KEXP DJ Sharlese on World Goth Day and Oakland Post-Punks Sympathy Flowers
In Our Headphones
KEXP
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
Host Evie Stokes sits down with DJ Sharlese from Mechanical Breakdown on the eve of World Goth Day. Sharlese digs into what the idea of goth means to her. She also brings in a new song from Bay Area post punk group Sympathy Flowers and their song “Sworn to Silence.” The song comes from the bands 2025 album Dreams of Lurking Fear, out now on Cellofame Records.
Produced by Dusty Henry
Mastered by: William Myers
Production support: Serafima Healy
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Photo Credit: Tash de Valois
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Experience the magic of music discovery through live performance on the Live on KexP podcast, now with audio-only versions of every session we share on YouTube. |
| 0:10.2 | Listen at kexp.org slash podcasts on the KexP app or wherever you listen to podcasts, made possible in part by BECU. |
| 0:20.0 | You're listening to In Our Headphones. I'm Eby Stokes back with you today, chatting with the |
| 0:24.4 | lovely Charlese about new music that she thinks that you should hear. Hey, girl. Hey. So today |
| 0:30.5 | you have a song from Oakland band, Sypathy Flowers that we're going to talk about in a sec. But I also, |
| 0:36.2 | you know, this week is World Goth Day. |
| 0:38.9 | We will be celebrating on K-E-X-P. Tell me about World Goth Day. What does it mean, D? What do you |
| 0:43.6 | want to say about it? I want to say that I think that goth is a defining term for people to use as a |
| 0:52.1 | reference point. I kind of think that if anything, it's a mindset. I don't point. I kind of think that, if anything, it's a mindset. |
| 0:56.4 | I don't know. |
| 0:57.0 | I kind of have a hard time with the word |
| 1:00.1 | because I think that it can get into cheesy realm. |
| 1:03.7 | But I know that I will say, like, |
| 1:07.5 | when I'm not trying to explain what mechanical breakdown is to somebody I'll just be like |
| 1:13.6 | oh it's KXV's goth show but really I don't believe that that's what it is believe that is a show |
| 1:19.7 | that celebrates darker styles and goes into the realm of wave and synth and just kind of celebrates music within the darker realm. |
| 1:31.2 | Under a huge umbrella. |
| 1:32.5 | Yeah, under a huge umbrella, if you say goth people expect you to look a certain way. |
| 1:37.4 | Right. |
| 1:38.1 | And I'm never going to look like that. |
| 1:41.3 | And I don't ever want to look like that. |
| 1:46.2 | I also like people are like, oh, |
... |
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