TraegerMethod Podcast

This very special emergency July Fourth Election Day Special is my attempt to make the case that Joe Biden must step aside and allow for an open Democratic convention.

The arguments and dire predictions I share this episode are not meant to stir panic or fear, they are intended only to encourage action. I call this an 'Election Day Special' because I, perhaps naively, believe that if enough voters raised their voices now to demand Biden step aside it might help sway the powers making this monumental decision to make the what I think is the right one.

In the next few days the decision will be made. If you write your reps, senators, dem governors, the White House TODAY and encourage others to do the same, you will have voted for the best candidate (someone other than Biden) in what I think is the most important election ever held.

"Maybe none of this matters, the decision is out of our hands. Why bother?" If nothing else, in taking action you will have worked the muscle of participation in collective activity. This is something we all need to do more of no matter what the political situation.

Thanks for listening!

To contact reps simply search "find my rep", "find my senator" etc.

Episode 92 is finally here, featuring the return of musician, DC punk and now AUTHOR Seth Lorinczi.

Last time we spoke back on Ep 62 we said we’d talk again when his book was released and I’m happy so say that day has come!

Writing show notes is my absolute least favorite part of making this podcast so here’s my first show notes written in with ChatGPT: 

Episode Overview

In this episode of the TraegerMethod Podcast, host Jason Traeger sits down with Seth Lorinczi, the author of the captivating new book, Death Trip: A Post-Holocaust Psychedelic Memoir. This episode delves into the transformative power of psychedelic plant medicines and how they have helped Seth navigate and heal from the deep-seated ancestral trauma stemming from the Holocaust.

About the Guest

Seth Lorinzci is a debut author whose first book, Death Trip, is garnering attention for its honest and compelling narrative. Seth's journey is one of profound personal healing and exploration, offering readers a front-row seat into his experiences with psychedelic therapies. His work is not just a memoir but a guide and inspiration for those looking to understand the intersection of trauma, healing, and consciousness.

Book Spotlight: Death Trip: A Post-Holocaust Psychedelic Memoir

Seth’s memoir takes readers on a journey through his encounters with various psychedelic medicines such as MDMA, 5-Meo-DMT and Ayahuasca. This book is a page-turner, combining gripping storytelling with profound insights into the human psyche and the healing process. Death Trip explores:

• Ancestral Trauma: How the trauma of previous generations, specifically the Holocaust, can continue to affect descendants.
• Psychedelic Plant Medicines: The role these substances play in therapeutic and spiritual contexts.
• Personal Transformation: Seth's personal growth and healing as he confronts and integrates his familial pain.

Now this is me again. We also talk about the newly released LP of demos by Seth’s teenage garage rock punk band The Vile Cherubs ‘Lysergic Lamentations’ OUT NOW on LG Records

I love talking with Seth and his book is absolutely fantastic!

Episode 91 is a conversation with New York based artist, musician, curator, zine maker, scene maker Rich Jacobs.

After having moved in often overlapping punk rock/DIY friend circles for the better parts of our lives, I’m happy to say Rich and I finally got to know one another in the early days of the pandemic talking over the phone, just like we're doing here.

This episode covers his early years, discovering punk rock as a preteen in the early eighties, his family’s moves from So Cal to the Pacific Northwest, where he saw his first punk show, and then to Colorado where he started his first band Atomic Dilemma.

We talk about the punk rock zine culture we both were a part of and the skateboard/straightedge zine scene he cut his teeth in. Rich traces a line from these early publishing efforts to the work he is doing today; creating books of his paintings and drawings as well as acting as an art director on a forthcoming retrospective of the graphic work of our friend, the brilliant late artist/musician Rick Froberg. 

Along the way he pays tribute to many friends, collaborators and influences who have enriched his life and informed his ideas about art and music making and Rich shares some of his strategies for finding joy in an imperfect world.

I really enjoyed talking with Rich and I hope you find the conversation as inspiring and enjoyable as I did.

Thanks for listening!

              REST IN POWER GARY FLOYD

TraegerMethod podcast has finally made it to the 90’s!

Appropriately  Ep.90 is a conversation with a friend I met in the Olympia scene of the 1990’s; punk rock n’ roll multi-instrumentalist powerhouse Jessica Espeleta.

She shares the story of how she arrived in Oly as a teenager when she was recruited to give the scene a try by the guys in Lync after a show they played at 924 Gilman where she was volunteering. Her decision to jump in the van not only led to a new town but it also marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship and frequent collaboration with Lync’s Sam Jayne in Love As Laughter or LAL,  the moniker under which he’d make music for the rest of his life.

We recorded this conversation on what would have been Sam’s 50th birthday and to celebrate his memory she shares some stories of their days together recording and touring and describes the impact their friendship has had on her life.

Jessica has been in too many bands to name but I’ll name a few, that come up in our conversation: WitchyPoo (with Slim Moon), Weird War (with Ian and Michelle from The Make-Up and Niel Haggerty of Royal Trux), Frenchie and The German Girls (with Tobi and Maggie Vail), and SO many more….she and I even played together in a hardcore band called the Reagan Years .

Episode 89 marks the return Chris Squire for part 2 of our series that tells a history of San Diego punk through the life and lens of one of the scene’s legends.

Our conversation picks up where the last one left off in the latter part of 80’s toward the end of Squire’s high school career and the end of the old school SD punk scene. Part 2 moves into the acid drenched, post-hardcore years that in many ways were just as wild and wooly as the earlier period but were far more experimental and far out.

Squire shares his thoughts on the origins of the SD sound as he traces its way from the ground zero guitar work of Battalion of Saints’ Chris Smith filtered through the hands of his brother-by-another-mother Jon Reis who continues to spreads its gospel far and wide to this day with his many musical projects.

Chris and I recorded this conversation before the very recent, tragic and unexpected death of Mike Denny aka Mike Down of Amenity / Forced Down in a cycling accident. I mention in the intro that I got Mike’s contact information from Squire at the end of our talk and was planning to have him on the pod soon but sadly this wasn’t to be. Chris tells the story of how it was he who suggested to Amenity that Mike become their singer after Squire sang with the band at one of their practices. I’m glad we could share some memories of Mike here and we will do so again when we speak next time. RIP Mike Denny