THE REASON
Punk Rock. This term once conjured images of angry youth, nihilism and wanton destruction.
But that was when punk was an upstart subcultural phenomenon over thirty years ago. As the angry youth of the late 70's and early 80's grew and changed into the adults, parents, workers and business owners of today, punk changed also, going from a youth culture feared and disdained by parents, police and the rock music establishment to an easily-accessible social niche found in nearly every high school across the country. In other words, it became a respected musical influence that left its mark on FM radio staples like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, and even Nirvana. Read More
In the process, the facts and history of Punk Rock and its uniquely American spawn, Hardcore, have been consumed by the media-ready myth machine that has made Punk Rock and its legacy as a nasty aside rather than the conscious reaction that it was to a stagnant culture wearied by the upheavals of the 1960's and bloated by the self-absorption of the 1970's. It is now hip to name-check acts like the Sex Pistols and Ramones for their style rather than their substance, while the true workmen of American Punk Rock and Hardcore-the bands comprised of middle- and lower-class youth that eschewed professional management and record industry backing-languish in obscurity.
This is most true in the case of the Hermosa Beach, California, band, Black Flag. Near legendary in many musical communities, Black Flag is perhaps best known as the former band behind media personality Henry Rollins. What is generally unacknowledged is their massive influence on not only a slew of contemporary, radio-ready artists, but upon the greater musical culture itself. In an era before cell phones, personal computers and the Internet, Black Flag garnered an international audience, released eight albums and countless EPs and singles on its own label, SST Records, and established touring routes through the United States and Canada that have been capitalized and expanded upon by every Punk Rock band since, and all of it done in the face of scorn from the established music industry and Reagan-era American culture.
Now, some 30-years after the beginning of the American Hardcore movement, and 25-years after the demise of this most legendary band, there is a void. In a world where many of the old bands are reuniting to perform to monster audiences on the Van's Warped Tour (as second stage performers), and where Billy Joe of Green Day has just staged his first Broadway musical, the stage for the enlightened losers of the world has been taken away from the enlightened losers and given over to wishy-washy pretty boys (and girls) who have very little understanding of just how hard booking your own tour, releasing all of your own records, projecting your own image, and being meaner, more aggressive, and eras more creative than the other guys might be. And for many of the dispossessed a loose cult of image surrounding Black Flag's iconic logo has begun to emerge, and soon may be inundated by those outsiders that stole the stage. Beware.
Look around you wherever you might be and I assure you that The Bars, Black Flag's iconic Raymond Pettibon-designed logo is close by. Whether you see a 15-year-old Punk Rocker in a Black Flag tee shirt in class at school or a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac (awful song reference), probably the most common place you will see The Bars these days is tattooed on the skin a somebody that believes that the musical world in which we live lacks a logical voice of anger and frustration at a time that demands it. Yes, The Bars as a tattoo are everywhere; on kids of all ages, all colors, from all walks of life, and all around the world. I contend that no one image is more widespread, and has more potential meanings than The Bars do, and so we set out to get the story.
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The TOUR
In October of 2009 Ebersole and his able travel companion, Stefan Bauschmid, took off around the country to take photographs, get interviews, shoot video, and build connections that would insure the ultimate success of Barred For Life. We accomplished exactly that, and so much more. Nearly 40-days in the white Hyundai Sonata, and covering nearly eleven thousand miles, Ebersole and Bauscmid made friends, found adventures, engaged in argument, and listened to a lot of satellite radio, all the while compiling what will soon be the finished edition of the Barred For Life book. Read More
Jorge Brito joined Ebersole on the Canadian dates, Noe Bunnell on the east coast of the US, and Audrey Dwyer survived the European sessions. In all cases, the fearless crew of tour partners made themselves invaluable as Ebersole began feeling the pains of putting in nearly 3 full years of effort on this at times very unpredictable project. In the end nearly 350 people came out to be photographed, interviewed, and placed into the completed book. Numerous others, too many to be listed here, put us up, hosted the shoots and shows, played at the shows, hosted fund-raisers, gave us needed resources, fed us, talked to us, gave us CDs, and, overall, just made this an experience worth its weight in gold for all involved.
If you are interested in Ebersole's running commentary during the course of the tour you are advised to visit his tour blog. The blog entries came to an end a few days after he returned home from Europe, broke, depressed, and thieved of his identity, and reflects a continuous flow of people, places and important events. The blog is a finalized version and will not be added to in the future. Meet the people, see the places, and read the stories. It is true that truth is stranger than fiction in all cases except for what you will read in the tour blog. I suggest that you get crackin immediately. Make yourself a pot of coffee and turn off your phone; it is just that awesome..!
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THE BOOK
Barred For Life is a photo-driven documentary highlighted and counterpointed with a compelling narrative which addresses the facts and fantasies associated with growing up a Punk Rocker in the early 1980's, and how Black Flag pervaded the scene's rumor mill like a mysterious specter all across the country and around the world. Revealing quotations supplement the austere black-and-white photography of Jared Castaldi and Stewart Dean Ebersole, Barred For Life's photographic team. Rounding out the crew, Matt Smith's DIY fanzine-style layout and typography are tied together tightly by dogmatic adherence to both irony and sarcasm in telling the tale of growing up a punk rocker at a time when being a Punk Rocker was anything but cool, and at times was extremely dangerous. Read More
Every tattoo tells a story, and in instances such as these, every tattoo has a story as told by its wearer. Stories range from the intensely personal to the absurd. From those who went under the professional tattooer's needle to those that were violated by a sewing needle and pen ink, from those who have become college professors, doctors and lawyers, to those still struggling to make a living, and a even few homeless punks, every person that graces Ebersole and Castaldi's cameras seems larger than life, and at time even vulnerable. Every soul captured for this book adds to a collective idea of the mixed messages behind this one iconic tattoo, and every deeply personal quotation is highlighted by a small name-check and bio, and a Black Flag favorites list (which some commented, were the most difficult questions of the entire interview to answer).
And the story could have ended right there, but it did not…
Former Black Flag players also signed on to tell their stories. Interviews with Dez Cadena, Ron Reyes, Chuck Dukowski, Kira Roessler, Keith Morris and numerous people who were both close to the band and had seen Black Flag play throughout their many manifestations, bring a myth busting element to an over-glamorized legend of Black Flag. And if you think that reading these interviews is at all amazing, then don't even ask how it felt to be invited into these people's homes to get the interviews. In the process of trying to fully document a worldwide subcultural phenomenon, Barred For Life goes beyond documenting the history and legacy of Black Flag to depict them as an allegory for American punk in general, examining all its flaws as well as its accomplishments and idealism, and allowing the fans to determine the degree to which Black Flag, and Hardcore in general, effected their lives and gave them a voice and deeper meaning.
As mentioned previously, Barred For Life will be released in October of 2012 on PM Press. This massive photodocumentary effort, weighing in at 325 pages, will list heavily to the side of the photographic images, quotations, and interviews accumulated over the past five years of researching this book. A limited edition hardcover version will be available on a first come first serve basis, and their availability will be announced both here, and on our social media communities. The price of the Barred For Life will be determined in the near future, so please be aware of that if you choose to preorder through this website we won't know the actual price until it is determined by PM Press. Be aware that the hardcover editions will be slightly more expensive than the softcover editions..! We will let you know everything as soon as possible via email if you are into it..? If you are not a part of our mailing list, please contact me and I will put you on it so that you get important updates about the release of Barred For Life, and the accompanying release events that we are currently planning.
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