In this episode:

“The punk stuff that was coming out of England really excited me.”

In Part 1 of this conversation, Chris Desjardins (Chris D.) traces the evolution of the Flesh Eaters from the earliest days of Los Angeles punk through the band’s many incarnations. Moving through his encounters with the Stooges, MC5, British punk, blues and R&B, poetry, surrealism, genre film, and other musical and cultural influences, Chris reflects on the eclectic materials and relationships that shaped his creative practice.

Along the way, Chris discusses writing for Slash, friendships and collaborations with John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Dave Alvin, Keith Morris, and others, and the changing lineups and musical approaches behind A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, Forever Came Today, and A Hard Road to Follow. His recollections offer a window into the shifting sounds and social worlds of early Los Angeles punk and the rise of hardcore, as well as the blues, roots music, and other traditions that continued to inform his work.

Chris also speaks candidly about addiction, recovery, relationships, and the ways these experiences intersected with his musical life. Looking back across different iterations of the Flesh Eaters and Divine Horsemen, he reflects on returning to music, writing with greater discipline after getting sober, and the long, complicated path that eventually brought earlier collaborators together again decades later.

Chris Desjardins, also known as Chris D., is a writer, musician, poet, critic, and filmmaker best known as the founder, vocalist, songwriter, and driving creative force behind the influential Los Angeles punk band the Flesh Eaters. Deeply connected to the first wave of the L.A. punk scene, he contributed to Slash magazine and has worked across music, poetry, prose, film criticism, and programming. His musical work has moved among punk, blues, roots music, and darker strains of American music, and he has also led and recorded with Divine Horsemen.

Recorded October 2020.

Links + References:

Perfect Sound Forever: Chris D, Flesh Eaters, Divine Horsemen

The Flesh Eaters - Superior Viaduct

https://grokipedia.com/page/The_Flesh_Eaters

Slash Magazine (Download via Brooklyn Vegan)

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Co-hosted and guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird

Editorial support: Arrow Menendez– audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

“It’s an interdisciplinary space where we all get together and talk about a variety of experiences within punk.”

Jessica Schwartz and Ellen Bernhard discuss punk scholarship, popular culture, and the importance of building communities around critical inquiry. Drawing on their different experiences coming to punk in the 1990s, they reflect on MTV, record stores, compilations, early internet rabbit holes, and what it meant to find punk outside the scenes of major cities.

The conversation moves from personal punk histories to Ellen’s research on humor, satire, media, and punk rhetoric, as well as her work with the Punk Scholars Network US. Together, Jessica and Ellen consider how punk becomes something we not only listen to and participate in, but also study, teach, write about, organize around—and occasionally turn into plans for a Times Square billboard.

Ellen Bernhard is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Georgian Court University and President of the Punk Scholars Network US. Her research explores punk, popular culture, rhetoric, humor, and satire. She is the author of Contemporary Punk Rock Communities: Scenes of Inclusion and Dedication and co-editor of scholarly collections examining punk bands, politics, culture, and provocation.

Recorded July 2026.

Links + References:

Links: [email protected]

IG: @dr.elliesoho, @punkscholarsnetwork.us

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melanie Hui – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast.

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

Jessica Schwartz speaks with writer Caroline Collett about the ways lived experience, memory, and writing shape how punk becomes cultural history. Drawing from Caroline's teenage diaries, they revisit the people, places, politics, and everyday details of first-generation punk while considering what firsthand accounts can reveal that later histories sometimes leave behind.

Moving between intimate memories of punk gigs in late-1970s Britain and Caroline's contemporary reflections on the early UK and US scenes, they explore punk's different cultural and political roots, the exchange of ideas across the Atlantic, and the tension between individual experience and collective memory. The conversation ultimately asks not only how we remember punk, but what its DIY, subversive, and liberatory impulses can still offer the present and future.

Caroline Collett grew up in the North of England and studied languages at Oxford University before beginning a career in television, where she wrote music news for MTV Europe and worked as a presenter and producer. She later worked as a publicist and copywriter for artists, designers, and architects and is now focused on her own writing. Her manuscript, What Do I Get?, brings together original teenage diary entries with contemporary reflections on first-generation punk, its politics, style, culture, and continuing significance.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

X - https://x.com/CollettWriter

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/collettwriter.bsky.social

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/caroline_r_collett/  

Website - 

https://www.carolinecollettwriter.com/

Caroline Collett on Punk Scholars Podcast:

Part 1

Part 2

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melanie Hui – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast.

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"To me, punk isn't just about a specific style. It's about a way of being."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by Tequila Mockingbird for a conversation exploring punk as a creative practice, a form of cultural preservation, and a way of moving through the world. Together, they discuss the early Los Angeles punk scene, New Wave Theatre, the Punk Museum, the UCLA Punk Archive, and the ongoing work of documenting local histories that might otherwise be lost.

The conversation explores DIY culture, archives, fashion, activism, underground media, and the ways punk continues to evolve across generations and communities. Reflecting on her decades of work as a musician, writer, curator, and cultural organizer, Tequila argues that punk is less a genre than a way of creating, questioning, and living on your own terms.

Tequila Mockingbird is a writer, musician, curator, and founder of the Punk Museum. For more than four decades, she has documented, performed in, and championed underground culture through journalism, film, music, exhibitions, and community archives while helping preserve the histories of the Los Angeles punk scene.

This conversation includes questions and contributions from students in a UCLA musicology course facilitated by Jessica Schwartz and was recorded in February 2024.

Links + References:

https://substack.com/@tequilamockingbird1

https://shotgunseamstress.blogspot.com/2013/10/taquila-mockingbird-queen-behind-scene.html

https://www.instagram.com/taquilamockingbird/

https://pleasekillme.com/taquila-mockingbird/

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Arrow Menendez – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"I used to think that saying 'I don't have it' was a sign of weakness. When in reality, the weakness was not having it and thinking you do."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by Jack Grisham of TSOL and co-host Tequila Mockingbird for a candid conversation about creativity, accountability, recovery, and the enduring spirit of DIY. Moving beyond familiar punk origin stories, they reflect on writing, criticism, sobriety, violence, vulnerability, and the lifelong work of learning how to make—and remake—yourself.

Together, they discuss the early Southern California punk scene, the formation of TSOL, punk's myths and realities, gender expression, authorship, and what it means to continue creating across music, literature, and film. Throughout the conversation, Grisham offers an unflinching look at personal responsibility while reflecting on the ways punk both challenged and reproduced the worlds it sought to resist.

Jack Grisham is the vocalist and founding member of TSOL and has spent more than four decades writing, performing, and creating across music, literature, and film. He is the author of several books, including An American Demon and A Principle of Recovery, and continues to write fiction and create new work across multiple media.

Recorded April 2021.

Links + References:

Jack Grisham

Jack Grisham (@jackgrisham) • Facebook

Jack Grisham (@jackgrishamphoto) • Instagram photos and videos

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Co-hosted and guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon– audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Editor's Note (July 2026)

Today we learned of the passing of Jennifer Finch.

Rather than simply share the news, I wanted to make this conversation available again. Recorded live at the Punk Rock Museum during the 2025 Punk Scholars Network US conference, it captures Jennifer exactly as I remember her: generous, thoughtful, funny, and deeply curious. Throughout our conversation, she challenged assumptions, connected punk to larger social questions, and reminded us that museums, archives, and community spaces are places where we imagine different futures together.

I'm grateful to have shared this conversation with her, and I hope others will enjoy hearing her voice and ideas again.

—Jessica Schwartz

————

Original Episode Notes.

Live from Las Vegas, it’s the Punk Scholars Podcast! What happens at the Punk Scholars Network conference in Vegas is now available for your listening (dis)pleasure as Jessica Schwartz interviews Fat Mike (NOFX, Punk Rock Museum) and Jennifer Precious Finch (L7, Sh!t My Rockstar Says!) with a never before heard musical collaboration to close this one of a kind interview out. Thank you to the Punk Rock Museum for hosting us. Enjoy. 

Links

The Punk Rock Museum

Jennifer Precious Finch

Fat Mike 

–

We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas and guests. 

Contact us at: [email protected]

The PSP theme music is excerpted from “Crows” by Watch You Drown. All rights reserved. 

Season 1, Episode 10 was recorded on March 3, 2025 “Live in Las Vegas” at the Punk Rock Museum as part of the Punk Scholars Network US and Canada Third Annual Conference. Ellen Bernhard produced the episode and gave the pre-podcast acknowledgments. Jessica Schwartz hosted the episode, and edited the audio and transcript, available here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"There is this specter of demolition that, in some ways, haunts the American city."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by urban historian and geographer Peter Ekman for a conversation exploring how architecture, urban renewal, and the built environment have shaped the sounds, spaces, and histories of punk. Drawing from his article Corner, Garage, and Basement: Reused Spaces and Vernacular Sounds Since the Bulldozer, Ekman traces the relationships between postwar urban redevelopment, street-corner singing, garage rock, and hardcore punk.

Together, they discuss the politics of urban renewal, the sonic histories of doo-wop, garage rock, and hardcore, and the ways everyday spaces—including street corners, garages, and basements—became sites of creativity, resistance, and DIY cultural production. The conversation also considers Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., race, segregation, automobility, and the critical possibilities that emerge when architecture and sound are understood together.

Peter Ekman is on the faculty of the USC School of Architecture and holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Timing the Future Metropolis: Foresight, Knowledge, and Doubt in America's Postwar Urbanism (Cornell University Press). His research explores the history and theory of cities, landscapes, architecture, and the built environment, with particular attention to sound, urbanism, and everyday spatial practice.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

USC faculty website: Peter Ekman | USC School of Architecture 

Link to book, Timing the Future Metropolis: https://cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501778391/timing-the-future-metropolis/#bookTabs=1

Link to article, “Corner, Garage, and Basement”: https://read.dukeupress.edu/qui-parle/article-abstract/34/2/379/407908/Corner-Garage-and-BasementReused-Spaces-and

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melanie Hui – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"I make zines and jokes and have thoughts."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by zinester, archivist, and independent scholar Liz Mason for a conversation exploring DIY publishing, archives, humor, and the enduring cultural life of zines. Together, they discuss independent publishing as a creative practice, a form of community building, and a form of cultural research, while reflecting on libraries, radio, oral history, fandom, and the evolving relationships among memory, documentation, and punk.

The conversation centers on Mason's Most Unwanted Zine, a research-driven publication built from surveys of zinesters and readers that playfully transforms qualitative data into satire. Along the way, they discuss fax-machine funerals, collaborative storytelling, aging in DIY culture, creative curiosity, and the ways zines continue to document everyday life while preserving voices often left out of traditional archives.

Liz Mason has been publishing zines since the 1990s. Her work has appeared in Punk Planet, The Zine Yearbook, and the backs of her friends' toilets. She managed Chicago's legendary zine hub, Quimby's Bookstore, for more than two decades and is currently pursuing a Master's in Information Science with a specialization in Archives and Records Management at Chicago State University. Mason is also the creator of Caboose, co-host of the Rough Draft podcast, and a DJ at CHIRP Radio.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

LizMasonIsAwesome.com

Rough Draft with Keidra and Liz Podcast

Liz Mason Official: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter | Linktree

LizMasonZines - Etsy

https://www.facebook.com/LizMasonIsAwesome

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-mason-caboose-zine/

Instagram: @caboosezine

Bluesky: @caboosezine.bsky.social

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"Fulfill your purpose, do what you love…"

Jessica Schwartz and co-host Tequila Mockingbird are joined by Johnny Indovina, singer, songwriter, and founder of Human Drama, in a conversation exploring songwriting, artistic purpose, and the communities that sustain creative life. Together, they reflect on the legendary Scream scene in Los Angeles, Human Drama's evolution from The Models, and the collaborative spirit that shaped one of the city's most influential underground music communities.

Johnny also discusses his documentary 7 Days in Mexico, the unexpected journey that rekindled his relationship with music, and the enduring connections between artists and audiences across Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Mexico City. Throughout, the conversation reflects on authenticity, creative perseverance, and the importance of continuing to do the work that gives life meaning.

Johnny Indovina is the singer, songwriter, and founder of Human Drama, an influential band whose emotionally resonant music has shaped gothic rock, post-punk, and alternative music for more than four decades. Through Human Drama and his solo work, Indovina has built an international following grounded in deeply personal songwriting, artistic honesty, and enduring connections with audiences across the United States, Latin America, and beyond.

Recorded July 2023.

Links + References:

Human Drama Spotify

Human Drama Website

Johnny Indovina Bandcamp

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Co-hosted by Tequila Mockingbird.

Guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

Experimental composer, improviser, and educator Si Paton joins Jessica Schwartz for a live conversation with UCLA students exploring listening, neurodivergence, improvisation, and the creative intersections of punk, noise, jazz, and DIY music cultures. Together, they discuss how musical communities emerge through collaboration, experimentation, and shared practices of listening, while reflecting on improvisation as both a creative process and a way of navigating the world.

The conversation also explores graphic notation, theatrical performance, ensemble composition, and Paton's research on developing shared musical languages across diverse musical traditions. Throughout, Paton reflects on the value of embracing uncertainty, making mistakes, and creating spaces where experimentation can thrive.

Si Paton is a composer, bassist, academic, and promoter. He completed his PhD at Birmingham Conservatoire under the supervision of Ed Bennett and Seán Clancy, researching composition for improvising large ensembles and the development of shared musical languages across different stylistic traditions. He previously studied electric bass and jazz composition at the University of West London with Paul Westwood and Eddie Harvey. Past projects include the prog-jazz group Selectric, punk-funk big band Pack of Wolves Arkestra, and the acoustic-grindcore suite Gillberg Variations. As an improviser, he has performed with Nils Økland, Steve Tromans, Chris Sharkey, Maria Chiara Argirò, Cath Roberts, and Apocalypse Jazz Unit. He is also the curator of Thinking/Not Thinking Fest, a three-day festival celebrating musical juxtapositions.

This conversation includes questions and contributions from students in a UCLA musicology course facilitated by Jessica Schwartz and was recorded in January 2024.

Links + References:

Si Paton - Instagram

Si Paton Bandcamp

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (Bandcamp)

Sound and Music (composer profile)

Apocalypse Jazz Unit (Bandcamp)

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.