Do you still have your photos from the Eighties? Not to worry, if you spent most of your time in Austin, Texas, Pat Blashill did. Photographs are one of the most reflective art forms around. It took a long time from the daguerreotype to the photos of someone like Diane Arbus at the MoMA in New York, for it become a recognized form of Art. Then there are the people out there, much like Stanley Kubrick who just always seemed to have a camera around, all the time. Photographs can hold your fondest memory or the worst day or your life frozen in the amber that is celluloid.
Every little scene around the world probably considers their scene to be the best, There we always something different about Texas. We had 4 major cities that were producing amazing music at the same time, Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The people would change location from time to time, those who came to Austin however usually ended up staying. There were punks, hippies, artists and metalheads and we all shared this wonderful little town were you could stay alive with a part time job or none at all. We all loved it and every new building that went up caused a mutual sigh across town.
Austin is now one of the most expensive places to live in America. There is no space left (Besides a hidden movie studio here and there) that is just a long stretch of grass with a few trees on it. You can't go back home they say, it is especially true if you can't recognize the damn place. This giant, expensive town used to have great clubs to see shows all over the place. Every party on campus was sponsored by Shiner Beer, and everyone you knew was there to drink it. Bands would play in back yards at what was presumably a party, or maybe a practise, with a keg of Shiner. You couldn't buy beer until noon on Sundays so you would hang out on Janis Joplin's porch and wait for Mad Dogs & Beans to open. You can remember how many times David Yow jumped on you during a show, how many Woodshocks you made it to. Just the same as your town or city, it's just that some cities are extremely lucky and have someone like Pat Blashill to preserve them for the following generations.
Punk Globe: How did you end up in Austin, and why a book about the music and the people?
PB: I was born and raised in Austin, and when I was in my twenties, Texas punk rock was my life. At the same time that Raul’s, Club Foot, Voltaire’s Basement and lots of other clubs were becoming homes to a wild punk scene, I was learning how to use a 35mm camera. I was photographing people and places and bands I was intensely curious about, but they were also friends, so there is an intimacy to the pictures. They might be the best photographs I’ve ever taken.
Punk Globe: Many people came to Austin and just never left. What was it about the town that made it so special?
PB: That’s the twenty-dollar question! Austin has long been a magnet for kooks and free-thinkers, and I think a lot of the punks and people in my pictures came to Austin to escape other parts of Texas (or the USA) which were more repressive. As Steve Collier, the first drummer for the Big Boys, put it, their singer Biscuit “had to come to Austin to be Biscuit.” Austin gave people permission to let their freak flag fly.
Punk Globe: Which clubs were your favorite to see a show at, and which provided the best photos?
PB: To this day, I prefer taking pictures in clubs with low stages or no stages, so you’re very close or even on the same level as the band. That way it’s less like a concert and more like a free-for-all. I really liked shooting at Voltaire’s Basement and Uncle Su-Su’s, although neither club lasted very long. Liberty Lunch was also great. Club Foot wasn’t as good for photos, but I saw a lot of great shows there, like Gang of Four on the night in 1980 when Reagan was first elected!
Punk Globe: The harassmentcould be brutal back then. Frat boys, Police, everyone on the planet. Why did we all try so hard to stand out. Why, do you think, did we refuse to give in?
PB: I can’t speak for anyone else’s desire to stand out or refusal to give in, but I do think that the local conditions of racism, homophobia, and religious extremism provoked a creative response from the fans, bands, mods, skinheads and cowpunks in the scene. That harassment and heat inspired people, and it may be a big reason why Austin had such a wild and defiant scene. I think we defined ourselves against a lot of repressive, conformist shit. We weren’t blonde, All American kids, and we didn’t want fake bands. We wanted something else.
Punk Globe: Punk Rock was the first place where so many people felt like they belonged. What about the music, the art and the people made it a family for so many?
PB: I’ve heard other people say that Austin punk was like a family, but I didn’t want or need another family, even though mine was kind of broken. Maybe people began to accept me because I went into the scene with an open mind, and tried not to be scared of anyone, even if they looked really tough or scary. Chris Wing, the singer for Sharon Tate’s Baby, did scare me a bit because he was smart and sort of sleazy, and I was afraid he wanted to fuck me. But I got over my homophobia and realized he wasn’t just horny—he was a genuinely curious, intellectual person.
Some people who were younger—particularly girls--started going to shows when they were still in junior high, and they may have felt like they discovered their true family. But some of those young ones were then sexually assaulted or exploited by older punk men on the scene! (Adriane Shown writes about that in my book.)
I only bring this stuff up because I’m trying not to look back at things with rose-colored glasses. And certainly for me, Austin punk was very welcoming and wonderful.
Punk Globe: We have lost so many Austin Icons like Randy "Biscuit" Turner, Steve Anderson, Mike Carroll, Davey Jones your photos keep them young and alive in our memories. Is it something that helps to comfort you as we just won't stop ageing?
PB: That is a pretty profound insight about photography. The short answer is yes, I’m really happy I have these pictures to remind me of those times, and as a document of all the amazing people you’ve named. I wanted this book to be a portrait of a scene, and I wanted it to include a lot of people who weren’t ever famous or in bands or known beyond Austin. Because a good scene is full of larger-than-life characters who burn so bright in their town, in their time.
But again, I try not to be nostalgic. Big Boys guitarist Tim Kerr has said some people talk about their punk rock years in the same way some former jocks talk about their high school football years. I think I understand his dismissal of that. And I’ve accepted that I’m a wrinkly old punk now. I get comfort from seeing young bands do cool shit.
Punk Globe: You have been so many places and have taken some amazing photographs. What is it about these that is so special?
PB: Thank you for saying that!
For me, these pictures are more personal and intimate. I was trying to make a record of my own life by making pictures of the people around me. I never photographed another group of people who I was so personally involved with, and maybe that shows through in the pictures. It’s been very gratifying to hear Austin people who I respect using words like “soulful” or “iconic” to describe these photos.
Punk Globe: I saw that you were in Austin showing photographs from the book to friends. How did the subjects react to seeing them?
PB: Yes, that’s right and it was so much fun. I was visiting Austin with my teenage daughter, and the friends we were staying with offered to throw a party for me. So I turned it into a preview of the book. I thought it was like that big meeting of the crime families in The Godfather--I tried to invite at least one person from all the Austin punk families, so they could all see what I’ve done. So we had Big Boys, Poison 13 guys, Doctor’s Mob and a Buffalo Gal, Pat Doyle from the Offenders, Brett Bradford from Scratch Acid, Tim Mateer from Meat Joy and a few of my favorite stars of the moshpit, circa 1984!
The best part was when everybody crowded around the screen, saying, ‘Look, there’s Jukebox!’ or ‘There’s Chico…..again!’ Of course it’s sad that a lot of the people in the book are no longer with us, but this was more of a celebration, so no tears and lots of smiles.
Punk Globe: Were you able to get everything you wanted to show, into the book?
PB: a vivid look at an awesome time and place in our lives.
Is it perfect? Certainly not. It doesn’t have some of my favorite photos, and it’s not the sort of classic photobook I thought I wanted to make. But (Bazillion Points publisher and editor) Ian Christe helped shape it into something that might be better. He was a great partner and collaborator.
My hope is that fourteen-year-old kids in Wisconsin or Osaka will see it and think, ‘Oh. Maybe starting a band would be sorta fun after all…..’
Punk Globe: "Texas is the Reason," will be out in February 2020. Where will people be able to buy it, and can you pre-order online?
PB: That’s right, February! You can pre-order it now at the Bazillion Points website, and we’ll try to get it into all the better independent bookstores and record stores in the USA.
Punk Globe: Thank you for your time and sharing your wonderful memories with us. Let everyone know what else you are working on, maybe what's next.
PB: I would love to make another photo book, especially with the music photos I took when I moved to New York City in 1987. I did portraits of My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, the Ramones, George Clinton, Sun Ra, Pussy Galore and a bunch more.
For Texas Is the Reason, I also did a lot of fantastic interviews with Austin punk people, and much of that stuff didn’t make it in to the book. So I’d like to put together a feature article or an oral history with some of those unbelievable stories! Stay tuned…..
https://www.bazillionpoints.com/books/texas/
and
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us Pat.
We here at Punk Globe want to wish you a early Happy New Year!
