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Barred for Life
How Black Flag's Iconic Logo became Punk Rock's Secret Handshake
By Stewart Dean Ebersole, Jared Castaldi, David Ensminger PM Press
Copyright © 2013 Renegade Art Front
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60486-486-1
CHAPTER 1
MY DISCLAIMER
The story that follows is how I might have responded to any question regarding the meaning behind the Black Flag "Bars" tattooed on my ankle, had anybody cared to ask and stay around long enough to listen to my grandstanding on everything Punk Rock. heaven knows, I can tell a story, but at my advanced age I might feel the need to exaggerate an instance or make some radical assumptions to connect widely separated thoughts at varied points of the story. As I see it, in the proper telling of any good story there will be the need to suspend disbelief, so suspend it.
All ideas and text, except the larger interviews and photograph captions, are my interpretations of a myth about a band called Black Flag and a thing called Punk Rock, which both conspired to completely change my world. yes, over the past three decades, Black Flag changed a lot of people's worlds, but from this point forward I mostly speak from my own personal history.
No two people viewed, or continue to view, this groundbreaking band's contributions to the Punk Rock subculture in the same light. Each person's Black Flag experience can be best summed up various elements, including a favorite song, album, lineup, era, concert, and interview. Not every person's experience was a positive one, and negative commentaries thread into the lore, especially the post–My War period, when Black Flag lashed out at fans instead of lashing out at messy aspects of the outside world. That noted, I chose to pull and use mostly positive commentary and experiences from the hundreds of interviews that my crew and I conducted over the past half of a decade. To add variety to this volume, I decided to include extensive interviews with Black Flag veterans and others inside the SST camp. Meeting and interviewing Ron Reyes about his experience in Black Flag was one of the most profound experiences of my adult life, and the resulting interview could have certainly become a book itself. Interviews with greg ginn and henry Rollins are absent. Both were both invited, and declined an interview. Though missing contributions from two of Black Flag's most prominent and keystone players, Barred for Life (which started out as a joke among a few of my friends and me, mind you) does contain an in-depth, close-to-the-ground, and well-rounded approach to the topic.
So, yes, this is my blanket warning: the following text is a biased account of events pertaining to me over the past twenty-five years. With luck, you will relate to my opinions, but your interpretations of the myths, differing ever-so-slightly, are at least as good as mine and equally interesting. I do not aim for the whole truth; I simply offer my own story juxtaposed to the insight and anecdotes of Black Flag's members and close friends. Furthermore, the photographs and quotations embody fans' personal sacrifices to become part of the permanent record. If you have a problem with the expressed views, or you feel that your story was maliciously excluded, then do the Punk Rock thing: write your own book, blog, zine, or make your own documentary film. After participating in Punk Rock's more active aspects, I learned one very important lesson: Punks are quick to criticize and slow to produce, so produce or keep your trap closed and read on.
CHAPTER 2
SCENE NUMBER ONE REMEMBRANCES ON A CULTURE OF YOUTH REBELLION
"Black Flag pursued a politics of action. Thus they earned a solid reputation as being
the real deal — truly Hardcore."
THE HUMBLE PERSPECTIVE OF ONE JADED OLD MAN
This is not a treatise on Black Flag, so if you desire a treatise, rush out and buy Get in the Van or Spray Paint the Walls, or aNY Other books sketching the heart of the Black Flag experience. Do whatever you need to do, please, but don't read Barred for Life and expect high drama and juicy details about a single band amid thousands shaping the culture of youth rebellion appropriately named Punk Rock. While Black Flag was important, I refuse to write off other amazing bands that helped build the scene.
While I will not claim to be an authority on Black Flag matters, I do understand Punk Rock because it impacted my life for years. In my opinion, if Black Flag quit right after releasing the Damaged LP in 1981, I would be satisfied with their long list of previous achievements. Instead, Black Flag proceeded to release a lot of records, a few of which I bought and still enjoy. That is the extent of my Black Flag fandom: I am not an admirer of their entire career.
Middle-aged by now, I grew up in the throes of the early 1980s American hardcore culture, when Black Flag's status as innovators and leaders was not doubted. Not only did they play a generation-defining aggressive style of music, but by all accounts they lived aggressive lives too. By doing so, they generated a template even modern Punk Rockers accept and emulate. In simple matters, such as honestly making an effort to stand up against authority systems and figures, which is now easy to discuss over coffee and cigarettes, Black Flag actually pursued a politics of action. Thus they earned a solid reputation as being the real deal — truly hardcore.
They didn't just offer tough talk; they walked hard too, and they caused an epic amount of drama along the way. As an authentic real-deal, they unapologetically sought the complete and total attention of the LAPD — no small feat for a musical group to accomplish — by squaring up against them at nearly every show, big or small, they played in the Los Angeles area from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. While most bands steered clear of police intervention, Black Flag seemed to encourage the wrath of the LAPD, which created a dark, permanent cloud around them. Like the bad press issued to the Sex Pistols on their first-and-only American tour back in 1978, Black Flag easily won the hatred of parents and the praise of pissed-off kids across the country by simply taking on the cops, the most identifiable example of questionable authority. Few bands dealt with police the same way then, or since.
Stewart Dean Ebersole
Age: 40
HOME: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Designer-Builder
Favorite Singer: Chavo (Ron Reyes)
Favorite Song: Rise Above
Mike "B" Brennann
Age: 30
HOME: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Bartender and Rocker
Favorite Singer: Early henry Rollins
Favorite Song: My War
Ryan "CHUBB" Pasquale
Age: 31
Home: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Competitive Eater, Bartender, and Rocker
Favorite Singer: Keith Morris
Favorite Song: Clocked In
Dane Wilson
Age: 38
Home: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Construction Worker and Drummer
Favorite Singer: Chavo
Favorite Song: Depression
I was lucky to have been a Punk Rocker when Rollins led the band after the riots. In awe, I read how the band lashed out and confronted fans and enemies alike. As for me, I was hugely inspired by the courage of both Black Flag and their fans at that time. But My War, while a powerful release, changed everything for me. Photographs of the band, and even their attitude in interviews, not only bore little resemblance to the band's former "hardcore" manifestations, but their musical and lyrical direction was an unacceptable 180-degree departure from their formative years. For that period of time, Black Flag took a lot of abuse from their fans, mostly because Punk Rock, as an angry genre and identity, was still active and vital. While probably not the best way to describe Black Flag's evolutionary quickstep, the words "SELL OUT" frequently found their way into conversations regarding the band at this time, mine included. Looking back, with one of the keystone bands of the generation righteously lashing out at fans (and the entire Punk Rock culture), those were some strange times to be involved in Punk Rock.
Kevin "Stewie" Stewart
Age: 29
HOME: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Bicycle Messenger
Favorite Singer: Dez Cadena
Favorite Song: Damaged
Juls Generic
Age: 24
HOME: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Occupation: Copy Editor and Singer for Margaret Thrasher
Favorite Singer: Chavo Pederast
Favorite Song: Life of Pain
Favorite Album: Damaged
Morris Balacco
Age: 26
HOME: Jersey City, NJ
Occupation: Librarian
Favorite Singer: henry Rollins
Favorite Song: My War
David Maurio
Age: 38
HOME: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Bar Manager
Favorite Singer: Rollins
Favorite Song: Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
My personal approach toward the post–My War Black Flag format was to purposefully ignore the changes, continue listening to the old stuff, and hope that their next record would be a little more Punk Rock and a little less "cheese" Metal. Where there was once this near-continuous flow of antiauthoritarian anthems, many later Black Flag releases scarcely contained one, or possibly two, memorable songs for me. And for a band that once boasted four amazing singers, later releases seemed to indiscriminately alter musical lineups more in the lineage of Jazz recordings than of Punk Rock records. At some point, I just had to stop paying attention.
Dan Crampton
Age: 19
HOME: Albany, NY
Occupation: Sandwich-Maker
Favorite Singer: Keith Morris
Favorite Song: Nervous Breakdown
Favorite Album: Nervous Breakdown 7"
Name: Danielle LaFore
Age: 21
Home: Albany, NY
Occupation: Social Work Student and Waitress
Favorite Singer: Not Henry Rollins
Favorite Song: Nervous Breakdown
Favorite Album: Damaged
Richard Demler
Age: 47
HOME: New York City, NY
Occupation: Art Director, Bass Player
Favorite Singer: Dez Cadena
Favorite Song: Rise Above
Favorite Album: West Memphis Three tribute
Charles Hollow
Age: 28
HOME: Wilkes-Barre, PA
Occupation: Research Scientist
Favorite Singer: Henry Rollins
Favorite Song: White Minority
Favorite Album: "No way, I can't do it. They're all great."
A bit immaturely, I didn't want to deal with yet another iconic Punk Rock band turning its back on the scene that once enabled it to thrive and grow. While I once believed their changed attitude and style were a direct assault on that scene, now I actually know they were assaulting the scene. They stopped lashing out at parent, teacher, and cop "authority" and began lashing out at their former Punk fan base, all the time not noticing that kids around the world stopped caring about them! Between the years of 1984 and 1986, they actively distanced themselves from Punk Rock, placed all-SST bands on Black Flag gigs, and gave interviews suggesting Punk Rockers were a bunch of closed-minded idiots. hence, spending hard earned cash on, say, Family Man or Annihilate This Week, or giving it to a band that didn't hate me, became an issue of moral importance.
Thomas "WOODY" Woods
Age: 35
HOME: Toms River, NJ
Occupation: Bike Mechanic
Favorite Singer: Hank
Favorite Song: Nothing Left Inside
Favorite Album: My War
Calling it quits in 1986, I recall Black Flag accepting rather lukewarm condolences from the Punk Rock community. Most of the members, and many people close to the band, seemed traumatized, as roadie Joe Cole's book Planet Joe helps picture. Their accumulated mythos and ethos, including their contributions to the Punk Rock ethos, as well as a years-long assault against the Punk Rock establishment, would remain honored in Punk Rock history books, though many years passed before the scene really made peace with them.
Apparently, both the quantity and quality of rivalries were an essential part of the Black Flag experience, first made public by Rollins's epic tell-all Get in the Van. Though only an account of one dramatic man, it suggests the trauma experienced in Black Flag resembled being a foot soldier in a war where everybody was a potential enemy. Punk Planet's book, We Owe You Nothing, featuring interviews with former members nearly fifteen years after the band's demise, depicts how the more pressing rivalries between frontman henry Rollins and founding member and guitarist greg ginn never died. In fact, if anything, the spirit of angst espoused by them in those pages showed a very real and evil-spirited rivalry toward one another that made the entirety of my teen angst pale in comparison.
The Black Flag traumas, while masked to some degree and often passive-aggressive, live on via print and social networks, still aflame nearly thirty years after the band's demise. Since starting this project, much has changed concerning my perception of the band's evolution. I've come to accept some aspects that I wasn't prepared to accept back when I saw things only in black and white. I've grown to completely appreciate the path that Black Flag, and its numerous members, cleared so that Punk Rockers like me could walk with a degree of freedom not available beforehand. With four singers, three bass players, and drummers too numerous to count, Black Flag plowed through a decade commando-style. And, sadly, when comrades fell, well, there just wasn't time to stop and pick them up.
Mike Cummings
Age: 30
HOME: West Chester, PA
Occupation: hair Stylist, Musician
Favorite Singer: Dez Cadena
Favorite Song: Can't Decide
Fat Scott
Age: 27
HOME: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Bike Messenger
Favorite Singer: henry Rollins
Favorite Song: Louie, Louie
Favorite Album: Damaged
Jeff Marsala
Age: 32
HOME: Long Island, NY
Occupation: Tattoo Studio Manager, Photographer, Bass Player for Two Man Advantage
Favorite Singer: Henry Rollins
Favorite Song: My War
Favorite Album: Process of Weeding Out
Kurtis Powers
Age: 30
HOME: New York City, NY
Occupation: graphic Designer, National Football League
Favorite Singer: Keith Morris
Favorite Song: you Bet We've got Something Personal Against you
Favorite Album: First Four years
None of the band members, or even those closely associated with the SST dynasty, walked away from their experiences without some curious emotional scarring. Needless to say, I welcomed the opportunity to learn more about life inside the Black Flag camp from these pioneers. Just as I expected, they properly schooled me, showing me how the cloth of former Black Flag players was just made tougher than most. Partially due to this, many people across the globe cannot get enough of Black Flag lore, music, and biography. Every person that is, or ever was, a Punk Rocker seems to offer an opinion, often deeply emotional, of Black Flag, this most iconic of underground bands.
Sonja Zeigler
Age: 21
HOME: Lancaster, PA
Occupation: hair Stylist
Favorite Singer: Keith Morris
Favorite Song: Wasted
Keith Huckins
Age: 38
Home: Bergenfield, NJ Occupation: Parts Administrator, Chrysler Dealership
Favorite Singer: Henry Rollins
Favorite Song: In My head
Favorite Album: In My head
Alex Carvana
Age: 21
HOME: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Dog Walker
Favorite Singer: henry Rollins
Favorite Song: TV Party
Favorite Album: Damaged
I am no different. As a teenager, I was a mess. had I not found Punk Rock, maybe I would be dead by my own hand, or I would be a family man or a businessman.
Joseph Berben
Age: 23
HOME: Albany, NY
Occupation: Family Support Counselor, Association for Retarded Citizens of Rensselaer County, NY
Favorite Singer: Keith Morris
Favorite Song: Revenge
Favorite Album: Jealous Again
Sean Risley
Age: 26
HOME: New York City, NY
Occupation: TheTruth.com
Favorite Singer: henry Rollins
Whatever I could have been by staying trained on the "normal" path, I didn't do it. I became something else. I rebelled against the world, and then I traveled the world and discovered myself. I give the lion's share of the credit for my crazy achievements to being a Punk Rocker, and just a bit more to being a Black Flag sort of Punk Rocker. My cloth isn't exactly Black Flag cloth, but it is similar. While Punk Rock may have wounded some people, I believe it helped more lives than it hurt, which is why it thrives as an alternative culture even now in this new millennium.
Robby "REDCHEEKS" Hager
Age: 36
Home: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Trader Joe's Manager, Photographer, and Owner of Deathwish Records
Favorite Singer: Rollins
Favorite Song: My War
Favorite Album: Nervous Breakdown 7"
John Press
Age: 44
HOME: New York City, NY
Occupation: Psychology Professor, NYU
Favorite Singer: Ron Reyes
Favorite Song: Nervous Breakdown
Favorite Album: My War
Nicole Smith
Age: 20
HOME: Albany, NY
Occupation: Student/Pizza Shop Employee
Favorite Singer: Keith Morris
Favorite Song: White Minority
Favorite Album: First Four years
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Barred for Life by Stewart Dean Ebersole, Jared Castaldi, David Ensminger. Copyright © 2013 Renegade Art Front. Excerpted by permission of PM Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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