OPEN GRAVES

Zooming in from Long Beach is the other half of the Release the Bats duo, Jenn Bats! Jenn shares with us a bit about her pre-Bats life going back to separating from her off-grid parents and moving in with her metalhead boyfriend at 16, how hippies and goths can relate to each other despite their differences, being a goth mom and pregnant at Helter Skelter, and a seemingly out of character candy raver phase (yes there are photos). We also talk about the political stances she has been able to take through running RtB and how the Trump years effected the goth and deathrock communities, working at a Hot Topic for 20 years and the divisive subject of mall goths, and the luck it took to start Release the Bats with husband Dave Bats at Que Sera in 1998. We are also regaled with the recent tale of breaking her wrist in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery this winter, and an older tale of sharing a ride with a hairier than expected Rozz Williams.

We are joined tonight by the soft and soothing voice of Jolie, a breathtaking staple of the LA dance floors. She shares her experience of cathartic expression through dance, a palm reader directing her from the rock scene to the hip hop scene before finding her way to goth, and the support and acceptance she found in our community. As someone who stays away from social media, she elaborates on how Twitch DJs kept the music community alive through the pandemic without the use of social media, and how we connect with each other while also allowing for introversion and independence. And when it comes to dance floor etiquette and life in general, kindness is not overrated.

As more studies come out about chronotypes and the variables in circadian rhythm, we have a deep desire to express our unprofessional medical opinions about how late-phase chronotypes might be disproportionately more common in the goth scene, how hard it can be to fit into a world designed for early birds, and how this has affected our relationships with school, work, and self-worth. There are value judgements around night people being lazy and frivolous vs. early risers as ambitious and goal oriented, and Vesta is bitter about it. Also, possibly our most controversial statement: breakfast foods are overrated.

After a bit of a holiday hiatus, catch up with us for a casual hang on Heather’s couch, in which we touch on the experience of being goth in Kauai, Hawaiian Christmas water grannies, the winter Covid resurgence, Gothanukkah (yes, it’s a thing, more on that later), Icelandic introvert Christmas, and the world exploding with emotions over Netflix’s Wednesday series (and more on that later, too). And as usual, interruptions by cats.

We’re back to discuss the second half of Rolling Stone’s “The 50 Best Goth Songs of All Time,” now opining about selections 25-1. Heather and Vesta become more likely to agree with each other and the article’s author in the second half…until we get to number one. Also featuring a She Wants Revenge impression no one asked for.

Rolling Stone recently published an article entitled “The 50 Best Goth Songs of All Time” written by Andi Harriman, and of course we have opinions. The list is an interesting combinations of basic staples and odd deep cuts, and we in no way claim authority in this divisive and subjective topic, but that doesn’t mean we won’t talk it to death. Embark down a journey of opinions as we explore selections 50-25, of course with anecdotes along the way, as well as a surprise phone appearance by Todd Malkin!

One musician named Davey was simply not enough, so we now welcome Davey Ferchow of the bands Dry Wedding and Swampland, zooming in from Portland. After airing some SoCal grievances, this pod full of poets gets into discussing how a sense of self can emerge from trauma, healthily and wholesomely acknowledging an addictive personality, disagreements about Nick Cave and his many iterations, and the rite of passage that is surviving a Swans concert. We must give Davey credit for not flipping a table and rage-quitting the zoom over our ignorance of Scott Walker. Look out for Dry Wedding’s upcoming west coast tour in March of 2023.

We’re here with our first minisode, in honor of Halloween! Vesta and Heather chat about how the goth community embraces the Halloween season, the time when the rest of society meets us where we already live. We air some grumpy vibes about haunts, conventions, costumes, and amateur nights, but also dig up a lifetime of reverence for the childhood experiences that led us to where we are today. Happy spooky season, wherever the fuck that phrase suddenly came from.

Charlotte Anderson is Vesta’s fairygothchild, and also affectionately known as Charlotte’s Goth Sometimes, Normcore Charlotte, and an “inside goth.” Our bubbly Canadian discusses neurodivergence and being bullied in school, a traumatic death in the family that led her away from the Anglican church and into the so-called darkness, and how she focuses on building community through her daywalker job at Lionsgate, which leads to both an argument about Twilight, and also a reverence for communities of all kinds. Charlotte’s goth streak may be hidden under blue jeans and a love for Beyonce, but it is most certainly lurking beneath.