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A Weekly Dispatch Containing Updates, Stories, Events, New Releases, and a few words about what’s going on with me, all to take the place of that dreadful social media you hate looking at anyway.

Musical Postcards are Now Available Digitally!

A Slight Change For The New Year.

2023 marks the 30th Anniversary of the first zine I published, the 25th Anniversary of my first radio broadcast, and as if that weren’t enough, we have decided to relaunch our Digital Lemonade Stand. It’s a great way to start the year, and we hope that you will not only be able to take advantage of these changes, but tell your friends about it, too. Something like this is worth sharing, and we can’t wait to see where the next year takes us.

In the past, I’ve produced a Musical Postcard every month, now for over two years solid. 25 Different Cards to choose from, featuring 30 minutes of experimental music, or a new single by one of my rock and roll projects. Not only did these cards deliver music that you could only access via the codes on the cards, but Digital Lemonade Stand supporters would get access to bonus tracks and other media related to producing the cards. In the past, you had to go to the website, and stream the songs from the Digital Lemonade Stand itself. Now, you can subscribe to a supporter-only Podcast, that features ALL of the songs on each Postcard, AND all of the bonus material. Plus, if you visit the Digital Lemonade Stand itself, you can download mp3s and other media associated with the postcard, to add another dimension to appreciating the card.

These Musical Postcards have become one of the most written about and well-recognized project that I’ve produced recently, and through working on material for the cards, I’ve come to develop a working method that is not only satisfying, but very rewarding.

Making these cards isn’t precisely free. I do use as much cheap and recycled paper as possible, and I’m STILL using the same printer that I’ve used to produce my ‘zines for several years now, using thrift store and eBay printer ink to add a few more years to it’s lifespan. But there are costs associated with making these cards, most notably postage. Help me offset these costs, AND keep this dream alive, by visiting the Digital Lemonade Stand, and supporting me, today!

The Weather Outside is… Confused?

We sort of got snow. It was half-snow, really: snow in the air, but rain on the ground. It’s a bummer, because the other way around isn’t really possible. (Rain in the air, snow on the ground.)

I got a few messages from friends who were excited to tell me that they were happy for me, because it was snowing. Part of me didn’t want to correct them. It was nice to know they were thinking of me.

Here’s to hoping it actually snows in both the air and on the ground.

Crunching Numbers

I was astonished to find that three different people have already noticed that I deactivated my social media accounts. I would have never imagined. Part of me assumed that no one would notice, and certainly, I don’t really feel like anyone SHOULD have noticed. But, strangely, it happened. Certainly that will drop off at some point.

The impulse to scroll through something when there is the smallest lull in everyday life is still very strong. Certainly this morning, when I first woke up, I really wanted to log back in. But I’m still resisting, for the moment. I wonder if it will last?

I DID export my FB content, and looked a little at the data. I first got on FB in 2007, then bailed on it for a few years. Because I tried to delete that original account, I couldn’t “re-login,” so I had to make a new account… and used the same account since then. (For 12 years.) I did take occasional breaks, I noticed… sometimes for months at a time. But since Covid I’ve been posting daily. Many, many… many times a day. It was not good.

In 12 years I posted over 10,300 times to FB. That’s 860 posts a year. Almost two and a half times a day.

Over half of the posts I made were about radio or shows I was playing, doing a “spot check” on my posts. And, more pointedly, the first several years I was on, it was almost ALL radio posts. It was really only about half way into that 12 year span that I started to get personal VERY regularly. I think the main issue there was that, usually, I would give up entirely on this blog, and all of that energy would wind up on social media.

Unfortunately, a fair amount of my more recent social media use has been downbeat. And, by my own hand, I think I’ve driven away anyone who would look at my social media accounts, leaving behind people that I don’t really know, except through music and radio.

Even more sad: I made about 10,000 other kinds of posts to FB that were not my actual posts: comments on other peoples posts, or engaging with other content in a pretty consistent way. I was just constantly looking for a community to engage in, never realizing that it was hours and hours of my life, being drained away, with no way for me to really re-direct that time toward… radio or ‘zines.

Sobering, for sure. Hopefully I can focus on how much energy I lost, and use that as a way of keeping me away from it in the future.

We’ll see.

When The Mode Of The Website Changes

More and more I feel like there’s some sort of dysfunction with the way I interact with social media. Certainly, it is designed to keep you there, and keep clicking / interacting. And at a time in the world’s history where we are all stuck at home, there is something sort of comforting about being plugged into some sort of cultural monolith that we can all “connect” over.

Perhaps that is old fashioned of me to want some sort of cultural touchstone that we are all connected through? Growing up where we all read the same newspaper and we all watched the same three channels and we all played the same handful of videos games, I think I am always clinging to and searching for the “mainline” part of culture, where we are all congregating together, and having some sort of “moment” together.

Going to shows really helps fill that role in someone’s life. You ARE in an experience with a lot of other people, and you know, in that moment, that you are having some sort of moment together.

Can you replicate that in some sort of digital environment? I don’t know.

But I’m pretty sure being on MyFacester+ all day long can’t possibly be the answer.

Unexpected Sunny Day

Colin forced me to go on a hike, which I was not particularly excited about, but was a good excuse to get out of the house.

And in spite of my terrible mood, it was actually a very pleasant hike. I didn’t really take a lot of pictures, but maybe I didn’t need to. Maybe the idea that I need to interact with the world and capture it is the problem?

We also ran into this little guy. Seems like he was on a bit of a hike, too. Good luck, newty friend. Hopefully you enjoyed yourself in spite of yourself, too.

Calendar Boy

Are you ready to enjoy the new Calendar Boy? It’s arrived, just in time for Summer. 

A New Collection of 13 Tunes, by the various projects that have one thing in common: you can count on them, rain or shine, every month, to deliver new music, the entire Calendar Year.

Rock, Punk, Space Grunge, Electronic, Experimental, Free-Improv, and Noise. It’s all here, when you get to know Austin Rich, your new favorite Calendar Boy. Physical Copies are currently only available for pre-order, but you can enjoy the digital collection right now, on Bandcamp. 

Joined by Colin Hix, Mike Capps, Moth Hunter, Chris Gerig, Scott Eave & Jerry Soga, this album presents the highs of a creative year that was mostly difficult for everyone. As we all sit and watch the days pass us by, at least we have some music we can enjoy. 

Collecting all the material recorded in 2021 for Austin’s “Musical Postcards,” this contains Five 1/2 Hours of New Music that was recorded last year. Originally only available to those on the mailing list, these tunes are now available for anyone to enjoy. Not only are all of the postcards available as they were originally designed with fully functional QR codes, they are photographed too, giving you a sense of what they were like in the mail. You can download a folder of all 31 pieces that were recorded for this project as they were originally heard and mixed for the postcards. 

Not only that, but Lemonade Stand Supporters (Patreon Fans) received four hours of bonus mixes, extra songs, and in some cases, instrumental versions of tracks, plus an advance link to a podcast episode that, at the time, was not released. This material was only available to those supporters, and has not been heard elsewhere since. All of this material is available as part of the extra material you get when you purchase this album. 

But the album itself is something you don’t want to miss out on. From those 31 pieces that were made in 2021, 13 were selected to be re-mixed, re-vamped, re-presented, and in the case of The Short Pockets, our engineer provided a new mix that was different from the one you heard on the postcard. New elements were added, each track was re-considered, re-amped, trimmed and edited, and in some cases, completely overhauled, to improve each song, from the drums up. Additionally, everything was re-sequenced, and then re-mastered just for this collection. Some of you might have heard these in some form before. But this version is completely new.

The first 20 minutes of the album presents rock and punk songs in a much more traditional vein, sequenced to provide maximum entertainment. But the last hour distills the electronic and experimental work that’s been going on in a more or less continuous presentation, hopefully offering a chance to enjoy these performances in a new way. These new mixes have been painstakingly tested to ensure that they work in a number of contexts, and we all agree that this collection is, as they used to say, “All Killer / No Filler.”  

While we could certainly go on, what’s important to know is that you can sit back and relive 2021, with your favorite Calendar Boy, and enjoy the sounds that made last year so memorable. 

Do you have your Calendar Boy? 

https://wtbc.bandcamp.com/album/calendar-boy

2021 In Review

This year has been another mess, as usual. And I could probably spend a lot of time documenting the things that went wrong. But I’m going to try and do something that doesn’t come easy to me: make a list of the things that went right. Maybe this will be more therapeutic than difficult, but either way, it might be worth it to try and remember the things that went well in a year that felt more like it was on fire than anything else.
1.) I kicked off the year with a new album by Mini-Mutations (http://wtbc.bandcamp.com/…/reading-nancy-listening-to…). It contains some of the best live performances from the previous iterations of live Mini-Mutations from the previous years, and one original piece that you can only get on this album (a song about Reading Nancy Comics, one of my favorite things to do during the Pandemic). And: you can’t stream it anywhere… yet.
2.) I also released a new album and split 7” by Shot Reverse Shot (shotreverseshot.bandcamp.com). This was my “sci-fi concept music” band, with a continuing narrative, rock songs connective tissue, and electronic “story segments” with a voice-over narrator. The 7” is a split with Seattle’s Half Eye, a band that’s been around since the 90’s but had never released a 7” before. Also: you can’t stream this album yet, but a re-mix is pending that may get a streaming re-release.
3.) I began sending “musical postcard” every month to everyone on my mailing list (a designed postcards with QR code links to music that you can only find with the QR codes). There was either a “single” by a more “rock music” type project, or 30 minutes of new experimental music, on each card. With all the material that I assembled for these postcards, there was over six hours of new material by Mini-Mutations, Shot Reverse Shot, The Olsen Twins Ghostlight Ensemble, DEATH MUTATIONS, The Eleven-SixtyFours, The Short Pockets, Asthenosphere and a spoken word release under my own name. (austinrich.org/postcards/). A collection of this work is coming in 2022.
4.) The postcards became such a hit, The Eugene Weekly ran a story about my “musical postcards,” a project that was only a couple months in at the point they ran the story, has has been completed since. (https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2021/01/21/the-postman/)
5.) I went to the DMV, got fleeced by their staff, and came out with the title of my car in my name for the first time. “Look at me! I’m a motorist!”
6.) From working on the postcards, I launched some new musical projects: The Eleven-SixtyFours (theeleven-sixtyfours.bandcamp.com), my super-stripped-down punk band, and Asthenosphere (http://wtbc.bandcamp.com/…/november-2021-asthenosphere…), an experimental collaboration with Moth Hunter (mothhunter.bandcamp.com) that was eight years in the making. It also motivated me to record new material with The Olsen Twins Ghostlight Ensemble and DEATH MUTATIONS, both projects I really enjoy and the work we did came out great.
7.) Working in My 2021 Music Exchange group, myself and Deejay Embryonicpetitsac (petitsac.bandcamp.com) decided to work on a new duo, where we collaborated at a distance to whip up something half way between our sensibilities. Together, we released our horror noise epic, “Salientia” by IVO (wtbc.bandcamp.com/merch/ivo-salientia-cassette), which is out on Sweatband Records cassette label, or I can get you one, too.
8.) My 2020 Music Exchange Group (The “Slightly Less Weird Group”) got organized and released a collection of the music we mailed to each other in 2020. It’s now available on CD or digitally. (http://wtbc.bandcamp.com/…/from-our-house-to-yours-2020…).
9.) In the summer, Jessica invited me to host a “Pop-Up” sale of my various ’zines, music and other oddities at The Art Department, which motivated me to finish a number of projects that were “in-progress.” This event was a huge success, and solidified my place in the Art Department community. (Which would pay off for me later in the year.)
10.) Between June and October of this year I recorded 16 punk songs for The Eleven-SixtyFours, including an EP and two Singles of original tunes, and an EP of covers. These songs were intentionally written quickly, recorded quickly, mixed quickly, and published quickly, in an effort to work in a way contrary to how I usually work. Where Shot Reverse Shot (my band project from 2020) involved a ton of planning and careful assembly / plotting, The Eleven-SixtyFours were all composed on the spot. (theeleven-sixtyfours.bandcamp.com)
11.) I landed a part time job at The Art Department! This not only gives me a little income adjacent to the kind of creative work I’m already doing, but has plugged me into the Salem community in a way I was really looking for. I feel like I’m fitting in quite well.
12.) I was contacted by Old Nick’s Pub, and was asked to assemble a short set of Mini-Mutations for the show that Negativland played in Eugene this year. The next day, Negativland contacted me, asking if I could run their merch for the Portland and Eugene shows on the same West Coast Tour. Double Masked, and getting to live out one of my dreams, I got to spend two-days with Negativland, filming them and running their merch. Colin Hix joined me in the Mini-Mutations performance, for a new re-formulation of a piece I took my first pass at in 2020. (Colin originally introduced me to Negativland’s music in the early ’90’s, so it only made sense that he join me.)
13.) In spite of the Pandemic, I still assembled new performances / videos of Mini-Mutations material, totaling three live performances of new stuff (about an hour of new material). This has taken the project into “composed experimental” territory, where I’m actually writing the backing music and carefully assembling the voice samples in a dramatic order, rather than improvising electronic drones with collaged vocal samples on top. Mini-Mutations has evolved quite a bit in a way I’m really enjoying.
14.) Over three weekends, Colin, Capps and myself formed The Short Pockets, wrote and recorded six songs, and then, over a couple months, actually learned how to play the songs for a show we played in front of a real audience at Old Nick’s Pub, where we got paid for the performance! A huge success, in my mind. (theeshortpockets.bandcamp.com) There will be more from The Short Pockets in 2022.
15.) Over the year I recorded 32 new episodes of my Pandemic Project Radio show, Somewhere In-Between: A Radio Zine, which is my half-hour community radio talk show that is broadcast on KMUZ.org. (betweenradiozine.com) This show is a much more DIY, and funny, version of “This American Life,” where I record a few episodes, then re-run a few episodes, and create new, short stories about my life in small town, Oregon. There’s also music and comedy.
16.) I launched a new podcast with my friend Wendella, 20 Minutes Into The Future: A Max Headroom Podcast, where we watched and talked about different episodes of my favorite TV show, and actually got to interview some of the writers and creators behind the show! We only made 14 episodes so far, but we have several more in the can that just need to be produced. We hope in 2022 to get back into the habit of making new episodes. (We’re still sitting on at least one more interview listeners haven’t heard, and we’ve only reviewed a fraction of the Max content that’s out there. Certainly there’s more to come! (20minutesintothefuture.org)
17.) Through a series of events, Mid-Valley Mutations (my experimental radio program that has been on the air in some form since 1998), finally moved to Sheena’s Jungle Room on WFMU!, a streaming radio station that is a part of the WFMU family. We’re finally back on Tuesday Night’s, where I do a little something different and strange every week. (midvalleymutations.com)
18.) Marla and I bought one thing we intended to, and one thing we didn’t plan on: our house, and a new fridge.
There’s probably tons of things I forgot. But there’s probably plenty of things I’m making a bigger deal about than I should. But why not? After all, we might as well count our successes, no matter how small, when we’re taking stock of the year.

 

Mid-Valley Mutations is now available via Sheena’s Jungle Room on WFMU!

The Long & The Short

Keen-eared listeners who have been tuning into Mid-Valley Mutations recently have probably noticed that we have been in re-runs, for a while now. It’s been fun to take a bit of a stroll through some older episodes, to get a sense of where we have been. We’ve been on the air in some form since 1998, and with 23 years of shows under my belt, it can feel like there’s nowhere left to go, and no territory left to explore in the Mid-Valley. 

So, when you get an offer to start DJing at WFMU, you suddenly realize that you feel like you are just getting started on this journey, and that there’s plenty left to explore, for at least another 23 years, anyway. 

 

Relocation without Reconstruction.

Through a series of wonderful circumstances, Mid-Valley Mutations is back on Tuesday, and more importantly, will be airing LIVE at 6 PM PST for two hours, every week. And you can hear this through the extremely hip and oh-so-exciting streaming site, Sheena’s Jungle Room on WFMU. 

If you haven’t been listening, then you are in for a treat. Sheena’s Jungle Room has been blasting forth some of the most exciting new shows from all over the world. To get to be a part of this crew of DJs is no small matter. While I will try to keep my cool and do my best to fit in and not put my foot in my mouth, you can rest easy knowing that it won’t be long before they see me for who I am: an enthusiastic DJ who want to bring you the same show you’ve come to know, all these years.

 

A Concern?

“Well,” you say, tentatively as I begin to close up my Press Conference, “that might be enough information for the long-time listener. But what if I’ve never listened before? What can I expect then?”

Now that is a very good question! Let me see what I can do by way of a reasonable answer:

When I first pitched my show to KWVA in Eugene, OR in 1998, I opened with: “It’s like Over The Edge, but with my take format.” The staff didn’t exactly know what I meant in those days, but they gave me a show anyway, and that humble beginning led me to bring this show to KPSU in Portland, KMUZ in Salem, KLFM in Split, Croatia, and now, to the hallowed halls of WFMU. 

And, each time, I’ve used the same pitch: My take on OTE. That is to say: I still DJ music, I still do cut-ups, I still include interviews and live performances when I can, and I approach each show as a self-contained Audio Essay, where I present what I think makes the most sense for that particular show. 

In 2016, I re-launched the show with a new name, and since then, have focused more on collage, more on experimental music, and incorporating more of my own live mash-ups and cut-ups into each broadcast. I had this notion that someone else needed to step up to the plate, in an effort to take on what Don Joyce had begun, especially now that he had passed.

It’s been an evolution over the years, certainly. The show began as a simple DJ program, playing the music I liked as a 20 year old, and occasionally playing samples between tracks. I only slowly integrated “conceptual” ideas into the program later, and even then, tentatively, as if I might break something if I were to do it wrong.

It took a long time to get comfortable breaking radio rules, and even then, I found myself filtering the ideas of Don Joyce through my own interests. I would toss in crazy stuff when it occurred to me, but for long periods my show would take on a straight DJ format, with occasional live guests performing, followed by an interview. It was almost pedestrian, so much so that when I would remember my roots and do something very strange, it stood out, for better or for worse.

 

The Modern Era.

Now, in 2021, it is time to re-brand again, and for the better. If you’ve ever followed any of my shows before, then you might like this one, too. I’ve going to feature experimental / rock music / punk and post-punk music that I like, albums that I enjoy, mash-ups and remixes and other live weirdness that I’ve been known to incorporate in the past, and occasionally: just some straight up DJing because I’m into the records. You know? The thing radio has been based on for years?

Occasionally: I’ll feature some live performances and interviews, when it makes sense, and when I can make it happen. And, sometimes: I’ll cut up some old broadcasts to replay for modern audiences (There are 23 years of shows floating around the studio). What you can count on every week is that you can listen to Mid-Valley Mutations live on Sheena’s Jungle Room, c/o WFMU radio. And that is something truly exciting. 

 

The Excitement Is Palpable.

My first broadcast will be November 16th at 6 PM PST. (9 PM, EST.) I’m going to begin again with a very simple theme: BLAST OFF! As we launch Mid-Valley Mutations into the future, we casually introduce listeners to what they can expect as we explore the Mid-Valley. 

If I haven’t yet offered enough insight into what you can expect from us, you can always find all relevant information about our program at midvalleymutations.com. Not only can you hear us live on Sheena’s Jungle Room, there’s a number of ways to listen to the show: podcasts, KLFM.org on the Wednesday after, etc. I’m sure there’s a way that you can enjoy our show, and we’ll help you find it! 

If you have listened to us for years: thank you. If this is your first time: welcome! And, if you are somewhere in-between: we hope that you didn’t mind the re-runs for so long. This move to WFMU has been pending for a while, and we have had a hard time not just blurting out what’s up. 

So, until we get started: Be Seeing You! 

Never Mind Mini-Mutations, It’s The Eleven-SixtyFours!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

Now available digitally, on CD, and in a comprehensive “Discography” pack, it’s time you caught up with The Eleven-SixtyFours! Two EPs! Two Singles! 16 new punk rock blasts of middle-aged DIY, at the intersection of fury and nostalgia. If a 46 year old man can sit down in four different sessions to record this music, writing all the songs on the spot, then just imagine what you could do?

WTBC 0031: The Eleven-SixtyFours – Sack The Sacklers EP. (Available Digitally, or on CD)

Six new songs about getting revenge on the 1%, how the cyberpunk future seems to match pandemic life, the consequences of ignoring the moment, and a dance craze that is sweeps the right wing that needs to be obliterated from the clubs, post haste. Get to know The Eleven-SixtyFours, with 13 minutes of three-chord manifestos that should make you want to quit your job before your job quits you. Sack The Sacklers. It’s for your own good.

WTBC 0032: The Eleven-SixtyFours – Smothered, Covered, Chunked & Capped EP. (Available Digitally, or on CD)

The Eleven-SixtyFours wear their influences on their sleeves, and now, you can hear them in this collection of six cover tunes, clocking in at just under 11 Minutes. Recorded over the span of a day, with the songs picked based on which ones came to mind the quickest when the question was posed, “What songs do The Eleven-SixtyFours cover?” The answer: this half-dozen pop-culture tunes, modified to fit the new sound from The Lava Lamp Lounge. Get it before one of these bands gets mad.

WTBC 0033: The Eleven-SixtyFours – DIY OR DIE Single. (Available Digitally, or on CD)

The debut single from The Eleven-SixtyFours, so controversial that people on my mailing list requested they be removed when they heard about the anti-cop sentiments and “Max Headroom” references in this single. These two songs were spawned from an actual argument I had with a fellow musician. The following day, I wrote and recorded these two songs, which began the entire journey of The Eleven-SixtyFours. Two blasts of anti-authoritarian punk that suggests that, perhaps, the old systems should be dead?

The Eleven-SixtyFours – WAKE UP! Single (Available Digitally, or as a Postcard.)

Our second single is another dose of un-refined, shot-from-the-hip punk music by someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing. This time, a dance number dominates the single, sending kids to cut a rug late into the night so they can feel some semblance of order. But that’s only because the alarm goes off early in The Eleven-SixtyFours house, as we try to remind you that the fight is on-going, and will probably never stop.

* * * * * *

Meet The Eleven-SixtyFours.

I think everyone’s first band is a punk band, either by choice or through limitations. You’re not that great at playing yet, you have borrowed (or broken) gear, and as a young person, punk speaks so loudly to all the ailments of youth without having to be polished to do it. The Bullshit that Authority puts us through. The Brokenness of The System. How TV and Movies are pandering to some idea of how we should all behave that has no connection to real life, or how any of us want to live. When you are 15, all of that sounds like it was chiseled in stone. Wise words, handed down from a punk elder only a few years your senior, who makes it sound like a six pack and a basement show will cure you of any notion that the rest of the world has it’s shit together.

And, the problem is: Punk Rock is onto something. But the interests of an aging person sometimes veer away from the interests of Punk. And, as we get older, there is an element to Punk that becomes more obvious, that isn’t as so when you’re a kid: the rigidity of the scene, the patriarchal structure that often gets overlaid onto everything, and the narrowness of the musical form… it all eventually causes some of us to age out of Punk, as scenes like Experimental Music start to actually encompass the things you wish Punk Rock did. Punk is often a young person’s game, as the lifestyle becomes harder and harder to embrace as we all get older.

 

A Riot of My Own

But certainly, some conversations I’ve been having with people in the last several years seem to evoke the need for someone to reduce an idea to a short punk song so you can scream it at them, in the hope that they can then understand it. A refrain I kept hearing was that when the environment and the politics get bad enough, “good Punk Rock” would make a big comeback. But where was this comeback? And while it did seem to produce occasional acts that I really enjoyed, on the whole, it didn’t feel like there was a movement happening anywhere like folks had predicted.

Perhaps it is both nostalgia and a less than 20/20 hindsight informing this thought, but I think we caught the last wave of the Mainstream Punk Movement in the 90’s, where the influence of Grunge Bands cast a light on the remnants of the ’80’s punk scene. This all breathed new life into bands like Bad Religion, and catapulted Green Day and Rancid to the top of the charts, and caused long-standing labels like Lookout! and Fat Wreck Chord to suddenly have some amount of pull in the major music industrial complex.

But quickly, what seemed like the beginning of a new national craze, where Punk would help foster more activism, and possibly move to make big changes, it was immediately subsumed into the dying music industry that was taking everyone down with them. Hot Topic and the rise of modern Emo started to dismantle any steps forward Punk seemed to have made, and the last 20 years has underlined the fact that punk has returned to the status of “just another genre,” with about as much cachet as Country Music, Hip-Hop, KPop… or Experimental Music, for that matter.

In fact, it’s probably fair to say that memes on Tik Tok have more political power than Punk Rock ever did. But some of those memes are pretty powerful.

 

Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth?

As a fan of earnestness in music, Punk Rock is one of those genres where screaming the things you feel at the top of your lungs doesn’t seem at all out of place, and is encouraged. It’s certainly one of the last places where sloppiness and lack-of-skill are not deterrents. (Almost every other genre still seems to care about production and quality.) In fact, being able to write, record, and release music quickly is one of the backbones of Punk, and DIY Releases will always say everything you are saying in your music through the packaging, too. There seems to be a mode of songwriting where you can let go of the conventions that are usually expected, where you can just spew out a bunch of stuff that you want to get out of your head. In a way, it’s the music equivalent of a free-write: make all the mistakes and be as sloppy as you want, because there’s another kind of writing later where those other rules will be back in place.

The therapeutic element of Punk Rock seems to work on a number of levels. Listening is great, writing and performing it is great. But as someone who writes and makes other kinds of music, Punk Rock is a great way to get some of your interests sated, so you can put your mind into other kinds of art.

 

It’s Not Hard, Not Far To Reach

A large part of my interest in getting back into making and performing music again came directly out of feeling like I needed to do more than just talk on the radio about bands that were making a difference. As the Trump Presidency wound down, and as it seemed clearer and clearer that there would be no consequences for anyone involved – and more pointedly, a lot of people seemed to be okay with that – a kind of anger welled up in me that I hadn’t felt since I was in Cathead, 100 years ago. While I had set out to write the follow-up album to the Shot Reverse Shot record that I recorded in 2020, each time I sat down to record stuff this year, very different songs were coming out.

I have never tried to write Punk Rock songs on my own like this, but I immediately felt like I had to for this particular project. I programmed the simplest drums I could in a way that seemed appropriate, and cut a lot of corners to make it seem like there was a full song where it was just me in my office. Even still, I could usually fill the entire day with work to do even as I tried to DIY-it, even when I sat down to record just two songs. (That’s how each of the singles was recorded.) The EPs were two days for each one, over a single week. None of these songs were written before; I had no idea what I wanted to say until I sat down to write. And I should repeat: I’ve never tried to record music like this before.

Mixing / etc took longer. I would tinker with the songs all the time, trying to figure out how to improve them and make sure you could hear it all. I did one session of re-takes for other parts that I missed. Then I sent them to press. Stop fuckin’ with them and just move on. I feel like I waited too long already.

And, astonishingly: I think they’re okay.

I don’t want to suggest that this is great music, or that I’m writing at the same level as my influences. (There’s a reason that covers disc sounds a little better than the other stuff.) I don’t anticipate this will supplant all your favorite punk records. I might be fortunate enough for you to actually still keep the CD in a few years from now.

But in a way, that’s not the point. I had a great time writing and recording this stuff, and I think that comes through.

And: I mean every single word of it. And that feels important.

Enjoy!

uBradio Salon Presents: Soda Jerks! 4th Sundaes on DFM.nu!

Starting this Sunday (and every 4th Sundae of the month), two new permanent (until they die) interns at uBradio Salon’s Chakra Chimp uBkitchens have volunteered to entertain your ear-holes monthly, curating a cacophonic soda fountain of bits of words accompanied by noises, via the magic of the internet.

Reluctantly sponsored by veteran sodajerks pxe & dAs, your pain will be theirs as well.
Make sure to bring a pocketful of quarters—you’ll want to play these sodajerks’ juke box.

Sunday, October 24, 2021
5:00pm-7:00pm Pacific
0.00-2.00 GMT / 2.00-4.00 CEST
UB RADIO SALON no. 719
SodaJerks Present: 4th Sundae
with guest hosts:
univac + Austin Rich

live audio broadcast via
DFM Radio International
https://dfm.nu/
LISTEN via the RADIO STREAM: > STEREO.dfm.nu or MONO.dfm.nu
(more stream choices at DFM.nu)
or radio player at UBUIBI.org

CHAT link on DFM.nu page
DISCORD chat: https://discord.com/invite/fJJgtQM

It’s That Time of Year! The Holidays Are Upon Us…

Usually I try to make a bit of a production about the holiday season, doing weeks and weeks of Holiday Broadcasts, and producing some killer radio content… for those who enjoy this time of year. So when I realized that it is already over HALFWAY through October when I had a chance to sit down and think about the Holiday Season, I realized that this year was not going to get the same kind of treatment that I try to offer most years.

However, as it happened, I managed to produce a fair amount of musical content, all centered around the holiday. Namely: three of the projects I’m involved with actually produced holiday items this year. And there’s plenty of other items to choose from, too, if you want to enjoy material from over the years, too. So this card is a little shortcut to all of that stuff. Here’s a little more detail, for those who are interested:

* * * * *

1.) The Eleven-SixtyFours new HOLIDAY VIDEO, “An Open Grave”!

The Eleven-SixtyFours are brand new this year, and have already released to singles. This track is from their forthcoming EP, “Sack The Sacklers,” and this is the first video from that EP. Perfect for Halloween, this is our theme song this year, helping get us in the mood when we’re just not feeling it.

* * * * *

2.) DEATH MUTATIONS – THE RITUAL EP (Postcard)

October’s postcard this year is a new release by DEATH MUTATIONS, with a new EP of Experimental Horror atmospheres. This is perfect for putting on the porch, and letting it play for anyone who passes by the house. It also works magnificently on it’s own, in your home or on the bus, commuting to work. Not for the faint of heart.

* * * * *

3.) IVO – Salientia Cassette

At least a couple years in the making, this new project is the collected effort between Le Petit Sac and Mini-Mutations, and offers an experimental horror release that is a frantic and chaotic as one would expect, with long passages of eerie, spooky sounds that are perfect for setting the mood.

* * * * *

4.) Mini-Mutations – May The Circle Be Unbroken Split CD w/ Michael Cosma.

Produced and released last year, this split CD contains 30 minutes each from both Mini-Mutations and Michael Cosma, exploring some of the more eerie sides of experimental music. For the Mini-Mutations side, you are treated to an immersive audio narrative, with music, that takes you to some terrifying locations. This release now comes with a download code that offers an EXTENDED version of the story, and instrumental versions of the primary tracks. This is an excellent release that you can’t get anywhere else.

* * * * *

5.) Austin Rich Reads “The Ways of Ghosts” by Ambrose Bierce

One of the earliest attempts I made at spoken word, this collects all the pieces that I aired on the radio, plus some bonus bits that hadn’t been released yet, to create this holiday offering. The CD and the digital release each contain slightly different bonus tracks, making your preference determine what sort of extras you’re likely to hear.

* * * * *

6.) Mini-Mutations – Hallotide Harmonies (Live Digital Album)

Recorded during the first Mini-Mutations tour, opening for Mark Hosler in 2018, this digital album collects all the spooky and scary material that I performed. Two and a half hours of live, mutated and creepy performances, guaranteed to put you in the mood for an All Hallow’s Celebration!

* * * * *

7.) Austin’s Annual Halloween Spook-tacular Podcast!

For the past 18 years, I’ve been collecting and presenting Halloween Radio, every year around this time. Now, you can listen to all of those broadcasts, covering a number of shows with over 100 hours of programming. Music, Old Time Radio, listeners calling in with scary ghost stories, live performances, experimental radio, and plenty of vintage audio fun, as we mine all of recorded history for anything scary, spooky, sinister, or just plain full of Halloween Fun. It’s all right here, for you to enjoy!

The Last of The NoiseFest Broadcasts!

If you follow the podcast version of UB Radio Salon (which usually is available at some point after the live broadcast on Sunday), then you may have noticed that there was a Mini-Mutations appearance… yet again!

DFM.nu, a station in Amsterdam that has roots going back to the late 60s, decided to air every performance from all three days of NorCal NoiseFest this year, which was yet another way that people may have heard the stuff that we do. It was really cool to know that there were multiple ways, across several platforms, that you could see and hear what we do, with live interactive chat on top of it all. We had people from all over the world involved with, performing in, and listening to / watching, our performances. It was really cool.

Anyway, I was performing from my studio on the web stream roughly around the time that UB Radio Salon usually airs, so for their show (and on the re-broadcast, and finally, on the podcast), the Mini-Mutations set is included… along with some excellent and amazing other performers, too. This is at normal speed, but seems to be the audio from the stream… so you can hear what it was like for people live. (I made a remastered version will audio captured off of my mixer live, that sounds a little better.)

Enjoy this excellent slice of radio, with more Mini-Mutations!

LUMPYTUNES!

Here’s a radio treat that can’t be beat! WSLR in Sarasota, Florida has a radio show that features a wide range of strange and interesting music. “Lumpytunes! Definitely Difficult Listening” is a wonderful show that brings you all sorts of music that you cannot hear anywhere else. On Tuesday, October 5th, they decided to broadcast four hours of NorCal NoiseFest, by playing it all back at 200%, and cramming it into a two-hour block. Maddness, you say? But of course! And it sounds wonderfully weird, too.

Check the station archives to hear the show. There’s a Mini-Mutations shout-out at around One Hour, 24 Minutes into the show. Then you can hear LOB begin to introduce “Health Habits” around the One Hour, 36 Minutes Mark. (Thank you Dylan Houser for bringing this to my attention!) Always fun to hear Mini-Mutations on the radio.

 

Meta-tation

As our lives change, there is a need to break off the things you were doing before, to make room for your new way of life. It’s incredibly common: people start new jobs, new relationships, and new chapters of their lives, almost constantly, depending on how you craft the particular narrative you are interested in making about your own life. This seems to be a fairly common practice for many people: we focus on the new way our life will take shape, and then decide what part of our old life still fits into the way things are now.

This week has been spent playing catch-up, for sure, and I’m still not fully there. “Things” are afoot, and as I learn the new steps of this dance, I’m far less close to the parts of the ballroom I once frequented, where plenty of previous chapters of my life all happened. I’m still trying to figure out what I can still reach here, and where those things will fit into these new dance steps that are very new to me.

I’ve always been good at starting things, but wrapping up a chapter has always been challenging for me. I feel like I never know exactly how to “land” the story until well after I already have, and the urge to go back and do it right this time often leaves me to either freeze up, never end things, or worse, overthink the ending to the point where it only makes sense to me. Perhaps this is a portent of how difficult future endings will be, but certainly, it makes me wonder why ends are like this. Saying goodbye, graduations, transitions. All of these things seem to be common experiences for almost everyone, and yet, they seem more difficult than almost anything else.

As I pirouette around the close of some chapters and as I two-step my rewrite on others in this new mixed-metaphor book / dance I’m trying to learn, I wonder: what part of all of this will feel like it needs a revision in five years, and which parts will I finally come to terms with, regardless of how it all turns out?

Rich Treasures Pop-Up: Musical Postcards!

The Lava Lamp Lounge Print-Shop has been working overtime lately, sorting out everything in time for the Rich Treasures DIY Pop-Up at The Art Department here in Salem, OR. If you haven’t heard, you should mark your calendar: June 26th, 2 – 5 PM. (Only three hours! Don’t be late!)

I will be selling an array of items that I’ve made over the years, and it will probably be one of the primary ways to see me in person, in a sort of “public” manner, this summer. I would love to see you there, even if you just want to stop in and say hello.

For sale to the public for the first time: Musical Postcards! Probably the highest profile art project I’ve done, these postcards have not been for sale before, and were instead only available to Lemonade Stand Supporters (and a select group of folks who are on the old-school mailing list). In fact, if you sign up for the Lemonade Stand right now, you will get a June Postcard popped into the mail for you, today, as a thank you for signing up.

However, if you would like to purchase these cards (for use at home, or to send to a friend), they will be available at The Art Department during this event, individually, or as a set, where you can get all of them at a discount. The music on the cards is only accessible through the QR Code; these aren’t available to download elsewhere, and you can’t get this music on other releases. These cards contain music by four different musical projects, totaling almost three hours of new music. Included in this are two singles by actual rock-and-roll combos, a long spoken word piece, and four different studio sessions by Mini-Mutations, unavailable in any other form. These postcards have all been designed by Austin Rich, and come on colorful cardstock, so you can see them coming as your postal carrier walks down the street.

These postcards have been mailed all over the country, all over the world, and has been referred to as a new musical format, something that is very exciting for people who want to make music that can be distributed easily, and cheaply, in a way that could be affordable to anyone with a stamp.

There aren’t that many of these, so make sure to show up promptly if you are interested in these rare items. These are expected to sell out, to make sure to stop by early!

See you soon!

Rich Treasures Pop-Up: Records

A selection of records will be available at the Rich Treasures Pop-Up, featuring a number of musical projects that I’ve been involved with. 8″ and 7″, lathe-cut, mono records that really get to the heart of what my various sounds and projects. There are limited quantities, and this music is not available in other formats, or on compilations. If you want these sounds, you will want to come to this event. One item is limited to one copy, so consider getting something quickly.

These records all have bonus materials that are unique to these items, too. Bonus collage inserts and ‘zines, download codes for items that are not on these records, and are not available elsewhere. And all the covers and items were printed and duplicated in The Lava Lamp Lounge, with a little help from Salem Blue Print Company. The lathes were cut by Gorbie Lathe Cuts in Milwaukie, OR. We really keep all of this stuff down home. One of these is a compilation, and comes with downloads of material from the first 15+ years of radio, a gift item what was available at my 40th birthday party (and not really very often since.

I love music, I love making music, and I love records. Hopefully you will love these records, too.

 

 

 

 

I’m really looking forward to the DIY Pop-Up happening at The Art Department. Please, join me!

Facebook Post: 2021-05-13T17:24:23

What political affiliations should art have?

Is art inherently bent toward one perspective or another?

What is the responsibility of art during difficult times?

Is there such a thing as neutral works of art?

If a piece of art is destroyed in the forest, and there’s no one there to notice, will the artist make their rent that month?

Facebook Post: 2021-05-13T10:27:15

Occasionally, I get to work on cool projects that I can’t really talk about (yet). But, people who support me over at my digital Lemonade Stand get to hear all about the behind-the-scenes goings-on. And, when you support me that way, you ensure that I can continue to participate in cool projects like… well… there’s one way to find out…
https://www.patreon.com/posts/exclusive-update-51213170

Facebook Post: 2021-05-11T16:19:02

Not too long ago I participated in a mail-art show that was hosted by The Art Department. As part of the show, we all mailed in pieces we made, and then after the show was over, we got to trade with the other artists. We also received, as participants in the show, these excellent “Snailed It” buttons! How very cool.

I selected this piece by an artist named Audrey (last name withheld). I really liked this piece, a combination of paint and collage, which is totally my jam.

There’s some excellent stuff happening at The Art Department lately, and if you are in the Salem area, you should be shopping here.

Thanks again Jessica! Let me know when you want a weird art show… I have a few ideas.

Facebook Post: 2021-05-09T17:51:59

For “work,” I found myself watching some clips of sitcoms. And, this led to me watch a couple clips of News Radio, which I hadn’t seen any of since it was in syndication at some point, many years ago. 

I haven’t thought about it in any way since then, so even who was in it sort of felt vague to me. (Phil Hartman, right?)

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I was seeing Joe Rogan doing jokes on something I was listening to. I got really nervous, and had to shut it off immediately.

Like, even as a joke, even for a podcast, I don’t want to get caught accidentally listening to that dude saying ANYTHING.

That was a close call. I’m so glad Marla was out of the house at the time. I felt gross.

Facebook Post: 2021-05-09T17:35:25

This week, on an off-week episode of 20 Minutes Into The Future: A Max Headroom Podcast, we are joined by comedian Luc Thiers, to talk about what they enjoy about sitcoms, and a little about how they got into comedy.

Before we got leads on our recent interviews, Heather and I recorded a few interviews (and other kinds of shows), thinking that we might want to have some filler material, so we can get the most out of our show as possible. So our original plan is still to have the “main feed” shows come out ever other week. But with this backlog of other material, these off week shows give us a chance to talk to you in a “real time” way, announce stuff like the Patreon (patreon.com/austinrich), and play some of these interviews and other material.

Luc really breaks down the sitcom format, and will be making some other appearances on the show in the future. But for this one, you can get to know this Rochester comedian who happens to love Max Headroom, too.

And then get ready for next week, because it’s our show where we review “Rakers,” and it’s gonna be a big one.

https://20minutesintothefuture.org/2021/05/09/the-return-of-sipcoms-w-luc-thiers/

Facebook Post: 2021-05-09T13:15:18

Here’s my mom (far left), with her band from the early ’70’s. “Borrowed Time.” (pnwbands.com/borrowedtime.html) I was trying to find a link to the video she made of the song she wrote about getting butt dialed by her girlfriend, but my Kung Fu is not as good as it once was, and “Butt Dialed Song” is turning up bupkis.

Oh well. Happy Mother’s Day!

Facebook Post: 2021-05-06T21:33:40

I spent so much time as a youth playing this. I think about the music from this version of this game probably once a week. In the days I played, we didn’t have walk-throughs, or cheat guides. I brute-forced my way through everything, including the second play-through, where everything is hidden in different places.

I think about a lot of other video games every so often. But this was the first one that absolutely blew my mind.

Everyone once in a while I want to play this game again. But I think it was the combination of having nearly endless free time and a pristine Nintendo was what made it possible for me to play this game to death. When I idly think about playing it again, I think: when would I actually play it? Like, how would I make the time to do so?

Middle age is dumb, that’s for sure.

Facebook Post: 2021-05-06T07:43:07

Here’s the long and the short of it: we have some Max Headroom pins and other goodies available for our Patreon supporters, and there are now specific “MaxHead” Tiers that get you early access, max-related ‘zines, and unique pin-sets that aren’t available elsewhere. We will have “Big Time Television” sets, “Network 23 Boardroom” sets, and others coming down the pike eventually, and we’re currently designing some fun things that we want to share with you. If you like Max Headroom, our show, and want to get some cool pins, we could use your support.

patreon.com/posts/new-support-for-50936503

Facebook Post: 2021-05-05T17:30:14

Marking my 23rd year in radio, on Mid-Valley Mutations I’ve been re-running some of my earliest radio recordings from when I got started on KWVA in Eugene, Oregon. For the last three weeks I’ve been airing “re-creations” of those early shows, with the voice overs and the other bits, and with songs assembled from the playlists, and from other recollections of the original broadcasts. Those first three sort of reveal that my show really did begin as a normal DJ show, that leaned heavily on punk and late 90’s oddities.

This week, I’m featuring two hours of broadcasts that I made with my co-host in those early days, Holden Craft (Justin Anderson). Holden was not a professional broadcaster or comedian, and was not even a comedy writer or wannabe radio personality. He was just a bartender, who happened to be funnier than most people I knew. It made perfect sense to do shows with him when I could.



Here’s two hours or late-90’s radio weirdness, with very strange and inappropriate jokes, and all the music that was common on my show in those early days.

Ladies and Gentlemen: let me introduce you to the Legendary Holden Craft.

https://midvalleymutations.com/2021/05/05/the-legendary-holden-craft-kwva-years/

Facebook Post: 2021-05-03T17:23:23

I’m making an effort to post fewer passing thoughts of horror and doom, and instead try and find and cultivate the things that I love.

While I do think They Might Be Giants are a singularly incredible band, their tendency towards gloomy songs in an upbeat manner can sometimes pile on sadness upon misery. This might be the single exception in their catalog, and it’s a cover, of course.

This song is amazing. Cub, who wrote the song, are amazing. But they are very clearly from Canada, as no one from NY would write a song like this, unless they were traveling from out of town to play a show where they are well loved.

Here’s to trying to focus on things I like. Please: join me on this journey.

Facebook Post: 2021-05-03T06:14:44

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the first NPR broadcast. Consider that I am only four years younger than NPR, and you realize how new it actually is. I’m sort of astonished it has only been that long; part of me imagined they had been going since the dawn of time. Turns out is was more like around the time my parents first met.
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/30/992336360/bonus-celebrating-50-years-of-npr

Facebook Post: 2021-05-02T17:12:40

So, I really can’t contain my excitement anymore. As a kid, this was my favorite show, and when I was able to revisit it growing up, I discovered that this show was saying a lot more than the funny jokes I stole as a youth. So, I thought it would be fun to talk about Max Headroom – TV Series with my friend, Wendella Mermelstein, as she had never seen it. I figured that was a good dynamic: one of us enthusiastic, the other, skeptical. Seemed like a good match. We launched 20 Minutes Into The Future: A Max Headroom Podcast, and we had a lot of fun.

So, how do I tell the 12 year old me that we now get to talk with three of the creators, that made that show happen? It’s really hard to say. I’ve sure he would never believe me, anyway, because we are silly when we are young. But regardless, it happened, and now you can enjoy it, too.

Join us as we talk with the creators of “Max Headroom”: Brian Frankish (Producer on “Field of Dreams,” “The Last Starfighter,” & “The Fugitive”), Steve Roberts (writer for “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “Redwall” and, of course, “Max Headroom”) and Michael Cassutt (writer for “Z-Nation,” “Eerie Indiana” and “Strange Luck”), as they reminisce about working on the program, and what bars were key to various stages of the show’s progress.

There are two versions of the show, and both are worth your time: an audio podcast version, with editing, footnotes, and other audio production elements that are typical of our other shows. And then there’s the video, which is a more raw conversation, and offers you a chance to see all the cool stuff that’s going on during the chat. Both are different, and contain things the other doesn’t. So hopefully that encourages you to check out both. But really, either one is VERY entertaining. (I talk very little, and let our guests take over.)

I had a lot of fun working on this episode, and I hope you check it out. This show is a passion of mine, and I am having a great time working on it. Hopefully you can enjoy it, too.
https://20minutesintothefuture.org/2021/05/02/04-writing-producing-the-future/

Facebook Post: 2021-05-02T08:56:56

Today the fourth episode of 20 Minutes Into The Future: A Max Headroom Podcast comes out (at 4 PM, PST), and this one is near and dear to our hearts: a conversation with the creative team behind the American version of “Max Headroom.” This includes Producer Brian Frankish, and Writer’s Steve Roberts and Michael Cassutt.

This is a very fun conversation, where they talk about getting to work on the show, what it was like for each of them day to day, and even discuss how the whole thing came to an end. This is the first time the three of them have gotten together to talk about the show like this, and it is something you won’t get to hear anywhere else.



For this episode, we will have two versions of it available for you to enjoy. First, the podcast version, which is presented much like our normal shows: plenty of SFX and interjections from producer Mitch. However, we think you will want to see this one, too, so there’s a much more “raw” version of the interview on YouTube, where you can see the entire thing, without the fancy audio production and announcer interjections. Both offer something the other doesn’t have, and both tell the story of the passion these creators had for getting this vision on the small screen.

The YouTube version will have live chat going, and Austin will be in there for anyone who wants to hang out. You can enjoy it all at:

bit.ly/MaxHeadroomCreatorsPanel

Be Seeing You!

Facebook Post: 2021-05-01T06:49:18

I was having a really bummer day early on yesterday, just not at all ready for anything, dragging my feet the whole day, just bringing a storm cloud with me all day. Then, a small group of vaccinated friends came over to get me very drunk. Wow, this hangover is for real. No foolin’.

Ya’ll are the best. Thanks for cheering up a grumpy, difficult person who has become feral in this pandemic. I don’t know why ya’ll put up with me, but you do, and it makes all the difference.

Facebook Post: 2021-04-30T08:35:34

Today is the last day that you can sign up to get the benefits that will go out in May. (You can sign up at any time, but that puts you in for the following month’s benefits, etc.) Starting tomorrow, I will begin assembling packages and items for The Lemonade Stand supporters. The last couple of bits and bobs to get into the mix: Mutated Money and Custom Buttons!

There is a unique Button for each level of Membership. Mail-Art Members will get a different button with their mail art, and a new edition of Mutated Money will be coming out soon, which is only available to supporters. (I believe we will be releasing $2, $3 and $20 denominations, each with their own, unique serial number that may or may not be tracked when you cross international borders.) There’s a lot of benefits for signing up at the higher levels, and I really appreciate it when you do.

There is a level of membership for General Support, what I’m calling, “I’d Buy That For A Dollar!” Over a year that comes to $12, about the cost of an album of new music in a record store. I mention this only because it’s a low-impact, easy way to show your support, without feeling like you are on the hook in a big way. You get billed a single dollar, every month, and it helps support this crazy thing I do. And, even at the $1 a month level, you get a badge that tells the world you are helping me live my dream. 

It’s been exciting see all of this come together. While I still feel very strange about this kind of arrangement, I’ve heard some encouraging things so far. I know I would probably keep making things anyway, even if I didn’t have this motivation. Hopefully a few of you can see the benefit in that, and want to join me on this quest.

https://www.patreon.com/austinrich

Facebook Post: 2021-04-30T02:23:18

Growing up, I was always told I shared a birthday with Willie Nelson. Of course, the story is more complicated than that. He was born very close to midnight, and while it was on the 29th side of the clock, the Dr. recorded Willie’s birthday as being the 30th.

Growing up, I dint know this. But according to this story, Willie also didn’t know. When I was a kid, he thought it was the 30th. So that’s probably why I grew up thinking it was the same as me. As I have learned, at some point when I was in High School is when Willie found out the truth. But with all the various evidence sort of muddying the truth, and all of this happening before the Internet, it is a wonder the story was confusing until 2018, when he and his family finally set the record straight for the public.

I still love Willie, even if we aren’t b-day twins like I thought. He’s still amazing.

Facebook Post: 2021-04-30T01:31:29

I’m mostly furious that money is still a fuckin’ thing in the far-flung future date of 2021, but I resent the most how much was promised by going to school, and how much is actually gained from having an education. I’m largely miserable, I have no access to jobs because of it, and it has weighed me down, financially, since I went, and to make matters worse, the only things I really got out of college was some nice books and a new appreciation for McTeague by Frank Norris. But I’m no smarter or better prepared for work life than I was, and now much more in debt with fewer options than if i’d kept working for that ten years instead.

I’m so angry that this is still sold as something that will better your life. That’s fairly unlikely, unless you already have means and connections anyway. And I never had either.

Blur was right. Modern life is rubbish.

Facebook Post: 2021-04-29T11:51:32

May Postcards were dropped in the mail today. If you are a “High Five!” supporter, you can hear and see the postcard NOW in a slightly different form, and you can see / read a little behind the scenes in making this month’s card.

And, if you want to see / hear this kind of stuff, and get access to other cool perks, I have a recommendation as to someone you could support. If that’s your bag.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/50636272

Facebook Post: 2021-04-28T10:43:48

A new, once monthly podcast is one of the benefits of supporting me at the “Mail-Art Member” level, over at the Lemonade Stand. In fact: people who are already doing that are hearing an ALTERNATE VERSION of the theme song, right now! It won’t be in the podcast, and the band has been kind enough to let us include it as a special bonus for those on the inside. The real theme song will be heard on the first episode of the new show, coming the first Tuesday in May.

If you wanna throw down at the “Mail-Art Member” level, you not only receive custom mail art that no one else will get to see, but a variety of old publications and releases in these mail art packages, sort of “thank you” gifts for your generosity. All of this, and the once-monthly podcast will be yours. Join the fun! There’s a lot going on over at Austin’s Lemonade Stand.

patreon.com/posts/bonus-batters-1-50590686

Facebook Post: 2021-04-27T16:23:46

I’ve been wondering if I could do this or not, and so today’s experiment paid off in the way of a new perk for “High Five!” Support Members. There is now a unique, one of a kind zine that is only available to supporters, and will contain your name in the back, as a thank you for supporting this work.

The first edition of that zine will be coming out soon, for the first batch of supporters who join before May 1st. If you want to get one of the first editions, you will need to support the digital Lemonade Stand, to help keep this dream alive. I’ll give you a tease: this is a new Detective Dexter Roland tale that has never been told before! Largely because I wrote it today. And it will never be told elsewhere, so this is your chance.

If you want to get this, consider signing up to support me in this crazy thing I do. I promise, you won’t be sorry.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/50560064

Facebook Post: 2021-04-26T11:44:11

New blog post for supporters. We are now making enough to cover our monthly postage! Read all about it by following the link. And: why not join the crew who are keeping The Lemonade Stand in operation, so you can read stuff like this? Even when you join at the $1 level, you help keep this dream alive, for which I’m very grateful.

patreon.com/posts/covering-postage-50507806

Facebook Post: 2021-04-25T16:55:30

We don’t have an off-week show this time, so instead, why not check out our friends The Secret Light? Their guitar player, kiisu d’salyss, remixed our theme song, which you can hear when you subscribe to 20 Minutes Into The Future. They are good peeps, and their songs are your new faves, for sure.

Next week: our big panel show with the Max Headroom creators. Don’t miss it!

thesecretlight.bandcamp.com/

Facebook Post: 2021-04-25T07:51:17

Within hours of launching my Patreon page, I already got a few supporters signed up. How cool is that? While there will still be content at my old blog, supporters will get access to blog posts that only THEY get to read, just for being a supporter. The first one is up now, so if you want to read it, you’ll have to join. I hate putting anything behind a paywall, but after almost 30 years of having almost no paywalls, putting a few things in a place where you have to pay to see them isn’t that much different than selling merch at a show. (I keep telling myself.)

The first episode of the Patreon-only podcast will come out in May, so this is the perfect time to get the lead out. There are five tiers to choose from, so choose wisely! If I can get 198 more supporters at any level, I can afford to start to actually treat this like a real job.

Are you doing something similar? How can I find yours?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/50454558

#Patreon #DIY #Podcast #Radio #Music #Zines #MakeMyDreamComeTrue

Facebook Post: 2021-04-24T19:33:53

I’m taking the plunge: I’m asking for you to support me on Patreon, to help keep this dream alive. patreon.com/austinrich

There’s five tiers, starting at $1. For $5 a month you start getting stuff in the mail for your patronage. There’s merch, custom mail art, and some other items that you have probably already been hearing a bit about from me, at the different tiers of membership. Hopefully, there’s a level that works for you. 

With enough patrons, I can start paying my collaborators… and maybe myself? I can replace some broken (and much needed) gear, and I can relax a little regarding trying to earn an income. And, it will also help me recover the money I haven’t been able to make this last year.

I love making music and radio, and it is a total dream. This new podcast about Max Headroom is a combination of so many things that I love, that it is absolutely a labor of love for me. But it is also hard to maintain doing all of this without finding some way to balance the costs of doing this stuff. I hate asking for money. This is not how I want to go about the work I do.

But maybe we can look past that, and move on to making really cool music and radio?

If you have advice / recommendations about Patreon, I’m very curious. Please, let me know what you think. 

And in the meantime: thanks. I love and miss all of you.

Facebook Post: 2021-04-23T20:57:26

Genuine Idea: as I contemplate how to make a place for myself in the world, I am considering the idea of an old-fashioned Lemonade Stand, but for DIY Art. 

Part of me feels like it would be more of a stunt than anything that could ever make any money. (Even if I was just looking for enough coin so I could got to the A&P to get some penny candies.)

Another part of me is just looking for something to do during the day that might lead to some human interactions.

Regardless: would you shop at a folding table with charming DIY art for sale? More importantly, how far out of your way would you drive for it? 

Will this end up being a situation where M ends up buying pity 7”s from me just so I don’t get frustrated after a few days? 

Sigh. “The Days Are Just Packed…”

Facebook Post: 2021-04-21T17:28:58

Today in Max History: the episode “Security Systems” first aired on ABC television on 21 April, 1987. This episode is about a private company that offers security, in exchange for knowing everything about you, and can use that power against you at the drop of a hat. But when this company is up to be sold, suddenly everyone’s privacy is a news story worth trying to make Edison Carter… disappear.

An eerie tale of modern life… accurately predicted in 1987.