Episode 6: The Past, Present&Future of Maximum Rocknroll - a podcast by Brandi Howell

On today's episode, Maximum Rocknoll – the story behind the famed punk institution.

 Beginning in 1977, a group of Bay Area music fans led by Tim Yohannan,  began a weekly radio show out of the studio at KPFA in Berkeley, California. The driving impulse behind the show was simple – an unabashed uncompromising world of punk rock.  By 1982, the punk scene had grown into a worldwide movement and the founders of the show launched Maximum RocknRoll as a print fanzine, dedicated to anti-corporate ideals, leftist politics and relentless enthusiasm for DIY punk and hardcore bands from every inhabited continent of the globe.  Over the next several decades, what started as a do it yourself labor of love amongst a handful of friends had extended to include literally thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of readers. For many, it became the punk rock bible. The inky smudge of the black and white newsprint providing a voice in community for young teenagers around the world, introducing them to bands and a sense of creative expression they had not known before.  By 2019, the landscape of the punk underground as well as print media itself had dramatically shifted and MRR announced the end to its print publication. Over these 42 years with over 1600 radio shows and 400 issues of fanzine to its claim, MRR came to represent a certain do-it-yourself ethos that extended far beyond the music itself.
As the print scene came to an end last year, I invited some well the longstanding Maximum contributors to come together for a night to talk about that the zine and its lasting impact on the global punk scene. Here's our conversation.. 

The Past, Present&Future of Maximum Rocknroll:
The Story Behind the Famed Punk InstitutionBrandi Howell (BH): Tonight we have with us Martin Sprouse, Paul Curran, and Matt Badenhop.   And before I introduce them, I just wanted to play a little taste of the early days of the radio show.  
BH:  So if you guys wanted to introduce yourselves a bit and kind of give your background and how you were first introduced to the magazine. Martin Sprouse (MS):  Yeah. My name is Martin Sprouse. I grew up in Southern California. So my first introduction to the magazine was the first compilation.  Me and my friend, Jason Traeger, and Pat Weakland.   We were doing our own fanzine in San Diego called The Leading Edge. And we found that record, Pat knew it was coming out and we found like the day they were unboxing it in a record store and we just go – Oh wow!  Cause it was the first time we knew there were hardcore bands playing up here, you know, that they existed up here.  Because in Southern California, we're spoiled with them, but it was nice to see all these kids doing things.  And then from that our local record store started carrying Maximum Rocknroll from the first issue on. And when we first looked at it, it was like so different than what we're used to. You know, we're used to Flip Side and Ripper, but Maximum to our teenage eyes was this thick. It had politics right on the cover and I was going – Holy shit, this is great!  You know, it was newsprint, it was messy, just like it is now, you know, but it just looks so different, you know, and then we just kept buying issues. And we started coming up here and visiting in'84,'83 ... staying at the Maximum house. And then I moved up here in'85 to become part of Maximum. Is that enough background?   And I stopped doing Leading Edge and started working on Maximum and been involved with Maximum projects since then. 


Leading Edge fanzine. artwork by Jason TraegerBH:  And Paul has also been with the magazine and various bands since 1983, contributing to all the graphics and the record reviews, he lists himself has a house cleaner. And now as a member of the powerful and mysterious MMR board.  Paul, how did you first learn about Maximum?Paul Curran (PC):  I first learned about Maximum probably by seeing the magazine. I grew up in Benicia,

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