Do you have the time to listen to me whine?
Me? On a podcast???
Hello!
Just dropping by your inbox real quick to dump out some podcast links. If the sound of me talking into a microphone is yer jam, good news, there has been no shortage of that this week.
First up, I was a guest on Rob Harvilla’s 60 Songs That Explain the 90s podcast over at The Ringer. I was asked to suggest a fitting song, and I came up with Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?” (Actually now that I think about it, I suggested “All the Small Things,” but it looks like they went with “What’s My Age Again?” in the headline oops.) But to me, if you’re going to talk about songs that explain the 90s, you’ve got to hold a place for “All the Small Things,” which by the powers vested in me by the elders of rock journalism, I declare The Official Final Song of the 90s. After boy bands and pop starlets dominated MTV for the tail-end of the 90s, Blink-182 released a video at the very end of ‘99 that not only parodied the boy band videos, but rivaled them in popularity. It kind of helped MTV close the door on the 90s and transition into Y2K culture. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that after the popularity of these three shirtless tattooed men dominated their network, Jackass premiered just a few months later. Oh and also, somewhere in there, Rob and I agreed that Bad Religion’s major label records were some of their best. Fight us.
And then I went on Going Off Track and Benny Horowitz asked me about… everything. I’m listening back now and my mouth will just not stop moving. I sound insane. Please listen to it at half speed so that I might actually make sense. We talked about how I got into music and books, my secret interview tactics, East Coast punk scene nostalgia that will be interesting to all of five listeners, why Gaslight Anthem didn’t get much backlash for signing to a major label, how the DIY ethos varies from decade to decade, the merits of stagediving, Cave In, and how we like our bacon-egg-and-cheeses prepared.
It’ll be five years ago next month that Going Off Track hosted the release party for Laura’s book in Brooklyn. One of the most memorable and meaningful nights of my “career” and not just because I convinced Laura to trot out a rare performance of an old song from her catalog. So I was honored to kick off this new book with Benny as well.
Oh, and if you’d like to hear me be on the other side of the interview, I talked to Chris “#2” Barker of Anti-Flag about the band’s absolutely wild major label story wherein they turned down Rick Rubin to sign with RCA.
Chris tells a great story in it about how the president of Interscope tried to impress the band by playing them an advance copy of that godawful “Unos, dos, tres, catorce” song by U2 and Anti-Flag told him to turn it off. Big time LOLz.
Alright I have to go do a bunch more podcasts. Thanks for listening. You can hear me ramble in person next month. I’ll be at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, talking to Geoff Rickly, and at Permanent Records Roadhouse in LA, talking to Jonah Ray. Come hang out and get your book signed! I’ll probably have some merch available too.
Speaking of merch, it’s currently being printed and shipped now by the folks at Night Owls! You can still grab hats, zines, shirts, etc. at my store. They should start landing soon. Absolutely tag me in those photos of your SELLOUT fits. I love seeing them out in the world.
Oh yeah right and one other small thing: uhhh… SELLOUT is OUT NEXT FUCKING WEEK!!!!!!!!! I have some big things forthcoming and advise you to get your copy now, before the rush. Links below. Thanks for all the support.
Later!
Pre-order my forthcoming book, SELLOUT, here:
Bookshop | B&N | Amazon | Books-A-Million | Goodreads
Followed you after your episode on the Frotcast (or maybe Pod Yourself A Gun). Would be stoked if you went back on.