Tune in to Over Under Sideways Down with your host Lee Joseph on LuxuriaMusic tonight 11/23 for a two hour 45 RPM party featuring late ’70s-early ’80s punk from the US, UK, and Australia!
This past year has been a wild ride for Philly rockers Thorazine, who re-emerged onto the hardcore scene after a decade-long hiatus. Like any rebirth, there was lots of kicking and screaming—the best kind. A new rehearsal space introduced the band to a great space where they could road test new material and put a bright shine on their classics. And new bassist Dan Hoover (or just “h00v3r) continued to bring his inventive high-energy style to the band. Rogan and guitarist Elliot Taylor’s two sons were often on hand for weekend rehearsals—because why have the coolest parents ever if you can’t be part of the legend!
Lead vocalist Jo-Ann Rogan and Drummer Dallas Cantland were honored to be contributors to Loud! Fast! Philly! (an aural history of the Philadelphia Hardcore Scene). Rogan’s interview for that piece got the band some extra traction with an appearance in MAXIMUMROCKNROLL, where Thorazine was showcased for the first time since the ‘90s. In May 2015, The Runout featured a great interview with Rogan titled “The Rebirth of Thorazine,” where she talks about the band’s re-emergence, the challenges of being a mom in a touring punk band, and the band’s upcoming West Coat Tour (more on those show dates below!).
Thorazine brought their energy back to the studio to record 4 new songs (Boys, Never Gonna Be Alright, Stumble and Fall, and The End). Never Gonna Be Alright appears on Punk Aid 4: Autism Speaking—an international punk compilation on Evacuate Records—with proceeds going to the Autism Science Foundation, promoting continued research into the causes and treatment of autism. The compilation, featuring top punk acts from across the globe, will be released in late 2015.
A sampling of the band’s tracks from the 90s to the present—Stumble and Fall, Unabomber Love, Ignorant, Trophy Girl, and On the Outside—can be heard and downloaded online at Reverbnation. Stumble and Fall, along with Thorazine’s entire back catalog, is available on iTunes. Stay plugged in—a new Thorazine video is planned for late 2015!
Gigging around Philly, Thorazine has appeared at The Fire, North Star Bar, and at Tobacco Avenue in Lancaster, PA. The band kept busy this spring with New York appearances at The Grand Victory in Brooklyn and at Bowery Electric in Manhattan, and kicked off Summer 2015 at the Punk Island festival on June 21st in Staten Island, all of which were huge successes!
Thorazine gets back in the van this summer for an exciting 10-day tour of the West Coast from L.A. to Canada! If you’re near any of these venues, be sure to check them out!
AUGUST 2015 WEST COAST TOUR
Aug 1 – Tour Kick Off in Philly at The Fire
Aug 14 @ Café Nela in Los Angeles, CA
Aug 15 @ The Stork Club in Oakland, CA
Aug 16 @ The Caravan Lounge in San Jose, CA
Aug 18 @ Club 66 in Ashland, OR
Aug 19 @ Ash Street Saloon in Portland OR
Aug 20 @ El Corazon in Seattle, WA
Aug 21 @ Funky Winkerbeans in Vancouver, BC
Aug 22 @ [venue TBA] in Whistler, BC
FOLLOW THORAZINE!
You can keep up with the band’s latest dates, releases, and highlights online at http://thorazine.org, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thorazinephilly and by following them on Twitter @thorazinephilly
A HISTORY LESSON PT 1
Punk Rock in Los Angeles 1984
A film by Dave Travis
Featuring live performances and interviews with
Minutemen, Redd Kross, Meat Puppets and Twisted Roots
www.ahistorylesson.com
PREMIER LA SCREENINGS
Tuesday, Oct. 12
Redwood Bar and Grill
316 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
www.theredwoodbar.com
21 and over
8PM: A History Lesson Part 1
9PM: The Probe
10PM: Carnage Asada
11PM: The Amadans
12AM: A History Lesson Part1
Tuesday, Oct. 19
Redwood Bar and Grill
8PM: A History Lesson Part 1
9PM: Nerver
9:45PM: Bikos
10:30PM: Sylvia Juncosa Band + Special Guest Kat Arthur
11:15PM: Carnage Asada
12:00AM A History Lesson Part 1
Tuesday, Oct. 26
Redwood Bar and Grill
8PM: A History Lesson Part 1
9PM: Somos Mysteriosos
10PM: Carnage Asada
11PM: The Mormons
12AM: A History Lesson Part 1 Midnight screening
It has been said that Los Angeles and San Francisco were the last major metropolitan cities in which punk music scenes developed and once it hit California, punk changed shapes numerous times, spread to every corner of the United States and became a permanent fixture in popular culture.
In 1984, a teenage Dave Travis decided to capture punk rock in Los Angeles on video tape, a fascination and hobby that he would continue until 1997, logging in hundreds of hours of Los Angeles area shows and interviews. In “A History Lesson Part 1, Travis presents live footage filmed in the spring of 1984 featuring the Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Twisted Roots and Redd Kross interspersed with interviews of members from each group which examines and puts a perspective on the early years of “psychedelic” punk rock in Los Angeles and Phoenix, AZ. Each song by each group is presented from start to finish.
THE MEAT PUPPETS
The Meat Puppets started playing punk rock in their hometown of Phoenix, Arizona out of a feeling of alienation. After sharing a bill in Phoenix, Black Flag invited The Meat Puppets to play a show with them The Cuckoos Nest in Costa Mesa, CA. The group played their chaotic shamanistic psychedelic punk which messed with the minds of the hardcore punks in the audience who started a riot during their set. This prompted Greg Ginn of Black Flag to invite The Meat Puppets to record an album for SST. The group recorded “Meat Puppets 1” over a non-stop three day session while tripping on acid at Unicorn Studios in West Hollywood. A year later, the group returned to the studio and with a more structured and coherent approach for “Meat Puppets 2.” Three songs from that album were captured live on May 5, 1984 at Perkins Palace in Pasadena, CA. Melons Rising and Saturday Morning capture the bewitching feeling of “Meat Puppets 1,” while Lake of Fire captures the new direction they were moving towards with “Meat Puppets 2.”
http:/www.myspace.comthemeatpuppets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiMeat_Puppets
MINUTEMEN
The Minutemen were the original punk band from San Pedro, California. Bassist Mike Watt, a childhood friend of guitarist D Boon says that Boon’s mother taught him how to play bass. When the two first started playing together, they tried to cover rock songs, like American Woman and Black Dog. Then they saw a punk rock show one night in Hollywood and had the revelation that they could play their own music. Boon would write phrases on scraps of paper and Watt would put these to music. Watt would write songs with beginnings, middles, and ends. D. Boon would write songs with just verse and chorus. The songs were short, often less than a minute long. They would write solos into the songs so the other players could rest. Boon had a thing about ideas and principles; he and Watt would talk and argue about everything, even having to pull over at a library while driving between towns on tour to resolve a debate they were having about European History. They philosophized that their world was divided into two parts; Gigs and Flyers. Gigs were the shows. Flyers were everything else which would get people to the shows. Records, radio, videos; these were all flyers to the Minutemen. Six Minutemen songs are featured: A History Lesson Part 2 and Jesus and Tequila from Hollywood’s legendary Cathay De Grande and No 1. Hit Song, Martin’s Story, The Big Foist, and Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs were captured at The Olympic Auditorium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen_(band)
TWISTED ROOTS
Paul Roessler formed Twisted Roots in 1981 after the demise of the Screamers. The original lineup featured Paul’s sister Kira on bass and Pat Smear of the Germs on guitar. The band enjoyed instant success as a punk rock super-group followed by a period of chaos emerging with a new lineup featuring Dez Cadena of Redd Kross, Black Flag and The Misfits on guitar. This lineup would soon metamorphosize into DC3. Roessler was heavily influenced by Public Image Limited and took to heart Johnny Rotten’s philosophy that it was about musical anarchy not political anarchy. The songs Never Was, Mommy’s Always Busy in the Kitchen, and Love Your Friends were captured in May of 1984 at the Music Machine in West Los Angeles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiPaul_Roessler
http://www.popmatters.com/musicreviews/t/twistedroots-st.shtml
REDD KROSS
Redd Kross were teenagers from Hawthorne, CA who started playing shows with Black Flag while some of the members were still in Junior High School. Though they gigged with punk bands from the South Bay, they felt that they were outsiders because they were obsessed with pop culture and felt more of a connection with rock star persona than their punk rock peers. Three songs were filmed at the Pomona Valley Auditorium in June 1984: Janus, Jeanie, and George Harrison, Linda Blair, and Annette’s got the Hits. The band at the time consisted of two pairs of siblings: Jeff and Steve McDonald and Dave and Vicki Peterson of The Bangles temporarily replacing the freshly departed Dez Cadena before guitarist Robert Hecker joined the group. This was Peterson’s only show with the group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redd_Kross
DAVE TRAVIS
Videographer Dave Travis grew up in Los Angeles where his dad worked as a cameraman for NBC and CBS news as well as TV shows such as “Chips” and “Fantasy Island.” When he was 15 his dad handed down to him an old video camera and he began shooting punk rock shows in Los Angeles. He eventually became a freelance video editor, working on projects such as Black Flag’s “Slip It In” video as director and editor, “1991 the Year Punk Broke” featuring Sonic Youth and Nirvana as editor, the Kurt Cobain memorial for the 94 MTV Music Awards as editor, and many more. Travis also ran a recording studio with his sister, bassist Abby Travis, called Tarantula Ranch and in the mid ‘80s helped pioneer the desert Generator Shows.
Travis captured punk bands on video in L.A. for 14 years until 1997 when he decided to put down his camera. In 2000 he became a teacher with stints at John Adams Middle School teaching World and U.S. History and Santee Education Complex, a High School in South Central, L.A. teaching History and Economics. After spending nearly a decade as a teacher, Travis re-united with his passion for video and began digitizing and restoring his old footage. “A History Lesson Part One” is the first fruit harvested from his archive.
Travis also plays cello in the long-time Los Angeles punk / psychedelic / jazz band Carnage Asada. A full bio of Dave Travis is available here
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