The Who Cares Anyway Podcast

Show non this episode, we take a detour into Dannyland, i.e., the world of Danny Cohen. Born and raised in L.A. and currently living in Chico, Calif., the elusive singer-songwriter nonetheless has several ties to San Francisco and the Bay Area. In addition to living there at various points, he has also written many songs about (or at least set in) the Bay Area, and one of his most frequent collabo...

For Episode 30, we go back into the archives—all the way back to 2016, when I interviewed Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls , Sublime Frequencies, etc.) as part of my research for the book. The interview focuses on Sun City Girls’ relationship to San Francisco, from its “mythical status” as a haven for outcasts to its place in the broader West Coast underground, roughly midway between Phoenix (where SCG...

The podcast returns after yet another semi-hiatus. My guests this time are Paul Hood and Daniel Černý, who make up one half of Lazy Giants, the band formerly known as Toiling Midgets. The Giants/Midgets have a lengthy history that spans multiple decades and eras, from the earliest lineup (which, in turn, grew out of the last Negative Trend lineup) to the Ricky Williams-fronted version of the band...

With this episode, we take a trip back to Silicon Valley (as it was just coming to be known) at the dawn of the 1980s. The same area that gave rise to the Sleepers and U.X.A. during the original 1977/1978 punk era also spawned a variety of interesting but largely unsung bands during the post-punk/new wave era, including Half-Church, the Start, Zru Vogue, and Quiet Room. Several of these groups (al...

From WilliamWinant.com : 2014 Grammy-nominated percussionist William Winant has performed with some of the most innovative and creative musicians of our time, including John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, John Zorn, Keith Jarrett, Anthony Braxton, James Tenney, Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell, Steve Reich and Musicians, Yo-Yo Ma, Frederic Rzewski, Ursula Oppens, Joan LaBarbara, Annea Lockwood, Joelle Leandre...

While probably best known for his 1991 book England's Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock , Jon Savage was also an early chronicler of the San Francisco punk scene, championing bands such as the Sleepers, Avengers, and Dils before most audiences outside of the Bay Area or California had even heard of them. In this episode, we hear about his involvement with the zine Search & Destroy; his trip...

The podcast returns with a special archival episode in honor of Stephen Bartholomew Clarke (Dec. 10, 1956–February 20, 2025), guitarist for the group Arkansaw Man (1980–1983). I can't say that I knew him well at all, but I was able to interview him for the book, and he was very generous in sharing his recollections of not just his own band but also the Sound of Music, Richard Kelly and Club Foot,...

A new podcast series from the makers (uh, maker) of The Who Cares Anyway Podcast . Interviews with musicians and artists from around the world on making music in the digital age, Metal, electronic, experimental, and gray areas in between. Available wherever you get your podcasts and at fatalstrategies.substack.com Music credits: Blind Idiot God, "747" Terminal Sound System, "Gridlike" Dreams of th...

In this, the final episode of the podcast, I am joined by David Costanza and Anne Speroni, who have played together in several different bands, including the Whitefronts (1982-1987) and Art of Flying (1998-present). We follow their story from Santa Barbara (where the Whitefronts formed) to San Francisco (where they relocated c. 1985) to Questa, New Mexico, where they built their own 8-track record...

Composer and all-around audio wizard James Goode joins the podcast for a weird and wide-ranging discussion. A mere sampling of the topics discussed: growing up in Provincetown, Mass. playing the tape recorder (his first "instrument") meeting the Residents (sort of) joining Faxed Head not joining Caroliner studying music at Mills College collaborating with prog keyboardist Roger Powell (formerly of...

From his website : "Matt Wallace is an American record producer born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who started out making records in his parents' garage in the early 80s. He attended UC Berkeley intending to teach, but pursued producing full-time after graduating. Some of his most notable work is with Faith No More, The Replacements, O.A.R., and Maroon 5. With over 30 years of experience, he now produces at...

With this episode, we take a slight detour to the Detroit, Michigan, area circa 1985-1987. Odell's band Spahn Ranch hailed from this area, but they recorded their one and only LP—1987's Thickly Settled —in the Bay Area with Eric Cope (Glorious Din) acting as co-producer. Here, Odell recounts his first encounters with Eric, Glorious Din, and the zine Wiring Dept ., along with his memories of record...

Esteemed Friend of the Book Bill Gould joins the podcast to talk about LA, the Vats, Geordie Walker and Killing Joke, Flipper, MTV, and American Zen. Links, music credits, and show notes: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2024/02/13/wca-podcast-ep-20-bill-gould/ Order the book: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SYLTvB | Bookshop.org : https://bookshop.org/a/91315/9781915316059 Get full access to Who C...

The multifaceted Mark Gergis takes us through a few decades' worth of his wide-ranging travels (musical and otherwise), from growing up in the East Bay and discovering Negativland in 1985 to co-founding Mono Pause with Peter Conheim in the early '90s to traveling throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East in the 2000s and beyond. We also talk about his involvement with Sublime Frequencies (whic...

From ChristineShields.net : Christine Shields is an artist and musician from Northern California. She grew up in various locations, most of them rural, from the Central Coast to the Sierra foothills.... At the age of 17 she moved to San Francisco, attended the Art Institute, and played in her first band as a drummer. Her creative life, built around necessity and imagination, has taken many forms,...

We begin with a brief flashback/rewind to the very beginning, as Joe answers a question I'd somehow never thought to ask before—namely, why "Truckin'" (of all songs)? From there, we fast-forward back to mid-1983 and then wind our way through the Joe's Second Record (1984) and Joe's Third Record eras (1985-1986), with Joe sharing his memories of seeing Gregg Turkington (and eventual Pop-O-Pies guit...

Part One of a two-part blockbuster with the man behind the Pop-O-Pies. Here, Joe takes us from New Jersey to San Francisco, from recording the original "Truckin'" demo to putting together a live band, from landing a local college radio hit to signing with 415 Records, from touring the East Coast to meeting Courtney Love and hanging out with Jerry Garcia -- and more. Show notes, links, and music cr...

Much like previous guest Vincent Albarano , Ryan Weinstein is someone I met earlier this year via social media but had never actually spoken to before interviewing him for this podcast. Under the name Coffin Prick, he released his debut "solo" album Laughing (Sophomore Lounge) earlier this year—a colorful and gently warped collection of songs and instrumentals that brings to mind Ralph Records, Kr...

The one and only Barbara Manning joins the podcast to talk about her reactions to the book , her memories of Lowdown Studios, the concept of "Think Audience," her adventures in Germany and New Zealand, the Chico Daze era, life as a high school science (and, more recently, drama) teacher, and her recent/upcoming touring activities. Links, show notes, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.word...

For this "bonus episode" of the podcast, we speak with Vincent Albarano about his recently published book Aesthetic Deviations: A Critical View of American Shot-on-Video Horror 1984-1994 (Headpress) as well as his one-off zine, Pinhead Music, which delves into the strange-but-true history of the underground music scene in Keyser, West Virginia (population:~5,000). during the '80s and '90s. Show no...

Suzi Skates was one of the main people I had in mind when I added the phrase "other creative figures" to the official description for this podcast ("series of interviews with musicians, writers, artists, and other creative figures on topics related to the book Who Cares Anyway .... "). Granted, she moved to SF to study painting, and she did play in a couple of bands, but she made her name (quite l...

As a drummer, Phil Franklin has been a key member of bands including Caroliner, Faxed Head, and Sunburned Hand of the Man. As a singer-songwriter, he heads up Franklin's Mint, whose most recent album, Temporary,, was recorded in Australia (where Phil moved in 2019) with help from Mr. Bungle's Danny Heifetz. In this interview, we touch on all of the above, along with Mr. Franklin's memories of tour...

The multi-talented Peter Conheim is our guest on Episode 10 of the podcast. We cover a veritable potpourri of topics, including his memories of the early '90s Oakland warehouse scene from which Mono Pause (and Conheim's own Electro Motive label) was spawned; his film restoration work on such underground classics as Deaf Punk and In the Red (both included in the excellent Ears, Eyes and Throats col...

In this episode, I speak with Patty Stirling, writer and co-founder (along with editor-in-chief Katherine Spielman) of the zine Puncture . We talk about her initial experiences with the Bay Area punk/hardcore zine, her involvement with Puncture ; her impressions of Toiling Midgets, Black Humor, Mark Pauline/Survival Research Laboratories, and Courtney Love (among others); her memories of various S...

A veteran of the early Mabuhay Gardens and Deaf Club-era punk scenes, bassist Denny DeGorio takes us on a wild ride from Vallejo to SF, from Winterland to the Mab, from joining the Offs to moonlighting in the Belfast Cowboys to touring with former Jefferson Airplane (and Hot Tuna) guitarist Jorma Kaukonen -- and then finally from SF to Austin, Texas, where he moved in 1981 and still resides today....