OPEN GRAVES

Goth, feminism, and comedy do coexist, and our guest Virginia Jones is living (and undead) proof. We talk about how refining her art allowed her to become more herself, having her own album title mansplained to her, and growing up as a Texas punk fascinated with California deathrock. We know that otherness unites goths and comedians, and the origins of both run deep; we learn about growing up Mormon, leaving the church after learning about its opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment as a teenager, and finding a new secular Church in Dallas. You can now find Virginia performing in Los Angeles and all over, so check out badinia.com for show dates, Badinia on tiktok, and her comedy album Gothic American anywhere you have already found this podcast.

Since day one we have intended to do an episode (or episodes) focusing on The Addams Family, their many incarnations, and cultural and subcultural importance, but now it is impossible to do so without first addressing Netflix’s Wednesday series. Unsurprisingly, we have a lot of feelings. In addition to bitching about some of the choices of the television show, including but not limited to praise of Jenna Ortega while dragging the rest of the cast and the Hogwarts fever dream fan fiction plots, we touch on the intersection of the Addams with subculture and identifying with the “other,” why it feels wrong to refer to Wednesday as a “goth girl,” and the importance of social justice to the Addams legacy. Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc; not just pretty words.

It’s live music season, and this is an intimate recovery zoom after the chaos of the Cruel World festival weekend. Heather was fully prepared and committed with a wine bra and a She-Wee, while Vesta…is not a festival person. We discuss the overwhelming(ly positive) experience of the triple-stage goth-leaning music festival at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, including but not limited to Iggy Pop summoning lightning and the festival’s evacuation, to he and Siouxsie performing a redux on Sunday. 

After reuniting by sharing a tattoo artist, we have one of Vesta’s first goth friends and a day-one listener, BattyKat Weed. She tells us about being into Edward Gorey and Stephen King as a child, growing up with some unspoken parental mysteries, finding her way to goth through an interest in paganism and Renaissance Faire, putting her self-expression on hiatus to pursue acting, and how this may have tricked her not-goth husband at the beginning of their 20+ year marriage. Harkening back to our chronotype episode which resonated strongly with Kat, she discusses the toll that fitting into the daywalker working world effects her physical and metal health, and how being chronically early has become a coping mechanism (for Heather as well). Though she self-identifies as goth without being a big club-goer, she may be having a personal renaissance, and not just the Faire kind.

Lovingly referred to as the mayor of the LA goth community, Darrick Walker welcomes us off of the dance floor and to his kitchen table. He opens up about his decades long commitment to dance, how it can take years to talk to people even when you go out every night, growing up in Florida dancing to hip hop, and coming to LA at 18 to pursue fashion. He tells us about growing up in the South with a Reverend Grandfather and parents from the Bahamas, how his relationship to religion and family has evolved over time, the experience of being one of few African Americans in the goth scene at the time he entered it, and the experience of being a gay man with overwhelmingly straight male friends - and dating outside the goth community. He dispenses wisdom around avoiding club drama and treating each other with respect, and ensuring the longevity of our community as we all get older. Find his smiling face on the dance floor any night of the week - but costume changes only on Sundays.

We are joined by self-proclaimed Elder Goth Pollyanne Hornbeck, as she tells us about getting into old-school LA clubs underage and hearing Bauhaus for the first time, working for the LAWeekly right out of college and interviewing Nick Cave, living in the Hollywood Hills with Courtney Love, and how motorcycles can be cooler than boyfriends. Her passion for community is palpable not only due to her commitment to the goth community and those in it, but also in her transition from full-time artist to mental healthcare worker - without ever sacrificing her authentic aesthetics or allowing others to pathologize gothness. We also get a drop in from her lovely husband and a tour of her haunted dollhouse! This episode is dedicated to Cody Shute. 

After a truly crazy week, we have a pun-intended post-mortem download about the opening of Obelisk for Vesta’s birthday and Heather’s DJ debuts both there and at Chamber. Guess what, it is overwhelmingly and sincerely positive! We both experience an outpouring of support over competition in both settings, and the potential for this to be more prevalent in our community over the stereotype of drama. Thanks also to Tenebrae, Jak Syn, Steve Gheist, and Ray Baron for all your skill and support. Also featuring a surprise phone call guest appearance from Ray! Obelisk is every third Thursday at Risky Business, and Chamber is every Sunday at Bravo. Also catch Heather at The Alternative at the Gudgeon on March 17th!

Over homemade vegan queso and wine, we chat with Jak Syn about his DJ career and love of synthwave, starting a band and finding his way to the goth scene in high school, having to grow up quickly with mental illness in the family, how when clubbing became an escape that enabled destructive behavior, this lead to a growth and accountability within the community, and how the community supported him through the unique pain of losing his wife to cancer this year. Yet in the midst of the darkness, you can look forward to a rendition of 90s sitcom theme songs that no one asked for, a glimpse into his Jackie Daytona style yacht rock alter ego, and a guest appearance from Amy playing with legos.

We’re on zoom today to lure you out to our first club night, Obelisk at Risky Business on Thursday, March 9th, which also happens to be Vesta’s birthday party and Heather’s DJ debut. Obelisk will be every 2nd Thursday, no cover. We also want to cross-promote within the community, and plug Nihil at The North End on Saturday, March 4th, which also might include a little birthday celebration. Additionally, Heather will be guest DJing at Chamber on Sunday, March 12th. If you're in Los Angeles, party with us in person!

We are joined on the “rough couch” by Heather’s dancefloor girlfriend, Natasha Boyer. She shares her experience of growing up as an anxious kid in a strict Catholic home, finding goth by way of 80s clubs, and how the importance of getting out of her comfort zone led to becoming a gogo dancer. She speaks about parental growth and mending that relationship as a tattooed adult and non-believer, growing up keeping bugs as pets to becoming a vet-tech and full time cat lady, and how dancing in our subculture is a little bit like being a cat. Old club reminiscences come out, but it takes a turn for the religious, because Vesta can’t help it. Hey, is that stingray alive?