REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE

This week we talk to L.A. punk legends, siblings Jennifer & Jordan Schwartz, who, alongside Dave Markey (1991: The Year Punk Broke) & Jeff and Steve McDonald (Redd Kross), created zines, punk compilations, and two iconic Super-8mm full-length features, 1984's Desperate Teenage Lovedolls & 1986's Lovedolls Superstar (both of which have recently been part of the Criterion Channel's Girl Bands series!!!).

We discuss how having their dad drag them to see wildly intense films (such as Billy Jack or The Exorcist) as small children absolutely informed their future films, L.A.'s Z Channel, Rocky Horror Picture Show...

This week we are joined by director Ken Kwapis (The Larry Sanders Show, The Office, Freaks & Geeks), who just finished his first documentary, We Are The Shaggs, helping to tell the story of the legendary group of three sisters who made one of the most polarizing albums of all time in the late 60s.

We discuss his iconic work on Freaks & Geeks, helping create The Larry Sanders Show while trying to help find the awkward smile of Rip Torn's character, how everyone seems to remember the very first time they ever heard The Shaggs' music, Ken's...

This week on Revolutions Per Movie, my guests are the two driving forces behind CHIC-A-GO-GO (the 3-decade-long Chicago cable-access dance show for all ages): Jake Austen & Miss Mia Park!!!

We discuss their pre-Chic-A-Go-Go lives including Jake's zine Rocktober & Mia's life in rock bands, Phil Milstein (President of the Velvet Underground Appreciation Society) turning Jake onto the 60s Chicago pre-teen dance show Kiddie-A-Go-Go and the light bulb moment after seeing it that led to the creation of CAGG, the random story on how Mia was a dancer on the very first episode before being asked to become...

Welcome to an ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

As we near Halloween, it feels appropriate to revisit my first Halloween episode, which focused on the THIS IS GWAR documentary. But this is also a fascinating episode because this is before my guest, Chaki, and I knew we would become Urgh! A Music War soulmates (with our A Very Opinionated Look At Urgh Patreon series and our touring Professors Of Urgh live presenation/screenings). It's a sweet look at two goofballs who are headed toward a great friendship, not to mention...

This week on Revolutions Per Movie, I had the pleasure of having three souls who not only have swirled in and around the world of the musical/film/performance collective, Elephant 6, but who were also principal in the finishing of the final The Olivia Tremor Control record, The Same Place, completed 27 years after the release of their last record.

We discuss their entry point into the world of Elephant 6, their world pre and post Olivia, how Derek joined the band, Elf Power, how beautifully unhinged the Elephant 6 live performances could be, how the first version of...

THE PRODUCTION, ARRANGEMENTS, SCORING & FILM SCORES OF GEORGE MARTIN w/ Brian Kehew & Kevin Ryan

This week I am joined by the authors of two of the greatest books on music ever (George Martin: The Scores & Recording The Beatles, which received a 5-star review in MOJO): Brian Kehew & Kevin Ryan! They are also two incredible musicians, producers & engineers who have worked with The Who, Beck, Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Fiona Apple & Air, to name just a few. In this episode, we focus on George Martin's incredible scoring & arrangements for The Beatles as well as his long journey...

My guest this week is comedian, actor & musician Jon Daly (Kroll Show, Fallout, Comedy Bang Bang, Curb Your Enthusiasm), who picked the skin-crawling, jaw-dropping documentary History Of The Eagles.

We also discuss Jon's intersection between music and comedy, how his Red Hot Chili Peppers Super Bowl parody composition fooled the universe into thinking it was real, growing up in Pittsburgh, our uncles' record collections, living inside comedy records, Jon working on his comedy record with musical legends Mary Timony, Colleen Green & Nick Thorburn, the creation of Jon's epic Adult Swim Golf Classic (starring himself and Adam Scott...

Welcome to an ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

What can we say DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM EVER but yes...please listen to my guest, Grammy-nominated archivist Andy Zax, tell you why!!!

(Episode 27 originally aired on Mar 14th 2024)

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

This week, we discuss a music film that my guest, Andy Zax (a Grammy-nominated archivist and the Music Geek on Comedy Central’s ‘Beat The Geeks’), begs us NOT to watch--the 1970 psychedelic romp ‘THE PHYNX.’ We take a deep dive into the film’s...

This week I'm joined by Ilya Chaiken, the director of Pretty Ugly: The Story Of The Lunachicks & Theo Kogan & Sydney 'Squid' Silver of The Lunachicks!!!

We discuss the experience of having not only a movie about your lives come to fruition but a book as well, their dreams of each having solo albums like Kiss when the band first started, the incredible story of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon trying to get the band to play worse when they offered to record them, their jaw-dropping first UK tour and Lunachick-mania, Ilya befriending the band early on...

Yes! It took a member of Mission of Burma to finally pick a Beatles film to discuss, three years into the podcast! Totally honored to have the person behind so much of my favorite sonic wizardry, Roger Clark Miller, on Revolutions Per Movie.

We discuss the mysterious lore behind the Horrible Truth About Burma live LP and how it might be the high water mark of their tape manipulator (Martin Swope), the moment when Roger first heard the elements of Burma come together, the journey to get Peter Prescott a microphone so he could also sing i...

Welcome to an ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

This was an early episode of Revolutions Per Movie with one of my favorite documentary filmmakers, David Weissman. Through his hard work and artistry, he made the story of The Cockettes available to future generations of free-spirited weirdos to drink from forever.

(Episode 12 originally aired on Dec. 9th 2023)

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

This week, we talked to David Weissman (the co-director of ‘The Cockettes’ & ‘We Were Here’) about the amazing documentary ‘The Cockettes’—documenting the trailblazing...

I'm honored to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Revolutions Per Movie with two legends--King Coffey of Butthole Surfers & filmmaker Tom Stern (Freaked, The Idiot Box), who directed the new documentary BUTTHOLE SURFERS: THE HOLE TRUTH & NOTHING BUTT.

We discuss the complicated relationship with Texas and what about that push/pull creates singular artistic statements, how Tom met the band and how he started filming the "Cherub" music video that same day, the Texas mythos, King's experience of seeing Butthole Surfers for the first time, Tom losing his house in the LA fires and using it to...

Robert Pollard: "Richard Davies is one of the last great songwriters on planet Earth."

Alright…this is a big one for me, as one of my long-time musical heroes, Richard Davies of The Moles & Cardinal, joins me on this week's episode to let me discuss his body of work as well as his music film pick, The Wrecking Crew!!!!

We discuss why no two of his albums are the same (down to multiple re-issues of the same album, with different versions of the songs!), coming from Wales to Australia to form The Moles, th...

Welcome to an ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

There may have been no more cut-through-the-bullshit guest than Perla Batalla!!! Getting to discuss her legacy as well as her lovely creative partnership with Leonard Cohen was sparky as hell...and I loved her critical eye and honesty on a film she's a part of (LEONARD COHEN: I'M YOUR MAN). Anyone who is critical of U2's awkward performance in this film with Leonard is always going to be a lifelong friend of mine! Perla forever!!!

(Episode 86 originally aired...

My guest this week is Mike Sacks (NY Times bestselling author and creator of weirdo audio projects featuring Jon Hamm, John Waters, Bob Odenkirk, and Laraine Newman) who picked Jesus Christ Superstar!

We also talk about misremembering scenes from movies we watched as kids, trucker films of the 70s, Paul Williams, Mike's novelizations of "movies" such as the grunge classic Slouchers, working on his audio novelization of Stinker Lets Loose with Jon Hamm, our mutual obsession with Chris Elliott (PLUS Mike gives us a world premiere scoop on the plot of his new audio project with...

My guest this week is Emil Amos (musician: Grails, Holy Sons, Om, Jandek & podcast: Drifter's Sympathy) who surprised me by picking the Paul Simon narrative film One Trick Pony (which also features the mind-bending acting debut of Lou Reed).

We also discuss the naivety of thinking certain artists were bigger culturally than they were, Lou Barlow 7"s and Guided By Voices, how Emil goes about creating his vast & epic podcast, Emil's gateway into the world of soundtracks, Sam Coomes of Quasi being an employee at my video store, Flower Travelin' Band, the experiences of Emil performing...

Hey everyone...welcome to our bi-monthly ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vault!

I love this episode because my initial experience of seeing this upsetting, darkly funny film (by the director of The Brutalist) was completely thrown overboard due to my guest Logan Lynn's harmful experience within the music industry when he was younger (which is the subject of his new documentary, The Pain And The Power). A fantastic discussion on a polarizing film that's a hard watch, but never leaves you.

(Episode 25 originally aired on Feb 29th 2024).

My guest this week is Evan Minsker (Critic/Journalist for Pitchfork & the heart behind the amazing punk newsletter See/Saw) who (...wait for it...) picked a very punk film: Autonomy And Deliberation, by a very Australian AND very punk band The UV Race. And although it has never been publicly released, the director and the band let us watch it so we can discuss it for you! Got it yet?!?!?

We talk about why the finished film never reached eyes outside of a few friends in Australia, Evan’s early punk rock roots, the fear of be...

Hello and welcome to this bonus episode of Revolutions Per Movie.  Thank you for supporting what we’re doing…it means a lot.

We were in the process of releasing our recent conversation about John Curry and his band Flyboys this week when we heard from Lisa Fancher about his passing. So we've decided to make this episode of EXPLORING THE AXIS: THE ORAL HISTORY OF FRONTIER RECORDS w/ Lisa Fancher available to everyone. Much love to John, his family, and his bandmates.

SHOW NOTES:

Welcome to Chapter 3 of Exploring the Ax...

My guest this week is Tony Rettman (author of the books NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980-1990; Straight Edge: A Clear-Headed Hardcore Punk History & Why Be Something That You're Not: Detroit Hardcore 1979-1985), who chose to discuss the incredible music doc We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! 

We talk about the NYC hardcore scene, suburban NJ wise-ass punk bands, the letter that Henry Rollins wrote about how "soft" the NYC scene was, what the rest of the country thought of NYHC, LARPing it for hardcore punk, City Gardens, the mindset of Twisted Sister living in Long Island, p...

Welcome to an ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

This week, we talked to multiple Grammy winner Cheryl Pawelski (Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos; Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Deluxe, Omnivore Records) about Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story. Besides her stories of working with Stax and their artists, we discuss Motown vs. Stax, getting grown-up ears, the magic of demo versions, and how often chance meetings end up creating the greatest musical legacies. 

So, get ready to hop the fenc...

My guest this week is Josh Kantor (Organist for The Boston Red Sox; keyboardists w/ The Dream Syndicate, The Split Squad & The Baseball Project), who picked the Stevie Wonder LP, film score and theatrical film, The Secret Life Of Plants.

We discuss Josh playing with Mavis Staples and Peter Buck, his mentorship from the legendary Clem Burke and playing in a band with him, the influence of Nancy Faust (the White Sox organist) on him, transforming the endless musical requests he gets while playing organ at the ball park (ranging from Black Sabbath to Maceo Parker...

This week, we present to you the recording of the sold-out show of Revolutions Per Movie Live w/ Jay Ferguson & Chris Murphy of Sloan (Recorded Live at Paradise Theatre in Toronto on March 22nd 2026)!

Enjoy as we leap through the incredible 35-year history of Sloan's music videos, from their first indie video for "Underwhelmed", to their series of movie trailers for their latest LP, Based On The Best Seller.  We also discuss Sloan Easter Eggs, the cinematic themes baked into many of the band's lyrics with nods to Cleopatra & Altered States, shooting in your parents' basement, Fr...

For this week's Encore Presentation of Revolutions Per Movie, I bring you my 4th episode ever (just listen to my youthful, nervous voice doing the intro here...ha!). I was fortunate enough to discuss one of my favorite music films about one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite people, Nick Agular (Frankie And The Witch Fingers, Mike Watt). Enjoy!

(Episode 4 originally aired on Oct 5th 2023).

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

This week, we talked to musician Nick Aguilar, who chose the documentary film “We Jam Econo,” which focused on the lege...

This week I'm joined by the legendary Sally Timms & Jon Langford of The Mekons to discuss not only their music documentary The Revenge Of The Mekons but the iconic film Trances about the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane (which was the first film Martin Scorsese restored as part of his World Cinema Project).

We discuss the mixed feelings both bands had regarding being the subject of a documentary, breaking open the various myths about The Mekons, coming out of the "Elf Rock" of the early 70s and the inevitability of punk rock being created, Dub music...

This week, I'm joined by an absolute music video legend, Graeme Whifler, who created iconic work with The Residents, Devo, Sparks, Tuxedomoon, MX-80 Sound, 45 Grave, Oingo Boingo, Red Hot Chili Peppers & Renaldo & The Loaf, to name a few. Get ready for some of the most hilarious, dark, and mind-bending stories that have ever been unleashed on the show.

We discuss Graeme’s jawdropping story of first meeting The Residents when they were just starting to talk about doing music, how my seeing an interview on Night Flight with Graeme’s as a 13 year old kid completely chang...

Welcome to an ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

In celebration of HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT's 40th ANNIVERSARY celebration, I bring you one of the most joyous Revolutions Per Movies episodes of all time--my deep dive into that amazing doc with WILCO's MIKAEL JORGENSON & JEFF KRULIK--The Co-Creator of HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT. And remember that punk rock shit BELONGS ON FUCKING MARS!!!!

(Episode 101 originally aired on July 3rd, 2025).

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

This week I’m joined by WILCO's MIKAEL JORGENSON to discuss a fi...

My guest this week is filmmaker Penny Lane, who joins me to discuss a trio of fantastic documentaries she has made — Hail Satan?, Listening To Kenny G & Happy And You Know It.

We discuss the incredible tale of The Satan’s Temple going up against the government for equal religious freedoms, gaining the trust of your subjects, why she zeroed in on choosing the subject of Kenny G and his music, growing up within Kenny G’s cultural saturation, the amazing sequence in film of critics talking about how Kenny G's music makes them feel, the wild s...

My guest this week is Steve Young (writer for Late Show w/ David Letterman & The Simpsons; co-author of Everything's Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age Of Industrial Musicals & the star of the Bathtubs Over Broadway documentary). We discuss Steve’s iconic work writing for David Letterman (including producing the opening monologues for 11 years) and how it led him on a life-long journey that he never expected: becoming immersed in the world of Industrial Musicals.  

We also talk about Steve finding his voice as a comedy writer, the workload and stress of nightly comedy writing, Dave’s Record...

Welcome to this ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vaults.

Today, we pay tribute to filmmaker Brian Lindstrom, who sadly passed away recently, with this incredible discussion about the film he co-directed, LOST ANGEL: THE GENIUS OF JUDEE SILL, with his co-director Andy Brown & Aquarium Drunkard's Jason P. Woodbury. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing or working with Brian will tell you he was one of the kindest, wisest, and big-hearted people ever, and his filmmaking absolutely reflected that. If you haven't seen his films Lost Angel, Mothering Inside, or Alien...

For this week's Encore Presentation of Revolutions Per Movie, I bring you an incredible discussion with Mark Webber of Pulp, where we discussed everything from Mark's unique path into the band (tin foil, anyone?) and how we can never escape the mighty imprint of The Velvet Underground. Enjoy!

(Episode 80 originally aired on March 13th, 2025).

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

This week, we are joined by PULP's MARK WEBBER to discuss what was to be the most influential documentary of his life, THE SOUTH BANK EPISODE ABOUT THE VELVET UNDERGROUND.  

We dis...

My Mom passed away this week, so I will be taking a few weeks off to take care of some family matters. I hope you enjoy this tribute to my Mom, and I will be back soon.

Thanks everyone,

Chris Slusarenko, Revolutions Per Movie

Kay Slusarenko: "I’m asked sometimes why I do installations - why I make art based on the aesthetic experience which in the end cannot be fully described, depicted, recorded or explained, and is expensive to build and impossible to sell. All I can say is this is...

For this week's episode, I convinced my guest, comedian/actor Eugene Mirman (Bob's Burgers, Flight Of The Conchords, Delocated), to let me record my 500th episode 7 years in advance in order to capitalize on his star power.

We discuss the magic of comedy albums & comedy concert films; recording visual comedy for an album, Eugene’s 7 LP Sub Pop masterwork I'm Sorry (You're Welcome), which includes 45 minutes of him crying and 159 orgasms, Eugene's scrapped "jokes for animals", his new LP & video special Here Comes The Whimsy, Eugene pushing the boundaries of a physical audio release by having it...

My guest this week is NYC-based musician, author, and performance artist Joseph Keckler (NPR's Tiny Desk, tours with Lydia Lunch & Sleater-Kinney), who chose the 1929 two-reeler short St. Louis Blues, which is the legend Bessie Smith's first and only film appearance. 

We discuss Joseph’s iconic performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series, how he came to unleash his powerful vocal range on a wide range of audiences, choosing to write and sing in German about the adult moments where he was relapsing into a teenage Goth, befriending and touring with Lydia Lunch, Bebe Hansen, the curre...

Welcome to our bi-monthly ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vault! Today, as we frustratingly say goodbye (for now) to Stephen Colbert on Late Night, I bring you the sweetest and most honest discussion from The Late Show With Stephen Colbert writer & performer, the legendary Brian Stack. Not only did we discuss his love and passion for Townes Van Zandt (whose documentary he chose to discuss), but he was also really open about his time at Late Night With Conan O'Brien and his transition to working on Colbert's show, offering a fascinating glimpse into the...

My guest this week is composer and musician Prateek Rajagopal (Executive Producer and Co-Composer of Blarf with Eric André: Film Scores For Films That Don't Exist, former member of Indian grindcore band Gutslit & film composer.

We discuss how Prateek at a young age was not deemed ready for Metallica by his older brother, growing up in metal and hardcore punk, high school bands, Prateek writing jingles in India while working as a banker, the Indian metal scene, Grindcore & Gutslit, how punk and metal were not united in the 80s, going on autopilot as a musician, how t...

Today, I am joined by two absolute cultural legends, the one and only Swamp Dogg (who just turned 83) and his collaborator, Moogstar!!!  

We discuss how his recent documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted came to be and how it took over 8 years to complete, why Jerry Williams Jr. had to become Swamp Dogg, his iconic album cover art and album titles including Ratt On, Gag A Maggot and Total Destruction To Your Mind, how the documentary feel more like a narriative film, Tom Kenny (Mr. Show, SpongeBob SquarePants) popping out of the bushes to talk to Swamp Dogg...

Welcome to the 150th episode of Revolutions Per Movie and what better guest to celebrate it with than LOU BARLOW (Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., Folk Implosion)!!!

Now, Lou brought a VHS tape I had never seen before, The PANTERA VHS tape VULGAR VIDEO, and I countered that we should also discuss his SEBADOH 1993 tour video, made the same year. This episode is one for the ages!

We discuss the Barlow Family General Store, our mental health as teenagers listening to hardcore punk, Au Pairs & Bush Tetras, sending cash in the mail to get punk record...

Welcome to our bi-monthly ENCORE PRESENTATION of classic REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE episodes from the vault! Today I bring you one of the most beloved episodes of RPM ever--a deep dive into the magical lives of REDD KROSS with JEFF & STEVEN McDONALD and the director of the documentary BORN INNOCENT: THE REDD KROSS STORY.

At the time of our discussion, the film had barely reached human eyeballs, but now it's available on all sorts of physical formats and streaming. If I were still operating my video store, this would have been referred to as a 5-tape film...

This week on Revolutions Per Movie, I am joined by Jack Turner, the owner of AnimatronicsWarehouse, as we look at the documentary The Rock-afire Explosion and his life restoring the iconic animatronic band to its original form.

We discuss how Jack stumbled onto the world of animatronics, how The Rock-afire Explosion introduced him to the music of The Beatles and The Monkees, why animatronics are still being portrayed as the enemy in pop culture, The Rock-afire Explosion's versions of the White Album and Abbey Road medleys, the genius of inventor Aaron Fletcher (who went from a door to door...