Podcast – Page 3 – Spinning Platters

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.

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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.

Continue reading “Podcast Review: City in Exile”

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” BONUS EPISODE with Tanya Donelly and Brian Sullivan of The Loyal Seas

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

Remember how I said a few weeks ago that I’m the 1st season of “How Did I Get Here?” was over? Well, I lied. I didn’t lie, but I had the opportunity to snag the very first interview with The Loyal Seas. Who are The Loyal Seas? They are a bit of a supergroup featuring Bay Area-based indie veteran and all-around really lovely person, Brian Sullivan, aka Dylan In The Movies and Tanya Donelly. Yes, the Grammy-nominated Tanya Donelly. Founding member of not one, but THREE of the most groundbreaking bands in rock history: Throwing Muses, The Breeders, and Belly. We got to talk about friendship, struggling to get your music heard, the logistics of having a transcontinental band, and a lot more. I even asked a very specific question about a moment that happened at a Belly concert in 1993, and, sadly, that moment is missing from the internet. You can literally watch the whole show except the part we talked about.

The Loyal Seas first 7″, Strange Mornings In The Garden, is coming out December 4th on American Laundromat. Pre-orders are happening NOW! A full-length is in the works, and we should be hearing that around Fall 2021. The best way to stay in the know there is to follow them on Instagram.

You can follow Tanya Donelly on Instagram and Bandcamp, and you can also pre-order the Belly rarities/b-sides compilation Bees, too!

Brian Sullivan can be found on Instagram and Dylan In The Movies can be found on Bandcamp. Keep an eye out at American Laundromat for more Dylan In The Movies news soon!

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 13 with Photographer Paige Parsons

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

Today’s guest is rock photography extraordinaire, Paige Parsons! We talked her first shows, how she stumbled into rock photography, giving away ice cream at concerts, and her current photography project, the PPE Project, which is an effort to give a face to doctors working in PPE. We had a great conversation, that made me really sad that shows are off the table for the foreseeable future.

Paige can be found in Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. There is also a great documentary about her on YouTube.

Here’s a quick list of links that were mentioned on our chat:

https://icecreamman.com

https://www.ellenby.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PPEPortraitProject

https://ppeportrait.org/create

https://www.kqed.org/news/11817046/from-ebola-to-coronavirus-a-simple-practice-of-sticker-photo-portraits-for-doctors

If you have any feedback about this episode, feel free to email me at dakin@spinningplatters.com. If you like what you heard and want to help support this thing, feel free to Venmo me whatever tip you feel is adequate @Dakin-Hardwick. And, most importantly, please go to SaveOurStages.com to find out what you can do to help independent promoters and venues weather this COVID crisis so we have shows to go back to when this pandemic is over. Thanks for listening!

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 12 with Stephen Chilton of Pskyo Steve Presents

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

This week’s guest is legendary Phoenix-based concert promoter Stephen Chilton, aka Psyko Steve. We talked about how he got his start putting on shows in high school, and how he turned that into a full time job. Or several full time jobs. We also talked about what it’s like to open The Rebel Lounge. He is also the Board Vice President of NIVA – National Independent Venues Associatio n, a coalition of over 3,000 venues, promoters, and festivals, working together to help keep each other afloat during this time when you can’t run your business.

Recently NIVA hosted the SOS Fest: 35 artists performed short sets in empty venues across America over a weekend, all streamed on NIVA’s YouTube page. This fest was to raise money for a fund to help keep our independent venues afloat until they can reopen. You can still watch every set here, donate to this worthy cause here, buy merch here, and, most importantly, press Congress to pass the Restart Act here!