The Devil's Music with Pleasant Gehman

Cynthia Ross is a musician, writer, poet and spoken word performer. Better known as her stage name Cynthia B-Girl, she’s a punk rock pioneer and one of the earliest of proponents of the underground scene in Toronto, Canada. In 1977, Cynthia and B-Girls singer Lucasta met at post-concert afterparty, and soon after formed The B-Girls. Like several bands in those days, The B-Girls basically learned t...

Joe Pompeo is a senior correspondent at Vanity Fair and an author. His first book “Blood And Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime” was a New York Times Book Review Best True Crime pick of 2022. He’s also written for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and many other publications. He's also a longtime super-fan and admirer of the early L.A. punk scene. In this...

Coyote Shivers is a musician, songwriter and actor. As a rock’n’roll obsessed teenager in Canada, his career was launched when he co-produced the first single for the band Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet. The B-side, Having an Average Weekend, became the theme song for the television show “Kids In The Hall”. Soon he started working in studio for iconic producer Daniel Lanois. After moving to Manha...

The extraordinary Melissa St. Hilaire, better known on the internet as American Witch 13 is a witch, psychic medium, Paranormal investigator, writer, cat rescuer and straight up lifelong rock’n’roll chick. She’s also the creator and director of “Secrets Of the Craft” a docuseries on witches which premiered on Dead Air Full Spectrum on Oct. 4, 2023. In this Episode, hostess Pleasant Gehman caught u...

Elisa Jordan is an author, a self-described history geek and the owner/ operator of LA Woman Tours. Born and raised in Los Angeles, as a child she was obsessed with Hollywood, and as an adult, she turned that intense fascination into her livelihood. Her latest book, ”Hello Norma Jean: The Marilyn Monroe You Didn’t Know” will be published November 15, 2023.  In this episode, Elisa and hostess Pleas...

Multi-talented Sterling Moon is tarot reader, psychic medium, folk magician, animal communicator, published author and podcaster. Her recent book “Talking Spirits: A Modern Medium’s Practical Advice for Spirit Communication” was published by Llewelyn Books. She also runs The Sterling Moon Divination Academy, teaching classes on the mystical and strange. In this episode, Sterling and hostess Pleasa...

Guitarist Wes Beech was the guitarist for the groundbreaking and totally outrageous Plasmatics and along with singer Wendy O.Williams,was the only permanent band member. He also played in her solo project WOW, as well as with The Accidents, Country Bob & The Bloodfarmers and Shock Therapy. In this episode, Wes and hostess Pleasant Gehman discuss New York’s Lower East Side scene in the late 1970’s...

Multi-faceted Ashley M. Ryan, known on social media as Pythian Priestess, is an award-winning screenwriter, a tarot reader and a practicing witch. She’s the founder of the Pythian Mystery School as well as creator of the popular podcast “The Occult Unveiled”. In this episode, Ashley and hostess Pleasant Gehman talk about their similar esoteric interests, spiritual practices and dark pop culture. T...

Joseph Brooks was instrumental in shaping the entire Los Angeles music and club scene for decades. His impeccable musical taste became his job and nowadays, he’d be called an influencer. In 1981, with partner Henry Peck, he opened the groundbreaking alternative record store Vinyl Fetish, known as much for their sarcastic clerks as for the import records they stocked. In store appearances by artist...

Jeff Smith is the founder and singer of the legendary Texas cow punk band The Hickoids. Beloved cult favorites with a rabid following, The Hickoids have been around for almost four decades, playing their singular blend of hallucinogenic-soaked western style insanity and releasing countless records on various labels. Now that things have opened up, The Hickoids are touring again. In this episode ho...

 Author Chuck Hawley is known the world over for advocating kindness, compassion, hope and love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

El Vez, known for decades as “The Mexican Elvis” is a rockstar, cultural phenomenon and the alter ego of early West Coast punk rock icon Robert Lopez of The Zeros and later, Catholic Discipline. But that’s not even close where it stops. He’s not just a singer and songwriter, he wrote his own chapter in John Doe and Tom Desavia’s “Under The Big Black Sun”. He’s also an artistc workaholic with multi...

Penelope Houston is an iconic punk rock queen. As the fierce singer and songwriter for San Francisco’s legendary band The Avengers, she was among the first boundary-pushing wave of American women fronting punk bands. A year after forming, The Avengers made a splash opening for The Sex Pistols’ last show at Winterland Ballroom. Over the years, Penelope’s music took a softer turn as she helped origi...

Staci Layne Wilson is a bestselling author, award winning filmmaker and the hostess of the popular “Rock’n’Roll Nightmares” podcast. One of her books, “So LA: A Hollywood Memoir” features wild anecdotes about Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and several others. The ultimate California girl, she’s the daughter of a pinup model and Don Wilson, legendary guitarist and founding member of The Ventures. Staci w...

Tarot and astrology expert Theresa Reed is the author of eight metaphysical books. Her latest, “Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success With Astrology And Tarot” is a terrific guide to getting what you want out of life the “witchy woo woo” way.  In this episode, hostess Pleasant Gehman and Theresa talk about everything from her new book to the best ways to deal with Mercury Retrograde, what your moon si...

The illustrious Mink Stole is a national treasure. Her incredible career has spanned over five decades, beginning in the late 1960’s when she and John Waters began their lifelong collaboration; she’s had roles in every one of his feature films. She’s also a singer and former advice column writer for The Baltimore City Paper. In this episode, Mink and hostess Pleasant Gehman dish about everything f...

Multi-talented Charlie Paulson is a musician and actor. He’s the guitarist for the bands Goldfinger and Black President, and has appeared in a number of films and television shows. He’s also a writer, an avid animal activist and, in his own words, “a son of Los Angeles”. In this episode, Charlie and hostess Pleasant Gehman talk about his constant touring, psychedelics, and his appearances in a num...

Patrick O’Neil is a prolific author and talented writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications: Juxtapoz, Salon, The Fix, Decibel and Razorcake. A former heroin addict who lead a bank-robbing ring, he cleaned up, started writing in jail and eventually got an MFA in creative writing. This lead to his memoirs “Gun, Needle, Spoon” and “Hold Up”. He’s also an infamous punk legend who spent t...

The legendary Jackie Beat is a world famous drag queen, actor, singer, writer and comedic genius. Hilarious, sardonic and larger than life, she’s appeared in several films and television series, acting and as herself as well as accruing writing credits on comedy specials. You may remember her from the series “Fashion Police”. Pre-pandemic, she toured worldwide, and is currently picking up where sh...

Multi faceted and uber-talented Abby Travis is a musician, singer, songwriter and actress, whose music career began in the 1986 as bassist for the SST band The Love Dolls and is still going strong. She’s played and sang with The Go-Go’s, Cher, The Eagles of Death Metal, The Bangles, Beck, Masters Of Reality, KMFDM, Elastica and many more. She’s released four solo albums, and is currently one half...

Punk rock legend and rock’n’roll icon, Bruce Moreland had a huge hand in shaping early punk in Los Angeles as well as influencing international alternative music. A pioneer of punk and death rock -later known as goth- he was an integral part of Wall Of Voodoo, The Weirdos, The Skulls, Nervous Gender and Concrete Blonde during the 1970’s to 1990’s before forming his own band Ravens Moreland. In thi...

Multi talented Adele Bertei burst into the public eye as one of the stars of the 1970’s No Wave scene, as organist for James Chance and The Contortions. Since then, her entire career has been extraordinary. She’s a musician, singer, film director/producer as well as a song writer and literary writer. Musically, she’s worked with everyone from Brian Eno, Culture Club and Deborah Harry to Thomas Dol...

Jeff Drake is the singer and guitarist for The Joneses, which he co-founded with skateboard champion Steve Olson in 1981. Their glam punk sound- thrashy, trashy rock’n’roll that owed as much to The Ramones and New York Dolls as it did the Rolling Stones- made them the darlings of the early 1980’s LA underground music scene. They put out a single in 1982 and were featured on the compilation “Hell C...

Multi-talented Liz Worth is a Canadian treasure. She’s an author, poet, ritual performance artist, former music journalist and a tarot expert. Her first book, “Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History Of Punk In Toronto And Beyond” brought alternative music into the attention of the mainstream and was called “trailblazing”. A well-known Tarot reader, she’s also instructor and author of two books: “The...

Guitarist extraordinaire Ace Von Johnson has played with so many bands it’s hard to keep count. Just some of them are glam-metal lords Faster Pussycat, the industrial Neon Coven and a plethora of punk combos including Unwritten Law, U.S. Bombs, Madcap, Cheap Sex and infamous New York hardcore icons Murphy’s Law. He’s been with LA Guns since 2018, and they’ve just released a new album called “Check...