DC Rock History

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Con Art, Smart Went Crazy's 1997 swan song and one of the most ambitious records to ever come out of the Dischord catalog. The band formed in DC in 1993 as a high school trio of Chad Clark, Abram Goodrich, and cellist Hilary Soldati, eventually signing to Dischord and releasing Now We're Even in 1995 before spending two years building toward something bigger. Recorded at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington with overdubs tracked at their own practice spaces using a hybrid analog and ADAT setup, Con Art incorporated cello, farfisa, samplers, and song structures that resisted easy categorization then and still do now. At 73 minutes across 19 tracks, it nearly overwhelmed its own label and a band that broke apart less than a year after its release, scattering its members across some of the most interesting groups in DC's post-hardcore lineage: Faraquet, Medications, Beauty Pill, and The Caribbean.

For this episode, we're joined by Devin Ocampo, drummer on Con Art and the guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter behind Faraquet, Medications, and The Effects. Together, we discuss what it was like to be inside a band burning that bright, how Con Art sounds from the vantage point of nearly thirty years, and why a record this restless has lasted this long.

Go Further:
Smart Went Crazy - Bandcamp || Dischord Records

Follow Us:
Social media: @dcrockpod
Email: [email protected]

Hosts:
Philip Basnight - Broke Royals
Alex Vidales - Pilot Waves

Podcast Artwork by Rebecca Basnight

In this episode, we take a deep dive into The Pink Album, Tuscadero's 1994 debut and one of the defining records of the DC indie pop scene. Formed 1993 in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Tuscadero built their sound around girl group influences, 1970s pop culture, and the everyday perspective of primary songwriters Melissa Farris and Margaret McCartney. The album was released on Teen-Beat Records before Elektra signed the band and released a re-recorded version in 1996. 

For this episode, all four members of Tuscadero join us: Melissa Farris, Margaret McCartney, Phil Satlof, and Jack Hornady. Together we discuss the band's formation, their early shows, the Teen-Beat years, the jump to Elektra, and what it has been like to revisit these songs across several reunions. We also listen back to "Heat Lightning," "Leather Idol," and "Nancy Drew Books" and hear the stories behind them directly from the people who wrote and recorded them.

Go Further:

Tuscadero – Bandcamp || Wikipedia

The Pink Album – Discogs

Follow Us:

Social media: @dcrockpod

Email: [email protected]

 

Hosts:

Philip Basnight – Broke Royals

Alex Vidales – Pilot Waves

Podcast Artwork by Rebecca Basnight

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Emergency & I, the Dismemberment Plan's 1999 landmark and the album that cemented the band as one of the most distinctive acts to emerge from the DC indie scene. Recorded at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia and Water Music in Hoboken, New Jersey, and produced by J. Robbins of Jawbox and Chad Clark of Beauty Pill, the record pushed well outside the boundaries of the post-hardcore tradition the band had grown up in, incorporating synths, funk rhythms, and unconventional song structures into something that resisted easy categorization then and still does now.

The Dismemberment Plan formed in DC in 1993, building their early reputation through the same DIY venues and independent infrastructure that shaped bands like Fugazi and Jawbox. After a brief and unsuccessful stint at Interscope Records, they returned to DeSoto Records, the DC independent founded by members of Jawbox, to release Emergency & I. That path back to independence turned out to produce one of the era's most enduring records, one that critics and fans have continued to reassess and celebrate in the decades since.

For this episode, we're joined by Chris DeVille, Managing Editor of Stereogum and author of Such Great Heights, a cultural history of the indie rock explosion. Together, we discuss why Emergency & I sounds like nothing else from its moment, how it bridged the DC hardcore tradition and the indie mainstream that followed, and why it has only grown in stature with time.

Go Further:

Chris DeVille – Stereogum || Such Great Heights

Emergency & I – Wikipedia

 

Follow Us:

Social media: @dcrockpod

Email: [email protected]

 

Hosts:

Philip Basnight – Broke Royals

Alex Vidales – Pilot Waves

 

Podcast Artwork by Rebecca Basnight

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Willis, the Pietasters' 1997 record and the album that brought the DC-bred ska band to their widest audience. Formed at Virginia Tech by a group of suburban Washington kids, the Pietasters spent the early '90s grinding through DMV dive bars and building a following on Moon Ska Records before a backstage conversation with Tim Armstrong of Rancid led to a deal with Hellcat, his new Epitaph subsidiary. Willis was the result: recorded in Los Angeles with Brett Gurewitz, guitarist for Bad Religion and founder of Epitaph Records, the album pushed the band's sound in a harder, more rock-forward direction than anything they'd released before.

The Pietasters had always drawn from a wide pool including ska, soul, punk, and R&B, reflecting the same mixed-bill show culture that defined the DC scene they came up in. Willis captured that range while giving it a sharper edge, and "Out All Night" became one of the few ska songs to receive genuine mainstream radio play during the genre's late-90s commercial peak. Songs from the album landed in Hollywood films and on video game soundtracks, and the band toured relentlessly behind it, sharing stages with many legends including James Brown.

For this episode, we're joined by Steve Jackson, lead vocalist and co-founder of the Pietasters. We discuss the band's DC roots, the making of Willis, and thirty-plus years of keeping the party going.

Go Further:
The Pietasters – Wikipedia || Website

Follow Us:
Social media: @dcrockpod

Email:
[email protected]

Hosts:

Philip Basnight – Broke Royals

Alex Vidales – Pilot Waves

Podcast Artwork by Rebecca Basnight

In this episode, we take a deep dive into The Colour and the Shape, the Foo Fighters' 1997 sophomore record and the album widely credited with establishing Dave Grohl as a frontman in his own right. Recorded across studios in DC, Washington, and California, the album marked the band's first full collaborative effort as a group, a sharp contrast to their largely solo debut. Produced by Gil Norton, known for his work with the Pixies, The Colour and the Shape balanced melodic precision with raw emotional urgency, drawing heavily from Grohl's personal life while reaching toward something genuinely expansive.

Grohl grew up in Springfield, Virginia, and came up through the DC hardcore scene with Dain Bramage and Scream before joining Nirvana. That regional history runs through the record in ways both literal and atmospheric. The sessions were turbulent by any measure: drummer William Goldsmith's departure mid-recording, Grohl quietly replacing his drum tracks, and a bruising production process that pushed the band to their limits. What emerged from that friction was one of the defining American rock albums of its era, anchored by three singles that became fixtures of rock radio for years.

For this episode, we're joined by Mike Jones of DC101, a station that has been playing Foo Fighters since this record was new. Together, we discuss the making of the album, its Virginia roots, and why The Colour and the Shape continues to hold up as the moment Foo Fighters became Foo Fighters.

 

Go Further:

Mike Jones – Mike Jones - DC101

The Colour and the Shape – Wikipedia || Allmusic

 

Follow Us:

Social media: @dcrockpod

Email: [email protected]

 

Hosts:

Philip Basnight – Broke Royals

Alex Vidales – Pilot Waves

 

Podcast Artwork by Rebecca Basnight