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The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Ep539: Dr Strange Records' Summer Bash Festival

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Nate Goyer

Music, Music History, Music Interviews

4.7 • 579 Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dr. Strange Records' Bill Plaster talks Summer Bash and the chaos of booking a festival, punk history, record collecting, Live Strange, and how punk rock can genuinely change lives.

Get Summer Bash tix here  |  Follow Dr Strange for Live Strange here

Topics Include:

  • Bill Plaster of Dr. Strange Records joins to discuss the upcoming Summer Bash.
  • Punk Rock Bowling's cancellation — visa bans, politics, venue loss — created the opportunity.
  • Bill connected with Gallo, who runs the Fox Theater and the Cathedral in Pomona.
  • The Cathedral: a stunning, refurbished 1921 four-story YMCA venue hosting the event.
  • A massive two-day lineup — 30-plus bands across punk, hardcore, and old-school SoCal.
  • Notable acts include the Effigies, Channel 3, the Skulls, featuring Kevin from Green Day.
  • Every band asked said yes — Bill takes no money, purely doing it for the community.
  • Dealing with booking agents was the biggest headache of organising the festival.
  • Planning started in November; Bill hopes Summer Bash becomes an annual event.
  • The Punk in the Park cancellations discussed — Bill argues protest with your vote, not boycotts.
  • Bill credits Rod for building Dr. Strange's social media profile and making the festival possible.
  • Bill's mentorship philosophy: punk rock can genuinely change lives for the better.
  • The Dr. Strange "family" ethos — making fun of people with love, never punching down.
  • Bill's book discussed — early punk discoveries via Damned, Buzzcocks, and XTC seven-inches.
  • The brutal gang violence at early 80s LA/SoCal punk shows — constantly watching your back.
  • A close call at Spanky's: the guy next to Bill got stabbed during a Guttermouth gig.
  • Biggest missed show regret: skipped Oingo Boingo due to peer pressure from girls in line.
  • Never saw Black Flag — their reputation for brutality genuinely scared him off.
  • Eight years of mail order before opening the store; Voodoo Glow Skulls his biggest-selling record.
  • Live Strange runs Wednesdays and Fridays — the cowbell is Bill's money-back guarantee.

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds.

0:10.0

Here's your host, the biggest record nerd of them all, Nate Goyer.

0:13.6

Ah, well, hey, everyone, it's Nate.

0:15.6

Welcome to episode 539 of the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds.

0:22.7

And dear people, you are going to bless your ears today because you are going to be hearing

0:27.9

the dulcet tones of our good friend Bill Plaster of Dr. Strange Records.

0:33.3

Now, if you don't know, Dr. Strange Records is a store in Altiloma, California.

0:38.7

It's a record label, and above all, it's an attitude.

0:42.6

Bill is the steward of the ship, creator, head honcho, and mac daddy of Dr. Strange Records,

0:48.6

and the brainchild of the Summer Bash Music Festival taking place in Pomona, California, May 23rd and 24th.

0:57.2

Memorial Day weekend.

0:58.6

And Bill discusses it all today and the wild time it will be, as well as he talks about

1:04.1

his history with music, the store, record labels, and record collecting.

1:08.0

And I, for one, always enjoy hanging out at Dr. Strange Records when I go to California,

1:13.3

and you can enjoy them too every Wednesday and Friday 4 p.m. Pacific time for Live Strange on

1:20.1

Instagram. It's one of my secrets for grabbing rare and collectible vinyl. So if you tune into to Dr. Strange Live Strange Wednesdays and Fridays,

1:30.4

he's drinking beer, he's showing records, you can bid on them, and it's a great way to beef up

1:35.5

your collection with some fantastic records. So follow them on Instagram at Dr. Strange Records

1:41.5

and join in on the Live Strange Fun. Now, I've booked my flights. I'm planning to be at the Dr. Strange Records and join in on the live Strange fun.

1:46.5

Now, I've booked my flights.

1:50.7

I'm planning to be at the Dr. Strange Summer Bash on Memorial Day weekend.

1:55.6

And from what I understand, many folks, punk and vinyl maniacs alike,

...

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