OPEN GRAVES

This is part 2 of Poe’s Big Tiddy Goth Girls, which gives a more in depth look at the literary trope of dead women fetishized by male narrators. It is debatable whether this has a direct effect on the goth subculture any more than it does on western culture as a whole, but either way it is an undeniable building block of the Gothic literature where we find our roots. Ophelia and Desdemona, Annabel...

Heather and Vesta chat about how the goth subculture is represented in mainstream media, interpreted by those outside the community, and often therefore fetishized. We discuss whether we tend to fetishize youth within the community, what happens when our aesthetic is decontextualized and sometimes appropriated, and why this podcast will never tag #gothgirl (ugh what a conundrum, we just did). We l...

Tonight we are graced by the presence of Davey Havok, whom you may recognize from such bands as AFI and Blaqk Audio, as well as Dreamcar and XTRMST. Outside of his very successful music projects, we know Davey as a staple on the dance floor in the LA goth community. We jump right into discussing whether the label “goth” is diminutive, whether labels in general are anything more than lazy journalis...

Today we are chatting with SoCal deathrock enigma Morticia Batz, founder of online publication GothHausLA.com. But there is more to her than just deathrock, rollerderby, and band interviews. Coming from the LA County foster system and homelessness, to giving TedX talks and getting her Psychology and Indigenous People’s Studies degree at UCSD, she is determined to use everything she’s been through...

Our scene has a reputation for being dramatic to a fault, and Vesta and Heather unpack whether this is really deserved. When we actively choose to stick with an insular community for decades, shit is bound to happen; after all, high school drama only lasts for four years and then you’re out! We discuss the difference between the meaning of drama, actual universal human suffering, the sometimes-hea...

If you’re from LA, you have seen a shirtless man dancing up a storm, and that man is Jay Byrd and he is with us today. He tells us about growing up in Santa Clarita in an extremely preppy environment, having a jock phase, and how being bullied led to both an interest in martial arts and an overdevelopment of empathy. We discuss his compartmentalization of identity between work, family, fitness, an...

It is obvious that the goth scene is fueled by musicians, music, and dance, but how does the arts community in general overlap with the goth community? We discuss our experience as poets, working with productions such as Ex Corpse, a queer goth art collective, The Poetry Brothel in which Vesta is the token goth and proud of it, Heather's own book of published poetry, "Feral Black Sheep," and Wilde...

If you’re in the goth scene at all, you probably know Shok, the Andy Warhol of many musical trades. He was goth before there was a word for it, literally. We talk (poolside!) about his many music projects, working with David J of Bauhaus and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde in the band Tres Vampires, his John Hughes level of confidence and how it lives side by side with clinical depression,...

It always seems to get weird when it’s just us. We get into an intimate subject that is more universal than specific to the goth scene, but Vesta is convinced we approach it a little differently: body hair and grooming. Aesthetic expression and gender dynamics are integral to our subculture, and that doesn’t stop at the covered parts. We discuss gendered expectations, how androgyny functions in ou...

We are joined by our second not-goth guest, Joe Keeper of Bar Keeper Silverlake. Vesta was the first goth person he had ever gotten to know, and he had questions; instead of just having a normal conversation about it, we decided to record it. What is the relationship, if any, of Rocky Horror to goth? How does androgyny function in the goth community? Do we shave more than our heads? How might goth...

We are hanging out IN PERSON and drinking wine with Amy Hateley, and it’s a giggly one due to the depth of our friendship. We discuss how we all came together through the goth community, modern witchery and spirituality vs religion, being raised pseudo-Christian with “your own decorative Jesus” and youth group trauma, the goofiest domme and the healthiest pre-game ever, and the goth sport of drink...

This is our first crossover episode, originally published on Breaking Spirits! Vesta and Sofonisba cohost a podcast that explores the cultural histories that spirits, liquors, distillers, and cocktails carry with them and into our own imbibing experiences. With Heather as our guest, we delve into the intersection of goth and the Gothic with cocktail culture, from shrouded monasteries imagined by V...

Through the lens of a rosary shroud, we welcome Ray Baron, DJ of Noctis, Chamber, Ruin Hollywood, DiskoNekro, and many more nights close to our hearts, to discuss our happiness in the darkness. Ray discusses his unique relationship to music and dance, how that relates to his background in Michelin star kitchens, what we all first danced to, and what makes a community and not a cult, all with a soo...

Heather and Vesta get into a topic even more awkward than the dating episode: the varying states of friendships in the goth community (and the human experience in general). Romantic relationships get all the attention, but the emotional impact of changing friendships can take an even larger and unspoken emotional toll. There is even more verbal gymnastics to avoid violating anyone’s privacy, and b...

Today we are joined by Dave Bats, founder and DJ of Release the Bats, Long Beach’s deathrock club of 20 years. We get into how the goth community dealt with the pandemic through Twitch, the separation of identity from day jobs, learning to daywalk, and being drawn to the dark from a young age. And apparently once upon a time, Heather thought that Release the Bats involved literally and not figurat...

Did you know Heather worked at Knott’s Scary Farm and Vesta worked at Haunted Hayride? This brings us to our first not-goth guest, Pops 3:16, Knott’s Scary Farm "Dark Entities" maze manager, joins us to discuss the overlap of the goth subculture and the drive to work as a Scare Actor, the need for empathy, and different types of fear responses, some of which involve the human butthole.

This is an awkward one, we’re discussing dating in the goth community - and also the experience of having relationships outside of the subculture. We are a deeply incestuous community; Vesta leans toward embracing the gross goth web, while Heather generally prefers to outsource and have some separation between subculture and relationships. We discuss how the incestuous web leads to a sometimes use...

Well that was fast, we’re already talking religion and disagreeing: Is Catholic, Christian, and Satanic iconography in the gothic aesthetic offensive? We discuss Christian witchery, secular Judaism, appropriation, problematic ethics of the left hand path, social justice, and the phenomenon of the goth letterman jacket, all with a Nazi dagger cliffhanger.

Our guest today is Vesta’s Magenta Mother, Marilynn Hendrie. We discuss the goth gateway drug that is Rocky Horror, seemingly age-inappropriate friendships, extreme empathy, witchy spirituality, how we process sadness, and women supporting women in the community. Please pardon the snorting and scream-laughing.

Bats Day founder Noah Korda joins us to talk about the inception of Bats Day 24 years ago, the experience of coming from an artistically and musically inclined family, being a goth parent, and more on why California death rock bleeds into Disneyland, all while dodging our “darkness” question to claim he is “normal” (we’re not convinced). Bats Day is back for 2022 on Sunday May 8th, we’ll be there!

We have our first guest, Mat Segal! Mat’s gothness was preordained by his family history in the music business and California punk scene, revealing that goth is not always about rebellion. We discuss goths in hot weather, the divisive importance of Del Taco in the club scene, Vampire the Masquerade, how the internet and message boards (and eventually social media) played a key role in democratizin...

Heather’s anonymous Burner friend has questions about aesthetic peer pressure and Vesta has opinions. We discuss dress codes, compartmentalization of work and social life, and we begin to get into the American Gothic mirth/macabre juxtaposition that draws goths to Disneyland (but not Heather). Featuring a visit from Heather’s cat Tidbit.

Funerals within the goth community are different because we have fewer boundaries; how do we handle this lack of demarcation? Going from a funeral to a birthday party in different cemeteries in the same dress, and an ex’s memorial in our club venue; does this change our view of celebrating the macabre? Not really, but we’re wrestling with it in this extremely literal episode of Open Graves. Dedica...

Vesta and Heather discuss how they found their way into the LA goth community through Rocky Horror, David Bowie, middle school mean girls, and a Ralph’s cashier DJ, and also chat about why we are not afraid of a little awkwardness, how we might process trauma differently, feelings about comments on our appearances, and why it took events outside the club scene for us to become friends.