Los Angeles Nista Episode 11 – Revisiting my time with Giant Robot and a link

I haven’t done any public speaking about Giant Robot magazine since it bit the dust in November 2010. So I was surprised and flattered when my friend Eddie Solis (from the band It’s Casual) asked me to be on his radio show which has featured the likes of Chuck Dukowski (Black Flag), Keith Morris (OFF!, Black Flag), Dimitri Coats (OFF!), pro skater and musician Mike Vallely (Elephant Skateboards, Good for You), and Rick Kosick (Big Brother magazine, Jackass).

My particular episode streamed live on Monday night, and I was indeed a good fit since the magazine that Eric and I started was definitely a product of Los Angeles, punk rock, and even skateboarding. Eddie and I talked about all of those things and how they factored into the stapled-and-folded zine that became a mini-art and culture empire. I’ve had a lot of thoughts and emotions bottled up since moving on, and it felt good to let some of it out. Hopefully that came through.

I also got to play some music: J Church, Cringer, Clive Chin, Santic, Dirty Beaches, Romanes, Guitar Wolf, Paranmaum. Eddie played some track from the upcoming Good for You LP, too, featuring Mike V and Greg Ginn. Cranking and sharing your favorite music is the best.

Driving home, I began thinking about how great it felt to talk about the work I did, especially since the magazines are basically out of circulation and its memory is fading like a fart in the wind. Yet Giant Robot’s impact and spirit are still being felt, not only through the work that Eric is still doing in the world of indie art but also through readers who have gone on to to rad things, like Eddie.

Check out the podcast HERE or on iTunes and let me know what you think.