Posts tagged: hardcore punk

Pump Me Up: DC Subculture of the 1980s

January 10, 2013, by No comments yet

Some of my 80s-era punk flyers are on loan to this upcoming exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. After stints of homelessness, bad boyfriends, psycho roommates, college and years of transience, it’s interesting to step back and see what survives. Records bands have given me, set lists from my first shows, flyers my friends and I handmade together–these things I’ll never sell. I don’t mind sharing them in this way, though. It’s comforting to think anyone else still cares about the same things. It gives me hope for the book I’m working on now: Live at the Safari Club (an oral history of a venue which begins in 80s-era Washington, DC). It’s an honor and a joy.

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Adult Crash book is ready!

January 8, 2009, by No comments yet
Safari Club show flyer from back-in-the-day

Safari Club show flyer from back-in-the-day

Anyone who spent time in the harDCore scene of the 80s and 90s (or wishes they did) should be happy to hear that the limited-edition 7-inches that come with my friend Dave Brown’s book, Adult Crash, are finally in, which means the book is ready-to-ship. Get ’em here while they’re hot. See my previous post to learn more about the book.

Moshing Down Memory Lane

January 2, 2009, by 2 comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4gtig3eyvw]It’s a new year and there’s a lot to look forward to, but still I find myself looking back, at friends lost, places I’ve lived, experiences shared. I blame it on facebook! All in all, it’s been a really cool thing to reconnect with familiar faces on there. There are still a few who fly under the radar, but I trust the universe will have us crossing paths again one day.

As I pack to move back to my old stomping grounds (the DC/Baltimore area), I’m stumbling across all kinds of artifacts from back-in-the-day, one being this silly little film project I did as a student at American University. It was made to prove to the LA marketing company I interned with that I was promoting their bands all over DC–“my scene.” I ditched the idea of working for the “music industry” soon after; it was way more fun to just hang out & interview bands! If they can forgive the pixelation and my 90s-style threads, old punks may get a kick out of footage of the old 9:30 Club (now condos), the Safari Club (now a mall in Chinatown), the Back Alley Cafe, Freedom Plaza (skater haven), the graffiti-lovers’ Amtrak tunnel better known as the Wall of Fame, and the bands H2O, Crown of Thorns and Outcrowd.

I have a ton of flyers, set lists and other ephemera from these years, but they’ll all be included in my upcoming book, Girl in the Pit. The only thing I’m missing is photos, which I’ll need help with. If you or anyone you know has original pics of any of the following and would like to be published, please get in touch! Here’s my table-of-contents for interviews & wishlist for photos:

  • Jane Wieldin
  • Warzone
  • The Adolescents
  • Steve Albini
  • Social Distortion*
  • Dr. Know
  • Agnostic Front
  • Avail*
  • Sick of It All*
  • Ray Cappo
  • H2O
  • Brian Baker
  • Greg Graffin
  • Greg Ginn
  • Jello Biafra
  • Samantha Maloney
  • Joe Strummer
  • Keith Morris
  • The Bouncing Souls
  • Henry Rollins*
  • Gwar
  • C.O.C.
  • IanMacKaye

* denotes people I have photos of, but you may have better ones, so send me an email!

Adult Crash book & record

December 3, 2008, by 2 comments

adult-crashThere are lots of punk books coming out these days, and I am all for it. Not just because I’m working on one of my own, but because I firmly believe that we must be the documentarians of our scene. There is no “museum of punk rock” (yet) and even if there were, there’d be no way of including everything and everyone. We have to tell our stories and write this history ourselves. DIY is an ethic I carried with me from adolescence into adulthood–probably the most valuable one I have. My friend Dave Brown is adding his bit to the conversation with the lovely new book, Adult Crash. It’s stuffed with over 400 of his photos along with commentary by the likes of Walter Schreifels, Taylor Steele, John Joseph, Rick Ta Life and me (among others), AND a limited- edition colored-vinyl 7″ with newer punk bands doing covers of older bands’ songs. Many of the photos were taken in Washington, DC at the Safari Club, where I booked and promoted shows in ’88/’89. Featured bands include: Killing Time, 4 Walls Falling, Gorilla Biscuits, Sheer Terror, 108, H2O, Murphy’s Law, the Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, the Descendents and tons more. Pre-orders are going fast, so get ’em while they’re hot here.