With this episode, we take a trip back to Silicon Valley (as it was just coming to be known) at the dawn of the 1980s. The same area that gave rise to the Sleepers and U.X.A. during the original 1977/1978 punk era also spawned a variety of interesting but largely unsung bands during the post-punk/new wave era, including Half-Church, the Start, Zru Vogue, and Quiet Room. Several of these groups (all but Zru Vogue) had releases on Win Records, the label founded and run by original Sleepers bassist Paul Draper. Philip Peters was the vocalist and primary songwriter for Quiet Room, whose short lifespan ran from 1980 to 1982 and included a gig opening for Duran Duran at the I-Beam in San Francisco. Their official discography (at least during their lifespan) was limited to a single 7-inch, but more recently, Peters added a new release, thanks to the discovery of some old tapes by former bandmate and recording engineer Bart Thurber. From the Bandcamp page:

“In 1982, Philip Peters started writing what would be the next Quiet Room songs. The backing tracks were recorded by Bart Thurber, but never finished, put aside and forgotten till 2025 when the original 4 track tape was found. Philip then completed the 6 songs by adding vocals and some over dubs as was intended back in 1982. So here for the first time the completed “lost Quiet Room Demos" as the new album.”

In this episode, we hear more about this new release from Quiet Room, along with a whole bunch of Palo Alto-area underground music history from that interesting window of time.Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2025/09/16/wca-podcast-ep-28-philip-peters-quiet-room/

From WilliamWinant.com:

2014 Grammy-nominated percussionist William Winant has performed with some of the most innovative and creative musicians of our time, including John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, John Zorn, Keith Jarrett, Anthony Braxton, James Tenney, Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell, Steve Reich and Musicians, Yo-Yo Ma, Frederic Rzewski, Ursula Oppens, Joan LaBarbara, Annea Lockwood, Joelle Leandre, Zeena Parkins, Danny Elfman/OingoBoingo, Mr. Bungle, Sonic Youth, and the Kronos String Quartet.

In this, the first newly recorded episode of the podcast in almost a year, we hear from the esteemed percussion maestro about moving to (and staying in) the Bay Area; studying (and teaching) at Mills College; collaborating with the likes of Mr. Bungle and Caroliner; hanging out with Harry Partch; and crossing genre boundaries, from contemporary classical to rock to free improv and beyond.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/ep-27-willie-winant-percussionist-extraordinaire/

While probably best known for his 1991 book England's Dreaming: The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, Jon Savage was also an early chronicler of the San Francisco punk scene, championing bands such as the Sleepers, Avengers, and Dils before most audiences outside of the Bay Area or California had even heard of them. In this episode, we hear about his involvement with the zine Search & Destroy; his trip to the West Coast (both L.A. and San Francisco) in 1978; his first-hand observations on the differences between the punk scenes in the U.K. and California; and more.

Show notes, links, and music credits: https://whocaresanywaysf.wordpress.com/2025/06/01/wca-podcast-jon-savage-englands-dreaming/