S2E37: Musician/Activist Patrick O'Malley

Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Patrick O'Malley started playing guitar at an early age. But it wasn't until his time in Santa Barbara that his music took on a new meaning for him—one of political activism.

In Part 1, Patrick talks about growing up in Southern California and his arrival in San Francisco in the late-1990s. Among other things, he points to the write-in mayoral candidacy of Tom Ammiano in 1999 that really sparked something in him.

Patrick will be playing tonight (Aug. 13) at Simple Pleasures Café. You can find his latest record, Welcome to the End of the Empire, here.

For Patrick, music and politics evolved side-by-side.

In Part 2, he talks about how he came to understand housing policy, both in San Francisco and statewide in California, through his day job. He goes on to tell us about some public-transit advocacy work he's done in light of Google busses and ride share companies in the city. He ends the episode talking about the various music projects he's been part of, including his solo act, much of which involves political and social commentary.

Be sure to listen to the entire episode—after the outro, you can hear one of Patrick's songs.

We recorded this podcast at Patrick's home in the Inner Richmond in July 2019.