This week’s guest is Jen Razavi. You might know her better as “Jen Pop,” one of the singers, guitarists, and founding members of The Bombpops. The Los Angeles-based band has earned notoriety in the punk rock realm and last year’s sophomore album, Death In Venice Beach, has only bolstered their reputation. Before she was touring relentlessly and sharing the stage with some of punk’s premier projects, Razavi was a high school kid playing Pennywise covers in a band called Split Nation.
Recently, My First Band host Tyler Maas got in touch with Razavi to talk about the latest Bombpops album, the record release show and nationwide tour the band hand to cancel on account of the COVID-19 crisis, ways she’s staying busy and creative in quarantine, and some of the amazing opportunities her band has given her through the years. Of course, they also discussed her musical origin story, including her years playing acoustic guitar as a kid, meaningful concerts in her adolescence, meeting her longtime friend/bandmate Poli van Dam and playing together in The Vodka Dolls, and the process of signing with Fat Wreck Chords.
My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth (“The Junction Street Eight Tigers”) and The Bombpops (“Notre Dame”).