Jason Traeger
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Anyone who knows me knows I've never been one to revel in the past. I'm the last one to cast a misty-eyed glance back at the "good old days". In my experience the people who take this angle are usually the ones who weren't there. Whatever mistakes, false starts and missed opportunities I've had the pleasure of having, I was wherever I was for better or worse.

This blog is not meant to romanticize any choices I made or any particular era. It's simply a place where I share stories and take stock of where I've been as a way to figure out where I might want to go next. I'll celebrate some people along the way, some of them you'll know or know of, others will be new to you. I'm glad to have known every one of them.

The posts are in no thematic or chronological order. The date at the end of the post's title refers to how the content of the post relates to me personally. I make no claim about the accuracy of my recollections I only promise that I'll be as honest and accurate as I can be. If you were there and you remember things differently than I do, or you find evidence that contradicts my memory (I wouldn't be surprised or upset) feel free to let me know.

Rather than editing the posts for historical accuracy, I'll put ( * ) next to any parts that have been challenged or updated for that reason.


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July 3, 2012
MAURO FROM RAW POWER AND JELLO BIAFRA AT A PARTY   SAN DIEGO 1984 This is a little bonus blog entry to tack onto the one that preceded it. I don’t remember who took this picture, I’m pretty sure I didn’t but I was there when it was taken. Like I said in the other post this was the second time I met Biafra who I’d end up working for at Alternative Tentacles a few years later in the decade.  I’m pretty sure Biafra’s leg got fudged up on stage in L.A. at the Olympic by some over eager stage diver. The venue was notorious for having a ridiculously porous stage policy that would often lead to the bands being almost totally lost in the crowd jumping, stage diving and slamming all around them on stage. I remember it was weird seeing him do the show in San Diego perched on a stool with his leg out straight in front of him, doing his trademark hand gestures and stuff. He still rocked and the kids went crazy of course. That night though really belonged to Raw Power. Hardly anyone had heard of them and they simply blew the SD crowd away with their relentless attack. They were unstoppable and the hard-headed SD punks loved them for it. SD Punks of a certain age take note of the Personal Conflict shirt in the other room! (Photo of Mauro and Jello from my personal archives)

MAURO FROM RAW POWER AND JELLO BIAFRA AT A PARTY   SAN DIEGO 1984


This is a little bonus blog entry to tack onto the one that preceded it.

I don’t remember who took this picture, I’m pretty sure I didn’t but I was there when it was taken. Like I said in the other post this was the second time I met Biafra who I’d end up working for at Alternative Tentacles a few years later in the decade. 

I’m pretty sure Biafra’s leg got fudged up on stage in L.A. at the Olympic by some over eager stage diver. The venue was notorious for having a ridiculously porous stage policy that would often lead to the bands being almost totally lost in the crowd jumping, stage diving and slamming all around them on stage.

I remember it was weird seeing him do the show in San Diego perched on a stool with his leg out straight in front of him, doing his trademark hand gestures and stuff. He still rocked and the kids went crazy of course. That night though really belonged to Raw Power. Hardly anyone had heard of them and they simply blew the SD crowd away with their relentless attack. They were unstoppable and the hard-headed SD punks loved them for it.

SD Punks of a certain age take note of the Personal Conflict shirt in the other room!

(Photo of Mauro and Jello from my personal archives)

12:33am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvOc3hS8
(Notes: 27)
  
Filed under: Dead Kennedys Jello Biafra Mauro Codeluppi Raw Power alternative tentacles olympic auditorium san diego tim maze personal conflict 
March 23, 2012
SAN DIEGO PUNK: LLOYD / PERSONAL CONFLICT  1984 Personal Conflict were a San Diego punk band that I saw a lot after moving down there  with my mom from Tacoma, WA. in 1984. I became acquainted with Lloyd Masing and the band’s bassist Sherry (who I think went out with Chris Smith from the Battalion of Saints) through my work with Martin Sprouse and Pat Weakland on a zine they had started just before I moved to town called Leading Edge. A project the story of which could/should make up about a hundred of these posts by the way. Among many other things Lloyd was a huge Germs fan and even had a tattoo of Shawn Kerri’s famous Germs logo. He was probably 5-10 years older than me and had seen The Germs live. Darby had died before I ever went to a punk show and they never toured anyway so I doubly missed out on seeing them living in the Northwest at the time, if doubly missing out on something is even possible that is. Like many other fans who only knew The Germs from seeing The Decline, reading odd Flipside interview, and listening to the brilliant fragments of visionary-poetic, glam-trash punk hardcore they left in their wake, I was really interested in hearing stories of The Germs and Darby Crash.  Among other things Lloyd told me it was seeing Darby live that made him want to be a singer in a band. He said he was the best performer he’d ever seen. Years later Jello Biafra would echo that same sentiment to me. There weren’t many ghosts hovering around the punk scene I had entered a few years before. The scene and the people in it was/were still too young and strong and the rough “live for today” wildness of it hadn’t claimed a lot of lives yet.  Sadly Lloyd died a few years after I met him while working on a fishing boat off the coast of California. Anyone who had any experience with him knew him as a fearless front man, a loyal friend, and a really sweet guy who loved music deeply.  R.I.P. Lloyd Masing. Photo by Cliff Cunningham (?)

SAN DIEGO PUNK: LLOYD / PERSONAL CONFLICT  1984

Personal Conflict were a San Diego punk band that I saw a lot after moving down there  with my mom from Tacoma, WA. in 1984. I became acquainted with Lloyd Masing and the band’s bassist Sherry (who I think went out with Chris Smith from the Battalion of Saints) through my work with Martin Sprouse and Pat Weakland on a zine they had started just before I moved to town called Leading Edge. A project the story of which could/should make up about a hundred of these posts by the way.

Among many other things Lloyd was a huge Germs fan and even had a tattoo of Shawn Kerri’s famous Germs logo. He was probably 5-10 years older than me and had seen The Germs live. Darby had died before I ever went to a punk show and they never toured anyway so I doubly missed out on seeing them living in the Northwest at the time, if doubly missing out on something is even possible that is.

Like many other fans who only knew The Germs from seeing The Decline, reading odd Flipside interview, and listening to the brilliant fragments of visionary-poetic, glam-trash punk hardcore they left in their wake, I was really interested in hearing stories of The Germs and Darby Crash. 

Among other things Lloyd told me it was seeing Darby live that made him want to be a singer in a band. He said he was the best performer he’d ever seen. Years later Jello Biafra would echo that same sentiment to me.

There weren’t many ghosts hovering around the punk scene I had entered a few years before. The scene and the people in it was/were still too young and strong and the rough “live for today” wildness of it hadn’t claimed a lot of lives yet. 

Sadly Lloyd died a few years after I met him while working on a fishing boat off the coast of California. Anyone who had any experience with him knew him as a fearless front man, a loyal friend, and a really sweet guy who loved music deeply.  R.I.P. Lloyd Masing.

Photo by Cliff Cunningham (?)


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Filed under: darby crash germs personal conflict san diego 
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