Growing up punk in the SoCal scene during the 80’s, I didn’t know it then, but I know it now – we were spoiled. Not only by the promoters we had, but by the fact that our scene was infested with upper middle class and rich punks – which meant even the poor punks could could crash at the their rich homie’s crib and raid their fridge! The same could not be said for the Hardcore kids from the Lower East Side of New York, because they had to deal with the harsh realities of real urban decay – but out of this environment a thriving scene rose. The NYC punks unified together to create a community that was self-reliant on many levels, from recording studios to squats. From 1983 to 1985, CBGB’s started putting on Matinee shows every weekend with local and touring bands. I would go to my local Venice, CA book store to read the Village Voice so I could see who was playing this weekend at the Matinee shows. I would day dream about being in the pit while Minor Threat, Antidote, Cause for Alarm, SSD, or Reagans Youth were doing their thing on stage. Drew Carolan was there not only for the music, but to document this historic scene on film. Every weekend, he would set up a makeshift studio across the street from the venue. He would then ask punks to come over so he could take their portraits and capture the true spirit of what it was to be a young punk in New York City at the time. The year is now 2017, and Drew has decided to put out a book with all of his unreal portraits called MATINEE ALL AGES ON THE BOWERY (pre-order the book HERE). We are stoked to share a preview of this kick ass book below, and make sure to stay tuned for our interview with Drew Carolan.
