My First Band Podcast

As the singer of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Spike Slawson has toured the world, shared the stage and studio with some of punk rock's most legendary names, and helped to breathe new and unexpected life into some of pop music's greatest hits. Long before he was fronting one of the world's most accomplished cover acts and playing originals in bands like Swingin' Utters and Re-Volts, Slawson was a regular at early'80s punk and hardcore shows in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Earlier this week, Slawson found some time during his tour with Violent Femmes and Flogging Molly to speak with My First Band host Tyler Maas about getting to hit the road with the Gimmes again, his recent work with Los Nuevos Bajos and Uke Hunt, and some of the formative musical experiences from his past. Over the course of the conversation, Slawson talked about some of the first concerts he attended, moving to a small California city called Davis at 16, winding up in San Francisco after high school, working in the shipping department at Fa