Episode 62: Paul Mahern vocalist of the Zero Boys on Teaching the History of Punk Rock

Paul Mahern was 16 years old when he played guitar and sang for the Zero Boys one of the pioneering punk bands of the early 80s punk scene in my home state of Indiana. He is also an adjunct lecturer in music in general studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His recording clients include John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, and Iggy Pop. He has produced and/or engineered 11 RIAA-certified gold or platinum albums. In 2017, the Indianapolis Star listed Mahern as the fifteenth most influential musician of all time from Indiana. This list of 25 musicians also includes some lightweights like Joshua Bell, Hoagy Carmichael, Michael Jackson, and The Coug. Paul was on the front lines in the American hardcore movement but he has an incredible amount of knowledge on music in general. So, it makes sense that he has developed and teaches a course on the history of punk rock. Open to any students at Indiana University, or those of you at home elsewhere can take it. In this conversation, we talk about Paul’s, band the Zero Boys, and doing a punk band in the early days, years recording and engineering in the studio, the history of punk and how he developed his class. What bands get entire lectures? Who is taught in regional classes? Wplaylistshat songs and playlist he assigns students, and how you can take the class from anywhere. This is a must-listen for music fans. https://www.coursicle.com/indiana/courses/MUSZ/208/ •You can find my books here:  Amazon-https://www.amazon.com/David-Agranoff/e/B004FGT4ZW     •And me here:  Goodreads-http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2988332.David_Agranoff   Twitter-https://twitter.com/DAgranoffAuthor   log-http://davidagranoff.blogspot.com/