America’s Hardcore
This interview with Danny Slam, vocalist for early 80’s SoCal Hardcore band America’s Hardcore was conducted in 2007 for the Double Cross site and was later used in my third book, Straight Edge – A Clear-Headed Hardcore Punk History.
How did you first find out about Hardcore Punk?
Danny Slam: When I was 16 I hooked up with this crazy 19-year-old punk chick at my work. She turned me on to all kinds of cool shit like the Dead Boys, the Cramps and the New York Dolls She was a punk in the real original way. Being cool was about being totally outside of normal society – in the clothes you wore, the attitude you took, the drugs you abused, how and where you fucked. This was 1981 and I was already into Devo, which at the time was really different and attractive. She took me to a live Cramps show at the Roxy in Hollywood and she took me to see the original Decline of Western Civilization – the absolute defining moment of my young life! Man, when I saw these completely crazy and original kids going nuts for this fast, energetic and aggressive music, it turned me on in a huge way.
What was your first Hardcore Punk show?
My first show that really counts in my mind is Black Flag, DOA, Stains, and Minutemen at the Santa Monica Civic in June 1981. First of all, in preparation for this show, I had gone to a thrift store and bought some fucked-up old army jacket with bright brass buttons. It cracks me up to think of how badly I was being a poser. But what did I know? I took the bus from the Valley to the show. The venue held a lot of people, at least 2000. I remember vividly the following things: an Adam Ant impersonator between bands getting booed and spit on; the magnetic draw and simultaneous fear from being within arms reach of my first live slam pits; almost getting beat up near one of the outer slam pits; people getting crazy after the show and swinging off the flagpole outside on a rope; my ears ringing the next day.
LA had a bad reputation for being a pretty violent scene. Was it as bad as it was made up to be? Please share with us some of the things you witnessed.
Yes, the LA punk scene of the early 80s, which I dove headfirst into, was very violent. At most shows, there were fights, usually ten dudes kicking the crap out of one poor guy. There were a handful of dudes that you did not want to piss off and who loved to fight including John from Circle One, Mike from Suicidal, Oliver from the LADS, Sean Emdy from FFF, Mugger and others. A lot of fights just spontaneously erupted from clashes in the pit. At most big shows John from Circle One would lead packs of kids and rush the doors against the bouncers. There were several big riots at shows, where tons of cops showed up and closed down shows at SIR Studios in Hollywood, Mendolis Ballroom in Huntington Park, and a big show in Wilmington.
And there was a gang mentality. Indeed many kids grew up familiar with gang life in LA and took to creating copycat punk gangs. Partly, the gangs were justified, as being punk at home was a bit treacherous. I went to a huge high school of 2000 kids, and there were about 10-15 punks. Not a day went by when I wasn’t fucked with by somebody. But also, the gangs were just another way of being anti-social and having safety in numbers to do stupid shit like spray paint walls, break shit, steal shit and fight with other punks at shows. I was most familiar with the FFF gang, which was made up of all the punks and my friends where I lived inNorth Hollywood. FFF copied the style of Mexican gangbangers with khaki pants and buttoned up Pendelton shirts, with nicknames like Oso, Flaco, Shorty, and Woody.
How much time was there between you started going to shows and starting the band, and can you give us the full scoop on how America’s Hardcore came to be?
Less than a year. My best friend and original AHC bass player Scott Kosar started fucking around doing covers of stuff like “Wasted” by Black Flag pretty much right away. I guess it was the spring of 1982 that we formally formed Section 8 with guitarist Raffi Agopian and different drummers. We had a difficult time finding a drummer who would stick around. We even practiced with a 16-year-old Bobby Shayer from Bad Religion who we fired after his dad grounded him on the day of a big show we were supposed to play. By the fall Raffi left and I met Drew Berstein to play guitar who knew Pat Muzingo the drummer from the Atoms and Decry, and the original AHC lineup was set. We played our last show as Section 8 in January 1983.
I was hugely influenced by SOA from D.C. Early on we covered their song “Public Defender” and I think this shaped our style to be very much in that mold of aggressive Hardcore. We were also influenced by Minor Threat, plus local bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Descendents, TSOL, Wasted Youth and the Dead Kennedys of course. During the same time, we started the band I was already starting to buy seven-inch records from Hardcore bands from all over the states at a great Hollywood record store called Vinyl Fetish. I would buy anything that had eight or more songs on a 7 inch, that pretty much guaranteed that it’d be fast!
I ended up with great stuff like the Necros, Negative Approach and of course, the compilation This is Boston Not LA; all was highly influential to us. The degree I was into all of this music was nothing short of Hardcore itself. I went to every show possible – at that time in LA that could mean multiple gigs per week. I slammed pretty much for every song and every band. So the idea of making that kind of music and playing gigs with our favorite bands was a big dream and for me the driving force behind having a band.
Our good friend Darin Price showed us the ropes and acted as a manager, giving us advice and ideas at all of our practices. Darren was great, he was totally enthusiastic and pushed us to keep going for it. We practiced seriously only for a few weeks by the time we played our first party/show in April 1982.
Why the name change from Section 8 to America’s Hardcore?
Once Drew joined the band we started getting a lot more serious. Drew would often say we have to be dedicated. He, too, was very Hardcore about what he was into, and he was the driving force behind making America’s Hardcore stickers and t-shirts. After a while, we thought our band name was too generic and didn’t really have any personal connection to any of us. It was my little brother, Jason, who suggested we use America’s Hardcore when we talked about finding a new name. The name comes from the labels I would put on these cassette tape recordings of all that great music I was buying. I had America’s Hardcore Volume 1 and so on, and I would give these tapes to my friends. The name was perfect for us.
How did you and your friends in and around the band find out about the bands coming from the midwest, D.C., and Boston at the time?
In addition to what I said above, Flipside and Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll were the main ‘zines around, plus We Got Power later on. Also, through correspondance, I started getting copies of Touch & Go and Forced Exposure. We also did mail interviews with some small zines like Positive Charge from Phoenix and Stage Dive from San Jose. Seems like there were others.
What was America’s Hardcore’s 1st show? Any memories from the show?
With the original AHC lineup, but as Section 8, our first real gig was at a huge two-day punk fest at the T-bird Rollerdrome in Pico River. We played the second day in the middle of about 20 bands.
How did the people in the band become aware of Straight Edge? Did you or anyone in your band consider yourself Straight Edge?
We first heard about it through the Minor Threat song, naturally. Drew got serious about being Straight Edge for a while, but it was never my thing. I liked to drink then, and I still do. But we definitely picked up on the positive attitude vibe that Minor Threat was singing about. That was always a big theme with us, that and not being a rock star – meaning get up there and rage through our set without fucking around between songs like rock stars do.
What were some of the more memorable America’s Hardcore shows and why? What were some of the more memorable shows you saw back then whether or not AHC was on the bill?
Memorable America’s Hardcore shows include early April 1983 opening for Minor Threat, Suicidal Tendencies and others at the Rollerworks. This is our show that is seen on the Flipside video. Huge place, big crowd with people stage diving during our set, even though we were the first band on. Two weeks later we played in Frisco twice, the first at the Tool & Die with Secret Hate. I remember this show because I got in a fight with Bob Noxious of the Fuck-Ups while slamming during another band.
The second show was at the On Broadway with Minor Threat and 7 Seconds. That trip was an incredible experience. We felt like we had “made it” playing shows away from home. Also memorable was our little mini-tour with the Circle Jerks to Las Vegas, Phoenix (where I sang from the top of the wrestling cage) and Tucson (playing to a packed house!) in September 1983. I remember all gigs as being a huge rush with tons of butterflies as we got on stage and prepared to start. Then an amazing feeling of letting go and raging through our set with unabashed enthusiasm, screaming the lyrics as loudly and energetically as possible.
What about memorable shows in general that you attended?
Memorable shows for me are too many to count. Fear at the Whiskey with a line of crazy fuckers from Venice around the front of the building; the most crazy slam pit during Suicidal at the Olympic; driving with Circle One to Frisco for Eastern Front and seeing Wasted Youth’s drummer get knocked out by a flying whiskey bottle; getting beat up by the LAPD outside a Hollywood show; my first slamming at the Whiskey for the Circle Jerks; punks doing the frog stomp during the Vandals in San Pedro; the first time I saw Minor Threat at Alpine Village; slamming on a manic dust high during the Necros; stage diving and breaking my wrist during the Misfits at Mendiolis; the last two Bards Appollo shows with Vicious Circle in the crowd and John from Circle One stomping through the pit in his trademark plaid pants – that dude was bigger than fucking life.
Why didn’t the band ever do a 7″ or something in their time of existence?
That’s a sad tale. We were practicing a lot at Sin 34’s Spinhead studio, getting ready to do some sort of album when I quit the band. I blame myself for the band’s demise. I was in a weird space and thought, foolishly at 19 years old, that I needed to be a responsible dude and not go running off on a big US/Canada tour that we were planning and leave my live-in girlfriend and our 4 dogs to fend for themselves. Funny thing is, that girl was out of the picture not all that long afterward. It’s a big regret in my life, not going on that tour and doing the album.
Please, breakdown the recording sessions AHC did.
We recorded at two separate studios. To be honest I don’t remember why we were recording, only that it felt like we had really made it for real. Each time we recorded a handful of songs, maybe three or four at each place. Once was at somebody’s professional home studio and the other was at Mystic with Doug Moody. I remember it was weird to sing the songs by myself while listening to the rest of the band. Very weird. Took some getting used to. It’s a real bummer because I’m sure there are more studio recordings than just the three songs. “Open Your Eyes”, “Cops are Criminals” and “Born Prejudice” were all put on Mystic comps. I have no fucking idea what the other songs were, or where those recordings are. I remember going back to get our shit from Mystic after Drew’s brother, who was a lawyer, told us that the contract we signed was lame. But it went nowhere.