I’ve moved away from Wilmington, NC and the last article I’d written for the Star News ran yesterday–a piece on Bob DeYoung’s fine installation, Phantasm. I’ve always shied away from doing any kind of art criticism due to the very nature of art, and prefer to write profiles of artists, instead. Instead of explaining this complex work to the reader I wanted the artist to reveal himself, which I believe he did. And oh well, if art criticism was good enough for our beloved, belated John Updike, it can’t be too bad. Farewell, Mr Updike–I’ll continue to teach your story A&P in all of my lit classes forever!
Archive for January, 2009
So excited to hear that Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” poster will hang in the National Portrait Gallery! The Smithsonian purchased it. Yay Shepard and yay for art! We’re moving to the DC area this weekend and hoping to be at the inauguration–on bikes. Yes, it will be cold. Yes, it will be crowded. Yes, it will be historic. Growing up in that area, we’ve been in big crowds there before. I can’t wait to feel the vibe of this ecstatic crowd. Look for photos here.
08
Jan
09
Adult Crash book is ready!
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.
02
Jan
09
Moshing Down Memory Lane
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!
