Shows
OPEN GRAVES68 - Party Under the Blood Moon with Team Obelisk: Tenebrae, Jak Syn, and VodkahouseTo commemorate Obelisk’s two year anniversary in March, we have assembled the team to download about the journey from day one to year two, which began with a power outage! Now that the infamous back room is opened, our little event seems suddenly to have sprung from a makeshift bar party to an actual club night, dancing on its own two fishnetted legs. We express some sappy gratitude toward each other and to our patrons and staff, and for the opportunity to do something that despite its darkness, has never and will never take itself too seriously. Next ev...2025-04-171h 02OPEN GRAVES67 - Ass! Nipples! Lips! Balls! with ArkonnWe are joined by the enthusiastic, self-described late-blooming goth Arkonn, who is totally not going through a midlife crisis. We learn about his not-goth partner of 21 years (100 years in gay time), the dichotomy of his sensible daywalking life, complex family dynamics and trauma, and how growing up Catholic and gay is essentially a recipe for goth. Find out how he rediscovered his long lost goth identity (with the help of Open Graves and Obelisk!), what our sexual totems are, what Arkonn has in common with Bill Clinton, and stay tuned to end on his beautiful and succinct description of...2025-03-061h 36OPEN GRAVES66 - The Room Is Tired and Also on Fire: Election and Halloween ComedownIn the early weeks after the election and Halloween, Heather and Vesta try to process these two disparate events. On brand as ever, we open with the darkness of the dystopia in the first half, and then claw toward recovery by downloading about Halloween in the second. How does the political climate affect an often escapist subculture? How does 2024 feel different from 2016? Do you put a political moratorium on family holidays? We close with a rundown of New Orleans on Halloween, and a cliffhanger about Mother Russia (rain down…or don’t).2024-12-1254 minOPEN GRAVES65 - My Jay Byrd Brings All the Vestas to the Yard with Rocky Slaughter Pt. 2Welcome to Open Graves After Midnight, in which we are still in Rocky’s house getting into the cliffhangers from part one (and some whiskey and wine). This includes a graphic encounter with Rozz Williams, empathy as a sleeper cell word, and The Other Gargoyle, aka the fraught origin of Rocky and Vesta’s now-cherished friendship. We also get further into Rocky’s meticulous passion as a DJ, his origin in radio, the significance of Twitch during the pandemic which essentially globalized the goth community, and a prophecy for future generations which may or may not include Olivia Rodrigo. Stay t...2024-10-231h 29OPEN GRAVES64 - I Love People Who Don’t Like People with Rocky Slaughter Pt. 1Welcome to Open Graves After Dark with Rocky Slaughter, an alleged recovering goth who keeps getting pulled back in. We jump right into the darkness with discussion of growing up a feral latchkey child and loving it, family tragedy turning metalhead anger into goth depression, and a deep desire to be different from a young age, but once finding community, no longer feeling the need to perform this difference. We talk about his start DJing in 1998, being so goth he got girls by rolling around on the ground, storytelling through setlists, and making Vesta miserable at Bar Sin. Tune...2024-09-1956 minOPEN GRAVES63 - Summergoths Sail the Medium SeasWe apologize for literally talking about the weather, but we are on the porch talking #summergoth and what this time of year means for us. Between kayaking, beach and lake bathing, and all of the goth pool parties, this time of year brings some behaviors that might seem incongruous with our usual identities. We talk about how we adapt (and don’t), how we are really not that different even though it looks different, and how the journey toward spooky season feels like its own often overlooked rite of passage. Happy Augtober. 2024-09-0636 minOPEN GRAVES62 - In the Cemetery with Philomene M. Jaeger & Mabel H. SilentIn our most literal Open Graves yet, we are recording a mini-sode in the cemetery. Heather and Vesta catch up after what we will politely call a hiatus, due to chaotic personal lives. Chill with us until we get kicked out of the cemetery. Please bear with some wind interference sounds around 8mins. As Heather cannot stop saying, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Smoke ‘em if you goth ‘em?2024-06-1921 minOPEN GRAVES61 - A Prescription for Los Angeles with Randy LeoDragonAfter a brief recap of Obelisk’s one year anniversary party, we are joined by fellow valley-goth DJ, Randy LeoDragon. He discusses wrangling goths for the film industry through the Bat Pack and being an ethical goth consultant to oblivious casting directors, he shares what songs he won’t play, and some basic human condition questions (like how do you load a TP roll?). You can find Randy DJing Studio 84 on even weeks and The Alternative (along with Heather!) on the odds, and hit up Lotus Events for your alt wedding needs! This episode is dedicated to the memory of T...2024-04-181h 05OPEN GRAVES60 - Hautism Pt. 2: Everything Is Everything and Goth Is Just Neurodivergent Death DragWe are back to talk about the neurodivergence of it all: the prevalence of ADHD, Autism Spectrum, synesthesia, and “hautism” in the goth community. People who are drawn to subculture seem to be having the human experience a little differently, but what exactly is that difference? We talk about the relationship of CPTSD to neurodivergence, the difference between capital T and lowercase t T/trauma, the intersection of hyper-vigilance and empathy, and generally having no chill. When everything is everything, meaning that we don’t have the ability to compartmentalize to the degree that is valued by a productivity obsess...2024-03-2158 minOPEN GRAVES59 - Hautism Pt. 1: Masking Neurodivergence in the Goth CommunityDepression gets all the stereotyped attention when it comes to diagnosing the goth community, but it is not news that we have higher than average proportion of neuro-spicy members, specifically Autism Spectrum and ADHD (your hosts have a bit of both!) We discuss why people whose brains experience the world differently are drawn to subculture, and more specifically to this one. This can be a desire for routine and repetition, synesthesia, how the baggage of the “gifted child” plays a hand, and what happens to the psyche when your best self feels inaccessible. We also talk about what it mean...2024-02-2842 minOPEN GRAVES58 - The Art of Hanging Out with Matthew Setzer Pt. 2As we get deeper into the hospitality rider’s worth of wine, Matthew Setzer tells us more about getting into flesh hook suspension, playing a Skinny Puppy show right after getting his vasectomy, balls in general, and not over-identifying with the label of goth. We also discuss making music with biofeedback, creative frailty, a love of being on the road, productive hyperactivity vs. dissociative hyperactivity, changing your relationship to your art once it’s out in the world, and learning about racism only after moving to LA from Montana. Catch Matthew playing with Front Line Assembly and Gary Numan, April...2024-02-151h 28OPEN GRAVES57 - Guitar Culture Is Stupid with Matthew Setzer Pt. 1We are honored to be joined by Matthew Setzer, who you may recognize from such projects as Skinny Puppy, London After Midnight, and most recently Front Line Assembly, but also from around LA nightlife. He talks with us about growing up a small-town outcast, finding goth and industrial music through the guidance of his older brother, joining a band that they both loved since their youth, becoming a successful guitarist who shirks guitar culture, and we get a brief live acoustic rendition of Stagger Lee (but not that one). From tennis to flesh hook suspension to publicity through music...2024-02-011h 03OPEN GRAVES56 - Void Adjacent or Void Avoidant? Mental Health in the Goth CommunityAfter a holiday hiatus, we’re back in the graves! This topic comes up in some capacity in almost every episode, so we decided to focus on it intentionally: mental health in the goth community. Depression, anxiety, substance use - our community is full of these, but are they actually more prevalent in our subculture or just more visible? The sad girls talk interventions, therapy, crying in public, and sparkling sadness. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Libby Parham. 2024-01-1044 minOPEN GRAVES55 - You Can’t Squeegee the Mind’s Eye with Bob Gardner Pt. 2Trauma takes a front seat in part two of our conversation with Bob Gardner, and from there it’s a whole journey (content warning: the darkness circles back at 1:01:40 - 1:03:20 with discussion of childhood sexual abuse). Darkness as our copilot, we also hear empowering stories about the 7 hour train ride to Slimelight in London which he then wouldn’t leave until 7am, sex and drugs and bodily functions, differences of heteronormativity and gender nonconformity in the UK and US goth scenes, and the oasis that is Whitby Goth Weekend. Bob shares his experience with adult ADHD diagnosis and its rela...2023-11-081h 26OPEN GRAVES54 - “Please Play Something More Upbeat, I Need to Stay Awake”Deep into the so-called spooky season, Heather and Vesta have a one-on-one that takes turns all over, from our Obelisk Halloween party (Night of the Mamushka!) to goth music being vetoed by a hipper than thou afterhours bartender, to a stalker coming out of the woodwork. We also discuss the dilemma of explaining goth to inquiring minds who don’t even know who David Bowie is, more notes on the ways in which we talk about trauma, and the myth of the chill girl. We hope you’ve had a fulfilling Halloween season, and shoutout to Christie and Kristy!2023-11-0145 minOPEN GRAVES53 - A Fixture in Five Months with Bob Gardner Pt. 1New to Los Angeles but not at all new to goth, Bob Gardner joins us to talk about being adopted into our community and all of the strange detours that led him here. As you may be able to tell, Bob is from northeastern England, has a gregarious ADHD charm, and a lot to say. We talk gothcest, transhumanism and quantum voodoo bullshit, varying degrees of Otherness, and hot takes on neurodivergence and capitalism. He tells us about clawing his way out of “the Detroit of the UK,” entering goth through Nine Inch Nails, the concept of subculture vs. coun...2023-10-2558 minOPEN GRAVES52 - Goth Butts in Fishnets: A Dialectical of Neo-Dystopian Aesthetics with L FauntFrom tarot reading, to a 16 year career in dance, L Faunt is a wildly multifaceted goth, queer, Jew-witch comedian, and today they share their insights with us. They discuss being raised in a Romanian interfaith household and rejecting both religions in favor of “skeptical agnostic jewish inspired mysticism,” struggling with cultural appropriation, and the goth renaissance that is taking place in Los Angeles post-pandemic. We touch on the commodification of goth femme people, how LGBTQ+ folks are taking up the mantle in newer goth spaces, and how “woke” comedy is actually funnier. Oh, and Vesta is a terrible tarot client...2023-09-201h 15OPEN GRAVES51 - But I Feel Like a Cryptid Every Day: A Post-Marc Discussion of OthernessIt starts with a chat about a goth pool party and ocean report, but ends with a full therapy session and a cliffhanger. This is a followup to our two-part recording with Marc Heuck, because he gave us a lot to dwell on. As goths, what is the consensus about the intersection between horror, sci-fi, and our music-based subculture? We agree that horror was once a very sexist genre, but how is that changing now, how does it affect us, and the androgynous male horror fans in our community? We discuss our relationship to processing trauma when you experience...2023-08-3054 minOPEN GRAVES50 - The Others Are Our Friends: The Passive Normalization of Goth and Monster Culture with Marc Heuck Pt. 2Having left off with Night of the Living Dead becoming public domain, we continue our discussion with Marc about how mainstream media set the stage for goth. We also question how the influence of worldwide collective trauma set us up to embrace feelings of otherness, how monster narratives provide solace, and debate the difference between pop culture and subculture. From Harold of Harold and Maude as the prototypical goth boy to Bauhaus and Bowie in The Hunger, to the opening of Spirit Halloween and The Cure releasing a compilation on a major label, we conclude with Lydia Deetz codifying...2023-08-251h 35OPEN GRAVES49 -The Passive Normalization of Goth and Monster Culture with Marc Heuck Pt.1Marc Heuck, Vesta’s first employer, friend of 20 years, and self-proclaimed goth-adjacent film nerd, might be our first guest to show up with pages of notes, and is definitely our first guest to lead to a two parter. This dissertation-level discussion is about the media that set the stage in the mainstream for goth to thrive later on. By this he means television, radio, and comics; the types of media that come directly into your home. We begin in 1930 with “The Shadow,” through the Charles Addams in the New Yorker, to Night of the Living Dead becoming public domain. We disc...2023-08-171h 02OPEN GRAVES48 - Too Goth for Depeche Mode with Laura ColdheartToday on zoom we have one of Heather’s gothmothers, Laura Coldheart. She discusses coming to the goth side through experiencing death in the family and the cultural influence of Dia de los Muertos, finding music through working at Sam Goody, and feeling that the goth community used to offer more support to its members. This evil librarian offers insight into how appearing dark and spooky can function as protection against predators - and her children agree. Keep it spooky!2023-08-1046 minOPEN GRAVES47 - You Don’t Have to Be Rich to Be a Weirdo, but… An Addams Exploration Pt. 2After a preamble about lingering Covid, summergoth pool parties, vasectomies, and laser hair removal, we revisit the ever-surfacing topic of The Addams Family in their many incarnations, this time prompted not by Netflix’s Wednesday, but by a recently discovered Pluto channel that plays only the 1960s television show. This time Vesta is fixated on deconstructing the capitalist themes in every iteration of the family, the way that their outsider status relies on wealth, how their wholesomeness allows for wealth without abuse of power, and worldliness and openness as part of their alienation from the white middle class. We al...2023-07-2141 minOPEN GRAVES46 - Your Favorite Song That You Don’t Know Yet with Jared Eakin (define.human)We are joined today in some stereotypically bisexual and neurodivergent seating positions by Jared Eakin aka define.human, to talk about how they skipped right over goth to get to industrial, how health trauma in the family coincided with their introduction to goth and industrial, growing up in the homophobia mecca of Riverside, and now living in an entirely queer, nonbinary, trans, and poly household. They discuss their spreadsheet-level obsession with new darkwave music, becoming a club DJ and promoter just this year, and being part of the “cult” of Ex Corpse, the art collective that curates space for quee...2023-07-121h 04OPEN GRAVES45 - Convenience vs Artistry with Robin ThomasWe open with Robin graciously and unexpectedly offering us sacrificial vinyl: The Glove’s Blue Sunshine for Heather and Bowie’s Loving the Alien for Vesta. DJ Robin Thomas discusses his history with KROQ and DJing nightclubs all over southern California, the inclusivity of the goth community as someone who may not identify as goth, coming from a musical family but still feeling like an outsider, and how music can expand the mind beyond linear thinking. Robin’s day and nightlife are very separate, with days in academia and healthcare, and nights playing b-sides alongside Swedish Egil, next upcoming gig at Can...2023-06-2347 minOPEN GRAVES44 - From Joseph Smith to Robert Smith with Virginia JonesGoth, feminism, and comedy do coexist, and our guest Virginia Jones is living (and undead) proof. We talk about how refining her art allowed her to become more herself, having her own album title mansplained to her, and growing up as a Texas punk fascinated with California deathrock. We know that otherness unites goths and comedians, and the origins of both run deep; we learn about growing up Mormon, leaving the church after learning about its opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment as a teenager, and finding a new secular Church in Dallas. You can now find Virginia performing...2023-06-071h 11OPEN GRAVES43 - Jauntily Macabre: Netflix’s Wednesday and the Cultural Integrity of the Addams Family Pt. 1Since day one we have intended to do an episode (or episodes) focusing on The Addams Family, their many incarnations, and cultural and subcultural importance, but now it is impossible to do so without first addressing Netflix’s Wednesday series. Unsurprisingly, we have a lot of feelings. In addition to bitching about some of the choices of the television show, including but not limited to praise of Jenna Ortega while dragging the rest of the cast and the Hogwarts fever dream fan fiction plots, we touch on the intersection of the Addams with subculture and identifying with the “other,” why it...2023-05-3157 minOPEN GRAVES42 - Goodbye, Cruel World: A Summary and Recovery from GothchellaIt’s live music season, and this is an intimate recovery zoom after the chaos of the Cruel World festival weekend. Heather was fully prepared and committed with a wine bra and a She-Wee, while Vesta…is not a festival person. We discuss the overwhelming(ly positive) experience of the triple-stage goth-leaning music festival at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, including but not limited to Iggy Pop summoning lightning and the festival’s evacuation, to he and Siouxsie performing a redux on Sunday. 2023-05-2544 minOPEN GRAVES41 - For Strength, Eat a Spider with BattyKat WeedAfter reuniting by sharing a tattoo artist, we have one of Vesta’s first goth friends and a day-one listener, BattyKat Weed. She tells us about being into Edward Gorey and Stephen King as a child, growing up with some unspoken parental mysteries, finding her way to goth through an interest in paganism and Renaissance Faire, putting her self-expression on hiatus to pursue acting, and how this may have tricked her not-goth husband at the beginning of their 20+ year marriage. Harkening back to our chronotype episode which resonated strongly with Kat, she discusses the toll that fitting into the da...2023-04-211h 27OPEN GRAVES40 - The Goth/Industrial Costume Change with Darrick WalkerLovingly referred to as the mayor of the LA goth community, Darrick Walker welcomes us off of the dance floor and to his kitchen table. He opens up about his decades long commitment to dance, how it can take years to talk to people even when you go out every night, growing up in Florida dancing to hip hop, and coming to LA at 18 to pursue fashion. He tells us about growing up in the South with a Reverend Grandfather and parents from the Bahamas, how his relationship to religion and family has evolved over time, the experience of...2023-04-131h 18OPEN GRAVES39 - The Red Rooster Is Dead with Pollyanne HornbeckWe are joined by self-proclaimed Elder Goth Pollyanne Hornbeck, as she tells us about getting into old-school LA clubs underage and hearing Bauhaus for the first time, working for the LAWeekly right out of college and interviewing Nick Cave, living in the Hollywood Hills with Courtney Love, and how motorcycles can be cooler than boyfriends. Her passion for community is palpable not only due to her commitment to the goth community and those in it, but also in her transition from full-time artist to mental healthcare worker - without ever sacrificing her authentic aesthetics or allowing others to pathologize...2023-04-061h 02OPEN GRAVES38 - Post-Mortem: Obelisk & ChamberAfter a truly crazy week, we have a pun-intended post-mortem download about the opening of Obelisk for Vesta’s birthday and Heather’s DJ debuts both there and at Chamber. Guess what, it is overwhelmingly and sincerely positive! We both experience an outpouring of support over competition in both settings, and the potential for this to be more prevalent in our community over the stereotype of drama. Thanks also to Tenebrae, Jak Syn, Steve Gheist, and Ray Baron for all your skill and support. Also featuring a surprise phone call guest appearance from Ray! Obelisk is every third Thursday at R...2023-03-1548 minOPEN GRAVES37 - We’re All Just Little Lobsters with Jak SynOver homemade vegan queso and wine, we chat with Jak Syn about his DJ career and love of synthwave, starting a band and finding his way to the goth scene in high school, having to grow up quickly with mental illness in the family, how when clubbing became an escape that enabled destructive behavior, this lead to a growth and accountability within the community, and how the community supported him through the unique pain of losing his wife to cancer this year. Yet in the midst of the darkness, you can look forward to a rendition of 90s sitcom...2023-03-091h 11OPEN GRAVES36 - Obelisk, Chamber, and Nihil: A Shameless Self-Promotion MinisodeWe’re on zoom today to lure you out to our first club night, Obelisk at Risky Business on Thursday, March 9th, which also happens to be Vesta’s birthday party and Heather’s DJ debut. Obelisk will be every 2nd Thursday, no cover. We also want to cross-promote within the community, and plug Nihil at The North End on Saturday, March 4th, which also might include a little birthday celebration. Additionally, Heather will be guest DJing at Chamber on Sunday, March 12th. If you're in Los Angeles, party with us in person!2023-03-0215 minOPEN GRAVES35 - Flyers Before Friends with Natasha BoyerWe are joined on the “rough couch” by Heather’s dancefloor girlfriend, Natasha Boyer. She shares her experience of growing up as an anxious kid in a strict Catholic home, finding goth by way of 80s clubs, and how the importance of getting out of her comfort zone led to becoming a gogo dancer. She speaks about parental growth and mending that relationship as a tattooed adult and non-believer, growing up keeping bugs as pets to becoming a vet-tech and full time cat lady, and how dancing in our subculture is a little bit like being a cat. Old club r...2023-02-091h 21OPEN GRAVES34 - From Lotion and Lollipops to Bats Against Trump with Jenn BatsZooming in from Long Beach is the other half of the Release the Bats duo, Jenn Bats! Jenn shares with us a bit about her pre-Bats life going back to separating from her off-grid parents and moving in with her metalhead boyfriend at 16, how hippies and goths can relate to each other despite their differences, being a goth mom and pregnant at Helter Skelter, and a seemingly out of character candy raver phase (yes there are photos). We also talk about the political stances she has been able to take through running RtB and how the Trump years effected...2023-02-021h 17OPEN GRAVES33 - I Didn’t Realize There Were Any Rules with JolieWe are joined tonight by the soft and soothing voice of Jolie, a breathtaking staple of the LA dance floors. She shares her experience of cathartic expression through dance, a palm reader directing her from the rock scene to the hip hop scene before finding her way to goth, and the support and acceptance she found in our community. As someone who stays away from social media, she elaborates on how Twitch DJs kept the music community alive through the pandemic without the use of social media, and how we connect with each other while also allowing for introversion...2023-01-261h 03OPEN GRAVES32 - Night Creatures in a Daywalker’s World: Circadian Anti-Rhythms and Late-Phase Chronotypes in the Goth CommunityAs more studies come out about chronotypes and the variables in circadian rhythm, we have a deep desire to express our unprofessional medical opinions about how late-phase chronotypes might be disproportionately more common in the goth scene, how hard it can be to fit into a world designed for early birds, and how this has affected our relationships with school, work, and self-worth. There are value judgements around night people being lazy and frivolous vs. early risers as ambitious and goal oriented, and Vesta is bitter about it. Also, possibly our most controversial statement: breakfast foods are overrated.2023-01-1858 minOPEN GRAVES31 - A Salute to Swishy Bitches with Michael TenebraeAfter overcoming some technical difficulties, we are honored to have a very special guest, designer of our show logo, Vesta’s longest term ex-partner and the father of the infamous Umbra, Michael Tenebrae. While drinking Boneyard Old Fashioneds, we discuss how Vampire the Masquerade turned this San Diego native goth, how being into metal might seem in conflict with the elaborate androgyny of goth, and explaining goth androgyny to a group of young marines (!!). We also touch on Satanism and the left hand path, being kicked out of Catholic school as a kid, as well as feeling abused at home an...2023-01-111h 42OPEN GRAVES30 - Dark Tsunami, a Wave of Winter BullshitAfter a bit of a holiday hiatus, catch up with us for a casual hang on Heather’s couch, in which we touch on the experience of being goth in Kauai, Hawaiian Christmas water grannies, the winter Covid resurgence, Gothanukkah (yes, it’s a thing, more on that later), Icelandic introvert Christmas, and the world exploding with emotions over Netflix’s Wednesday series (and more on that later, too). And as usual, interruptions by cats.2022-12-2844 minOPEN GRAVES29 - Catchy Dark Shit: 50 Best Goth Songs Pt. 2We’re back to discuss the second half of Rolling Stone’s “The 50 Best Goth Songs of All Time,” now opining about selections 25-1. Heather and Vesta become more likely to agree with each other and the article’s author in the second half…until we get to number one. Also featuring a She Wants Revenge impression no one asked for.2022-12-0141 minOPEN GRAVES28 - Get Off My Lawn: The 50 Best Goth Songs Pt. 1Rolling Stone recently published an article entitled “The 50 Best Goth Songs of All Time” written by Andi Harriman, and of course we have opinions. The list is an interesting combinations of basic staples and odd deep cuts, and we in no way claim authority in this divisive and subjective topic, but that doesn’t mean we won’t talk it to death. Embark down a journey of opinions as we explore selections 50-25, of course with anecdotes along the way, as well as a surprise phone appearance by Todd Malkin!2022-11-2358 minOPEN GRAVES27 - No More Songs About Shadows with Davey FerchowOne musician named Davey was simply not enough, so we now welcome Davey Ferchow of the bands Dry Wedding and Swampland, zooming in from Portland. After airing some SoCal grievances, this pod full of poets gets into discussing how a sense of self can emerge from trauma, healthily and wholesomely acknowledging an addictive personality, disagreements about Nick Cave and his many iterations, and the rite of passage that is surviving a Swans concert. We must give Davey credit for not flipping a table and rage-quitting the zoom over our ignorance of Scott Walker. Look out for Dry Wedding’s up...2022-11-041h 13OPEN GRAVES26 - Pumpkin Spice Shame MinisodeWe’re here with our first minisode, in honor of Halloween! Vesta and Heather chat about how the goth community embraces the Halloween season, the time when the rest of society meets us where we already live. We air some grumpy vibes about haunts, conventions, costumes, and amateur nights, but also dig up a lifetime of reverence for the childhood experiences that led us to where we are today. Happy spooky season, wherever the fuck that phrase suddenly came from.2022-10-3031 minOPEN GRAVES25 - Charlotte’s Goth Sometimes with Charlotte AndersonCharlotte Anderson is Vesta’s fairygothchild, and also affectionately known as Charlotte’s Goth Sometimes, Normcore Charlotte, and an “inside goth.” Our bubbly Canadian discusses neurodivergence and being bullied in school, a traumatic death in the family that led her away from the Anglican church and into the so-called darkness, and how she focuses on building community through her daywalker job at Lionsgate, which leads to both an argument about Twilight, and also a reverence for communities of all kinds. Charlotte’s goth streak may be hidden under blue jeans and a love for Beyonce, but it is most certainly...2022-10-202h 04OPEN GRAVES24 - Manic Pixie Dead Girls: The Legacy of Fetishized Femme DeathThis is part 2 of Poe’s Big Tiddy Goth Girls, which gives a more in depth look at the literary trope of dead women fetishized by male narrators. It is debatable whether this has a direct effect on the goth subculture any more than it does on western culture as a whole, but either way it is an undeniable building block of the Gothic literature where we find our roots. Ophelia and Desdemona, Annabelle Lee and Lenore, Elizabeth Frankenstein, Sybil Vane, all the way up through Laura Palmer and Nick Cave’s many lyrical deaths and beyond, this trope live...2022-10-1440 minOPEN GRAVES23 - Edgar Allan Poe Wanted a Big Tiddy Goth GirlfriendHeather and Vesta chat about how the goth subculture is represented in mainstream media, interpreted by those outside the community, and often therefore fetishized. We discuss whether we tend to fetishize youth within the community, what happens when our aesthetic is decontextualized and sometimes appropriated, and why this podcast will never tag #gothgirl (ugh what a conundrum, we just did). We leave you with a cliffhanger of the manic pixie dead girl trope, which we will get into more in depth on our next guest-free episode.2022-10-0650 minOPEN GRAVES22 - Robert Smith Says You Don’t Have to Read Proust with Davey HavokTonight we are graced by the presence of Davey Havok, whom you may recognize from such bands as AFI and Blaqk Audio, as well as Dreamcar and XTRMST. Outside of his very successful music projects, we know Davey as a staple on the dance floor in the LA goth community. We jump right into discussing whether the label “goth” is diminutive, whether labels in general are anything more than lazy journalism, the experience of growing up as a casualty of Catholicism and rejecting organized religion, and coming up in the hardcore punk scene which then gave way to a more...2022-09-211h 26OPEN GRAVES21 - Is Jonny Slut Hydrated? and Other Important Questions with Morticia BatzToday we are chatting with SoCal deathrock enigma Morticia Batz, founder of online publication GothHausLA.com. But there is more to her than just deathrock, rollerderby, and band interviews. Coming from the LA County foster system and homelessness, to giving TedX talks and getting her Psychology and Indigenous People’s Studies degree at UCSD, she is determined to use everything she’s been through to help others through activism, nonprofit work, research, and changing public policy. One thing is clear: community comes first and foremost to this goth-adopted bat. And someday soon she will answer the question: does Jonny Slut...2022-09-1450 minOPEN GRAVES20 - Our Lives Are a Bottle Episode: How We Cope with “Goth Drama”Our scene has a reputation for being dramatic to a fault, and Vesta and Heather unpack whether this is really deserved. When we actively choose to stick with an insular community for decades, shit is bound to happen; after all, high school drama only lasts for four years and then you’re out! We discuss the difference between the meaning of drama, actual universal human suffering, the sometimes-healthy airing of grievances, and the importance of forgiveness. Shit, we should probably edit this all out.2022-09-091h 10OPEN GRAVES19 - Unapproachable Dorks with Jay ByrdIf you’re from LA, you have seen a shirtless man dancing up a storm, and that man is Jay Byrd and he is with us today. He tells us about growing up in Santa Clarita in an extremely preppy environment, having a jock phase, and how being bullied led to both an interest in martial arts and an overdevelopment of empathy. We discuss his compartmentalization of identity between work, family, fitness, and the goth scene (who is Jason White?), as well as the importance of male friendship in our scene and brunch with the boys (sometimes Vesta is on...2022-08-261h 27OPEN GRAVES18 - This Is a Lovely Bog: The Arts in the Goth CommunityIt is obvious that the goth scene is fueled by musicians, music, and dance, but how does the arts community in general overlap with the goth community? We discuss our experience as poets, working with productions such as Ex Corpse, a queer goth art collective, The Poetry Brothel in which Vesta is the token goth and proud of it, Heather's own book of published poetry, "Feral Black Sheep," and Wilde Words which focused on dandyism in literature. We have artists of every type in our scene, extending out to the blurrier boundaries of what is considered art, when we...2022-08-171h 05OPEN GRAVES17 - Andy Warhol If He Had a Better Personality with Shok KantorIf you’re in the goth scene at all, you probably know Shok, the Andy Warhol of many musical trades. He was goth before there was a word for it, literally. We talk (poolside!) about his many music projects, working with David J of Bauhaus and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde in the band Tres Vampires, his John Hughes level of confidence and how it lives side by side with clinical depression, and how connecting through his many Twitches and Zooms during the pandemic helped to heal this depression. Among Shok’s many projects, you can find Lost Tapes at L...2022-08-051h 48OPEN GRAVES16 - (You Don't Have To) Shave ItIt always seems to get weird when it’s just us. We get into an intimate subject that is more universal than specific to the goth scene, but Vesta is convinced we approach it a little differently: body hair and grooming. Aesthetic expression and gender dynamics are integral to our subculture, and that doesn’t stop at the covered parts. We discuss gendered expectations, how androgyny functions in our subculture, inclusive feminism, some TMI, and that goddamn Fad Gadget song. Drinking game: drink every time we say we have to cut something out, and clearly did not cut it out.2022-07-2856 minOPEN GRAVES15 - Ritual without Religion with Joe KeeperWe are joined by our second not-goth guest, Joe Keeper of Bar Keeper Silverlake. Vesta was the first goth person he had ever gotten to know, and he had questions; instead of just having a normal conversation about it, we decided to record it. What is the relationship, if any, of Rocky Horror to goth? How does androgyny function in the goth community? Do we shave more than our heads? How might goth compare to keeping kosher? Are we all this literate or do we have idiot goths too? Are there old goths? Is everyone white? Can we date...2022-07-1554 minOPEN GRAVES14 - Trauma, Music, Glamour, and Sadness with Amy HateleyWe are hanging out IN PERSON and drinking wine with Amy Hateley, and it’s a giggly one due to the depth of our friendship. We discuss how we all came together through the goth community, modern witchery and spirituality vs religion, being raised pseudo-Christian with “your own decorative Jesus” and youth group trauma, the goofiest domme and the healthiest pre-game ever, and the goth sport of drinking and judging. Welcome to the coven.2022-07-071h 14
OPEN GRAVES13 - The Sublime Art of Gothic Drinking: Breaking Spirits Crossover with Sofonisba MerulaThis is our first crossover episode, originally published on Breaking Spirits! Vesta and Sofonisba cohost a podcast that explores the cultural histories that spirits, liquors, distillers, and cocktails carry with them and into our own imbibing experiences. With Heather as our guest, we delve into the intersection of goth and the Gothic with cocktail culture, from shrouded monasteries imagined by Victorian novelists, to the clubs and bars in our subculture today. You’ll also get Sofi’s original cocktail recipes for The Udolpho and The Black Cat; grab a drink and enter the abyss.2022-06-291h 33OPEN GRAVES12 - It Came to Me in a Nightmare with Ray BaronThrough the lens of a rosary shroud, we welcome Ray Baron, DJ of Noctis, Chamber, Ruin Hollywood, DiskoNekro, and many more nights close to our hearts, to discuss our happiness in the darkness. Ray discusses his unique relationship to music and dance, how that relates to his background in Michelin star kitchens, what we all first danced to, and what makes a community and not a cult, all with a soothing background of face-based rosary wind chimes.2022-06-221h 18OPEN GRAVES11 - Friends in Dark Places and the Slow Bridge BurnHeather and Vesta get into a topic even more awkward than the dating episode: the varying states of friendships in the goth community (and the human experience in general). Romantic relationships get all the attention, but the emotional impact of changing friendships can take an even larger and unspoken emotional toll. There is even more verbal gymnastics to avoid violating anyone’s privacy, and be warned, there is poetry.2022-06-1558 minOPEN GRAVES10 - Because We’re Weird with Dave BatsToday we are joined by Dave Bats, founder and DJ of Release the Bats, Long Beach’s deathrock club of 20 years. We get into how the goth community dealt with the pandemic through Twitch, the separation of identity from day jobs, learning to daywalk, and being drawn to the dark from a young age. And apparently once upon a time, Heather thought that Release the Bats involved literally and not figuratively releasing bats from the Que Sera.2022-06-081h 07OPEN GRAVES9 - Code Black, Code Brown, and the Love of the Haunt with Jim “Pops 3:16” PearceDid you know Heather worked at Knott’s Scary Farm and Vesta worked at Haunted Hayride? This brings us to our first not-goth guest, Pops 3:16, Knott’s Scary Farm "Dark Entities" maze manager, joins us to discuss the overlap of the goth subculture and the drive to work as a Scare Actor, the need for empathy, and different types of fear responses, some of which involve the human butthole.
2022-05-261h 02OPEN GRAVES8 - Incest & Outsourcing (or Dating in the Goth Community)This is an awkward one, we’re discussing dating in the goth community - and also the experience of having relationships outside of the subculture. We are a deeply incestuous community; Vesta leans toward embracing the gross goth web, while Heather generally prefers to outsource and have some separation between subculture and relationships. We discuss how the incestuous web leads to a sometimes useful and sometimes problematic vetting system, the need to stay friends with exes, the spectrum of monogamous and poly folks in our community, and the phenomenon of gothic deception. Witness the verbal gymnastics we do in or...2022-05-1950 minOPEN GRAVES7 - Jewelry Collection or Coexist Bumper Sticker?Well that was fast, we’re already talking religion and disagreeing: Is Catholic, Christian, and Satanic iconography in the gothic aesthetic offensive? We discuss Christian witchery, secular Judaism, appropriation, problematic ethics of the left hand path, social justice, and the phenomenon of the goth letterman jacket, all with a Nazi dagger cliffhanger.2022-05-111h 08OPEN GRAVES6 - The Voluptuous Horror with Marilynn HendrieOur guest today is Vesta’s Magenta Mother, Marilynn Hendrie. We discuss the goth gateway drug that is Rocky Horror, seemingly age-inappropriate friendships, extreme empathy, witchy spirituality, how we process sadness, and women supporting women in the community. Please pardon the snorting and scream-laughing.2022-05-0555 min
OPEN GRAVES5 - Dance the Mamushka at Disneyland with Noah Korda (and surprise guest Sarah Jappe)Bats Day founder Noah Korda joins us to talk about the inception of Bats Day 24 years ago, the experience of coming from an artistically and musically inclined family, being a goth parent, and more on why California death rock bleeds into Disneyland, all while dodging our “darkness” question to claim he is “normal” (we’re not convinced). Bats Day is back for 2022 on Sunday May 8th, we’ll be there!2022-04-271h 07
OPEN GRAVES4 - A Mathematician and an Underwear Model Walk into a Bar with Mat SegalWe have our first guest, Mat Segal! Mat’s gothness was preordained by his family history in the music business and California punk scene, revealing that goth is not always about rebellion. We discuss goths in hot weather, the divisive importance of Del Taco in the club scene, Vampire the Masquerade, how the internet and message boards (and eventually social media) played a key role in democratizing the social hierarchy, vocational diversity, and the problem of the broken stair.2022-04-201h 01OPEN GRAVES3 - Mirth & the MacabreHeather’s anonymous Burner friend has questions about aesthetic peer pressure and Vesta has opinions. We discuss dress codes, compartmentalization of work and social life, and we begin to get into the American Gothic mirth/macabre juxtaposition that draws goths to Disneyland (but not Heather). Featuring a visit from Heather’s cat Tidbit.2022-04-1357 minOPEN GRAVES2 - Memento Mori Motherf*ckers, It’s a BummerFunerals within the goth community are different because we have fewer boundaries; how do we handle this lack of demarcation? Going from a funeral to a birthday party in different cemeteries in the same dress, and an ex’s memorial in our club venue; does this change our view of celebrating the macabre? Not really, but we’re wrestling with it in this extremely literal episode of Open Graves. Dedicated to Davey Bales, Charly Gienau, and Taneka Porch.2022-04-0653 minOPEN GRAVES1 - What Is Your Darkness?Vesta and Heather discuss how they found their way into the LA goth community through Rocky Horror, David Bowie, middle school mean girls, and a Ralph’s cashier DJ, and also chat about why we are not afraid of a little awkwardness, how we might process trauma differently, feelings about comments on our appearances, and why it took events outside the club scene for us to become friends.
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