May 6, 2025 • 34 mins
#159. Ron talks with Rose Marshack and Rick Valentin of Illinois indie rock band Poster Children about their pioneering podcast, four decades of music making, riding the wave of Nirvana mania, and surviving the grunge-era feeding frenzy.Sponsored by DistroKid. Get 30% off your membership at distrokid.com/vip/independentmindedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're the one that should be worried.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
You're a freak.
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Huh?
Speaker 4 (00:28):
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in the distro Kid district, it's always time for us
independent minded musicians to be merry.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
We love to get paid for our songs and dit
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Speaker 4 (00:47):
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be back Why am I so cocky? I've been distro
(01:31):
kidding for almost a decade now, and I'm not in
a straight jacket yet. DistroKid dot com slash a vip
slash independentminded. I'm doing this music nerd project read listening
(02:01):
to all the stuff in my Apple Music library from
two thousand to two thousand and nine, and me, I
don't just breast play and go make a cob salad.
I read up on all the notable albums of that decade.
I peruse other nerds best of lists. I dive deep.
This is all purely for my own amusement. As abhorrent
as the Internet can be, it's quite the efficient way
(02:23):
to comb the archives and annals of music history. It's
these deep dives, uncovering every rock, uncovering all the rock,
even the pop, some jazz, and a little country. They're
the biggest reason why I can call myself a fan
of bands like Talking Heads and Wilco, of artists like
Bowie and Leonard Cohen. This active, intentional listening has grown
(02:44):
my appreciation exponentially. I understand now I paid attention, and
so where once I was a dabbler, now I'm a
greater admirer of all these acts. In my twenties, you
can find me in the back office of my college
radio station, surrounded by stacks of jewel cases, cataloging album
info into a pre Internet DOS system database. It was
(03:08):
the apex of my OCD, the glory days of my
glorified geekitude. And so this aught's era re listen also
reeks of reminiscence. Remember that band I loved in college?
Who was that group I used to like? That opened
for Weezer at the academy. I wonder what they're up
to now. How often do you get requests like mine?
You know, just kind of out of the blue, in
(03:29):
the wild, just all.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
The time, every day, Like just now, we got another one.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Weirdly, we just got another request to do uh.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
We oh yeah, yeah before that, when was the last one?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I don't know, I don't never know, think never.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
It's not true, but it's.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
It's been it has been a while, but its weirdly,
it's yeah, been yeah, two in the past week.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
In the nineteen ninety Champagne, Illinois poster children did interviews
like this all the time. They were local indie heroes,
models of the diy ethic building up a style, a sound,
and a fan base that would garner them lots of
attention from the music industry. They're in the alternative music boom.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
It was nuts because we knew about the nerve on
a thing. Everybody freaked out.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Founding members Rick Valentin and Rose Marshak have been doing
their own podcast together before podcasting was even called podcasting.
Their streaming show Radio Zero has been a platform to
share their life experiences, his bandmates, his college professors, and
his husband and wife.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So one time our couple's therapists asked me, or maybe
it was my therapist, you know, well, what do you
think Rick wants from you? You know, why do you
even think he wants to still be with you? And
I said that one time you said something like, I
don't care what happens all during the day, but just
at night, I want to I want somebody you know
that I can I know I'll feel safe with I
(04:49):
can lay down in bed and feel safe with them.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I told her that, and she said, well are you
doing that? Are you providing that for him? Because I
was so fucking mad at you at that point, She's like,
are you doing that? I was like, oh, you know
what I'm not. Did I ever tell you that?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
No, that's right. Rick and Rose are all of these things.
Rose even published a memoir about her time on the
road with Poster Children called Play Like a Man. So yeah,
I could have just checked out Radio Zero, read the book,
listen to the album Strength, some more milk, and gone
to bed. But I want my Midwestern charm, I want
my sarcasm. I want a gush and pay my respects. Fortunately,
(05:27):
Rick and Rose are grateful to spend an evening taking
a trip down memory lane with an independent minded fanboy.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
It's so cool that you called us so thank you,
or that you emailed us. It's really neat.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Plus, as always, this is an excuse to dig deep
into the band's back catalog, and we already know that
gets my juices flowing. With your crime permission, I'll obviously
sprinkle in some Poster Children music to tell the story.
I have all the records.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Maybe don't, maybe don't use what's inside the box though
I'm just kidding, I'm not really.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
But yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
On the.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Rose, Rick and I talk about their pioneering podcast four
decades of Poster Children being Uncle Dave's favorite band from
college and surviving the grunge, rock feeding frenzy. Let's kick
things off with zero Stars, one of my favorite PC
songs from the two thousand album D d D. Then
my conversation with Poster Children right here on Independent Minded.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Ride Daldos Paisy podcast, Rye Dados Pais podcast, plugging the
pet Bull Make God Music, plugging their project making the famous,
helping about just my ma s talk about all the
bush that they.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
Riden down my highway of look our brother cous bringing
every there man, where have I family never stops?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Maybe miles an hour above hundred puns a gay?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Why have the see seven there causs.
Speaker 7 (07:16):
About the same.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
We don't have a we're done.
Speaker 6 (07:19):
We don't have a bas Oh we have a phobie
take and binner thing that.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Down when uh the tavy, when uh the shops?
Speaker 3 (07:27):
We don't know.
Speaker 6 (07:27):
I face the same. You don't know if we out
with parow sage, we're aerosogs. We go back to bracking
at that hour of the road, getting my far an
hour I was look at ball a show I have
a real farm every now and go back at look
down wind to thake the steeper father hop we up again.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
We need make it like a we get writing songs.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
We all have anybody know under head up the ground.
We don't play out the cause we only bad Bob.
We don't need that may not long dup bucket don't
have house.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
When they are Is it D D D or is
it triple D?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I think we always said D D D it was.
It was a.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Like a bra cup size. Yeah, but no, like I
realized that yesterday it was.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It was a reference to In the early CD era,
they would have a three letter marking on the CD
saying what steps were analog or digital, So you'd see
AA D or A D D analog digital and then
master digitalin and so that record we had made it
(08:39):
was all digital.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Most artists these days hire a team of nerds. Poster
Children are the nerds, and when the industry that ate
them up then spit them out began to crack. Poster
Children were one of the first bands to find refuge
via self reliance, recording their own albums, making all the
artwork handling, corresponded with fans via emails and blogs. Their
(09:02):
Turn of the century era enhanced CD releases gave fans
a three dimensional, all you can eat experience that was
groundbreaking at the time. They gave us access something more
to appreciate than just the tunes.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
That was the kind of stuff we would do, is
we would just see the current technology. It's like, oh,
this is going to enable us to do it ourselves.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
The full length film that you made, it was based
off of my tour reports, which I guess we're you know,
the yeah blogging back in nineteen ninety five. But when
we had a performance, we didn't have money to you know,
pay for film crew or anything like that. So people
who had their video cameras were able to record for us,
and then you compiled it into a movie that was
(09:45):
so cool.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Outside the.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
K Can't Sound Fast.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Twenty five years ago, this was rarefied air not just
having the work ethic to carve out an indie career,
but also to have to know how the spots. This
was something deep rooted and both Rick and Rose's DNA
well before their band or their romance took off.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
We both were in computer science in college college, so
we met at the University of Illinois and we were
both computer science.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Students assembler language programming. I love that because that like
when you learn that, then you actually understand how the
computer works. And I always thought like they taught a
higher level language first. That was like the first year
they taught pescal that's how old we are. And then
the second year the next language was assembler language. I
always remember complaining that if I had learned that first,
(10:51):
it would have been nicer, Like I would have understood
how how the sausage was made and then you know,
figured out how to put it in the casing or whatever.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
You would be moving being data into registers and it's very, yeah,
sort of much closer to the the nuts and the
nuts and bolts, the bits and bytes.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I admire musicians who dedicate their spare time to other
creative ventures, could be a children's book, painting, poetry. While
local buzz for poster children was growing, Rick and Rose
wrote assembly language code from military grade flight trainers.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
They wrote their own operating system too, and we had
like that. That was really fun too. I realized worked it.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah, I didn't. I didn't work on you worked on
the operating system, right? Or No, that was a little
bit what's their name?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
No, that was that was there was a there was
a lady there who refused to work on the weapons systems.
I remember remember that.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Shall we play gang?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Let's play Little rollbal Pheromone, meat Clear.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Or I don't remember working on a weapon system? Oh yeah, anyway,
so she was the operating system person, right, she did
the operating system. Oh okay, mister.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Wrote the appkay system. Hopefully you'll scrub these names.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Talk about talk about a rabbit hole, man, We're in
a rabbit Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I loved that. And at some point I think we
moved to C plus plus and it wasn't as much fun. Yeah,
and then we went on tour and then yeah, we
never came back. There are so many geeky bands that
(12:49):
we'd hang out with and talk geeky stuff with man
or after man, right, didn't they They wrote their own
like little sampler thing. They had a program that they.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Wrote Poster Children, got chummy with other up and bands
like hum. They toured with Swerve Driver and the Buzzcocks,
and they started a long standing working relationship with late
great producer and engineer Steve Albini.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I think a lot of that DIY aesthetic we got
from him, maybe some from Ian from Pugazi.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Too, having ethics and had like being generous. So he
died the same year as my dad my whole life,
I knew that my dad was going to die, and
I figured I would be devastated. And you know, my
dad was in his nineties and was a huge influence
in my life. But I still can't really believe that.
I never thought that Steve would die.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And so there was a little bit of buzz. And
then we signed a twintone.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Record because we wanted to be DIY.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, and Twin Tone was one of the cool indie labels, right,
so it was like Homestead Twin Tone, SST, SST, and
of course was coming up, but it was still a
little it was a little early for Touching Go.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
I think even Chicago indie Touch and Go had begun
to carve out a reputation for releasing adventurous noise rock
by the likes of Albani's band Big Black, while a
little further north in Minnesota, Twin Tone did the same.
Two labels that spearheaded a network of underground bands that
formed the pre Nirvana indie rock scene.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Never Mind had just come out, our record had just
come out. As we were going around the United States.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
We started in Chicago, maybe we went and played in Minneapolis.
We're driving West, you know, across North Dakota. Can I
tell this? I interrupted you, I know, driving across like
either North Dakota South Dakota. I can't remember. We're like,
we have a videotape of this, like us listening to
like smells like teen Spirit Dona and we're like, wow,
(14:54):
that's really cool. And we get to Seattle and we
were on subpop too. We have a sub pop single, right.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I don't know if that had come out yet.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So we stopped in the subpop warehouse and there's a
guy making making Nirvana T shirts.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Actually he was his place, and we stayed with him.
He was a T shirt guy. He was making shirts
for Nirvana, and he was kind of freaking out. He
was like, it's getting a little crazy. It's like I'm
having to make thousands of these, a.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Lot of T shirts going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah exactly.
We get to Seattle and we go down, we go
down the coast. We like play we probably played Portland.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
In Seattle, we get interviewed, like on on the college
radio station.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
And again, like you said, what we would do is
every every town we'd go to, we'd go to the
college radio station, right.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
And they'd say they'd say, what do you want to
hear it? We'd be like, play that new Smells like
teen Spirit song and they'd be like, oh yeah. We'd
make our way down the coast. By the time we
got where.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
San Francisco, it was pretty early.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
San Francisco maybe CACR W, I don't I don't remember
what the radio station was. What do you guys want
to hear? And I was like, oh, play that nude
smells like teen Spirit. They were like, you're kidding, right.
I was like, why you don't like it? They're like, no,
it's on commercial radio. We're not going to play that.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
It's on MTV.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's yeah, it's yeah, yeah, Hey that's how I say yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
It was like so within two weeks of our tour, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
We go around San Diego and we played Texas and
by the time we were going.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Up play Texas and that was where we saw our
video for if U c K was on yeah one
hundred and twenty minutes. We watched it there a.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Texas bar, like after after our show with like two
other people.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And then by the time we got to New York City,
so this would have been at the well, probably like
four weeks five weeks into the tour, Yeah, we had
fifteen major labels looking at us.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
We were like, oh, should we signed a major label
or not? You know, we're up on the north like
in Minneapolis, should we sign or not? I don't know.
We should stayed indie. And then then you were like,
let's see what happens with Nirvana.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
And then yeah, the Nirvana thing, it was like kind of, oh,
this indie band has signed a deal and it's an
indie band that's not like Sonic Youth that had had
what five records out before you know, it was like, oh,
they'd only had one record out and now they're going
to a major and it's like, let's you know, oh,
is it going to kill them? Because it was kind
of like previously, like with Whosker Dow, it felt like,
oh Whosker do once they made that jump to the major,
(17:27):
it killed them. But then it was like Sonic Youth
made that jump and it was like it was okay,
they weren't destroyed, but it was also not they weren't
a big hit band, right, they were just a larger indie.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So so Nirvana was going to be our test And
then by it's like and.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
It was like, yeah, everybody's saying, well, yeah, they'll sell like,
you know, fifty thousand records or something like that. And
then it was which is a failure, Yeah on a
major l Like, yeah, it would be amazing for India,
And it was like and what happened? Yes, Like once
the video was on MTV, they sold fifty thousand in
a day.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Right, Poster Chill Ldren would sign with Sire Records, one
of the labels that was interested before Nirvana Mania had begun.
The Warner Brothers owned Imprint had been known for nurturing
lesser known artists and was dedicating a good chunk of
their promo budget and manpower towards the alternative genre.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
And it was basically like a little indie label within
the major label. It was all about marketing to mom
and pop stores.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Made of people who worked at mom and pop stores.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
This is where I come in, and hundreds more just
like me. Major labels started sending promo packages to every
college station on the planet. College radio had clout back then,
and in nineteen ninety five, Poster Children's first ever major
label release showed up in my mail bind another jewel
case to put at the top of my glorious pile.
(19:03):
Rick Valentin's unique vocal style probably wouldn't fly during the
American idol era, but it would become part of the
band's signature sound.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I get compared to Fred Schneider occasionally. Yeah, you know,
I am influenced by like Lou Reed, like singing talkers
talk singers, sprecktas sing right, and so I do like
that that. There was there was a point I can't
remember what record was. I spent a real lot of
time working on my voice and trying to get away
from that aspect of it. And then we were our
(19:34):
friend was mastering it and he's like, listening to the record,
and he's gone, you're really leaning into the Fred Schneider
thing this time, and I was like, shit, I was
trying to get away from it. I can't see myself.
Fad All stare straight in the.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Lean into it. Rick lean into it lean.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
And even though the recording budgets and the tours got bigger,
maybe the stages in the dressing rooms too. Poster Children
never really counted on their mainstream, magic, corporate ride lasting.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I don't think we ever thought, you know, we're gonna
be big stars. You know, all we got to do
is this, and we were just like, let's see how
long we can do this, and then when we're not
on the label anymore, let's fortify ourselves so that when
when we're off the label, we can continue, which is exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
What we did.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
During their time on Sire, Rick and Rose never caved
to the zeitgeist the band sounded and change, nor did
their expectations even Madonna.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
You know, it's like Madonna, who's like the you know,
the source of money for Sire. Right at some point
it was over, you know, So that arc is always there.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
There's always an arc jump up, always how.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Fast it is. And yeah, for us, relatively speaking, we
lasted a long time the forest floor.
Speaker 7 (21:07):
A face without a name, wait by the river side,
soaking up the rain, Sich.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Lots of poster children's peers got signed by the majors
back then, too, signed and dropped the circle complete. But
while a lot of those acts were enjoying the excesses
of the industry, Rick and Rose were always doing the
math and stayed true to their indie roots.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
The rock and roll years of my life were about touring,
and nothing changed we had. We just drove our van around,
We made T shirts. You know, we had ten dollars
day per dims, We got fed dinner at night, and
we slept on people's floors through the whole major label
thing too. So after we left the major label we
did the same.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
We weren't operating in the dream like the rock dream world.
We were operating in that indie kind of world where
it's like, oh, this is how much money you have.
This is how much money you're making. Right. You can't
dig yourself into a hole because then when sugar Daddy
goes away, you won't be able to sustain, you know,
(22:21):
that sugar daddy lifestyle.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
In the late nineties, Poster Children signed with New York
indie Spinhart, and in between the music making, Rick and
Rose started dabbling in a new medium. Was it even
called a podcast? Oh?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
When it started? I think, yeah, I think that you've.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
Kind of predated podcasting.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Oh yeah, the word podcast I think came about in
two thousand and five or something like that.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
And our never the iPod came out.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah yeah, and we're so Radio zero are The first
Radio zero was nineteen ninety eight. It's from sitting in
the van for you know, twelve hours we'd stop at
bookstores and buy books. We'd stop at museums and go
walk around the museums. Right, we'd have and then we'd
get to play with Fugazi or something, or we'd get
both to play with Jawbox or or I'm trying to
(23:08):
think of, you know, any of our like house of
large sizes. You'd travel around the country. You'd run into,
you know, your friends that you haven't seen and since
the last tour for like six months or a year,
and you'd catch up and you'd have all these intense
conversations about the books you just read or the you
know movie you saw or something like that, and so
all these wonderful conversations, and then we would get home
(23:29):
from tour and we'd be like, well, you know, we're
still talking. You know, we should probably just bottle these
conversations up because they're so freaking important. We're so important.
We should just bottle these conversations up and stick them
on the internet. We could stick them on the internet.
People could click on them and listen to them.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
A continuation of the DIY thing where it's like it's
not necessarily like, oh, you have the most profound things
to say, but it's it's kind of like the kind
of things you're chatting about would be interesting to a
small group of people, right, It's just like putting out
a seven inch single.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Rick and Rose have never monetized radio zero, never even
thought about it. The coolest artists can be forward thinking,
but they don't have to have dollar signs in their eyes.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
There's this talking head song called found a Job, and
it's about people making their own TV shows. Right. So
it's from the public access TV era, right, And it's
that kind of romantic idea of yeah, you're making your
own content, but it's not being made for sort of
a huge audience. It's just this kind of small personal thing.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
In twenty eighteen, after a fourteen year layoff, Poster Children
released the album Grand Bargain, produced and engineered by Albini.
Over a decade it passed, but the new record had
that same energy, trademark sound and diy spirit.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Everybody will be welcome, everyone will have a choice, we
will all work together.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
You're united with the single voice will show stylist.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Say myself, well.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
Say.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
It also kept Poster Children in the game, and recently
Rose found herself on a panel with indie legend.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Bob mold Oh, I love Whoskerdoo, but I love just
talking to him. He and I have kind of weirdly
same mannerism.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Rose had talked and hung out with Bob Bake what
in October or something, and then it was like he
had this show and he just invited us to play.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, we don't know why.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
That was so cool, just because I mean it was.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
In Minneapolis. That's so cool, my god.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
And that major label release we talked about earlier. Junior
Citizen is now thirty years old.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
The Bumble thing happened, and then it was like, well,
we should probably play another show. If we're going to
rehearse and everything like that, we should at least play
another show and do a Junior Citizen show, a Junior
Citizen show.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
So it's crazy. So we're like practicing all of the
songs on Junior Citizen. There's songs that should never be
played live and.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Maybe never were, I mean never for me. Yeah, to
imagine some of them, I don't think we ever did.
Why yep, playing.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Colin and say the only on our poster. Children are
celebrating thirty years of Junior Citizen with one off show
May twenty fourth in Chicago, and after that who knows
for the band. It's not about a lack of fire.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
You're the decider, Like I'll play anytime anywhere, like you
will you play here for free? Okay, yeah, I'll play
all the time. But which is which you can't do?
Speaker 1 (27:33):
So but the logistics of that, it's, yeah, you can
say that, I could say that, but it's like, well,
we can't really do that. We actually have to rehearse
and get a bunch of equipment in a van and
drive out somewhere. You have to shows, you learn the songs.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I'm just a bass player, so just saying.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Oh I can, I can play anytime, and it's like,
that's not true.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
So it's it's I would play, but but yeah I
can't because I have to teach a class, have a
meeting tomorrow exactly with my boss.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
So it's it's it's kind of yeah I would, but
yeah I can't.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
When things pop up for adults, now, it's.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Not just the prep, it's the priorities. Rick and Rose
are both college professors, you know.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Once in a while, like some students, parents knows who
we are.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I assume it's Uncle Dave's favorite band from college. We're
waiting for the grandparents. Yeah, oh no, I that devastating day.
Grana loves you, guys.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Please, that hasn't happened to you already.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I haven't gotten to the grandpa and their parents too.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
How much do they know about Rick and Rose.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
The rock stars?
Speaker 1 (28:41):
We haven't told them yet.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
It's the friendships forged by their time in Poster Children
that have put Rick and Rose in this place, living
quote unquote normal lives while having that occasional option of
turning on the rock and roll machine whenever it makes
good sense. Rick's brother Jim has been part of the
band since nineteen ninety one. Drummer Matt Frishia has been
the band's mainstay behind the kit since two thousand and one. Finally,
(29:29):
there's Rick and Rose's relationship with each other. They connected
in college. They're bandmates, colleagues, co conspirators, and co parents.
So before I let them go, I can't help but
ask them to divulge some life advice. What's the secret
to this sort of longevity? That's got to be a
special dynamic that I would hope enhances the relationship. It's
(29:52):
an opportunity to spend time with each other in this
interesting sort of way at a time where you've already
and probably a whole lot of time with each other,
So how do you make it work?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Wow? So one time our couple's therapist asked me, or
maybe it was my therapist, you know, well, what do
you think Rick wants from you? You know, why do
you even think he wants to still be with you?
And I said that one time you said something like,
I don't care what happens all during the day, but
just at night, I want to I want somebody you
know that I can I know I'll feel safe with
(30:26):
I can lay down in bed and feel safe with them.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I told her that, and she said, well are you
doing that? Are you providing that for him? Because I
was so fucking mad at you at that point, She's like,
are you doing that? I was like, oh, you know what,
I'm not. Did I ever tell you that?
Speaker 4 (30:41):
No?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I think about the creative process as being like a relationship, right,
that conversation you're always having and the work you're doing
it is a relationship, and so we also have a relationship.
We have a creative relationship. There's ups and downs. It
can be difficult sometimes and it can be rewarding other times,
but it isn't all magic. Yeah, so that's the thing
(31:03):
is is, Oh.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
It's a lot of work. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot
of work.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
I feel bad now though. You you you said this
beautiful thing and it.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Was like that, I'll just cut you out.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah and then yeah, yeah, just cut out my stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Balloon a giant.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
Rick Valentin needn't feel bad. I know he's not just
talking about his relationship with Rose or even with Poster Children.
It's that flame that burns inside of every creative How
do you keep that fire stoked for forty minutes, forty days,
never mind forty years. How do you keep challenging yourself?
What makes you wake up at Rick's age, at any age,
(31:41):
and say, let's write, let's record, let's perform, even when
the muse is taking the day off, even when you've
experienced all the lows that come with all the highs
up to a point. He might find the agony delightful,
But a music career, just like life, is an arc.
I can't speak for Rick or for I can only
(32:01):
speak as a fan, but I'm grateful for bands like
Poster Children, not just to witness the music but to
witness that arc. It reminds me why I'm still doing this.
The music, the podcast, It reminds me to recognize the gifts,
and it motivates me to keep moving forward until the
circle closes. Find out more about Poster Children, the band's
(33:26):
myriad side projects and Rick and Roses podcast at Poster
children dot com, and follow the band on social media
at Poster Children. Big thanks to Rick and Rose for
spending a school night with me and for sharing wisdom
and laughs with this long time fan. And while I'm
at it, how about an affectionate noogie for you, loyal
(33:46):
podcast listener. Come here, your little rascal. There you go.
Thanks for spending your school night, your workday, or your
prison time with me. Since twenty twelve. You can leave
a kind review for Independent Minded on Apple, podcast Asks
and Spotify, share the links, tell your friends if you
have any, and buy some music at baldfreak dot com.
(34:07):
And if you want to say hi or send me
your new music, fill my inbox at ron at baldfreak
dot com or dive into my d ms on social
media at Baldfreakmusic. Independent Mind that always was and still
remains a baldfreakmusic production and me, I'm still ron Scalzo
(34:28):
put good
You're the one that should be worried.
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You're a freak.
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You're reading for big trouble me. Oh DistroKid, Oh DistroKid,
how lovely is yours row? Oh Distrokidd, Oh DistroKid, how
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Huh?
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Too soon for the holidays? So what if this episode
is airing an insert month of episode published date. Here
in the distro Kid district, it's always time for us
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Speaker 3 (00:40):
We love to get paid for our songs and dit
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You want your music on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Title TikTok
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Physical product get up on the matrix with distro Kid.
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slash vip slash independent minded right now for thirty percent
off your first season of membership, and after that you'll
be back Why am I so cocky? I've been distro
(01:31):
kidding for almost a decade now, and I'm not in
a straight jacket yet. DistroKid dot com slash a vip
slash independentminded. I'm doing this music nerd project read listening
(02:01):
to all the stuff in my Apple Music library from
two thousand to two thousand and nine, and me, I
don't just breast play and go make a cob salad.
I read up on all the notable albums of that decade.
I peruse other nerds best of lists. I dive deep.
This is all purely for my own amusement. As abhorrent
as the Internet can be, it's quite the efficient way
(02:23):
to comb the archives and annals of music history. It's
these deep dives, uncovering every rock, uncovering all the rock,
even the pop, some jazz, and a little country. They're
the biggest reason why I can call myself a fan
of bands like Talking Heads and Wilco, of artists like
Bowie and Leonard Cohen. This active, intentional listening has grown
(02:44):
my appreciation exponentially. I understand now I paid attention, and
so where once I was a dabbler, now I'm a
greater admirer of all these acts. In my twenties, you
can find me in the back office of my college
radio station, surrounded by stacks of jewel cases, cataloging album
info into a pre Internet DOS system database. It was
(03:08):
the apex of my OCD, the glory days of my
glorified geekitude. And so this aught's era re listen also
reeks of reminiscence. Remember that band I loved in college?
Who was that group I used to like? That opened
for Weezer at the academy. I wonder what they're up
to now. How often do you get requests like mine?
You know, just kind of out of the blue, in
(03:29):
the wild, just all.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
The time, every day, Like just now, we got another one.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Weirdly, we just got another request to do uh.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
We oh yeah, yeah before that, when was the last one?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I don't know, I don't never know, think never.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
It's not true, but it's.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
It's been it has been a while, but its weirdly,
it's yeah, been yeah, two in the past week.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
In the nineteen ninety Champagne, Illinois poster children did interviews
like this all the time. They were local indie heroes,
models of the diy ethic building up a style, a sound,
and a fan base that would garner them lots of
attention from the music industry. They're in the alternative music boom.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
It was nuts because we knew about the nerve on
a thing. Everybody freaked out.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Founding members Rick Valentin and Rose Marshak have been doing
their own podcast together before podcasting was even called podcasting.
Their streaming show Radio Zero has been a platform to
share their life experiences, his bandmates, his college professors, and
his husband and wife.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So one time our couple's therapists asked me, or maybe
it was my therapist, you know, well, what do you
think Rick wants from you? You know, why do you
even think he wants to still be with you? And
I said that one time you said something like, I
don't care what happens all during the day, but just
at night, I want to I want somebody you know
that I can I know I'll feel safe with I
(04:49):
can lay down in bed and feel safe with them.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I told her that, and she said, well are you
doing that? Are you providing that for him? Because I
was so fucking mad at you at that point, She's like,
are you doing that? I was like, oh, you know
what I'm not. Did I ever tell you that?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
No, that's right. Rick and Rose are all of these things.
Rose even published a memoir about her time on the
road with Poster Children called Play Like a Man. So yeah,
I could have just checked out Radio Zero, read the book,
listen to the album Strength, some more milk, and gone
to bed. But I want my Midwestern charm, I want
my sarcasm. I want a gush and pay my respects. Fortunately,
(05:27):
Rick and Rose are grateful to spend an evening taking
a trip down memory lane with an independent minded fanboy.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
It's so cool that you called us so thank you,
or that you emailed us. It's really neat.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Plus, as always, this is an excuse to dig deep
into the band's back catalog, and we already know that
gets my juices flowing. With your crime permission, I'll obviously
sprinkle in some Poster Children music to tell the story.
I have all the records.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Maybe don't, maybe don't use what's inside the box though
I'm just kidding, I'm not really.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
But yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
On the.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Rose, Rick and I talk about their pioneering podcast four
decades of Poster Children being Uncle Dave's favorite band from
college and surviving the grunge, rock feeding frenzy. Let's kick
things off with zero Stars, one of my favorite PC
songs from the two thousand album D d D. Then
my conversation with Poster Children right here on Independent Minded.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Ride Daldos Paisy podcast, Rye Dados Pais podcast, plugging the
pet Bull Make God Music, plugging their project making the famous,
helping about just my ma s talk about all the
bush that they.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
Riden down my highway of look our brother cous bringing
every there man, where have I family never stops?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Maybe miles an hour above hundred puns a gay?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Why have the see seven there causs.
Speaker 7 (07:16):
About the same.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
We don't have a we're done.
Speaker 6 (07:19):
We don't have a bas Oh we have a phobie
take and binner thing that.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Down when uh the tavy, when uh the shops?
Speaker 3 (07:27):
We don't know.
Speaker 6 (07:27):
I face the same. You don't know if we out
with parow sage, we're aerosogs. We go back to bracking
at that hour of the road, getting my far an
hour I was look at ball a show I have
a real farm every now and go back at look
down wind to thake the steeper father hop we up again.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
We need make it like a we get writing songs.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
We all have anybody know under head up the ground.
We don't play out the cause we only bad Bob.
We don't need that may not long dup bucket don't
have house.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
When they are Is it D D D or is
it triple D?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I think we always said D D D it was.
It was a.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Like a bra cup size. Yeah, but no, like I
realized that yesterday it was.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It was a reference to In the early CD era,
they would have a three letter marking on the CD
saying what steps were analog or digital, So you'd see
AA D or A D D analog digital and then
master digitalin and so that record we had made it
(08:39):
was all digital.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Most artists these days hire a team of nerds. Poster
Children are the nerds, and when the industry that ate
them up then spit them out began to crack. Poster
Children were one of the first bands to find refuge
via self reliance, recording their own albums, making all the
artwork handling, corresponded with fans via emails and blogs. Their
(09:02):
Turn of the century era enhanced CD releases gave fans
a three dimensional, all you can eat experience that was
groundbreaking at the time. They gave us access something more
to appreciate than just the tunes.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
That was the kind of stuff we would do, is
we would just see the current technology. It's like, oh,
this is going to enable us to do it ourselves.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
The full length film that you made, it was based
off of my tour reports, which I guess we're you know,
the yeah blogging back in nineteen ninety five. But when
we had a performance, we didn't have money to you know,
pay for film crew or anything like that. So people
who had their video cameras were able to record for us,
and then you compiled it into a movie that was
(09:45):
so cool.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Outside the.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
K Can't Sound Fast.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Twenty five years ago, this was rarefied air not just
having the work ethic to carve out an indie career,
but also to have to know how the spots. This
was something deep rooted and both Rick and Rose's DNA
well before their band or their romance took off.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
We both were in computer science in college college, so
we met at the University of Illinois and we were
both computer science.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Students assembler language programming. I love that because that like
when you learn that, then you actually understand how the
computer works. And I always thought like they taught a
higher level language first. That was like the first year
they taught pescal that's how old we are. And then
the second year the next language was assembler language. I
always remember complaining that if I had learned that first,
(10:51):
it would have been nicer, Like I would have understood
how how the sausage was made and then you know,
figured out how to put it in the casing or whatever.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
You would be moving being data into registers and it's very, yeah,
sort of much closer to the the nuts and the
nuts and bolts, the bits and bytes.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I admire musicians who dedicate their spare time to other
creative ventures, could be a children's book, painting, poetry. While
local buzz for poster children was growing, Rick and Rose
wrote assembly language code from military grade flight trainers.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
They wrote their own operating system too, and we had
like that. That was really fun too. I realized worked it.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah, I didn't. I didn't work on you worked on
the operating system, right? Or No, that was a little
bit what's their name?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
No, that was that was there was a there was
a lady there who refused to work on the weapons systems.
I remember remember that.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Shall we play gang?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Let's play Little rollbal Pheromone, meat Clear.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Or I don't remember working on a weapon system? Oh yeah, anyway,
so she was the operating system person, right, she did
the operating system. Oh okay, mister.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Wrote the appkay system. Hopefully you'll scrub these names.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Talk about talk about a rabbit hole, man, We're in
a rabbit Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
I loved that. And at some point I think we
moved to C plus plus and it wasn't as much fun. Yeah,
and then we went on tour and then yeah, we
never came back. There are so many geeky bands that
(12:49):
we'd hang out with and talk geeky stuff with man
or after man, right, didn't they They wrote their own
like little sampler thing. They had a program that they.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Wrote Poster Children, got chummy with other up and bands
like hum. They toured with Swerve Driver and the Buzzcocks,
and they started a long standing working relationship with late
great producer and engineer Steve Albini.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I think a lot of that DIY aesthetic we got
from him, maybe some from Ian from Pugazi.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Too, having ethics and had like being generous. So he
died the same year as my dad my whole life,
I knew that my dad was going to die, and
I figured I would be devastated. And you know, my
dad was in his nineties and was a huge influence
in my life. But I still can't really believe that.
I never thought that Steve would die.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And so there was a little bit of buzz. And
then we signed a twintone.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Record because we wanted to be DIY.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, and Twin Tone was one of the cool indie labels, right,
so it was like Homestead Twin Tone, SST, SST, and
of course was coming up, but it was still a
little it was a little early for Touching Go.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
I think even Chicago indie Touch and Go had begun
to carve out a reputation for releasing adventurous noise rock
by the likes of Albani's band Big Black, while a
little further north in Minnesota, Twin Tone did the same.
Two labels that spearheaded a network of underground bands that
formed the pre Nirvana indie rock scene.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Never Mind had just come out, our record had just
come out. As we were going around the United States.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
We started in Chicago, maybe we went and played in Minneapolis.
We're driving West, you know, across North Dakota. Can I
tell this? I interrupted you, I know, driving across like
either North Dakota South Dakota. I can't remember. We're like,
we have a videotape of this, like us listening to
like smells like teen Spirit Dona and we're like, wow,
(14:54):
that's really cool. And we get to Seattle and we
were on subpop too. We have a sub pop single, right.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I don't know if that had come out yet.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So we stopped in the subpop warehouse and there's a
guy making making Nirvana T shirts.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Actually he was his place, and we stayed with him.
He was a T shirt guy. He was making shirts
for Nirvana, and he was kind of freaking out. He
was like, it's getting a little crazy. It's like I'm
having to make thousands of these, a.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Lot of T shirts going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah exactly.
We get to Seattle and we go down, we go
down the coast. We like play we probably played Portland.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
In Seattle, we get interviewed, like on on the college
radio station.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
And again, like you said, what we would do is
every every town we'd go to, we'd go to the
college radio station, right.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
And they'd say they'd say, what do you want to
hear it? We'd be like, play that new Smells like
teen Spirit song and they'd be like, oh yeah. We'd
make our way down the coast. By the time we
got where.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
San Francisco, it was pretty early.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
San Francisco maybe CACR W, I don't I don't remember
what the radio station was. What do you guys want
to hear? And I was like, oh, play that nude
smells like teen Spirit. They were like, you're kidding, right.
I was like, why you don't like it? They're like, no,
it's on commercial radio. We're not going to play that.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
It's on MTV.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
It's yeah, it's yeah, yeah, Hey that's how I say yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
It was like so within two weeks of our tour, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
We go around San Diego and we played Texas and
by the time we were going.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Up play Texas and that was where we saw our
video for if U c K was on yeah one
hundred and twenty minutes. We watched it there a.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Texas bar, like after after our show with like two
other people.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
And then by the time we got to New York City,
so this would have been at the well, probably like
four weeks five weeks into the tour, Yeah, we had
fifteen major labels looking at us.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
We were like, oh, should we signed a major label
or not? You know, we're up on the north like
in Minneapolis, should we sign or not? I don't know.
We should stayed indie. And then then you were like,
let's see what happens with Nirvana.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
And then yeah, the Nirvana thing, it was like kind of, oh,
this indie band has signed a deal and it's an
indie band that's not like Sonic Youth that had had
what five records out before you know, it was like, oh,
they'd only had one record out and now they're going
to a major and it's like, let's you know, oh,
is it going to kill them? Because it was kind
of like previously, like with Whosker Dow, it felt like,
oh Whosker do once they made that jump to the major,
(17:27):
it killed them. But then it was like Sonic Youth
made that jump and it was like it was okay,
they weren't destroyed, but it was also not they weren't
a big hit band, right, they were just a larger indie.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So so Nirvana was going to be our test And
then by it's like and.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
It was like, yeah, everybody's saying, well, yeah, they'll sell like,
you know, fifty thousand records or something like that. And
then it was which is a failure, Yeah on a
major l Like, yeah, it would be amazing for India,
And it was like and what happened? Yes, Like once
the video was on MTV, they sold fifty thousand in
a day.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Right, Poster Chill Ldren would sign with Sire Records, one
of the labels that was interested before Nirvana Mania had begun.
The Warner Brothers owned Imprint had been known for nurturing
lesser known artists and was dedicating a good chunk of
their promo budget and manpower towards the alternative genre.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
And it was basically like a little indie label within
the major label. It was all about marketing to mom
and pop stores.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Made of people who worked at mom and pop stores.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
This is where I come in, and hundreds more just
like me. Major labels started sending promo packages to every
college station on the planet. College radio had clout back then,
and in nineteen ninety five, Poster Children's first ever major
label release showed up in my mail bind another jewel
case to put at the top of my glorious pile.
(19:03):
Rick Valentin's unique vocal style probably wouldn't fly during the
American idol era, but it would become part of the
band's signature sound.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I get compared to Fred Schneider occasionally. Yeah, you know,
I am influenced by like Lou Reed, like singing talkers
talk singers, sprecktas sing right, and so I do like
that that. There was there was a point I can't
remember what record was. I spent a real lot of
time working on my voice and trying to get away
from that aspect of it. And then we were our
(19:34):
friend was mastering it and he's like, listening to the record,
and he's gone, you're really leaning into the Fred Schneider
thing this time, and I was like, shit, I was
trying to get away from it. I can't see myself.
Fad All stare straight in the.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Lean into it. Rick lean into it lean.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
And even though the recording budgets and the tours got bigger,
maybe the stages in the dressing rooms too. Poster Children
never really counted on their mainstream, magic, corporate ride lasting.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I don't think we ever thought, you know, we're gonna
be big stars. You know, all we got to do
is this, and we were just like, let's see how
long we can do this, and then when we're not
on the label anymore, let's fortify ourselves so that when
when we're off the label, we can continue, which is exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
What we did.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
During their time on Sire, Rick and Rose never caved
to the zeitgeist the band sounded and change, nor did
their expectations even Madonna.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
You know, it's like Madonna, who's like the you know,
the source of money for Sire. Right at some point
it was over, you know, So that arc is always there.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
There's always an arc jump up, always how.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Fast it is. And yeah, for us, relatively speaking, we
lasted a long time the forest floor.
Speaker 7 (21:07):
A face without a name, wait by the river side,
soaking up the rain, Sich.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Lots of poster children's peers got signed by the majors
back then, too, signed and dropped the circle complete. But
while a lot of those acts were enjoying the excesses
of the industry, Rick and Rose were always doing the
math and stayed true to their indie roots.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
The rock and roll years of my life were about touring,
and nothing changed we had. We just drove our van around,
We made T shirts. You know, we had ten dollars
day per dims, We got fed dinner at night, and
we slept on people's floors through the whole major label
thing too. So after we left the major label we
did the same.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
We weren't operating in the dream like the rock dream world.
We were operating in that indie kind of world where
it's like, oh, this is how much money you have.
This is how much money you're making. Right. You can't
dig yourself into a hole because then when sugar Daddy
goes away, you won't be able to sustain, you know,
(22:21):
that sugar daddy lifestyle.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
In the late nineties, Poster Children signed with New York
indie Spinhart, and in between the music making, Rick and
Rose started dabbling in a new medium. Was it even
called a podcast? Oh?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
When it started? I think, yeah, I think that you've.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
Kind of predated podcasting.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Oh yeah, the word podcast I think came about in
two thousand and five or something like that.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
And our never the iPod came out.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah yeah, and we're so Radio zero are The first
Radio zero was nineteen ninety eight. It's from sitting in
the van for you know, twelve hours we'd stop at
bookstores and buy books. We'd stop at museums and go
walk around the museums. Right, we'd have and then we'd
get to play with Fugazi or something, or we'd get
both to play with Jawbox or or I'm trying to
(23:08):
think of, you know, any of our like house of
large sizes. You'd travel around the country. You'd run into,
you know, your friends that you haven't seen and since
the last tour for like six months or a year,
and you'd catch up and you'd have all these intense
conversations about the books you just read or the you
know movie you saw or something like that, and so
all these wonderful conversations, and then we would get home
(23:29):
from tour and we'd be like, well, you know, we're
still talking. You know, we should probably just bottle these
conversations up because they're so freaking important. We're so important.
We should just bottle these conversations up and stick them
on the internet. We could stick them on the internet.
People could click on them and listen to them.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
A continuation of the DIY thing where it's like it's
not necessarily like, oh, you have the most profound things
to say, but it's it's kind of like the kind
of things you're chatting about would be interesting to a
small group of people, right, It's just like putting out
a seven inch single.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Rick and Rose have never monetized radio zero, never even
thought about it. The coolest artists can be forward thinking,
but they don't have to have dollar signs in their eyes.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
There's this talking head song called found a Job, and
it's about people making their own TV shows. Right. So
it's from the public access TV era, right, And it's
that kind of romantic idea of yeah, you're making your
own content, but it's not being made for sort of
a huge audience. It's just this kind of small personal thing.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
In twenty eighteen, after a fourteen year layoff, Poster Children
released the album Grand Bargain, produced and engineered by Albini.
Over a decade it passed, but the new record had
that same energy, trademark sound and diy spirit.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Everybody will be welcome, everyone will have a choice, we
will all work together.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
You're united with the single voice will show stylist.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Say myself, well.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
Say.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
It also kept Poster Children in the game, and recently
Rose found herself on a panel with indie legend.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Bob mold Oh, I love Whoskerdoo, but I love just
talking to him. He and I have kind of weirdly
same mannerism.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Rose had talked and hung out with Bob Bake what
in October or something, and then it was like he
had this show and he just invited us to play.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, we don't know why.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
That was so cool, just because I mean it was.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
In Minneapolis. That's so cool, my god.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
And that major label release we talked about earlier. Junior
Citizen is now thirty years old.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
The Bumble thing happened, and then it was like, well,
we should probably play another show. If we're going to
rehearse and everything like that, we should at least play
another show and do a Junior Citizen show, a Junior
Citizen show.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
So it's crazy. So we're like practicing all of the
songs on Junior Citizen. There's songs that should never be
played live and.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Maybe never were, I mean never for me. Yeah, to
imagine some of them, I don't think we ever did.
Why yep, playing.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Colin and say the only on our poster. Children are
celebrating thirty years of Junior Citizen with one off show
May twenty fourth in Chicago, and after that who knows
for the band. It's not about a lack of fire.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
You're the decider, Like I'll play anytime anywhere, like you
will you play here for free? Okay, yeah, I'll play
all the time. But which is which you can't do?
Speaker 1 (27:33):
So but the logistics of that, it's, yeah, you can
say that, I could say that, but it's like, well,
we can't really do that. We actually have to rehearse
and get a bunch of equipment in a van and
drive out somewhere. You have to shows, you learn the songs.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I'm just a bass player, so just saying.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Oh I can, I can play anytime, and it's like,
that's not true.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
So it's it's I would play, but but yeah I
can't because I have to teach a class, have a
meeting tomorrow exactly with my boss.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
So it's it's it's kind of yeah I would, but
yeah I can't.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
When things pop up for adults, now, it's.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Not just the prep, it's the priorities. Rick and Rose
are both college professors, you know.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Once in a while, like some students, parents knows who
we are.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I assume it's Uncle Dave's favorite band from college. We're
waiting for the grandparents. Yeah, oh no, I that devastating day.
Grana loves you, guys.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Please, that hasn't happened to you already.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I haven't gotten to the grandpa and their parents too.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
How much do they know about Rick and Rose.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
The rock stars?
Speaker 1 (28:41):
We haven't told them yet.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
It's the friendships forged by their time in Poster Children
that have put Rick and Rose in this place, living
quote unquote normal lives while having that occasional option of
turning on the rock and roll machine whenever it makes
good sense. Rick's brother Jim has been part of the
band since nineteen ninety one. Drummer Matt Frishia has been
the band's mainstay behind the kit since two thousand and one. Finally,
(29:29):
there's Rick and Rose's relationship with each other. They connected
in college. They're bandmates, colleagues, co conspirators, and co parents.
So before I let them go, I can't help but
ask them to divulge some life advice. What's the secret
to this sort of longevity? That's got to be a
special dynamic that I would hope enhances the relationship. It's
(29:52):
an opportunity to spend time with each other in this
interesting sort of way at a time where you've already
and probably a whole lot of time with each other,
So how do you make it work?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Wow? So one time our couple's therapist asked me, or
maybe it was my therapist, you know, well, what do
you think Rick wants from you? You know, why do
you even think he wants to still be with you?
And I said that one time you said something like,
I don't care what happens all during the day, but
just at night, I want to I want somebody you
know that I can I know I'll feel safe with
(30:26):
I can lay down in bed and feel safe with them.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I told her that, and she said, well are you
doing that? Are you providing that for him? Because I
was so fucking mad at you at that point, She's like,
are you doing that? I was like, oh, you know what,
I'm not. Did I ever tell you that?
Speaker 4 (30:41):
No?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I think about the creative process as being like a relationship, right,
that conversation you're always having and the work you're doing
it is a relationship, and so we also have a relationship.
We have a creative relationship. There's ups and downs. It
can be difficult sometimes and it can be rewarding other times,
but it isn't all magic. Yeah, so that's the thing
(31:03):
is is, Oh.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
It's a lot of work. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot
of work.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
I feel bad now though. You you you said this
beautiful thing and it.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Was like that, I'll just cut you out.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah and then yeah, yeah, just cut out my stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Balloon a giant.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
Rick Valentin needn't feel bad. I know he's not just
talking about his relationship with Rose or even with Poster Children.
It's that flame that burns inside of every creative How
do you keep that fire stoked for forty minutes, forty days,
never mind forty years. How do you keep challenging yourself?
What makes you wake up at Rick's age, at any age,
(31:41):
and say, let's write, let's record, let's perform, even when
the muse is taking the day off, even when you've
experienced all the lows that come with all the highs
up to a point. He might find the agony delightful,
But a music career, just like life, is an arc.
I can't speak for Rick or for I can only
(32:01):
speak as a fan, but I'm grateful for bands like
Poster Children, not just to witness the music but to
witness that arc. It reminds me why I'm still doing this.
The music, the podcast, It reminds me to recognize the gifts,
and it motivates me to keep moving forward until the
circle closes. Find out more about Poster Children, the band's
(33:26):
myriad side projects and Rick and Roses podcast at Poster
children dot com, and follow the band on social media
at Poster Children. Big thanks to Rick and Rose for
spending a school night with me and for sharing wisdom
and laughs with this long time fan. And while I'm
at it, how about an affectionate noogie for you, loyal
(33:46):
podcast listener. Come here, your little rascal. There you go.
Thanks for spending your school night, your workday, or your
prison time with me. Since twenty twelve. You can leave
a kind review for Independent Minded on Apple, podcast Asks
and Spotify, share the links, tell your friends if you
have any, and buy some music at baldfreak dot com.
(34:07):
And if you want to say hi or send me
your new music, fill my inbox at ron at baldfreak
dot com or dive into my d ms on social
media at Baldfreakmusic. Independent Mind that always was and still
remains a baldfreakmusic production and me, I'm still ron Scalzo
(34:28):
put good
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