TraegerMethod Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 27: Mark MacFarlane (Long lost friend from San Dieguito High School) Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

Episode 27 is conversation between Jason and his high school friend Mark MacFarlane.

The two recently began trading DM's on instagram after Mark reached out in response to the TM podcast. This conversation is the first time they have spoken since the last day of school 1985. In catching up Mark shares sometimes funny and sometimes gory stories about his years flying Blackhawk helicopters for the army, the crooked educational path he took to his career as a land surveyor and lots of North County San Diego high school stories from the 80's.

Characters mentioned in this episode include their H.S. bully, stevia obsessed MMA YouTube celebrity Dan Quinn, their bizarre, free-form 'Epistemics' teacher Mr. Merritt, and North County party cops Officer's Cook and Stanewich, the latter we learn ended up being killed by another cop while he was in the act of home invading a local family on his day off! ...cops (smdh).

Thanks for listening!

Music:

Manifest Destiny 'Soilent Warehouse'

Battalion of Saints 'The Animal in Man'

TM Theme by Jason

Episode 26: Walter Glaser (Bay Area Punk, MRR, Gilman, Turn it Around Comp) Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Episode 26 is a conversation between Jason and his old friend Walter Glaser.

A Bay Area punk, Walter was the longtime MaximumRockNRoll cassette reviewer and the face on the cover of the influential Gilman Street Project 2x7” comp ‘Turn It Around'. He might protest but a case could be made that this appearance makes him the honorary ‘Face of Gilman Geek-Core’.

What is ‘Geek-Core’ you might ask? If you picture the pit filled with Big Wheels and jumping jacks instead of moshing and slamming you’re getting the idea. Sounds annoying and it could be but when Walter shares a story of the time the Gilman geeks got together and made a skinhead cry, it begins to make a little more sense.

There's a lot more to the conversation than geeks, plenty of great stories and laughs are shared between these two old friends.

Check out the food blog Walter does with his daughter Olivia: W&O Food Report

Music:

The Feederz "You're So Stupid"

UXB "Breakout"

Stikky "Baby's Gonna Rock Tonight"

TM Theme by Jason

Episode 25: Tae Won Yu (Kicking Giant, artist, NYC/Olympia) Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

Episode 25 is a conversation with artist, musician, photographer and host Jason’s dear friend Tae Won Yu.

The two met in the fertile scene that was Olympia, WA in the early 90’s and immediately bonded over their shared devotion to music, art and the creative process, though their paths to that meeting couldn’t have been more different. Jason’s move to Olympia was a return to his home in the Pacific Northwest after his years in California, Tae was a transplant from NYC whose childhood had been split between his native country of Korea and Tokyo, Japan prior to immigrating to the east coast of the U.S.A. as a youngster.

Tae’s story begins with an account of the unique challenges he faced as a newly arrived Korean immigrant to Queens, New York whose only spoken language was Japanese. From there we learn about how his immersion in punk and rock n roll helped him forge an identity and sense of self as an artist that has sustained him throughout his life.

The conversation ends with a discussion of the creative struggle as a lifelong opportunity for the artist to work toward individuation and connection to a community based on shared values.

Thank you for listening!

Tae's Instagram

Tae's photo memories.

Kicking Giant/Tae's work today.

Music: Kicking Giant 'Alien I.D.' and 'Wire'

TM theme by Jason

Episode 24: Scott Crawford (filmmaker, Salad Days, Boy Howdy, Something Better Change) Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

Episode 24 is an interview with filmmaker Scott Crawford, director of DC punk documentary Salad Days and Boy Howdy: The Story of Creem Magazine.

The conversation starts with Scott’s punk rock biography beginning with his stint as a post-pubescent zine maker in the DC scene of the early 80’s and moves through to his forthcoming project; a documentary film about Canadian punk pioneers DOA and frontman Joey “Shithead” Keithley’s current political career in the band’s hometown of Burnaby B.C.

Jason shares some of his own experiences with DOA and the two reflect on the tremendous influence the band and its leader have had on independent music and culture over the past 4 decades.

Thank you for listening!

Scott Crawford on instagram @saladdazed

@somethingbetterchange_doc

Music:

D.O.A "D.O.A"

United Mutation "Sensation Fix" from the Alive and Kicking compilation made by Scott Crawford in 1985.

Jason Traeger "Neutralize Existence"

TM theme by Jason

Episode 23: Eddie Joseph (Eddie and the Subtitles) Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Episode 23 is a conversation with Eddie Joseph of early Orange County hardcore/punk/new wave pioneers Eddie and the Subtitles.

Already a veteran of the Haight-Ashbury ‘Summer of Love’ scene that had fizzled out a decade earlier, he was in his early 30’s as the first wave of LA/OC punk splashed over from the 70’s into the 80’s.

Not only did he write and perform one of the most iconic songs of the era with The Subtitles, 1980’s ‘American Society’ he also worked as a manager for bands like Social Distortion and The Adolescents who along with his own band defined the OC punk sound.

In keeping with the TM podcast’s Reno thread: Eddie was raised in Reno and returned there when his time in Southern California came to an end. We close hearing about his current line-up of The Subtitles based in the biggest little city and his ongoing recovery from Covid-19.

Thank you for listening!

Music:

Eddie and the Subtitles 'American Society'

Eddie and the Subtitles 'Magic'

TM theme by Jason

Episode 22: Chris Chacon (BCT, Borderless Countries Tapes, Bad Compilation Tapes) Mar 16, 2021

Show notes

Jason speaks with Chris Chacon founder of the influential San Diego based international hardcore punk cassette label Bad Compilation Tapes, later renamed as Borderless Countries Tapes, commonly known as BCT.

Chris tells the story of his late entry into early So Cal punk in 1979 at age 25 after hearing The Urinals on a new wave/punk show on the local rock station KGB. From there he dove headlong into the subculture and never looked back.

He formed BCT in 1982 as a means of contributing to the larger project of punk rock and helped make the world a little smaller by connecting the extreme music coming out of the squats and garages of Europe with listeners all over America and the world.

As a teenager Jason contributed artwork to BCT releases, with his family hosted Raw Power during their stay in San Diego on their first tour and along with Chris and others put on shows under the name United Effort in the early/mid 80's.

https://www.anarcho-punk.net/threads/borderless-countries-tapes-bad-compilation-tapes.5050/

https://www.facebook.com/badcompilationtapes/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/493831857384110/

Music:

Raw Power: 'Police Police'

I Refuse It!: 'Choccu Umeret'

TM theme by Jason

Episode 21: Pat Weekend. "what do punks have against toilets?" Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

Jason and Pat's talk begins with more about their old San Diego punk friend the late John Murphy, then they veer off into the Venice scene, the new documentary film about The Olympic Auditorium, and ither things before the conversation ends with Pat telling us how cool Lenny Kravitz was toward high-end retail drones like himself back in his days as Romeo Blue.

Along the way they ask the question "what do punks have against toilets?"

Music:
Excel : 'Split Image' from their 'Personal Onslaught' demo.

Useless Pieces of Shit : 'Obnoxious Teenage Drunk Olympics" from video on youtube.

TM Pod theme by Jason.

Episode 20: Joe Lally (Fugazi, Coricky) Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Episode 20 is a talk with Joe Lally. The conversation focuses on his formative years and traces the journey from pre-teen soul / funk fiend through his suburban stoner teens as a dedicated acolyte of eclectic doom pioneers The Obsessed. Joe describes the profound impact touring the country in 1986 as roadie with Beefeater had on his life. He pays special tribute to the band’s late guitarist Fred Smith who invited him on that tour.

Jason and Joe met for the first time when the band arrived in Reno on their way west. He was about to head off with 7 Seconds on his first national tour as a roadie as well.

The talk ends with Joe describing the year he and Ian spent in the basement learning to play together. A fruitful time that formed a musical friendship that is going strong today.

Music: Joe Lally "What Makes You"

The Obsessed "Failsafe" Live 1982

TM Theme: Jason

Episode 19: Kevin Seconds (7 Seconds) Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Kevin Seconds is a true American punk/hardcore D.I.Y. indie icon.

Jason and Kevin met in 1984 when he interviewed 7 Seconds for Leading Edge fanzine backstage at Perkins Palace in Pasadena and they have been friends ever since. The two lived together in Reno for a time and Jason was roadie on the band's 1986 North American tour.

This conversation focuses on Kevin's origin story. We learn about the hardscrabble circumstances he and his family experienced after arriving in Reno in the mid 70's, and how the precariousness of his situation helped prime his fascination with the nascent punk movement rumbling underground at the time. We then trace his journey from curious seeker of all things punk to the beginning of 7 Seconds and his central role establishing "anti-youth" Reno, NV as the home of the vital, nationally recognized "Skeeno H.C." hardcore scene.

This episode demands a follow-up and we'll be sure to hear from Kevin again in future installments to see where the story goes from here.

Thank you for listening!

Music:

7 Seconds: "Fight Your Own Fight", "Fuck Your Amerika", "No Authority"

TM pod intro by Jason.

Episode 18 with Martin. Pod digest, Derby Jackets. Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

TraegerMethod episode 18 begins as a podcast. Martin (@3chordpolitics) and Jason look at back recent TM guests and share recommendations for some other pods including James Call’s ‘Punk Lives!’ about San Diego scene history and ’It Did Happen Here’ about the battle in the 80’s and 90’s to defend the Portland punk scene from nazi skinheads and how it evolved into a wider effort to drive them from the city altogether after the 1988 murder of Ethopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw.

Around the 30 minute mark the two get into a discussion about punk clothes crafting and specifically Martin’s favorite 7 Seconds ‘derby jacket’. It’s a fashion freakout with food for thought.

There’s a lot more. Thanks for listening!

Music snippets:

The Penetrators "Walk the beat"

Social Distortion "Mass Hysteria"

Jerry's Kids "Straight Jacket"

Killjoy: "Shiny Plastic People"