On this 102nd episode of No Hair, All Heart your favorite bald host Mookie Spitz is thrilled to go full ADHD with the legendary musician, producer, bandleader, teacher, radio host, and industry connector Jesse Krakow: He's the musician's musician thanks to playing with everyone cool while somehow showing up wherever the interesting stuff is popping.
Jesse's jet fuel is fan obsession. As a kid, he dove headfirst into the weird end of the pool—Zappa, Beefheart, outsider bands, avant-prog—and never stopped swimming. That energy carried straight into Time of Orchids, his long-running experimental band, and into a career defined by constant motion: new projects, thrilling collaborators, and endless experimental rabbit holes.
One of the wildest threads is his deep connection to The Shaggs, the famously unpolished, totally singular band from the ’60s. Jesse loves them, tracked them down, organized a tribute, built relationships with the surviving members, and helped bring their music back into the world as a full-fledged multimedia revival. That’s how he rolls: If Jesse's energized, he dives in and makes it happen.
His conversation with Mookie moves like his career: fast, sideways, and occasionally off the rails. Jesse tells wild stories, contemplates the value of failure while revelling in success, and bursts with ideas and enthusiasm. They talk about The Muse ignoring then inspiring the greats, and how brillance can end any second, stressing the need to double-down before she goes belly-up.
That mindset is all over Jesse’s process. He’s always thinking about music, working ideas out, playing gigs and publishing. Collaboration is baked into everything—bands, revivals, and teaching. His advice to young musicians is exciting and clear: make it good, believe in yourself, and listen to people who have been there and done that.
The Guest
Jesse Krakow is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, sideman, teacher and music director. He was a co-founder of the experimental rock band Time of Orchids, a touring bassist for Shudder To Think and a member of The Shaggs/Dot Wiggin Band. He has worked with John Zorn, Paul Rudd, Kate Pierson (The B-52’s), Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Gilbert Gottfried, Nona Hendryx (LaBelle), Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), Julee Cruise (“Twin Peaks”), Chris Butler (The Waitresses), and longtime NYC institution The Losers Lounge, among many others. He was awarded a Fellowship from The Brooklyn Philharmonic, hosted the weekly radio show “Minor Music” on WFMU, a Professor at Bootsy Collins’ Funk University, and has recorded re-creations of albums by Hulk Hogan and Corey Feldman. Currently he is the MD for MANDONNA: an all-male tribute to Madonna. His most recent recording is "Bastards of Prog", released on Cuneiform Records in July 2026 under the name KRAKHOUSE.
Get More Jesse
BoP: https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bastards-of-prog
HULK: https://jessekrakow.bandcamp.com/album/hulk-rules
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessekrakow7127
ToO: https://timeoforchids.bandcamp.com/album/sarcast-while
SHAGGS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uecAAN6E6yY
