On the Mk Ultra Sound Podcast with Alex last night. We discussed my music video Burning Planet, current events, my journey, our time together on the show, Ilker ReGen magazine and catching up. Exciting to be a part of the show again. Thank you for having me on again Alex. – Yvette Lera
YVETTE LERA is Back and ON FIRE as She Discusses Her New Video for “Burning Planet” 10/11/2023
The following was written by Ilker Yücel (Kryptych) on RegGen Mag www.regenmag.com
Emerging from a three-year-long hiatus is musician, actress, model, and sociocultural rabble rouser Yvette Lera as she unveils the music video for her song, “Burning Planet.” Originally written and recorded by Lera with Will Gannon in 2012, the track presents the artist’s premonitory observations of a world in disarray, with Lera explaining that “The Planet is burning and being destroyed by those in power who are corrupt and who wish to control humanity and destroy all resources for their diabolical agendas.” A boisterous industrial/rock track that hearkens back to the artist’s early days as a member of Chicago band Lick, the accompanying video was shot in Antioch, TN by Brandy Powers Crowe, edited by Lera in a straightforward and D.I.Y. style that she describes as “a Tik-Tok video on crack.” Of its style, Lera comments that “the rawness of little to no resources can be really cool and has a magic to it.” The juxtaposition of Lera seemingly ranting in a manic and maniacal fashion on a sunny day in a cemetery before shifting to the post-industrial waste of an abandoned Checkers, framed by images of current world events, further emphasizes the song’s themes; “We must be the light in these dark times,” she continues, “to help restore balance to humankind and this planet before it’s too late.”
“Burning Planet” marks the first material Lera has released since 2020 when she appeared as a guest vocalist in Chrome Pipes’ “Lights Out!” single; before that, she had enjoyed a brief stint as a co-host of the Chicago-based MKUltraSound Podcast helmed by MK Ultra Magazine‘s Alex Zander. Over the years, Lera has collaborated in numerous bands and projects with the likes of Glenn Danzig, Taime Down, X-Japan’s Hide, Chris Vrenna, Die Robot, and with Killing Joke members Jaz Coleman, Geordie Walker, and Paul Raven. “I have full control of my message and how I want to portray it,” she states, with plans to unleash more music in the coming months, much of which was recorded but had remained unreleased for more than a decade.
The above photo is from2020 when Yvette moved back home to Chicago and was to be my co host on the podcast. The match was perfect. We’re 2 old rock n roll souls. But alas, it was not meant to be. CODVID and the restrictions fucked us all but Yvette go fucked harder than anyone I know. It was sad. I wanted to work side by side with my kindred spirit. The next few years would see her moving to Atlanta, and then to Austin and now she’s settled in Nashville. Despite all odds she has managed to make it. Barely make it but you cannot keep a woman like her down for long. Check her out on a recent MKULTRASOUND PodCast:
An artist I became familiar with thru a couple of Bloodshot Records events is Lydia Loveless. I first saw her band perform at Mayne Stage on September 22, 2012 for Bloodshot Records 18th birthday party, dubbed Barely Bloodshot with Lydia Loveless, Jon Langford and his Skull Orchard, the Dex Romweber Duo, Deadstring Brothers, and Shake’em On Down all in one night. It was a truly eye opening experience and an amazing evening. I was in awe at how many of my friends were also there. . And then lastly at Bloodshot Records 20Th Anniversary Concert at Metro on Jan 9, 2015.
I became a fan from the first show. I was immediately drawn to her music and discovered she’s from Columbus OH. I asked my brother about her and he told me she and her friends would hang with my brother and his friends, though he doubts she remembers him, at places such as Bernie’s Bagels. I could not get over the power of her vocals and the pure rebellious and emotional tone of her songwriting. It was fresh to me at the time and now I have10 years of listening to her tunes.
But nothing affected me the way the album cover of 2017’s Boy Crazy and Single(s). Of course i posted it on my Facebook page and then I got a call from my brother. It was shot in front of Summit Station. HOLY SHIT! I DJ’d and hosted events there for the 5 years I lived in Columbus where I started my venture into music journalism and a DJ at nights while I worked various day jobs, most notably Warner Cable. Many nights off I spent time drinking there and became part of a family. I DJ’d 2 gay weddings years before anyone even openly talked about it. The wedding were at churches and my Aunt Jo was one of those I had the honor of providing music to her wedding and reception. Before I moved back to Pittsburgh where I attended college before relocating to Columbus, they made me a honorary Lesbian. When I’d pass through on tours with other bands I always stopped it. Hell when I went to Cancun in my mid 20’s Blazer and her partner Brenda stayed at my home to housesit and watch my cats. It was very near the bar and they LOVED my waterbed. Ever since they referred to me as their son. The fact that Miss Loveless did an album cover in front of the place just made me a bigger fan of her as a person and artist even more.
I could go on and on but will save it and you can hear more at the podcast link below from 2020.
Earlier this year, Summit Station received a historical marker in dedication to the value and significance it brought to the LGBTQ+ community for four decades. It’s an honor to have been part of that legacy.
On Saturday, June 10th, a crowd gathered outside 2210 Summit Street in Columbus, Ohio to dedicate a new Ohio Historical Marker. The Marker recognized Summit Station (also known as Jack’s), one of Ohio’s oldest and longest-running lesbian bars. The bar stood at 2210 Summit Street from 1970 to 2008 and served as a home-away-from-home for thousands of women over the decades. It was a safe space for those looking to temporarily escape homophobia and those looking for community. It also served as the homebase for HIS Kings, one of the earliest drag king troops, who launched the International Drag King Extravaganza (IDKE).
In the 1980s, there were upwards of 200 bars catering to lesbian, bisexual, and queer women in the United States. In 2023, there are only 21 remaining open. With dedicated LGBTQ+ spaces disappearing, recognizing these spaces that offered refuge and community is vital to preserving their legacy. The Summit Station Ohio Historical Marker does just that.
The Summit Station Marker is the third Ohio Historical Marker recognizing LGBTQ+ history in the state, and the first in Central Ohio. The Gay Ohio History Initiative (GOHI) worked closely with the Marker sponsors, Friends of Summit Station, to prepare and submit the application for the Marker. Quincy Balius, who was an Education and Manuscripts Intern at the time, shepherded the Marker sponsors through the process of historical research, documentation, property and maintenance agreements, and text editing.
As with many marginalized communities, historical documents pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community are often sparse or nonexistent. Historically, people took great care to hide their sexual orientation and gender identity to avoid public scrutiny and legal trouble. Throughout the United States, there were several laws that restricted the LGBTQ+ community’s actions, publications, and personal relationships. In Columbus, Ohio, for example, a city ordinance was passed in 1848 that banned cross dressing. This ordinance was one of the earliest to be instituted in the United States and was actively enforced until it was overturned in 1975 in an Ohio Supreme Court decision, City of Columbus v. John Rogers. Laws like the Columbus city ordinance provided the impetus for members of the community to hide and destroy historical records, making modern-day research on LGBTQ+ topics difficult or impossible.
Quincy’s work on the Summit Station Marker served as the prototype for Marking Diverse Ohio (MDO), a major project of GOHI. MDO was envisioned to make it easier for LGBTQ+ histories to be recorded and shared. The project, which is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), funds the creation of 10 new Ohio Historical Markers that recognize LGBTQ+ people, places, and stories across the state. In addition to funding these Markers, MDO is intended to make the process of applying easier and more realistic for these stories that lack traditional archival sources.
As the project coordinator for MDO, I will be working one-on-one with Marker sponsors to conduct research and guide sponsors through the application process. Anyone can be a Marker sponsor – they are simply community members or organizations who are passionate about local history. Working together, the GOHI team will utilize our historical expertise to find the best primary and secondary sources to document these histories. MDO also aims to expand the availability of primary source materials on these topics for future researchers. That is why the project is also working to record additional oral histories with those that lived through these events and experiences, as well as adding manuscripts and objects to our GOHI Collection.
The MDO program is part of the Ohio History Connection’s larger effort to tell, share, and uplift communities that have been historically excluded from the Ohio Historical Marker Program. We want every Ohioan to see themselves reflected in our nearly 1,800 Ohio Historical Markers. Utilizing community organizing principles, I have been meeting with members of the LGBTQ+ community from around Ohio. I have already had the privilege of hearing many stories of challenge, survival, and joy that are worthy of being commemorated by an Ohio Historical Marker.
The LGBTQ+ community around the state of Ohio is diverse and their experiences are varied. That is why MDO aims to spark discovery of LGBTQ+ history as it intersects with black, indigenous, and people of color’s experiences, as well as the experiences of immigrants, underrepresented faith communities, those with disabilities, and Ohioans living in rural areas of the state. One Marker at a time, these historical monuments recognize that the people and places that matter to everyday Ohioans matter to Ohio’s larger historical narrative.
Those few of you who believed in me while everyone else turned their backs and talked shit, you’ll always have a seat at my table or bed in my home. Thank you and I love you all dearly.
Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville 3519 N Clark St SUITE C301, Chicago www.drafthouse.com/chicago
The Exorcist: Believer is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler from a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Green. The sixth installment in The Exorcist franchise, it serves as a sequel to The Exorcist (1973). The film stars Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O‘Neill in her film debut, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz and Ann Dowd, along with Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair reprising their roles from the original film. Its plot follows a photographer who must confront the nadir of evil when his daughter and her best friend are possessed.
Sunday Oct 8 Now it was the second weekend of October and Max didn’t have to twist my arm to join him at the Alamo Draft House to see The Exorcist: Believer. I’d never been there and though its close I figure it’d be full of Trixie’s and Chad’s especially since it’s located right by Wrigley Field in an ocean of sports bars and Irish Pubs. The tickets were only $12 but my drink a double Jamo was $30. $35.87 with tip. I was furious. I had stopped at Taco Bell luckily to grab some grub for home but ended up eating some of it during the previews. The theater itself is nothing short of Grand and adorned with lots of Chicago movie memorabilia and more I ‘ll be back but not for the bar. After the film we walked down N Clark Street where Max had made some friends with bartenders and we ended up at Output and I didn’t realize just what it was until we let butt I knew I’d be back on Friday the 13th.
On the way out of the bar I took this picture. And while inside I kept commenting on how I could smell wing sauce. When I got home I did a little research before bed. Output had rung a bell and lo and behold it was the place that Adam Becvare had been wanting to take me to only it was their location in the west loop. Max and I had planned to get together on Friday the 13th of course and we’d be returning to Output for their award winning wings. But I had 5 – days of work ahead of me and it would be a rainy week.
I’d been putting it off for awhile. I ate at Lucy’s a LOT last year often taking my podcast guests there after the podcast. I knew I’d be having wings at the end of the week but I couldn’t wait so I went to Lucy’s after work and ordered a buffalo blue cheese chicken sandwich and a Juicy Lucy burger. I certainly did not regret it and I wouldn’t have to clean the kitchen….again
I got really good news that Faster Pussycat would be playing two shows in the burbs in November. I was fucking thrilled. Of course the shows are not in the city. No promoter in the city books the shows from bands I love, and have not for years. Another really good reason to move. 99% of the time I go out of the city to see a show its either missing work or its an overnight or both I have to take a train downtown and then a train out to the burbs and then a ride to either Bob’s place or a hotel. Even though I am always on the guest list it’s still an expensive venture. However when I get to spend time with BH and/or get to eat at Asadoras. As things stand now it looks like I’ll be at both shows and miss minimal work. CHA FUCKING CHING!
www.asadorasargentinasburgersoswego.com
When I met Max to eat the first Friday of the month I stopped into Graham Crackers Comics of Andersonville before dinner and talked to one of the owners and he was supposed to have the new FAUST in by Friday the 13th and he was only getting one copy. Luckily I called before going there before meeting Max at Output becasue the release got pushed up. It was raining so I had saved a trip. I will get the book hopefully this week. I am so in love with this comic I have the logo tattooed on me. It was my third ever tattoo 1996
The Wait is Over… Rebel Studios, in partnership with Black Mask Studios, collects the complete masterwork of “outlaw comics” in one outrageous oversize hardcover. Dare to go beyond good and evil, immersing yourself in this 500-page adult horror odyssey, including the rarest “grail” issues, Acts 14 and 15, plus color cover galleries and behind the scenes content, in an oversize (8”x12”) deluxe edition. A man seduced by power plunges into an underground urban hell dominated by madness and the mystical. Haunted by tortured love, he rages through primal hallucinations in a blood-drenched nightmare of Attraction and Repulsion, Sex and Death, Revenge and Reclamation. Following a rocking Kickstarter that killed its goal in 20 minutes, this stunning oversize deluxe edition will be available in comics shops this October!
This made people laugh. I posted it on social media and told the viewers to look to the left.
lol, only you would stop in the rain for that pic! Miss you!
Friday Oct 13th 2023 I arrived at Output before Max and ordered a Double Jamo on the rocks. I was chatting with the bartenders and explained how I could not wait to finally eat these wings. Finally Magic Max Marvel had arrived and I put in our order.
If you listen to the podcast you know the Trix edibles story from the EXXXOTICA show last April. I keep the bag as a reminder and filled it with Hi-Chew candy. I also brought along the gift that Saffron Alexia Adams hand made for me. A Cinnamon Girl coffin and inside a handmade pineapple bracelet that I joked and called a cock ring. Again, when will this joke run its course. I had to share with Max.
ABSOLUTELY NOT AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS. ButI had to try.
Our bartenders
30 pc. $48 10 Sweet & Spicy and 20 Original Hot and I had them grilled and not fried. Max never had grilled wings before and commented how he was going to try that with his jalapeno puree recipe. We ended hanging out there for a few hours and on the way home I stopped into Wrigleyville North for a night cap. The jury is out and these wings are fantastic.
Lots of hype about the finale of Ti West’s “X” trilogy coming soon and we are hyped. It is certain not to disappoint, especially since it trends on familiar territory. No release date yet. ButWHATA CAST!
MaXXXine is an upcoming American slasher film written and directed by Ti West. It is the third and final installment of the X trilogy, following X and Pearl. The film stars Mia Goth, who reprises her role as Maxine (and also serves as producer), alongside Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Halsey, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon. In the film, as the only survivor of a massacre, Maxine sets out for fame and success in 1980s Los Angeles.
Premise: After being the only survivor of events of a massacre, Maxine moves to Los Angeles in the early 1980s to pursue her dreams of becoming a famous actress.
MaXXXine is scheduled to be released in the United States by A24.
I think I will FINALLY be able to see my all time favorite comedian live in January 2024. Of course it’s also not in the city. At least it’s a Saturday. For now, this week I buy my tickets for Lydia Loveless. – AMF!