Win some cool merch for a good cause!
I'm raffling off some SELLOUT merch and items from Touché Amoré and Chris Farren!
Welp, SELLOUT has been out for six weeks and much to my surprise, people still want to talk to me about it. The Canadians have caught on and interviewed me this week on CBC Radio. Unless I’m mistaken, they are the first radio show I’ve done that played a sample from Reel Big Fish’s “Sell Out.” How it took someone this long, I have no idea.
Also, my friend Lauren from Worriers and I got together for wings recently and went long on the book for their newsletter Get It Together. We got into a lot of things I’d been wanting to talk about—punk guilt, my approach to releasing things, and the internet's devaluating of art. We talked a lot about how the landscape of punk ethics has changed since we both got into the genre. Namely that there is less money to be made and the playing field has been leveled a bit now that record labels aren’t writing anybody from this scene big checks. Here’s some nonsense that I rambled. Just #my2cents:
I’ll hear people from our group of indie rock bands gripe that “Why did this artist get Best New Music on Pitchfork and I didn’t?” It’s like, Best New Music? How much money do you get for that? Fuckin’ zero dollars. Tell me when Capitol Records gives you a million dollars to do two records and then we’ll talk about being jealous of somebody else. But who gives a shit about all this little stuff we’re arguing over?
But anyway, I’m not here today to plug my book. Well, I guess I’m always sort of doing that. I wanted to instead tell you about how I’m using my book for a good cause!
WIN SOME COOL STUFF!!!
I put together some prize packages to raise money to buy food and supplies for unhoused residents of Los Angeles this winter. There are three packages I’m raffling off in my merch store. It’s only $3 to enter and you could win SO MUCH STUFF. All packages include:
1 signed copy of SELLOUT
1 signed copy of MAJOR LABEL DEBUT
1 signed copy of WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG (out of print!)
1 signed copy of A FRESHLY TANNED CORPSE (way out of print!)
1 SELLOUT tote bag
1 SELLOUT hat
Plus I got some very kind friends to generously kick in a few really unique and amazing items…
PACKAGE 1
PACKAGE 1 includes the studio progress board for Touché Amoré's STAGE FOUR. This hung in the studio while the band recorded their landmark 2016 album. A one-of-a-kind piece of hardcore history! Plus, a copy of their newest album LAMENT on limited edition red vinyl, signed by frontman Jeremy Bolm!
PACKAGE 2
PACKAGE 2 includes an original Pig Cigs painting by the one and only Chris Farren. This is an amazing piece from this series and—not gonna lie—it is very difficult for me not to just keep it for myself. I have so many places in my house I could hang this thing. Primarily, in the room where my pig smokes his cigarettes.
PACKAGE 3
PACKAGE 3 includes a Polaroid I took of Laura Jane Grace after interviewing her at home in Chicago. I love this shot. Sad to see it go but I hope it gets a good home!
You can enter as many times as you’d like. The three winners will be chosen at random on December 20. We’ve already raised OVER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS! Let’s keep it going! 100 PERCENT of the proceeds will be put towards food and supplies!
LET ME THANK THE UH RATBOYS FOR THEIR MUSIC
Oh, and another thing. This Sunday, I will be joining one of my favorite bands, Ratboys, online for their virtual tour. Pour yourself a glass of egg nog or any other of your various nogs and join us on the internet!
RECOMMENDATIONS
If you’re looking for something to fill the void now that Succession is over, I just watched Don’t Try to Understand, the documentary about DMX, one of the inimitable artists we lost this year. Like most documentaries, there is a lot of imbalance here. It’s an uneven portrait of a complex and troubled person in the last year of their life. But one scene I can’t stop thinking about is this one where he just humiliates this Live Nation rep. You love to see it!:
Hmm what else? Oh, I finally saw Mike Krol last week at this intimate party hall nearby. Probably the most strobe lights I’ve seen in the last three years combined. Just an onslaught of lights and power pop. Enough to kill a small animal. He played this Christmas song I didn’t know he had in his arsenal, and which I’ve now had stuck in my head for a week:
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