by Gavin Heaney
The South Bay is steeped in punk lore, and Hermosa Beach is its home town. It was born from the boho beach bums who perused the shelves of Either/Or Bookstore, bought “water pipes” from Greekos and lost their minds and musical boundaries to jazz at The Lighthouse Cafe in 1966. The beatniks and hippies spawned Gen X and its punk rock. Beat poets deconstructed poetry as jazz musicians dismantled musical conventions, and were the impetus for the anti-establishment movements of the ‘60s. But paper wings and giant strings made way for other toys as the hippies grew up to be yuppies in the ‘80s. The “greed is good” group got decadent, sociopathic and most damning of all, their music became overproduced, out of touch. The release of Star Wars in 1977 signaled the coming rebellion. The empire needed to fall, the Death Star decimated and the power redistributed. This mission fell to a ragtag gang of rebels, the children born from the summer of love who took up the culture war against their parents as their parents had done before them. These young punks protested against their suburban stereotype, corporate casting and being classified as commercial commodities. The pavement had cracked and the weeds that emerged blossomed into glorious gutter flowers. Their songs began to drift out of garages in Hermosa Beach.
South by South Bay is a new festival that will celebrate the local roots of punk rock in the South Bay. The two day event is planned to take place annually and showcase music, film, art, poetry and panels celebrating South Bay and San Pedro punk history. Modeled after Austin’s South By Southwest music festival, the event will take place over multiple days in different venues. Saint Rocke will screen a documentary on the band Redd Kross, who will perform afterwards. Studio Hermosa will have a free punk rock poetry reading lead by Exene Cervenka from the band X, featuring Mike Watt of The Minutemen and Jim Lindberg of Pennywise, among others. The poetry presentation will mine the meaning from the music, taking a deeper look at lyrics.
“X is my favorite band in the world,” Lindberg said. “I’ve been gathering together some of my lyrics and writings from over the years and plan on doing spoken word and a book reading about music and growing up in the South Bay.”
At the legendary Moose Lodge in Redondo, ground zero for punk shows in the South Bay, Trust Records will present The Adolescents, The Dark and Greg Anista at an all ages showcase, giving attendees a glimpse of the raw power of punk’s glory days. Shockboxx Gallery, in Hermosa, will provide the visuals, displaying vintage punk rock photography hosted by legendary lensmen Kevin Salk. Back at Saint Rocke, there will be punk panels hosted by a range of moderators, from Keith Morris of Black Flag and The Circle Jerks to Kevin Lyman, founder of The Vans Warped Tour. Also a pop up market with memorabilia, book signings and meet and greets will be offered.
South by South Bay is the brainchild of music director and curator Larry Little, who is also the new owner of Saint Rocke.
“The idea started around all ages shows at the Moose and to celebrate Dez Cadena, guitarist from Black Flag and The Misfits.” he said. “When Exene (X singer Exene Cervenka) suggested a poetry event, it started going to a new level.”
Dez Cadena is the son of famous Savoy and Prestige jazz records’ A&R (Artists and Repertoire) producer Ozzie Cadena, who ran jazz at the Lighthouse in the ‘70s.
“Dez was hanging out with Spot and Greg Ginn back then, playing Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and all the masters who were deconstructing jazz,“ Little said. “Then Black Flag deconstructed punk and created hardcore in the same way. It’s pretty wild to think that they were rebelling against the system, but they were even rebelling against their own musical genre, what people thought South Bay punk was.”
Ryan McDonald, co-author of the forthcoming book, “I Want To Be Stereotyped,” which chronicles the history of the South Bay punk scene, regards the movement as an overlooked musical milestone.
“The South Bay’s influence on punk is omnipresent but under-appreciated. At a time when popular music was distant and overproduced, bands like Black Flag went beyond the elegant sonic simplicity of scenes in London, New York and Hollywood. The music itself is weirder and more diverse than it is given credit for. Bands like Saccharine Trust and the Minutemen were genuinely trying to do something different, not sound like one another and certainly not sound like anything on the radio. They could also, as The Descendents proved, do all of this and still be something close to pop geniuses. They showed the world you could write your own songs, book your own shows, and release your own records. They had to work their asses off to do it, but it is an enduring contribution.”
The DIY mentality of punk was born of necessity when mainstream avenues were not an option. When no one is listening, you have to make your own noise. Punk rode its own shock wave with its intense fear factor advertising. Telephone poles became the underground message board for shows and punk rock flyer art was born.
“Hermosa started punk flyer culture,” Little said. “Raymond Pettibon flyers became the norm across the country and the world. That’s Hermosa Beach. That blows my mind. Chris Sherry, who did Milo for The Descendents, designed the poster for South By South Bay.”
The hoodlums are now the heroes and are finally getting their time. It’s been a long time coming.
“All those punks grew up and now are in positions of doing things. This is their chance, they’re in power now, so they can finally protect and celebrate their legacy. Everyone’s nostalgic about their good old days and I think they have a lot to be proud of,” Little said. But SXSB is not merely a look at the past. Little hopes it will help revitalize the local music scene by celebrating its original music in a time of tribute band invasion.
“One of my missions is to get the attention of the industry at large to put on more original shows and revitalize the music scene in the South Bay. I want to evangelize what we’re doing, and not just make it about the past, but show our rich history and show where it can go in the future. If it turns heads, we can add more diversity to our programming, so it’s not so predictable.” he said.
The event will feature Strawberry Fuzz and The Mainliners on Saturday, who represent the next-gen and help re-infuse punk shows back into the South Bay.
“I think the event will provide a great opportunity to dig into the long history of music, art, and culture that our sleepy little beach towns are famous around the world for,” Jim Lindberg said.
Like local efforts to uproot transplanted vegetation and repopulate the South Bay’s habitat with native flora, SXSB is attempting to regrow South Bay’s original music scene in a culturally endangered area. The Death Star is being rebuilt as independent businesses, including music venues, are being absorbed by conglomerates.
A cultural wasteland results when you drive out diversity. Little hopes SXSB will keep the lights on for the future of music, art and culture in our community. “We need to have art, it’s the essence of culture. If you kill the artists, we just get more regurgitated content with no inspiration. Don’t kill the dream,” he said.
Celebrate South Bay’s punk rock heritage and support our local music scene at The South By South Bay Festival on February 7 and 8 in Hermosa Beach at Saint Rocke, Moose Lodge Redondo, Hermosa Music and Shockboxx Gallery. There is free and all ages entrance to some of the events. Visit saintrocke.com/southbysouthbay for the line up.
