Exactly! Nothing is more annoying than a "punker than thou" attitude! He's the real thing and honestly a very gracious man. I've met him a number of times at his gigs. He's such a kickass guitarist!
Rikk Agnew, thank you for being my 1st guitar teacher. Listening to Only Theater of Pain & Deathwish over & over again during my season of 7th- 9th grades, You were the reason why I picked up guitar. Other guys claim Jimi, E.Van Halen, Jeff Beck & Ace Frehley, You were my light bulb moment ; I claimed You as MY Guitar Hero. Mainly ; their solos were Note +Harmony +Melody ...the albums that I mentioned above hold the difference. What you did on those recordings against other iconic albums is, You gave Tapestry. You created Landscapes. You spoiled with Nuance. You brought Color and tHAt is a Talent all in its own. I built my own pedestals and put these recordings as well as your tone & volume on top and glazed them over with all of my youth, curiosity, angst & rebellious fire. Thank you. -YOU were the voice II didn't have.
So much history in Rikk, enough for 10 lives. He needs to write an exhaustive book on the scenes he was involved in, he has so much invaluable knowledge
I was at every show back in those days and it was the most amazing time in my life. Even though it may have been the Toughest at the time. I knew most of you and enjoy content from those of us who are still around to reflect.
*PLEASE* write a book, Rikk. I can't think of anyone else more qualified to share their collective memories and experiences of the history of L.A./O.C. punk and deathrock. I would imagine the book would be even longer than Crime and Punishment.
I felt the same way about Ron Asheton. When I first read Please Kill Me I realized he was the best part of the book and every story he told was like a teaser into the archives of his memory. It sucks he never did, but maybe Rikk will.
Underrated guitar player, that OC sound instantly recognizable and that is the mark of a great guitarist when you hear it you immediately know the player.
There's actually another segment of this same interview where Gitane DeMone (Rick's girlfriend) joins him and they talk a lot more about Rozz and CD. just search for Rick Agnew Gitane DeMone, Eric Blair, and it should come up.
Order the book "Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the L.A. Punk Scene". It's chock full of great stories and goes very deep into the history of that scene, plus tons of interviews with the members of Christian Death, 45 Grave, Super Heroines, Voo-Doo Church, and all the other bands involved.
THANKS MRJC12 !!! The rest of the interview is with both Rikk and Gitane . Which was cut short due to my camera man not wanting to be there . Thats how it is when your show is independent .
If you love Rikk's stories, I highly recommend you order the book "Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the L.A. Punk Scene". It's chock full of great stories and goes very deep into the history of that scene, plus tons of interviews with Rikk and the other members of Christian Death. Plus tons of interviews with members of 45 Grave, Super Heroines, Voo-Doo Church, and all the other bands involved in that scene.
@@Brewzerr I need to find that. American hardcore is a good read. But pretty short read. But it does have a DVD I found it at a family dollar for a buck. Cincinnati is good for finding punk artifacts. At dollar stores and flea markets. The Midwest were punk comes to die lol. But new youngsters find it. And get influenced which is great.
@@paulsecrest9427 I kind of have a slight personal beef with American Hardcore (the book. Never saw the film), as my old band was kind of misrepresented in that one. The guy who wrote that, Steven Blush, never got in touch with me or any of the other members for fact-checking. It's not a big deal, but it still rubbed me wrong. However, yes... you definitely should seek out "Phantoms". It's a great read. Done in much the same way as "Please Kill Me" and "We Got The Neutron Bomb", with firsthand accounts directly from the actual people involved in the L.A. deathrock scene. I've been into deathrock since the early 80's and I still learned so much I never knew before from reading that book. Highly recommended.
He basically invented the main "deathrock sound" along with ROZZ. That interplay between the high guitar and the grooving bass and sorta affected, dramatic vocals is like the foundation of most deathrock to follow, and they basically had no idea! Funny hearing how cavalier he is. They really did basically warp punk into something new. And that blue ADOLESCENTS album is pretty much the best of California punk in general, I think.
I think Rikk is a approachable person. In 1981 the Adolescents sucked live . Rikk is a awesome artist. Undying passion. Undying passion. J INSCO SFCA Hell comes to your house.
Man Tony is the reason Rikk left the adz??111??11 Crazy. Totally changes my perception about what went on. They could have gone on to do so much more during that period and that awesome lineup, then just that one album. The "Welcome to Reality" E.P. is great... but man I just wish Tony wouldn't have F'd that up.
Yeah, Tony's a bit of a dick... and I'm not just saying that because of what Rikk shared here. I had my own bit of misgivings with Tony on facebook a few years ago. I used to have nothing but respect and admiration for him, and then I got to know him a bit more. I won't go too deep into it, but let's just say I can understand why the Adolescents/ADZ have had such a revolving door line-up through the years.
Of course L.A and new York are bigger cities but Detroit had great punk,goth,industrial ect. Just maybe as well known most of us had to move from Michigan to pursue a different life I personally moved to las Vegas at 18 and san Diego at 25 but now live back about 30 minutes from Detroit and there is always has had a great music scene no matter what kind of music you like Detroit has it and almost every band tours there because we are so close to Chicago... check out destroy all monsters with singer/artist Niagara from 70s/80s
I like the 15 minute part where he's like, "Oh yeah I had to be in a gang being cholos getting shanked and heads being busted open by baseball bats" damn so casual. Damn he's totally L.A. to the bone. Thumbs Up. A+++
it is very importat to support the artists directly, and if they dont have what your lokin for(past projects etc) JUST ASK THEM! support rikk and gitane here rikkagnewshit.bigcartel.com/ these are 2 of the most genuine artists ive had the pleasure to see, and let me tell you there is SO much more than meets the eye. art, poetry literature, community service and action. Stuff we all can and should be doing. Fortunatly, Rikk and GItane do those things well, and its a privilege to help in any way. EVEN SHAMELESSLY posting thier website like this...anyone can do it, if you love your artists...it doesnt take much to help....esp now in this techno cyber age!
