Episodes
-
How Did Scott Simoneaux Get Here?
This is the story of Scott Simoneaux, the booker for ATG Live, an offshoot of ATG- the organization that brings touring productions of Broadway shows to big cities around the country. He's bringing touring bands and one-off events to those theaters while they are dark. In the Bay Area, this...
-
How Did Soft Palms (Julia Kugel & Scott Montoya) Get Here?
I wish I could say that no AI was used on this podcast. I hate AI, but I also don't have a budget for a producer, so I use Riverside.com to help edit these. I know. I told Julia Kugel and Scott Montoya of Soft Palms, whose book "How To Be Self-Reliant In The Music Industry" is out now, and they…
more -
How Did Eddie Argos of Art Brut Get Here?
Eddie Argos is the lead singer of the British cult band Art Brut. They are currently on the road touring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their classic debut, Bang Bang Rock n Roll. We talked about music, and name-dropped a bunch of very specific bands that only people born in 1979 think…
more -
How Did Sydney Kane Get Here?
How Did I Get Here is back for its first episode of 2026. And my chat was with the amazing musical comedian Sydney Kane ahead of her bringing her one-woman show, Wife Material, on a West Coast tour! We talked about, well, a bunch of the usual tangential silliness, all while learning about how she...
-
How Did Black Polish Get Here?
20-Year-Old Jayden Binnix, aka Black Polish, just released their second album, YUNA, a concept album about a succubus that feeds off the souls of men. It's pretty bonkers and amazing, and we had a wonderful chat about this record, their early work, being a non-binary artist on a major label, and,...
-
How Did Ghostwoman Get Here?
Today's episode of "How Did I Get Here?" features the amazing psych duo Ghostwoman. We talked at length about music, being in a band, and what to do when you find an excellent musical partner that happens to live on an entirely different continent! Ghostwoman's latest record, Welcome To The...
-
How Did Angie Monroy of The McCharmlys Get Here?
Last year, I had the opportunity to see The Sonics play at Great American Music Hall. It was a fantastic show, but I was particularly entranced by the Chicano Soul / Retro Garage band opening, The McCharmly's. We had the opportunity to speak to lead singer Angie Monroy about her musical journey....
-
How Did Molly Neuman Get Here?
Molly Neuman is a rock n roll legend. She is the drummer for Riot Grrl groundbreakers Bratmobile. She was also a member of The Peechees and The Frumpies. AND she helped run Lookout Records in the late 90s. AND managed The Donnas. AND was Vice President at early digital music distributor eMusic....
-
How Did Kathy Foster of Roseblood Get Here?
Odds are that you don't know the name Kathy Foster, but you've probably seen her live a few dozen times. She's probably best known as the bassist for Portland punks The Thermals. Or as a member of the supergroup All Girl Summer Fun Band. Or any of the 8,565,233 other bands she's been a part of....
-
How Did Nadia Quinn Get Here?
Nadia Quinn is an NYC-based singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, and actress, and she probably has 100 other jobs that we neglected to cover. We had a great conversation about family and comedy and the stress of comedy music. Nadia has TWO appearances at SF Sketchfest this week. She is part of…
more -
How Did Demi Adejuiygbe Get Here?
Most people know Demi Adejuiygbe as the mastermind behind the legendary "September" videos. What you may not know is that he was a writer on The Good Place, possibly the greatest TV show ever, as well as The Amber Ruffin Show. As per the usual, we talked about his career, how he works, and, of...
-
How Did Zoe Ko Get Here?
Zoe Ko is a pop/rock songwriter who has gifted the world some great, highly infectious singles and an EP in 2023. 2024 has been incredibly productive for her, and we had a great chat about nurturing your career, finding your people and your sound, and a lot about her future, including touring and...
-
How Did Jennifer Clavin (Dear Francis) Get Here?
Jennifer Clavin has been near the top of my interview bucket list since the inception of this site, a whopping 15 years ago. (!) I've followed her career through Mika Miko to Bleached, watching her mature as a songwriter while I've matured along with her, with her music helping me navigate my…
more -
How Did Noga Erez Get Here?
Noga Erez is a brilliant MC who, after years generating buzz in the underground, is putting out her major label debut, The Vandalist on September 20th. We had a great discussion about influences, working with Missy Elliott, her epic KIDS livestream, and even managed to discuss the complexities of...
-
How Did Victoria Bigelow Get Here?
I didn't know what to expect when I got on a call with Victoria Bigelow. All I knew about her was that I'd kinda fallen in love with her head-swimmy brand of reverb-drenched country and shoegaze. We ended up talking a LOT about music in general, the struggles with being a DIY artist in this…
more -
How Did Miki Berenyi Get Here?
This episode features Miki Berenyi, famous for fronting the legendary 4AD act Lush. We talked about her career, the nature of the UK music press, radio, the economics of touring, and accidentally putting together a band! Berenyi recently released a memoir called fingers crossed: how music saved…
more -
How Did Jamie Loftus Get Here?
Jamie Loftus is a writer, actor, comic, cartoonist, podcaster, and probably has about 3500 other jobs that we never covered on this episode because, well, there is only so much time in the day. In this episode we discussed her early playwriting days, stand-up comedy, the difference between eating...
-
How Did Dulce Sloan Get Here?
We are trying something new with this episode. I am NOT doing any preroll. No theme song. No "warm open." Let me know what you think? Dulce Sloan is best known for being a correspondent on The Daily Show, and often killing it in that role. We chatted about her move from theater to stand up, the...
-
How Did Annie Hart Get Here?
On this episode, we had Annie Hart, formerly of Au Revoir Simone, one of Spinning Platters' all-time favorite bands. We talked about the importance of Pee-Wee Herman, Heavy D & The Boys, Funkmaster Flex, David Lynch, Christmas Presents, and even Okuda Hiroko, the woman who wrote all of your...
-
How Did Bethany Cosentino Get Here?
You may know the name Bethany Cosentino as 1/2 of the popular LA duo Best Coast. After nearly 15 years of plugging away, they decided it was time to take a break. In the meantime, Cosentino has recorded a brilliant solo album on par with the best of Linda Rondstadt and Jenny Lewis. We had a…
more -
How Did Rakel Mjöll of Dream Wife Get Here?
Rakel Mjöll is the lead singer of UK punk band Dream Wife. This conversation was witty and full of positive, inspirational energy. Also, nothing has made me want to get drenched in shared sweat at a rock show more than this chat. Dream Wife's third full length, Social Lubrication, is available to...
-
How Did Louise Post Get Here?
Louise Post is the co-leader of Chicago rock icons Veruca Salt, an important distinction that she does, indeed, correct me on in this episode. We spoke about her influences, her process, and her time in both Veruca Salt and solo. Her debut solo album, Sleepwalker, is out today and is available to...
-
How Did Salami Rose Joe Louis Get Here?
Lindsay Olsen, aka Salami Rose Joe Louis, is an incredibly hard to pin down musician. I have often found her loosely labeled "jazz" or "electronic" but neither of those seem quite right. She's doing a beautiful blend of jazz, pop, psych, house, and pure imagination that you really have to listen…
more -
How Did Kate Mattison & Lola Adonna from 79.5 Get Here?
79.5 are a 5 piece R&B group from New York City, and we got to chat with band leaders Kate Mattison and Lola Adonna about their career path, the evolution of the band, finding each other, the joy of DIY spaces, and so much more. Their self-titled, full length debut is out TODAY in all the usual...
-
How Did Serge Nakauchi Pelletier and Maya Kuroki of TEKE::TEKE Get Here?
TEKE::TEKE are a psychedelic rock band from Montreal that perform in Japanese. And by psych rock, I mean they are absolutely genre-bonkers. They bring together elements of Eleki, Punk, Spaghetti Western Score, Classic Rock, and Funk and blend them into something that makes Mr. Bungle sound like...
-
How Did Zella Day Get Here?
Zella Day is a singer songwriter that signed to Hollywood Records when she was merely 17, and has been putting out a steady stream of material since then, enough to be considered a "veteran" at the young age of 27. We had a lovely opportunity to talk about what it's like to be making decidely...
-
How Did Sergio Dias (of Os Mutantes) Get Here?
We've made it to the fourth season of How Did I Get Here?!!! And our first guest of a bonafide rock legend- Sergio Dias, founding member of the groundbreaking rock n roll band Os Mutantes. We made a good-faith attempt to cover a 50+ year career in about 30 minutes, but I can already tell you that...
-
How Did Jean Grae Get Here?
It's been a loooong time, hasn't it? Fear not- I will try not to leave you, my loyal listeners, hanging for this long again. And it was worth the wait... This might be the only episode that is- ENTIRELY UNEDITED. I got to speak with noted polymath Jean Grae about, well, pretty much everything. We...
-
How Did Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells Get Here?
Alexis Krauss is the lead singer of the popular band Sleigh Bells. Their noisy blend of grindcore guitars and pop beats may not be the most suited for casual radio listening, but it feels me and many others with great joy. I got to speak to Krauss about her time with the pop group RubyBlue…
more -
How Did Rhian Teasdale of Wet Leg Get Here?
Most episodes of this show are with someone that has had a long and storied career. I mean, that's kind of the premise of the show. However, the opportunity to bring Rhian Teasdale of the great Wet Leg, the best thing to come out of the Isle of Wight since The Who's best live album, onto the...
-
How Did Tricycle Records' Julie Schuchard get here?
Julie Schuchard is the co-founder of Tricycle Records, who have given us records by local acts such as The Hot Toddies, Everyone is Dirty, Andrew St James, Rich Girls, Geographer, and more. She also has done marketing for Battery, Mezzanine, and about a dozen other local venues, has served on the...
-
How Did Chris Appelgren Get Here?
In this episode I got to talk with Bay Area music legend Chris Appelgren. We talked about many of his bands, including Bumblescrump (sadly not getting into exactly what this word means), The Potatomen, and The Peechees. We also discussed his rising through the ranks at Lookout Records, and even...
-
How Did Mo Herms Get Here?
Mo Herms has done pretty much every job in music you can imagine... From record store clerk to radio programmer to journalist to licensing to, well, just imagine it and she's done it. Mo is currently the Music Editorial Lead at 1021 Creative, but we got to talk about all of it. From the first…
more -
How Did Liz Miele Get Here?
In this edition of "How Did I Get Here?", I got to talk with stand-up comedy prodigy Liz Miele about her career, including getting started at 16 and continuing to nurture that career into adulthood. We discussed her first book, Why Cats Are Assholes, which of course digressed into talking about…
more -
How Did Maggie Arthur Get Here?
Maggie Arthur is a Campaign Coordinator for Our Music My Body, an organization that works with music venues and festivals to raise awareness of sexual harassment in the music scene, as well as help work to make those spaces and the people that enjoy them safer. We talked about her early…
more -
How Did Mickey Darius Get Here?
Mickey Darius is the owner of Broken Clover Records, a wildly eclectic record label featuring acts like June of 44, Enablers, Danielle de Picciotto, and many more. He also is the booking agent for several bands, including The Detroit Cobras, Negativland, and others. He ALSO manages The Lost…
more -
How Did Yo Kinky Get Here?
Remember January 2020? It was a time of magic and optimism. It was an election year, and our Democratic contenders were such a supergroup that whoever we ended up with was going to win. The economy was looking up, the music industry was about to have a record year for live performances. That's…
more -
How Did The Loyal Seas (Tanya Donelly & Brian Sullivan) Get Here?
Remember how I said a few weeks ago that I'm the 1st season of "How Did I Get Here?" was over? Well, I lied. I didn't lie, but I had the opportunity to snag the very first interview with The Loyal Seas. Who are The Loyal Seas? They are a bit of a supergroup featuring Bay Area-based indie veteran...
-
How Did Paige Parsons Get Here?
Today's guest is rock photography extraordinaire, Paige Parsons! We talked her first shows, how she stumbled into rock photography, giving away ice cream at concerts, and her current photography project, the PPE Project, which is an effort to give a face to doctors working in PPE. We had a great...
-
How Did Pskyo Steve Get Here?
This week's guest is legendary Phoenix-based concert promoter Stephen Chilton, aka Psyko Steve. We talked about how he got his start putting on shows in high school, and how he turned that into a full time job. Or several full time jobs. We also talked about what it's like to open The Rebel…
more -
How Did Russell Gatewood Get Here?
This episode features one of my earliest music industry mentors, Russell Gatewood. I met him while interning at UMGD while I was in college. We discussed his career as a DJ, how he fell into music marketing, working for the early music tech startup Music Buddha, starting your own business, and so...
-
How Did David Owen Get Here?
In this installment, I got to speak to SF Sketchfest co-founder David Owen about, well, how to put on an underground comedy festival, and what do you do when it's no longer underground. We talked about his first production, his first festival, how he met Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, the other...
-
How Did Lani Torres Get Here?
Our guest this week is Lani Torres, co-owner of Ivy Room, a great 200 cap room in Albany, CA. We talked about her first show, how she fell into working in live music, we waxed nostalgic about the Bay Area show scene, and talked a bit about running a music venue. Ivy Room is located at 860 San…
more -
How Did Ashley Graham Get Here?
Ashley Graham is the marketing director for The Fillmore and The Masonic. She's also the art director behind those amazing Fillmore posters. In her free time, she's also the advisor to Andrew St James. We talked about her career, of course, and what it's like to land a dream job where you…
more -
How Did Amy Davidman Get Here?
Amy Davidman is one of the partners of The TBA Agency, a booking agency that was formed by a team of booking agents that were all let go of Paradigm Agency due to COVID-19. We had a lovely chat about her start working at The Bowery Ballroom, the shock of being a major player in the NYC music…
more -
How Did Carlos Alazraqui Get Here?
This is an exciting episode... For the first time in the five episode run of this show, our guest is someone that I have never met before! It's Carlos Alazraqui! He's probably most famous for voicing the Taco Bell Chihuahua. Or Rocko, of Rocko's Modern Life. Or as Deputy Garcia on Reno 911. We…
more -
How Did Clare O'Kane Get Here?
Clare O'Kane is one of the finest stand up comics to come out of the 2010's SF stand up scene. She's been featured in Viceland's show Flop House, and is a writer on Hulu's Shrill. She's also one of my favorite people in the world to talk with. We had an excellent chat about her decade in stand up...
-
How Did Stefan Aronsen Get Here?
Stefan Aronsen is the creator of Balanced Breakfast, which is a group of musicians and music industry professionals that get together for breakfast to discuss how to best help each other reach the widest audience. There are chapters all around the world, and they are meeting online during the...
-
How Did Vickki Acuna Get Here?
Vickki Acuna has been working in music for years, putting on shows before she was old enough to drive, street teaming for Part Time Punks, running the Box Office at The Echo in LA, and working as the Digital Coordinator for Goldenvoice Festivals in LA, including Coachella & Stagecoach. Now she…
more -
How Did Mike Ziemer Get Here?
Mike Ziemer is the founder of Third String Productions, a popular concert promoter based in Texas. He spoke to us about his humble beginnings as a concert promoter, how, 15 years ago, he learned how to leverage MySpace to help promote your shows and bands, and how he got to where he is today- a...
About this show
I talk to people with careers in all facets of the entertainment business about their path to get to where they are today!
Hosted by
Spinning Platters
Categories