasty. Enjoy her Nasty Woman playlist below:
 

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 6 with Chris Appelgren

 

In this episode I got to talk with Bay Area music legend Chris Appelgren. We talked about many of his bands, including Bumblescrump (sadly not getting into exactly what this word means), The Potatomen, and The Peechees. We also discussed his rising through the ranks at Lookout Records, and even talked about its inevitable decline. And, of course, we talked about his time at Noise Pop, Bold Italic, and Ticketfly, as well as his return to the record business by helping Once And Future Band release their 2020 album Deleted Scenes.

Listen Here:

Listen to the music mentioned here:

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 5 with DJ / Podcaster / Superhero Mo Herms

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Mo Herms has done pretty much every job in music you can imagine… From record store clerk to radio programmer to journalist to licensing to, well, just imagine it and she’s done it. Mo is currently the Music Editorial Lead at 1021 Creative, but we got to talk about all of it. From the first time she fixed a record her sister destroyed to getting hit on by, um, Ike Turner. It was a fun chat, and I think you’ll enjoy it. You may also enjoy the playlist she made of important songs from throughout her career.

 

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 4 with stand-up comic Liz Miele, author of “Why Cats Are Assholes”

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!
 
In this edition of “How Did I Get Here?”, I got to talk with stand-up comedy prodigy Liz Miele about her career, including getting started at 16 and continuing to nurture that career into adulthood. We discussed her first book, Why Cats Are Assholes, which of course, digressed into talking about cat behavior. I even asked some specific questions about my own cat. We also talked about what it’s like touring during a pandemic, and we had a TON of fun. For quick reference- Pasta is Liz’s cat, Zoey and Ike are my cats.
 
We also talked a lot about influences, so Liz made me a list of important bits for her development as a comedian, giving you a companion playlist! We also talked about Miele’s cat photoshoots, and you can find those on her Instagram! She also has a fantastic YouTube page where you can dig deep into her stand-up history. And she also has a podcast with Maria Shehata called 2 Non Doctors for your continued listening pleasure.


Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 3 with Maggie Arthur of Our Music My Body

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Maggie Arthur is a Campaign Coordinator for Our Music My Body, an organization that works with music venues and festivals to raise awareness of sexual harassment in the music scene and help work to make those spaces and the people that enjoy them safer. We talked about her early show-going days and the experiences that led to her involvement with OMMB. We also talked a bit about what we can do ourselves to make our scenes and spaces safer and more inclusive. I also learned a lot, and there were even moments in this conversation that were a little uncomfortable for me. But, really, getting to those uncomfortable moments is important. 
 
April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month. OMMB’s parent organization, Our Resilience, has great resources to find out what you can do to help others, or if you have experienced sexual assault yourself, a place to find resources to get help. And please don’t forget to follow Our Music My Body on Facebook and Instagram. 
 
 

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 2 with Mickey Darius of Broken Clover Records

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Mickey Darius is the owner of Broken Clover Records, a wildly eclectic record label featuring acts like June of 44, Enablers, Danielle de Picciotto, and many more. He also is the booking agent for several bands, including The Detroit Cobras, Negativland, and others. He ALSO manages The Lost Church, a 50 person performing arts space in San Francisco. And in his limited free time, he even DJ’s a bit. He has basically overtaken the role of “hardest working man in show business” from James Brown. We got to talk about his brief flirtation with the cello, coming of age during the 90’s rave scene in SF, finding work in ticketing, finding yourself, teaching a toddler to appreciate vinyl, and much much more.

Feel free to check out (and even purchase) some vinyl from Broken Clover’s Bandcamp page. (Zones by Enablers is a personal favorite) Also, if you have some extra money and want to help keep some of your favorite Bay Area venues afloat, feel free to donate a few bucks to the Independent Venue Alliance! Lastly, The Detroit Cobras are coming to Bottom Of The Hill on September 17th and the Ivy Room on September 18th and Negativland will be coming to Gray Area on September 17th, which gives us something to look forward to after this is over. 

 

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2 Premiere with Yo Kinky

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available most everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Remember January 2020? It was a time of magic and optimism. It was an election year, and our Democratic contenders were such a supergroup that whoever we ended up with was going to win. The economy was looking up, the music industry was about to have a record year for live performances. That’s when Laura Wight and Tom Unish met at a rock club and started talking music. They connected pretty deeply and quickly started writing and recording together. Two months later, a global pandemic hits the US, and hits New York City particularly hard, where Wight & Unish live. So, what do you do? Do try to work remotely? Do you put everything on hold til it’s over? Or do you roll the dice on this relationship and move in with each other two months after meeting? Well, Laura & Tom decided to take the gamble, and Yo Kinky was born! We talked about these logistics, music, and a lot more. (YG even comes up!) Enjoy the episode and don’t forget to pick up their debut EP at yokinky.bandcamp.com!
 
Note: This is episode 1 of season 2, and I haven’t recorded one of these in a while. I made a few mistakes in terms of setting recording inputs, causing a handful of moments where the sound quality is less than great. I tried my best to reduce the noise, but I couldn’t do it. I decided that the content was good enough that you, the listener, won’t judge me too hastily here. Thank you for your support!

Podcast Review: City in Exile

Podcast fiends, here’s your new addiction.

Brendan O’Loughlin recently launched the inaugural episode of his podcast titled, City in Exile. It’s a document of the ever-evolving cultural capital of California, San Francisco, and more specifically, it’s  O’Loughlin’s love letter to the city he grew up with. San Francisco is also my favorite city in the country and watching it evolve, and seemingly devolve, from the place I used to escape to in my youth has been both mystifying and depressing, but those of us who pay close attention recognize that all things change and we find ways to recapture those ephemeral bits that made us fall in love with the city as it continues to change.

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