TraegerMethod Podcast

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...

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 questio...

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...

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...

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 t...

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'

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...

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...

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 pen...

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...

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’...

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...

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 doin...

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...

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 'P...

Jason was living in Reno with Kevin Seconds in 1986 when Pete's band Verbal Assault pulled into town on their first tour, they have been good friends ever since.   Episode 6's freewheeling conversation starts with a description of Pete's 1982 "Quest for MacKaye" bus adventure to Washington D.C. where he met Ian and Alec's mom before ever encountering the brothers. From there we go to him gett...

In this episode the friends talk about how Jason used to hang out with Milo from the Descendents when he was in high school and Milo was in college. The two discuss the punk/cholo style common in their San Diego punk circle. In doing so Martin explains what 'Wino' shoes are. This talk leads to a discussion of Suicidal Tendencies and the time Mike Muir called his house and spoke to his mom.  W...

In episode 4 Jason talks with his friend of 30+ years Patrick Weekend.  He and last episode's guest Martin Sprouse started The Leading Edge fanzine in 1983 and were the first two people Jason met when he moved from Tacoma, Wa. to San Diego that same year.  Along with stories of the 'Slow Death' (San Diego) and LA punk scenes of the early 80's, the two get into Pat's exploration of the We...

This episode is a conversation between Jason and one of his oldest, dearest friends and a fellow veteran of the west coast punk scene of the early 80's, Martin Sprouse. They talk about the abundance of talented artists associated with the 'Slow Death' punk scene of the late 70's/early 80's as exemplified by influential figures like Shawn Kerri and Mad Marc Rude. They go on to discuss other importa...

Jason talks with Paul Schlesinger about the exceptionally violent nature of the San Diego punk scene in the early 80's. 

Introducing the companion podcast to Jason Traeger's TraegerMethod Instagram feed. Artist, musician, comedian, west coast indie/punk scene veteran Jason Traeger discusses his latest autobiographical posts with his friend Paul Schlesinger.