The Modernist Society

In this episode, Eric interviews John Roy, currently of Smoke and Mirrors Soundsystem. John Roy started off as one of the younger members of Gangbusters, an early 90's ska band featured on California Skaquake along with a hit list of bands that went on to define the early era of the American take on the genre such as Hepcat, Jump With Joey, Let's Go Bowling, and even No Doubt. He also played in Unsteady, another ska band that impressively toured with a full organ and leslie. Smoke and Mirrors play live as well as release creative vinyl records on Escape Hatch Records from themselves as well as artists such as Monkey, Manganista, Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, and Out of Control Army. We touch on all this and more in this episode of The Modernist Society Podcast.

Escape Hatch Records: https://escapehatchrecords.com/

Smoke and Mirrors Soundsystem: https://smokeandmirrorssoundsystem.com/

California Ska-Quake available on cassette now!https://www.discogs.com/release/6416405-Various-California-Ska-Quake

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In this episode, we are joined by the host with the most, Trace Crutchfield. You may remember him from the Coronavirus Potluck episode of The Modernist Society back in 2020, but you more likely remember him as one of VICE’s most beloved on-camera correspondents in the company’s earliest forays into video (think classic Vice Guide to Travel pieces like Screwed in Houston orBolivian Marching Powder. Yes, he was the guy you saw indulging in purple drank, chewing coca with Evo Morales, and fitting right in at a baile funk in the favelas of Rio.)

But that was then and this is now, which happens to be the name of the new non-consumerist travel show that Trace is making together with The Modernist Society’s own Jason Mojica. THIS IS NOW is a show that “drifts through the spectacle, notes the marginal, and refuses to let belief limit surprise.” We talk all about the philosophy behind this DOGME 95-inspired approach to the travel show and the upside of low-budget, DIY video production.

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We dive into the world of Chicago pizza, the perils of small business ownership, family drama, family trauma, and what constitutes a good tip for a delivery driver with Johnny Berger, author of a zine on these very topics called Jake's Pizza: 40 Years in the Pizza Business, and Other Stories. Jake's Pizza also happens to be the name of the pizza joint that Johnny's family ran in Franklin Park, Illinois for 57 years before its unceremonious demise in November of 2023. We talk to Johnny about what happened; about his forays into comedy, filmmaking, and writing; and about what comes next.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of William "Bill" Berger July 13, 1936 — May 12, 2024.

Buy a copy of Jake's Pizza at heykidscomics.net!

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In this episode, Eric goes rogue and interviews a band from WAY after the 1970s, otherwise known as "now." Noah and Reza from the Uni Boys talk about their band, plans, cleaning products, records, and other topics. 

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This episode we take you to one of the most unique places on earth - Poor Cow.

You may know the owner from such hit bands as Teengenerate, American Soul Spiders, The Tweezers, and Firestarter. If you’re interested, skip the shinkansen and don’t feel bad about temples. The Modernist Society Podcast validates that Poor Cow is not only a legitimate part of Japanese culture, but is The Real Temple.

4th floor in a nondescript building, walk in and you are guaranteed to see most of the following regulars:

Tsune from Young Parasian

Honma from Car Crash

Hiroshi from The Knocks / Flashlights

You just landed in Tokyo and you already have friends!

Closed Mondays. Follow Fifi for day to day updates.

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We chat with Robert Whiting, author of Chrysanthemum and the Bat, You Gotta Have Wa,
Tokyo Underworld and Tokyo Junkie. Robert moved to Tokyo in 1962 as part of the U.S. Occupational Forces and has lived there on and off ever since. He believes Tokyo may current the best city on Earth, and his enthusiasm is infectious. But it wasn't always that way. Robert talks us through his early days in a city still rife with black markets and crime, using baseball as his window into the language and culture and eventually publishing his first book on the topic, a pending screen adaptation of his Tokyo Underworld book, and his latest memoir Tokyo Junkie, which looks back on his 60-year love affair with the city.

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We catch up with Bayard Winthrop. He’s the founder and CEO of American Giant, a San Francisco-based clothing company that specializes in a) making stuff really well, and b) making it in the USA. American Giant has been going for about 10 years now, but before that Bayard ran Chrome, Freeboard, Atlas Snowshoe, and in the heady days of the dot com boom, was the President and CEO of WebChat, which was a big online community that was acquired by Infoseek right before AOL started dominating that space. That's all to say that in addition to producing the "the greatest hoodie ever made," he's a super interesting, super smart guy who’s been an incredible innovator not only in direct-to-consumer businesses, but in breathing new life into at least on area of American manufacturing.

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We hang out with Jeff Pezzati, singer of Chicago punk legends Naked Raygun and talk about all of the things: AC/DC, UFO, Big Black, comic books, Philip Jose Farmer, HVAC, Condor, and the forthcoming Naked Raygun studio album.

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We spend a delightful afternoon day drinking and playing our favorite holiday songs with founder of the OG Washinngton DC chapter of The Modernnist Society, Daryle Macoicha (AKA DJ D-Mac). Obscure tracks played and discussed! Arguments had! Digressions... digressed! This is how all Zoom meetings should be.

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We talk with Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired magazine, former publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Catalogs, and co-founder of the Hackers’ Conference. Instead of talking to Kevin about AI, AR, or any of the other technological forces that are shaping our future, we take him back to 1988 to revisit one of his lesser-known books: Signal: Communications Tools for the Information Age. It’s a big, paperback, counter cultural handbook on self-empowerment, DIY education, and harnessing technology at a time when normal people did not know what the internet was.

We also talk to Kevin about his first trip overseas in 1972, and how it led to him bouncing around Asia for decades, taking the photographs which are collected in his forthcoming book, Vanishing Asia.

Finally, we ask Kevin–well known for being an optimist–to help us find the silver lining in the coronavirus pandemic.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themodernistsociety.substack.com