Punkast

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “Distinguish themselves within Japanese society as being not part of the kind of mainstream.” Jessica Schwartz is joined by historians Ran Zwigenberg and Mahon Murphy in a convers...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “Like making something permanent, from impermanent to permanent. We managed to do that.” Jessica Schwartz is joined by musician, scholar, and educator Pavla Jonssonová in a conver...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “... Show the kind of global nature of punk… retranslated or rearticulated.” Jessica Schwartz is joined by historian Jeff Hayton in a conversation exploring punk in East and West...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “ You’re like a horror movie on stage… Said “Oh yeah? Look at us!”... The media delegitimizes subcultures.” Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird are joined by Lesli Spivey fro...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “Anything goes kind of club… We had all kinds of different kinds of music… In order to promote shows, you had to go to shows.” Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird are joined...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. “This record that just was so amazing that it's stood the test of time… and, and it's influenced so many people in so many bands… You know, bookshelf full of music history books that all mentioned...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “Everything was just really based on music... Punk, ska, goth, New Wave... being powered by the music.”  Retail Slut wasn’t just a store; it was a site where punk, fashion, a...

Punkast is back—weekly. After years of building, recording, and collaborating, Punkast returns with a growing archive of conversations and a new rhythm: weekly episodes exploring punk in the historical present through critical inquiry, dialogue, and experimentation. We’re kicking things off this Friday with our first new episode, and new episodes will drop every Friday. >>> Subscribe and...

PUNKAST BACK TO SCHOOL MINISERIES SPECIAL! “SoCal music spaces: Scene, Emo, and EDM” (part 3 of 3).  “There’s more to us.. We all want to be seen, heard, and exist… The art you are creating is part of your soul.”  Returning from spring break, we are back with the third and final part of our Back to School mini-series with guest host Kristy Martinez, a PHD Candidate in Musicology at UCLA....

PUNKAST BACK TO SCHOOL MINISERIES SPECIAL! “SoCal music spaces: Scene, Emo, and EDM ” (part 2 of 3) Here at the Punkast, we're continuing our special summer-to-fall mini-series with guest host Kristy Martinez, a PhD Candidate in Musicology at UCLA , bringing special guests - per Kristy's introduction: 'In these interviews, we meet with some of the early 2000s scene and emo kids in SoCal. This epis...

PUNKAST BACK TO SCHOOL MINISERIES SPECIAL! “Alternative in the I.E. 2000s and more in the Inland Empire” (part 1 of 3) If you couldn't already tell by the title for Part 1, we, here at the Punkast, have a REALLY special summer mini-series for you! Your regular host, Jessica Schwartz, is handing the mic over to Kristy Martinez, a PhD Candidate in Musicology at UCLA and the OG TA for UCLA's "Punk" o...

'[Punk] is a music genre and a subculture and a whole way of living that is full of contradictions, hypocrisy…’  Does punk promote inclusion or exclusion? Violence or protection? And what about health, accessibility, self- and communal care? Join Jessica Schwartz and PAUL FIELDS for this special interview in three parts as they discuss his research on punk and the sometimes contradictory...

“For me punk rock is really the song.” For some, punk means destruction and revolt; for others, it means DIY and community. In this episode, Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird are joined by HUDLEY FLIPSIDE to explore her perspective on punk garnered from her formative Flipside zine-and-scene building experiences in the early LA scene. Guest Bio.  Hudley Flipside 'HUD' is a versatile art...

“Make festival, not war. Soul Beat Asia. In which what doesn't exist, we recreate together.” Join Jessica Schwartz in conversation with guest Dr. Kounosuke (Ko) Kawakami from Kurashiki University (Japan) that began as a talk, “The Punk Scene in Japan Today: Soul Beat Asia (World Music Festival Under the Bridge)” and wove its way into an inspired contemplation on belonging and misfitting, DIY punk...

"In 1967, Robby Krieger, the guitarist for L.A. band the Doors, wrote the hit single “Light My Fire” in the living room of his parents’ Pacific Palisades home. This week, nearly six decades later, the lyrics took on a disturbing resonance as the structure where the music originated burned to the ground." (Amy Kaufman, LA Times , 1/11/2025) Recent LA Times headlines: "The Doors’ hit ‘Light My Fire’...

“The music of which there was supposed to be no rule book, suddenly had a rule book…” So, what are these rules, how do they impact creativity, and how do musicians, producers, and artists, more broadly, continue to push the limits in Los Angeles’ dynamic DIY musical subculture? Join Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird as they speak with BRUCE DUFF about his experiences as he addresses student...

This “Behind the Scenes” episode is the final episode in the PUNKAST/ Adobe Punk: the concert Mini-Session Interview series. It features Jessica Schwartz in conversation with Theresa Chavez , Gabriel Garza , Dorothy Hoover , and Sage Lewis , who discuss their inspirations and contributions to Adobe Punk’s creation and production. Theresa Chavez highlights About Productions' collaborative approach,...

Jimmy Alvarado has been active in East L.A.’s underground music scene since 1981 as a musician, backyard gig promoter, writer, poet, bouncer, flier artist, photographer, podcaster, and historian. He has authored numerous interviews, articles, and shorts spotlighting the East Side scene, and an episode of his  Eastside Punks  documentary series about first-wave East L.A. punk band The Bra...

Teresa Covarrubias was born and raised in the Boyle Heights section of East Los Angeles and became the lead singer for The Brat, a Chicano punk rock ensemble (lead guitarist Rudy Medina, and alternate lead and rhythm guitarist Sidney Medina) originating from the barrios of East Los Angeles, California. From their conception in late 1978, to their eventual break-up in1985, The Brat contributed to t...

Lisa Fancher’s venerable Frontier Records celebrates 44 years of independence, its initial releases include debut albums by the Circle Jerks, Adolescents, TSOL, China White, Christian Death and Suicidal Tendencies. Two decades after this impressive string of hits, Frontier discovered Portland’s Heatmiser, featuring the great Elliott Smith. Fancher is a San Fernando Valley native. She worked at rec...

Mike Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose. He began a solo career with the 1994 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat? , and has since released three additional solo albums. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder, a member of the art rock group Banyan and is involved with several other...

Jesse Velo co-founded Los Illegals in the late 1970’s. Jesse says, “With our backs against the wall, facing an impenetrable, almost segregated Hollywood industry, we partnered with radical elements and (OSF) nuns of the Catholic church to co-found Vex, the first alternative music and art space in East L.A. We kick-started an Eastside L.A. Renaissance that brought together major world-class artists...

Nina Diaz (co-songwriter and musician/performer) made her theatrical debut in 2019 as part of The Neighborhood Band in About...Productions ’ Evangeline, the Queen of Make Believe . Now off-stage, Nina has co-written with Theresa Chavez the punk songs for About...Productions ’ 2022 premiere of Adobe Punk . Nina Diaz's musical career began at the age of 13, as main writer and front woman for San Ant...

Introducing …. a PUNKAST mini-series: Adobe Punk: the concert, Mini-Session Interviews In this introductory episode, Jessica Schwartz (Punkast host/producer) and Theresa Chavez (About Productions, Adobe Punk co-creator) discuss their unique collaboration that produced mini-session conversations with punk trailblazers about their formative contributions and ongoing vital roles in the dynamic subcul...

"I owned a record store and all of a sudden I had a record. You know, why is RF7 anything? The only limit is what you put on yourself." Join Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird as they speak with FELIX ALANIS   - singer-songwriter of RF7 and founder of Smoke 7 Records - about paving a DIY punk path in the early LA scene and reflecting on its historical importance as well as unpacking his...