Punk Lotto Pod: A Punk, Hardcore, and Emo Podcast · Punk Lotto Pod

The Guestlist with Noise Real

February 24, 2026·1 hr 13 min·6 clips

Justin Hensley launches a new series where guests like Noise Real Records founders make lists of their all-time favorite punk albums.

1. Punk Lotto Pod launches a new recurring format called the Guestlist, in which guests choose from several prompts and deliver a list of 3-5 albums, records, or artists. 2. Host Justin Hensley introduces returning guests Justin Martin and Kevin Clark, co-founders of Noise Real Records and bandmates in If It Kills You, who previously appeared on the Fugazi Red Medicine episode around 2021-2022. 3. The episode's core purpose is to introduce the Guestlist format while also promoting the first volume of Noise Real's Noise Pollution 7-inch series, starring Cursive. 4. Kevin Clark grew up in Button Willow, California (population 1,200-1,600), a farming community whose teenagers commuted to Shafter High School, where he met Justin Martin. 5. Kevin ran a small record label in high school, releasing local Bakersfield bands including Justin Martin's band Fragments, modeling the label on Dischord Records' approach to DC. 6. Bakersfield's position between Los Angeles and San Francisco made it a stop for touring bands — venues Jerry's Pizza and Bam Bam's hosted the Vandals, Social Distortion, Youth Brigade, Bad Religion, Asian Orange, and The Locust. 7. Kevin rejoined Justin's band If It Kills You after contributing backing vocals to the record Infinite Hum; he attended a show in Oakland, switched from vocals to guitar mid-discussion, and was invited to join permanently. 8. Noise Real Records was formally established in 2021, with founding members Justin Martin, Kevin Clark, and bassist Mikey Lee; it operates as a boutique label with six releases through 2025, keeping debt low by releasing only records that 'seem right.' 9. The Noise Pollution series is a five-band 7-inch series where each band re-records older material; Cursive set the template by recording one slow and one fast version of a track, though future bands can interpret the format freely. 10. Justin Martin secured Cursive for the first volume through a relationship with Tim Kasher built during his pandemic-era podcast Songwriting Malpractice; Kasher proposed bringing the full band when Bakersfield appeared on a tour itinerary. 11. Recording the full six-member Cursive lineup required fitting the cello player and keyboard player into the control room while the rhythm section played in the main tracking space. 12. Kevin Clark's first-ever guitar education came from his older brother's Metallica tablature books; he selected Metallica's Master of Puppets as his first all-time favorite album, citing Cliff Burton's compositional contributions and Kirk Hammett's post-Joe Satriani lessons. 13. Justin Martin's first transformative record was Nirvana's Nevermind, which he encountered at age 12; his brother-in-law immediately handed him a Dead Kennedys 7-inch ('Nazi Punks Fuck Off') and the Pixies' Doolittle as context. 14. The list-making format reveals generational and geographic commonalities — both guests cite bands that came through the Bakersfield circuit during their formative years. 15. If It Kills You recorded their upcoming LP with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in February 2024; Albini died in May 2024, meaning the record is part of his final body of work still awaiting release. 16. The band's earlier record Invisible Self had a deposit placed with Albini's studio; after his death the band inquired whether the deposit would be honored, it was, and they recorded in Chicago. 17. Jim Ward (of Sparta and At the Drive-In) produced, mixed, and oversaw mastering for Invisible Self and stayed involved in every stage including the press run. 18. The conversation is informal and discursive, running on shared history and insider references; the hosts speak over each other frequently and laugh about small-town punk memories. 19. Listeners who grew up in regional punk scenes and want to hear label founders discuss the mechanics of boutique vinyl releases and band history will find this rewarding. 20. Listeners expecting a structured interview or unfamiliar with Cursive, Fugazi, or 1990s Bakersfield punk will likely find the episode too inside-baseball.

As heard by us

A Guest List debut built on Cursive memories, scene detail, and enough context to justify the format.

Justin Hensley opens Punk Lotto Pod's new Guest List with a plain explanation for why the old year-end guest bits are becoming a regular feature.

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Why you'd press play

A guest-list kickoff that gives Cursive room to breathe, with Bakersfield memories, scene lore, and a few welcome detours.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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