Most of my interview with Joe Strummer originally appeared in While You Were Sleeping magazine and pieces of it are quoted in the book Let Fury Have the Hour by Antonino D’Ambrosio (left). Enjoy!
Joe Strummer, the voice and rhythm of the Clash, died in his home on December 22, 2002—about one year after this interview. He was 50. I was just one of thousands who had interviewed him over the years, and probably one of many, even, on this particular day, yet he was extremely warm, acting as if no one had ever asked him these questions in his twenty-five years of performing. The conversation went on for a few minutes after the tape stopped, about the possibility of him writing his memoirs, and more about fiddling. Continue reading ‘Joe Strummer, revived’
Just an hour after seeing thought- provoking film Exit Through the Gift Shop (in Baltimore), I see this on a curb in Silver Spring. To quote another movie I love, “it’s the cosmic unconsciousness, dude.”
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!
Had a chance to catch Shepard Fairey, Al Farrow and Paul D. Miller’sRegime Change Starts at Home show at the Irvine Contemporary while visiting DC recently. Shepard postered a legal alley behind the gallery and we caught his work in other random places throughout the city. It’s hard to see in photos, but the series in the alley consists of layers-upon-layers of work. The peace sign is actually a fighter jet, while the text on one of them reads: War for Sale/No Thank You. Here is the actual “thank you” letter Obama sent Fairey for using his talent in such a way. Now there is talk of the Smithsonian buying his original fine art Obama print. Why isn’t there more anti-war art right now? Behold these things of beauty.
Most of my interview with Joe Strummer originally appeared in While You Were Sleeping magazine and pieces of it are quoted in the book Let Fury Have the Hour by Antonino D’Ambrosio (left). Enjoy!
