that stupid punk rock
the story of my punk upbringing is the story of Penelope spheeris...let me first tell you the reader of my upbringing.
by the age of 14 my stepdad was finally out of the house and inwas dropped off at my first day of high school by my dad. I stuck to myself and didn't really hang with a lot of people. Around sophmore year I met a girl named veronica and we dated for a year. When veronica split I starter hanging with some guys who were a mishmash of punk and skater guys...then one day I met Richard. Richard was an overweight skater kid who always smelt bad and lived in the projects.
now the first time I met Richard was when he was humping the ground where me and my new girlfriend , Josie, were hanging at the time. Based on us userping his hanging area he became part of our group. Weekends often became a kickback at my place where Richard would bring over a forty and spend the weekend watching films.
it was Richard who first introduced me to punk music specifically his favorite band the germs.
one day he asked me scan a picture of "his dad Darby crash" it was then that I developed my crush on Darby. I found an article on Darby and I eventually figured out..like me he was queer. Eleventh and twelfth grade was all about crass / the germs. At some point Richard put on "suburbia" and the decline of western civilization. Now if you're looking at definet LA punk cinema two films by Penelope spheeris stand out (the decline series and suburbia)..
I watched both almost religiously when I was starting to find my way in LA punk history. The stories and events were right in my backyard. Around 19 I came out to Richard and needless to say we stopped hanging out.
I didn't stop listening to early Los Angeles punk..because it was never really about him...punk for me has always been about
living unapologetically and the sounds of the scene were loud and politcal and spoke to me...i mean show me someone who likes punk music and I'll show you someone who came from a broken home.
now a signature I knew I wanted was Penelope spheeris. She documented a scene that I loved, was my introduction and invitation at further exploration of the scene and was tied into a very specific time in my life and development..a time when I was finding my voice and trying to make sense out of the bullshit state of affairs I had grown up with.
now on 04/15/03 spheeris went to a showing of the decline part 1 and 3 at the Egyptian theater. Met her and a bunch of key figures in the early LA punk scene (Keith Morris, lee ving, Alice bag).
I remember asking spheeris to sign my ticket stub she looked at it said"what is this a bus ticket?" and insisted we search for a bigger paper to sign. Now I framed that paper from the "Los Angeles Latino film festival" but years later I feared I wouldn't get a chance to meet her again. The only time I really get a chance to meet some of these filmmakers is when they have retrospectives...but I had attended one for the decline...i just wasn't doing my whole tattoo signature idea so it seemed bleak...then the Greek film festival hit.
I didn't even know Penelope spheeris was greek
the Egyptian was showing suburbia as part of programming for the Greek film festival....now it was a huge wtf I'll tell you that right now
if you've seen "suburbia" you know that as far as exploitation movies go it's out there...produced by Roger corman...the opening scene has a baby being mauled by a dog...it's that sort of movie.
A smiling middle aged Greek woman welcomed me and stolzman at the Egyptian...now the audience was
A. Elderly Greek people most likely there to support the event (both first and second generation)
B. Status seeking younger people of Greek descent
C. Punks
the only ones that seemed in on the joke were the punks. I and stolzman settled down next to the punks because we stuck out less with them. So post movie q and a I sort of sat there with the punks and snickered...everyone asking questions was mainly Greek people who had no clue what they were in for "I think every parent raising a child who's a punk should watch this so they can understand the scene"
post movie I saw spheeris in the lobby and asked her to sign my arm...explained the whole project and post signature she told her crew that me and stolzman"rocked" which coming from her meant a lot...then I got an email..
Penelope Spheeris
Hey there!
That is so cool you have my name tattooed on your arm! I remember the night you asked me, I thought you were kidding! You rock! Take care of yourself. Much love,
Penelope
Jun 29, 2010
while it would be good to end this there I think it's a disservice...i thanked Richard for introducing me to punk and I still see him around. I see him sometimes at the store and we really don't have much to talk about anymore. We stopped talking because I'm gay. It's just awkward knowing that's the reason we drifted apart. Spent a lot of time doing my own exploration to the scene that I love...i got born in 80 so I didn't get to explore it. It's interesting but in the past decade since meeting Penelope the first time I've grown a lot more comfortable with myself but have also come to realize just how important queers were to the scene.I've heard stories and hung our with people who went grave digging with Darby...one day I heard spheeris was going to be at a panel of queer short films at the Egyptian...so i went.
now the film was a fictional narrative with Penelopes own sister who is an out lesbian..the film has segments recorded during the first Los Angeles pride...post movie I went up to Penelope.."wow you documented the early LA punk scene and first pride event!"
I told her it was important for people like me who weren't around. I continued my one personal celebration of Los Angeles punk till I met schmu..another queer punk dude who happens to like similar music. It's important in this scene to find your"tribe" isn't that what movies like "suburbia" are about? Subcultural unity? Glad I found some. What can I say? I was just another queer punk
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