Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Way back in high school, Fishbone‘s self-titled debut EP was the first cassette I ever bought. When I went away to college at UCLA, I got to see the band all the time: opening for the Chili Peppers at CSULB’s cafeteria, playing the massive Scream club at the Park Plaza Hotel, headlining an outdoor festival at UCSB… There were a few Trulio Disgracias shows, too. The last time I saw them was at Raji’s with Rage Against The Machine opening. Talk about bands going in different directions. Fishbone never became an iota as big as any of its peers or bands it toured with (RCHP, No Doubt, Primus, Beastie Boys…) yet soldiers on to this day. A new and excellent documentary, Everyday Sunshine, details the Los Angeles band’s existence–evolving from ska to funk to free jazz and prog rock but always with a punk rock attitude–and the struggles it has faced. Yes, they are a unique and awesome band that could only emerge from the City of Angels’ cultural melting pot and original punk scene, but they have also been cursed by the town’s conservative entertainment industry, unimaginative mainstream media, and very real race issues.
I’ve had the privilege of meeting and interviewing a lot of top-shelf skaters for the pages of Giant Robot: Don Nguyen, Daewon Song, Kenny Anderson, Eric Koston, Shogo Kubo, Steve Caballero, Willy Santos, Peggy Oki, Richard Mulder, Kien Lieu, Chad Tim Tim, Jamie Reyes, Daniel Castillo, Pat Channita, Jimmy Cao, Lincoln Ueda… (I know there are more and if I forgot you, I’m sorry.) Truthfully, the topic was probably lost on many readers but hopefully the culture wasn’t. Streetwear, street art, and even punk rock–so much of that stems from skateboarding and no one should forget that.
Most of the time, I feel like I’ve been at the right place and the right time. I’ve been lucky enough to partake in the apex of Saturday morning cartoons, the Marvel Age of Comics, the Showtime Lakers, punk rock when it was still scary, so many cool record stores that have vanished, college when it was affordable and easy to get into, the rise of indie punk and riot grrrl, the Golden Age of Hip-Hop and gangsta rap, the Golden Age of Hong Kong Movies, new waves of Japanese and Korean cinema, the indie toy explosion, the evolution of indie art… The list goes on and on. But last Wednesday, I was actually jealous of today’s kids. That’s when my good friend invited me to take my 3-year-old daughter and 4-year-old niece on the set of Yo Gabba Gabba!
Although I never got to see Black Flag during its glory days, I did catch several of singer Henry Rollins’ early spoken-word shows around L.A. as well as many of the Rollins Band’s first gigs. Sweaty, smart, and life affirming. Many punks griped when he signed to Interscope and started showing up on Gap billboards, but I thought it was rad of him to take such deals and start a book publishing company with the dough. Cole, Cave, Selby–what could be cooler than publishing your friends and heroes, not to mention your own words? That seemed like a stretch for the the buff, tattooed, long-haired/shaved-head frontman but he’s gone even further since then. Acting in movies. Raising funds and attention for the West Memphis 3 (I finally did see him sing Black Flag songs at Amoeba promoting that particular record). Hosting a cool talk show. Starting a must-hear radio show. Writing a compelling column for the LA Weekly. And now publishing a coffee-table book of photography.