Written By: Jeff Schaller

Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad’s famous survey of the American underground scene in the 1980’s, came out 15 years ago. I didn’t get around to reading it until 2006 or so but, since its release, there seems to’ve been an outgrowth of nonfiction on semi-obscure, late 20th century post/punk/noise/rock. Some of this is entirely nostalgic—inane anecdotes and famous names, existing only to remind that “you weren’t there” (see: American Hardcore). Others, like I Live Inside, the new memoir by former Babes in Toyland bassist Michelle Leon, are actually good. This Minnesota native is a talented writer with an extensive resume and here, it shows.

Structurally, I Live Inside is a series of vignettes. Chronological, but in a recollective sense, the order happens more like memories than dates. For example, after a chapter on journalists asking Babes in Toyland shrewd and insightful (not really) questions about gender, there’s a scene of teenage Leon and a friend drinking in the woods with local stoner boys—Pink Floyd fans with “long hair, hint of a mustache, line from a chew tin worn into the back pockets of their Levi’s.” Most of these flashbacks are written in second-person, a stylistic choice I really enjoyed. It’s intimate and impressionistic, lending her memories the feel of your own. Most importantly, she doesn’t over-do it. Continue reading →

By: Jordannah Elizabeth

I was lucky enough to be able to share my favorite underground bands in my friend, Sjimon Gomper‘s weekly column, Week in Pop for Impose Magazine.

JORDANNAH ELIZABETH’S WEEK IN POP

Artist, writer, journalist, and musician extraordinaire Jordannah Elizabeth releases her new bookDon’t Lose Track Vol. 1: 40 Selected Articles, Essays and Q&As January 29 (pre-order available here.), has launched an Indiegogo for her upcoming book tour, and took the time to share her own exclusive Week in Pop guest selections with the following:

I find it all too rare now that I sit comfortably in the pillow-y depths of my writing career that I am able to write about bands I actually follow. I love writing about and interviewing accomplished indie bands, rappers who explore brave new rhythmic territory and the occasional super famous artist but personally, I love super underground music. I always have and I always will. You’ll find me at a warehouse, loft or gallery show many more times than you’ll see me at a 2,000 seater venue where I’d most likely sit tucked away in the green room, completely nervous from being crammed in a room with 2,000 people…it’s not the people, it’s me. I’m pretty shy. Continue reading →

Written by: Mark Fritz

Foreword by: Jordannah Elizabeth

I have a great life, but I meet a number of people who genuinely don´t like me. I think I essentially step on people´s toes just by showing up. Some people don´t like it when other people ¨show up¨. It shakes the status quo and forces people to make emotional and sometimes physical adjustments in order to create a safe space for others. Without love, people are not willing to make changes for others.

So, maybe I shouldn´t say I meet a number of people who don´t like me. Maybe I should say I meet people who don´t love…not just me, but the sacrifice of kindness that creates longevity and healthy relationships.

~

Anyway, Mark Fritz has a great bond with Publik / Private. His previous submissions inspired me to reach out to him and ask him to write the foreword for my upcoming book, Don’t Lose Track Vol. 1: 40 Selected Articles, Essays and Q&As, and now, he´s back at P / P to submit a raw, rushed, charming, romp of a story that I enjoy. I have no desire to change what he does. Mark, for better or for worse is best, perfect and polished just the way he is. He comes here to get things off this chest and to write what he wants. I completely encourage that…I should probably mention that Fritz is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, which is another reason why he can do what he wants…at least here.

I was working on a freelance story about Baby Boomers getting stoned at retirement communities when I came across a woman who suggested her father for the project. He was a hard ­ass welder who got old, scored a pension, then decided a joint every night made his life a bit better. He was a denizen of central Florida, only thirty minutes away from Disney World, a place he never could bother to visit. He had recently returned to weed, like a lot of retirees.

He was a resident of Seminole County, the southern-­fried seat of which is called Sanford, where old money and old poverty collide on a daily basis. This is the place where the criminal justice system exonerated George Zimmerman for murdering Trayvon Martin for being black in the wrong neighborhood.

Continue reading →

Written By: Jordannah Elizabeth

I wrote about naivety in my introduction for Derek See´s mixtape, and the many facets that can be explored in life and expressed on a platform like Publik / Private. Well this time, when conducting this interview with the jazz artist, Gideon King from Gideon King & City Blog, I thought about spontaneity and inquisitiveness. Being someone who people think has a vast knowledge on subjects of art and music, I always, in my own mind, remember that I can never truly know an individual…who makes the art and music I seem to know so much about.

Therefore, I asked musician, Gideon King some questions about his music what it is about jazz that keeps him recording and creating over and over again.

Continue reading →

Curated and Written By: Derek See

Foreword By: Jordannah Elizabeth

There´s a level of naivete I try to maintain with everything I am involved in. Publik / Private is about self discovery, allowing new things to surface from the old and experiencing a level of artistic vulnerability (in a safe environment) that hopefully allows a creative envelope to open and unfold new possibilities without tearing. Publik / Private is about a lot of things, but the only thing I think about in regards to this mixtape is that you never know what you´re going to learn day to day.

I´ve run into Derek See a number of times. We run in the same circles in San Francisco and of course, I knew of his influence, but it wasn´t until a few days ago when I was surfing discogs.com (as many insanely devoted music nerds do) that I found an online discography of Derek See´s record collection…all 1,400 pages of it. The Gentle Cycle is See´s current and main music project. He also plays occasional guitar with Myron & E, The Rain Parade and Chocolate Watchband. You never know who you´re standing next to at a party.

So, without further ado, Mr. See made a mixtape for Publik / Private. It is as appreciated as much as all of the amazing artists and writers who have contributed music and words before him. Check out what Derek See is into:

Continue reading →

Written By: Jordannah Elizabeth

I really believe that if Harriet Tubman could come through those tunnels again, she’d beat the shit out of them. Debbi Blackwell-Cook on Beyonce, Rihanna and female R&B Pop stars of today

When you listen to actress and singer/songwriter, Debbi Blackwell-Cook sing, you hear an ease in her voice that denotes a natural confidence and an effortlessness.  Blackwell- Cook has sang backup for major artists like Michael Buble and the late, great dancer and entertainer, Gregory Hines.

At the beautiful and wise age of 61 years old, she is experiencing another career peak with a musical collaboration with Phil Collen (guitarist of the larger than life 80s British rock band, Def Leppard) called DELTA DEEP. The band also features a former member of Stone Temple Pilots and India Arie.

As extraordinary as Debbi Blackwell-Cook’s life seems to be on the surface, she wades through life holding the burden of a great loss in her life. She lost her son due to a violent robbery in 2013. This tragedy was a catalyst that brought DELTA DEEP together as songwriters, as Collen, his wife, Helen Simmons and Cook worked to write songs to commemorate the memory of her son and to bring hope to people who survive intensely painful experiences like hers. Continue reading →

By: Sjimon Gompers

Sjimon Gompers, creator of the weekly Impose Magazine music column, Goldmine Sacks, was kind enough to compile Publik / Private’s 14th mixtape. Every Friday, Gompers chooses the best of the best in national, independent and underground artists to feature, sharing his distinctive voice through in- depth interviews and insightful commentary.

It is obvious the individuated attention he gives each band. He carefully constructs each piece with an unparalleled breadth of knowledge and wealth of insight. We are at a loss as to how he is able to produce such a lengthy column in just six days. He is truly a force of nature!

Give Sjimon’s mixtape a good hearty listen, then listen again and again!

Photo By:  Ivy Jones

“INSPIRATIONS FROM THE HEART OF TODAY’S UNCONSCIOUS ANARCHY”

“The arts of writing, recording, drawing, painting, filming and sketching express identity, places, and time. These outlets and mediums allow us to make sense of our world when our worlds and environment don’t make any sense and even provide a portal of escape to somewhere we’ve never gone, imagined, or dreamt up before. These conduit devices that relay vision and voice are for many of us the sole purpose that makes each day, week, month, and year bearable and provides a self-designed alternative to everything happening around, and a chance to embrace something new that has never existed before. Continue reading →

Written By: Jordannah Elizabeth

American pop star, Rihanna is not a stranger to the exploration of BDSM and grotesque imagery in her music videos. Her vivid video for her 2008 single Disturbia, shadowed the concept of the 2007 thriller of the same name. No one gives nods to the connection between the film Disturbia and Rihanna’s music video, but if you check the plot of the Shia Labeouf film, you’ll learn that the film is based around the main character spying on a neighbor from the window. If you watch Rihanna’s music video closely, you’ll see the opening shots of the pop star performing near and staring outside of a window.

Only film buffs and culture vultures with a poignant eye and knowledge of film genre and trivia would pick up Rihanna’s artful eye and nods to European and American horror and psychological thrillers. The untrained eye would rightly take Bitch Better Have My Money as a commentary on the ongoing race war and imbalance of power in American culture.This video may certainly be grounded in those elements, but we also have to separate ourselves from the idea that all American pop artists are merely shallow narcissists, hiding behind a cloak of production teams who sculpt there talent without adding thoughts of their own. Continue reading →