1. 14 Jan


    This didn’t happen either. It was intended to be a benefit for the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft. Simon and I tried to rent out hall which was in a bowling alley in Oceanside, California, not far from the I-5 on the east side. After making the preliminary arrangements, we met with the owner who let us know that he would have armed guards with dogs there. We hadn’t even mentioned punk rock, let alone COMD (Oceanside abuts Camp Pendelton). We just got the impression that this was normal procedure, and if this was normal we’d probably get something special. So, we didn’t have the show there. Or anywhere else. Simon made the flier. The Blood Lake was his band, and as everybody in a band knows, if you make the flier first, everything else will fall into place.

    This didn’t happen either. It was intended to be a benefit for the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft. Simon and I tried to rent out hall which was in a bowling alley in Oceanside, California, not far from the I-5 on the east side. After making the preliminary arrangements, we met with the owner who let us know that he would have armed guards with dogs there. We hadn’t even mentioned punk rock, let alone COMD (Oceanside abuts Camp Pendelton). We just got the impression that this was normal procedure, and if this was normal we’d probably get something special. So, we didn’t have the show there. Or anywhere else. Simon made the flier. The Blood Lake was his band, and as everybody in a band knows, if you make the flier first, everything else will fall into place.

     

  2. 12 Jan



    A Mess

    Been out on business for a bit. I typically don’t touch a computer when I’m gone. When I got back, I discovered my hard drive had died taking all of my digitized art with it. It was one of these.

    So I’ve decide to put a few fliers up. Mainly because of this. Take a look. On the page linked you’ll find graphic artist Mike Joyce’s treatment of fliers from actual punk shows that have already happened, some as far back as 40 years ago. I did, and I thought about how utterly unrelated his treatment was to the real article, ie: the fliers, the people involved, and the shows themselves.

    Not that that’s a bad thing. Who am I to say?

    Still, Punk, or whatever you want to call it, at least where I come from, was a mess. A series of embarrassments, failures, and the rare small success. The shows ended in disaster, the music was a tantrum. You were surrounded by idiots who were off the leash, some for the first time, and you were one of them or at least you were with one of them. Nobody knew what they were doing, they just did things. It was the only way to express yourself that was worthwhile at all.

    I was inspired to post a few of the fliers I had in my plastic storage box. For balance. A few of the fliers pictured below were done by myself, others by my friends, some by people I know of, and some by people I don’t know anything about. Regardless, they are probably all crap as far as anybody with any real graphic arts training is concerned. I can’t disagree, I have none. These are not the classic images you think of when you think about Punk fliers - they’re local shit, but they are not without merit. After taking them out, holding them, looking at them, I was struck by how beautiful and personal they were. I thought about the humanity wrapped up in them. They’re loaded with the crummy sarcasm of a stupid kid who has seen nothing of the world, but who is right nonetheless. Because we were right. We just didn’t have any taste.

     

  3. 12 Jan


    This is a flier for the band Slüg, not to be be confused with the band Slug from Los Angeles. The umlauts came first, then the band decided to spell it Sluug. It was less confusing for everybody, including Slug who actually shared a bill or two with Slüg. I was a member at one point. I couldn’t play and was therefore qualified. The singer, Justin, is probably responsible for this. When performing, Justin would wear the bottom half of a leg cut from a pair of sweatpants. The upper half, toward the end where the foot would normally protrude when used correctly, would be stuffed with cotton or an old t shirt. He would pull the perforated lower half over his head after having cut out generous holes for his eyes. The effect was pretty strange - even alarming. Now, nobody would blink. He’d stab the audience with carrots he had taken from his heath food store job while the incompetent band rumbled behind him.

    This is a flier for the band Slüg, not to be be confused with the band Slug from Los Angeles. The umlauts came first, then the band decided to spell it Sluug. It was less confusing for everybody, including Slug who actually shared a bill or two with Slüg. I was a member at one point. I couldn’t play and was therefore qualified. The singer, Justin, is probably responsible for this. When performing, Justin would wear the bottom half of a leg cut from a pair of sweatpants. The upper half, toward the end where the foot would normally protrude when used correctly, would be stuffed with cotton or an old t shirt. He would pull the perforated lower half over his head after having cut out generous holes for his eyes. The effect was pretty strange - even alarming. Now, nobody would blink. He’d stab the audience with carrots he had taken from his heath food store job while the incompetent band rumbled behind him.

     

  4. 12 Jan


    This one is probably the work of Simon Cheffins. He was Wormdrive’s drummer at one point. Don’t know if I saw this one. It was at the short-lived 2581. Ryk, the singer, wore a skirt around town regularly, possibly because it was provocative, possibly because he found it comfortable. Once, when he was accosted and challenged by local jocks, he removed all of his clothes and went at them stark naked. They fled.

    This one is probably the work of Simon Cheffins. He was Wormdrive’s drummer at one point. Don’t know if I saw this one. It was at the short-lived 2581. Ryk, the singer, wore a skirt around town regularly, possibly because it was provocative, possibly because he found it comfortable. Once, when he was accosted and challenged by local jocks, he removed all of his clothes and went at them stark naked. They fled.

     

  5. 12 Jan


    This took place in Davis, California. In a house I think. Makes quite a statement for a house party, right?

    This took place in Davis, California. In a house I think. Makes quite a statement for a house party, right?

     

  6. 12 Jan


    ‘Bag’ did this, so that probably makes Matt Anderson of Gravity records infamy responsible. S.A.I.D., and I don’t know the meaning of the acronym, were a band of younger guys who made horrible noise. Not unlike the sort of thing that the band Black Dice did early on. They wore suits - that was the conceptual part. At the predetermined climax, their drummer, Chris, would run through the crowd with his drums head high in front of him bonking, annoying and thinning the audience. Drive Like Jehu was me, John Reis, Mark Trombino and Mike Kennedy, and we were glad S.A.I.D played last. Plasticman was Chris Squire’s band I think. The Ché Café was and is a small hippie run “restaurant” (For the love of God don’t eat there) on the University of California’s San Diego campus. Every three years or so the University tries to shut it down, citing illegal alcohol consumption, loitering non-students, etc. Still there.

    ‘Bag’ did this, so that probably makes Matt Anderson of Gravity records infamy responsible. S.A.I.D., and I don’t know the meaning of the acronym, were a band of younger guys who made horrible noise. Not unlike the sort of thing that the band Black Dice did early on. They wore suits - that was the conceptual part. At the predetermined climax, their drummer, Chris, would run through the crowd with his drums head high in front of him bonking, annoying and thinning the audience. Drive Like Jehu was me, John Reis, Mark Trombino and Mike Kennedy, and we were glad S.A.I.D played last. Plasticman was Chris Squire’s band I think. The Ché Café was and is a small hippie run “restaurant” (For the love of God don’t eat there) on the University of California’s San Diego campus. Every three years or so the University tries to shut it down, citing illegal alcohol consumption, loitering non-students, etc. Still there.

     

  7. 12 Jan


    I did this one. Whew, what a turd, but I’ve done much worse. The Lazy Cowgirls were GREAT that night. This may or may not have been the night that Joey, the drummer for our band, Pitchfork, vacated his stool during the last song, “Drop Dead”, so that he could jump into the crowd while his drummer buddy (Chris again) took over and raved up. John had already bailed and had left his guitar propped up against his amp feeding back for dramatic effect. Joey got caught up in the cables and pulled the head off the cab, snapping the headstock off of the guitar in the process. Thing is, it was my guitar, and it was a 50 something Les Paul Gold Top that I had gotten for dirt cheap because the previous owner had painted the gold blue, making it worth considerably less. Now, it would be worth several thousand dollars as opposed to the $300 I had paid for it. John, thinking it was totaled, took it home, pounded nails into it and hung it on his wall. It became his art. Turns out gluing the headstock would have been an easy fix. I gotta be honest, at the time I shit. But, in hindsight, fuck it. I have come to hate the Les Paul. They ruin your posture. They belong in a humidor.

    I did this one. Whew, what a turd, but I’ve done much worse. The Lazy Cowgirls were GREAT that night. This may or may not have been the night that Joey, the drummer for our band, Pitchfork, vacated his stool during the last song, “Drop Dead”, so that he could jump into the crowd while his drummer buddy (Chris again) took over and raved up. John had already bailed and had left his guitar propped up against his amp feeding back for dramatic effect. Joey got caught up in the cables and pulled the head off the cab, snapping the headstock off of the guitar in the process. Thing is, it was my guitar, and it was a 50 something Les Paul Gold Top that I had gotten for dirt cheap because the previous owner had painted the gold blue, making it worth considerably less. Now, it would be worth several thousand dollars as opposed to the $300 I had paid for it. John, thinking it was totaled, took it home, pounded nails into it and hung it on his wall. It became his art. Turns out gluing the headstock would have been an easy fix. I gotta be honest, at the time I shit. But, in hindsight, fuck it. I have come to hate the Les Paul. They ruin your posture. They belong in a humidor.

     

  8. 12 Jan


    MDC AND Naked Raygun! Wow, what a show! Look at the fucking mushroom cloud. This shit was gonna go the fuck off! I believe that this was one of many shows that Len Paul, owner of the all ages venue, SOMA, managed to have shut down. He did this easily. He simply called the police, told them that they had permits out of order, or some other story, and the cops shut it down. A few years later, he attended a PTA meeting posing as a concerned parent to get an upstart club - a potentially dangerous rival - shut down. I think he even wore a false moustache. I believe he was spotted by representatives from the club in question who were in attendance. Not the first show he wrecked for me personally. Pitchfork was my band and I wanted to at least see Naked Raygun. Never did.

    MDC AND Naked Raygun! Wow, what a show! Look at the fucking mushroom cloud. This shit was gonna go the fuck off! I believe that this was one of many shows that Len Paul, owner of the all ages venue, SOMA, managed to have shut down. He did this easily. He simply called the police, told them that they had permits out of order, or some other story, and the cops shut it down. A few years later, he attended a PTA meeting posing as a concerned parent to get an upstart club - a potentially dangerous rival - shut down. I think he even wore a false moustache. I believe he was spotted by representatives from the club in question who were in attendance. Not the first show he wrecked for me personally. Pitchfork was my band and I wanted to at least see Naked Raygun. Never did.

     

  9. 12 Jan


    Early Rocket From the Crypt house party. John probably did this, but it’s a real departure from his normal thing. First time I’ve known him to actually bother with rub down letters. A lot of burnishing for him. Note the hotline. And no alcohol! Imagine that! Slüg again. Rocket From the Crypt were a house party band and they played often. At one, Mike Lupro from Trumans Water made pot brownies that sent at least 3 people to the ER and ruined everybody else’s night good. The Rocket guys also ate them, but, they were obliged to play: ND (to John): I’m suuuper fucked up. You gotta cover for me. John: … ND: Hey… John: …I can’t. (Starts song) Song starts, ND blacks out, wakes up 3/4 of the way through, his instrument feeding back. ND: RRRRRRRRRRRR

    Early Rocket From the Crypt house party. John probably did this, but it’s a real departure from his normal thing. First time I’ve known him to actually bother with rub down letters. A lot of burnishing for him. Note the hotline. And no alcohol! Imagine that! Slüg again. Rocket From the Crypt were a house party band and they played often. At one, Mike Lupro from Trumans Water made pot brownies that sent at least 3 people to the ER and ruined everybody else’s night good. The Rocket guys also ate them, but, they were obliged to play:

    ND (to John): I’m suuuper fucked up. You gotta cover for me.
    John: …
    ND: Hey…
    John: …I can’t. (Starts song)
    Song starts, ND blacks out, wakes up 3/4 of the way through, his instrument feeding back.
    ND: RRRRRRRRRRRR

     

  10. 12 Jan


    This was either in North Carolina or Richmond. I wasn’t there, almost nobody I know was. Mac, now of Supechunk, was there. Waxx was his band. And we know Pen, Honor Role’s guitar player a bit. Great band. Saw them at Fender’s in Long Beach taking slot one before Blast!, Ugly Americans, SNFU, and COC. The audience was 70% skinheads. We were among the other 30%. I couldn’t understand this - where did these people come from? Weren’t they supposed to be on the margins, out in the hills in someplace like Fallbrook digging latrines and pledging allegiance to Adolf Hitler? Did they come to see SNFU? Anyway, Honor Roll didn’t get fucked with even though Bob Schick, the singer, wore skin tight pants with the baggiest white shirt he could find, all while having the the steel nerve to stand there smoking and spewing out Sprechgesang. Meanwhile Pen was using one of the Security Skin’s head as a slide and just wailing. Maybe you had to be there. Glad I was. Artist: Dobey - gotta be.

    This was either in North Carolina or Richmond. I wasn’t there, almost nobody I know was. Mac, now of Supechunk, was there. Waxx was his band. And we know Pen, Honor Role’s guitar player a bit. Great band. Saw them at Fender’s in Long Beach taking slot one before Blast!, Ugly Americans, SNFU, and COC. The audience was 70% skinheads. We were among the other 30%. I couldn’t understand this - where did these people come from? Weren’t they supposed to be on the margins, out in the hills in someplace like Fallbrook digging latrines and pledging allegiance to Adolf Hitler? Did they come to see SNFU? Anyway, Honor Roll didn’t get fucked with even though Bob Schick, the singer, wore skin tight pants with the baggiest white shirt he could find, all while having the the steel nerve to stand there smoking and spewing out Sprechgesang. Meanwhile Pen was using one of the Security Skin’s head as a slide and just wailing.

    Maybe you had to be there. Glad I was. Artist: Dobey - gotta be.