Remember when every album was a voyage of discovery? This is the place to go deep with untold stories about the unheard music.
I’ve always been drawn to outsider music, to artists who for one reason or another decided not to go with the flow. The problem was finding it: As a kid growing up in Washington, D.C. in the ‘80s, it was hard to find music beyond the drecky (okay, sometimes great) Rock & Roll and Top 40 stations. But I knew there was something else out there: In the unheard music, as the band X sang.
This is where I write about it. Twice a month I share a post on such topics as:
Punk: I grew up in the D.C. punk scene; it’s what made me who I am. You’ll find stories on unsung bands like 9353 and characters like Lefty, a young woman who couldn’t accept herself—and deflected her shame in the darkest of ways.
Untold Stories Behind Great Records: In 2025, I went on some unexpectedly deep dives. One is an interview with Unwound, sometimes described as “the best band of the ‘90s.” Another is the story of how a guy named Steve Brown discovered the apocryphal missing multitrack reel to The Stooges’ classic album Raw Power…in his attic. Start with Part 1.
Facing the Past, Grappling with the Future: I recently embedded in Washington, D.C. to research my next book. Unfortunately, so did ICE and the National Guard. Here’s a dispatch. And: What wounds are we handed at birth? Check out The Lone Wolves: A Crisis of Manhood at the Oregon Coast, a meditation on what happens when we devalue emotional connection.
Psychedelics: Too few writers give psychedelics the serious treatment they deserve, so I’ve taken it upon myself to try. Start with The Night MDMA Saved My Life, an excerpt from my book Death Trip.
Do I have to pay?
Nope. I don’t paywall my content, preferring to invite everyone to enjoy what I share here. But I absolutely invite you to become a paid subscriber, which means you’ll:
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About me
I grew up in Washington, D.C. in the ‘70s and ‘80s, where I played in too many punk bands to name. I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider; maybe that’s why I’m drawn to stories about “weird” subcultures and experiences. My writing appears in The Guardian, DoubleBlind, Narratively and many other publications.
