Rare Bird Radio

Today, Jessica and Steve Coulter (aka S.W. Lauden) discuss how power pop TRUELY feels. They run the gambit of emotions that encompass power pop and end up discussing how it sorta feels like that angsty moment as a teen when you realize that sex is a thing and the world kinda sucks.

J.J. Anselmi is the author of Doomed to Fail: The Incredibly Loud History of Doom, Sludge, and Post-metal; and Heavy: A Memoir of Wyoming, BMX, and Heavy Fucking Music. He’s played drums in several heavy bands, including In the Company of Serpents and Former Worlds. He’s currently the drummer of Drainage, a sludgy metalcore band from Long Beach, California. Henry Wilson is an all-around musician from Tampa, Florida. He's the drummer of sludge-pop legends Floor, and he's the mastermind of Dove and House of Lightning, performing vocals and guitar in both bands. He's one of those rare musicians who has a defined style on multiple instruments, and he's played an integral role in defining sludge metal as its own branch of heavy music. With Dove and House of Lightning, Wilson goes beyond sludge to include elements of hardcore, thrash, and straight up '80s metal, mixing it all into music that's catchy, unique, and crushing in equal parts.

Both Nancy and Jeff have contributed an essay to the collection "GO ALL THE WAY: A LITERARY APPRECIATION OF POWER POP" edited by Paul Myers & S.W. Lauden Nancy Rommelmann is based in NYC. Have the pleasure and opportunity to work with some of the finest editors in the country, at the LA Weekly, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Reason, the LA Times and other publications. Jeff Rougvie is an American music producer, music consultant, DVD producer, record label founder, artist, writer, publisher, collectibles expert, DJ, music historian, and partner in Supermegabot, a company that produces & sells limited edition CDs, Art Toys, Novelties & other collectibles.

Today, Jessica talks with Jillian Wahlquist business woman, mother of two beautiful children, and writer of flash fiction and other short stories. Jessica and Jillian spend time talking about what it is like to be writing since they were children, from stories for moms & articles for their High School newspapers to published pieces in anthologies and so much more. And while not everyone can be Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, a writer is a writer, and that is all.

John M. Borack is a veteran music journalist who currently serves as a contributing editor at Goldmine Magazine, a monthly music collectors’ periodical. Borack is also the author of three books: 2008’s Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide, 2010’s John Lennon: Life Is What Happens, and 2018’s Shake Some Action 2.0: A Guide to the 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums 1970-2017. His next book, The Beatles: 100 Pivotal Moments that Shaped a Band and its Music, is scheduled for publication soon. He lives in Orange County, California with his wife, two children, two dogs and a constantly growing LP and CD collection. David Bash is the founder and CEO of the International Pop Overthrow Music Festival, which is held annually in 13-16 cities around the world, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Arlington, Toronto, Vancouver BC, Stockholm Sweden, and Liverpool UK (at The Cavern Club).The festival is dedicated to brin

Join us today as Steffie Nelson and Michelle Chihara discuss Joan Didion and the recently released collection, SLOUCHING TOWARDS Los Angeles. L.A.-based writer and editor Steffie Nelson has covered art, design and culture for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, W Magazine, LA Review of Books and others. She recently co-authored Judson: Innovations in Stained Glass (Angel City Press) and is currently developing Cosmic City: The History of Seekers in Los Angeles. www.steffienelson.com Michelle Chihara is an Assistant Professor of English at Whittier College, USA, as well as Section Editor of the Economics and Finance section of the Los Angeles Review of Books. She publishes both fiction and nonfiction, with emphasis on economics, finance, and contemporary culture.

:: Please note that this episode touches on topics that may be triggering for some, including suicide, trafficking, and murder :: Welcome to THE PUBLICIST SPEAKS! Jessica speaks with Gayle Brandies about the notorious serial killer Countess Ezrabet Bathory and the hundreds of women and girls she killed in the late 16th century. Gayle's new book MANY RESTLESS CONCERNS: THE VICTIMS OF COUNTESS BATHORY SPEAK IN CHORUS, gives voices to the victims of Countess Bathory. This novel in poems, gives insight to the lives of these women and girls as they moved from their homes (whether by choice or by force) into the glorious castle, never to be seen again. To learn more about Gayle Brandeis and her work, visit http://gaylebrandeis.com/ Gayle and Jessica talk in depth about the horrors she wrote about in this novel, and how these same horrors still exist 500 years later in 2020. Listen now to hear more about this incredible book and the importance of giving voices to those who have been silenced.

Amber van de Bunt was born in the small town of Houghton, Michigan. She made her way to Los Angeles soon after high school to pursue a career in the adult film industry. As Karmen Karma, she appeared in over four hundred adult films and won nine awards. She had her own DVD showcase, Karma’s a Bitch, and is a Brazzers contract star. She now lives in San Diego with her husband and daughter. Jennie is a therapist with Seattle Anxiety Specialists and also heads their integrative and mental health consulting. Prior to joining the practice she was lead medical social worker at the Polyclinic, a department and role within the Polyclinic that she founded and developed. Jennie has also spent a substantial amount of time involved in research at the University of Washington, has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University, and has been an invited guest on a number of popular podcasts and television shows. She is the author of "I am Jennie," and a retired pornographic film actress and director.

Welcome to THE PUBLICIST SPEAKS, episode seven. Today, Jessica talks with Carla Malden about her first novel SEARCH HEARTACHE. In this podcast, Jessica and Carla talk about marriage, death, healing, and the many other things that factored into the creation of this lovely novel.

Raised in Los Angeles, Carla Malden began her career working in motion picture production and development before becoming a screenwriter. Along with her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden, she co-authored his critically acclaimed memoir 'When Do I Start?' More recently, Malden published 'Afterimage: A Brokenhearted Memoir of A Charmed Life', her own fiercely personal account of battling the before and surviving the after of losing her first husband to cancer. Afterimage is a journey through grief to gratitude that alerts an entire generation: this is not your mother’s widowhood. Carla’s feature writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, highlighting the marvels and foibles of Southern California and Hollywood. She sits on the Board of the Geffen Playhouse. 'Search Heartache' is her first novel. Carla Malden lives in Brentwood with her husband and ten minutes (depending on traffic) from her daughter. Born and raised in LA, Marilee Albert studied philosophy at Yale before moving to Europe to w

On this episode of THE PUBLICIST SPEAKS, Jessica hosts Paul Myers to talk about power pop and the recently released collection GO ALL THE WAY: A LITERARY APPRECIATION OF POWER POP. Paul and Jessica go through a journey to discover the euphoria that is found in power pop. Listen now to hear Paul's take on this often misunderstood genre.

Carla Sameth’s debut memoir, 'One Day on the Gold Line' was published July 18, 2019. Her work on blended/unblended, queer, biracial and single parenting appears in a variety of literary journals and anthologies including: Collateral Journal; The Nervous Breakdown, Brevity Blog, Brain, Child Magazine, Narratively, Longreads, Mutha Magazine, Tikkun, Entropy, and Pasadena Weekly. Carla’s essay, “If This Is So, Why Am I?” was selected as a notable for the 2019 Best American Essays. She writes about addiction, trauma and resilience with a sense of humor and connection to her readers. Carla was selected to be one of the 2019 Pride Poets with the City of West Hollywood and was a fall 2016 PEN In The Community Teaching Artist. She has taught creative writing to incarcerated youth through WriteGirl. She teaches at the Los Angeles Writing Project at California State University Los Angeles and with Southern New Hampshire University. Carla is a member of the Pasadena Rose Poets who present “poetry within reach and in u

Welcome to Episode Five of THE PUBLICIST SPEAKS On this episode, Amber van de Bunt is BACK! The author of the recently released memoir OVERCOME, talks with Jessica about the struggles that come along with writing. What is it like to be in the adult industry? What was it like to write a book while pregnant? Who even are we? These are just the tip of this wonderful podcast, listen for more.

Kurt Baker is a musician, producer, multi-instrumentalist and music fan from Portland, Maine. He is best known for his work with The Leftovers, his solo album Brand New Beat and power pop covers album Got It Covered. Currently, he resides in Madrid, Spain, where he fronts The Kurt Baker Combo who have released two full-length records on Little Steven Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records. When not on tour or in the studio, Baker enjoys cooking and watching old episodes of Murder She Wrote. Marko DeSantis is a music professional best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the band Sugarcult, with whom he toured worldwide and sold over a million records since launching out of Santa Barbara, CA in 2001. Sugarcult released three studio records which spawned hit radio singles such as; "Bouncing Off the Walls", "Pretty Girl", and "Memory". They’ve also released a documentary film, a live album, & a “best of”/concert-DVD. Sugarcult has headlined their own national and international tours; performed on the main s

Welcome to The Publicist Speaks– episode four On today's episode, Jessica hosts her partner, a poet who writes for himself, to talk about the ways that poetry can be used as a healing technique. They talk about love and loss; death and silliness, covering the ups and downs that come with writing for yourself. Check it out now!

After spending the 1990s as a homeless heroin addict in San Francisco, Joe Clifford got off the streets and turned his life around. He earned his MFA from Florida International University in 2008, before returning to the Bay Area, where he currently lives with his wife and two sons. His autobiographical novel, Junkie Love, chronicles his battle with drugs and was published by Battered Suitcase (2010). Rex Weiner is a journalist and author whose stories about a detective working in the music industry, serialized in the New York Rocker and LA Weekly in 1979–80, became the controversial Andrew Dice Clay movie, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, directed by Renny Harlin for 20th Century Fox, released in 1990. Those original stories have been published by Rare Bird Books. Joe Clifford is acquisitions editor for Gutter Books and producer of Lip Service West, a "gritty, real, raw" reading series in Oakland, CA. His bestselling Jay Porter Thriller Series (Oceanview Publishing) has received rave reviews from Publisher

Welcome to The Publicist Speaks– episode three On today's episode, our guest is Amber van de Bunt, author of the recently released memoir OVERCOME. We asked the internet if they had questions for Amber, and we got more than we bargained for. People asked about writing, sex work, fears and so much more. Listen now.

Bruce Ferber is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominee whose television writing and producing credits include Bosom Buddies, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Coach, and Home Improvement, where he served as Executive Producer and showrunner. He turned to writing fiction with the 2012 publication of his novel, 'Elevating Overman', its audiobook voiced by Jason Alexander. His second novel, Cascade Falls won the Foreword Indie Book of the Year Bronze Prize for General Fiction, and Gold Prize for Humor, Fiction. Marc Weingarten is co producer of The Bachelor Franchise and most recently, the author of 'Thirsty'

Welcome to The Publicist Speaks– episode two On today's episode, Jessica hosts Bobbie Brown, author of the recently release memoir CHERRY ON TOP: FLIRTY, FORTY-SOMETHING AND FUNNY AS F**K. They talk about millennials and coping mechanisms, how horrific it can be to date in this day and age, and there might be a story about a little person and a backpack. Check it out now.

Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include the biography Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler; the environmental social histories The People's Republic of Chemicals and the international bestselling Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles; the dark-humor true crime caper The Ascension of Jerry; and the stories collection The Vicodin Thieves. He also has contributed pieces to anthologies, most recently for Los Angeles in the 1970s: "Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine" about the attack on an idealist lawyer by a depraved cult. His reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and LA Weekly, among others. Born and raised in New Jersey, Gary Lippman received a law degree from Northwestern University and has worked with New York's Innocence Project. Lippman's play Paradox Lost ran off Broadway for a month in 2001 and his writing has been published in The New York Times, The Paris Review,