In February of this year, I got the chance to head down to L.A. for the book fair at MOCA to help out with an exhibit of the FER YOUZ crew’s out of this world punk collection, curated by Arthur Fournier, who also put out a book of their collection called FER YOUz: The L.A. Hardcore Archive, 1980-1985 (order it here). The the humans behind this 80’s xerox fanzine have a special place in my heart because I have known them for so long, plus I have so much respect for what they have done for the scene over the decades. The FER YOUZ collection is deeper than just photos, because Nikki and Brian Tucker were also avid collectors of everything from flyers, matchbooks, studded belts, backdrops and everything 80s SoCal punk. I always said that what makes them so special is that they are more than just photographers – they are protectors and collectors of our culture. The actual event was packed the whole time, and blew so many people’s mind. On a personal tip, it was so cool seeing so many old friends and sharing stories of the past. It was clear that none of us would have been the same if it was not for being a part of the SoCal scene during the 80’s. Being so close to the subject matter, I find it hard to express what FER YOUZ really means to me, so you should check out this really cool feature that the L.A. Times did about them – just click HERE! Right here and now, check out some killer photos from the 80’s, plus photos of the actual exhibit! I wanted to say thank you to Nikki, Brian, Arthur, P-Bear, Arnoud Verhaeghe and Sammy, the whole staff at Black Bar plus all of the friends I met on this trip. That being said, I felt 14 the whole trip – it was a killer blast to the past! Rest In eternal Power Drew, we all love YOUZ!
The Book Fair Crew
Great bunch of guys: L to R:
Arnoud Verhaeghe, Sean Reveron, Arthur Fournier, Matthew Bucknall, and (not pictured) Sean Linezo.
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