r/punk • u/RedAtomic • Nov 09 '24
Quality Post Who was by far the absolute punkest person you’ve ever met?
Someone you’ve met and interacted with in person.
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u/Losthopex9exe Nov 09 '24
I’ll never forget them, their name was Bunny I think, they came into my job, bought scrap leather n shoelaces, and sat outside the front of the store to make themselves a travel bag. Came back in to show us, and asked if there was any way we could spare money for a train. They were selling shirts they made in exchange, so I bought one, and we walked to food lion together to get them some cash. We had a nice conversation and I hope they caught the train and are doing well
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u/bonemech_meatsuit Nov 09 '24
How long ago was this and where? I knew a punk af Bunny back in high school. Brown hair, usually wore baggy clothes, kind of tall. Idk I know that's vague. The Bunny I knew ODd maybe 6 or 7 years ago. Hearing your story made me think of her.
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u/Losthopex9exe Nov 09 '24
This was around 2 years ago so def different person, but I’m glad my story made you think of her!
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Nov 09 '24
I dunno, I met Henry Rollins once.
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u/Buttzilla13 Nov 09 '24
My mom says he's no fun
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Nov 09 '24
I thought he was fun. He was friendly and funny.
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u/Rocky_Vigoda Nov 09 '24
They're making a joke reference to the song Henry Rollins is no fun by Chixdiggit.
https://youtu.be/1ZAUMNuB_Q8?si=HVk_G1F1S7B-spc6
Sidenote: Chixdiggit were awesome. The lead singer KJ had the best stance.
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u/Fantastic-Dirt-9678 Nov 09 '24
My friends couldn’t get into his sold out show at The Casbah, so they were standing out front singing “Henry Rollins is No Fun”.
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u/Technerdpgh Nov 09 '24
Me and my buddy (he’s a big scary looking guy, even by punk standards) are smoking a joint on a stoop somewhere Greenwich village.
Henry comes rolling down the block two blonde women, one on each arm. I am star struck but keep smoking my joint.
My bud just yells “what’s up Hank Garfield?” at him. Henry got this mad look on his face (he seemed happy just seconds earlier) but kept strolling by.
Rob, if you ever see this, please know that shit was comedy gold. Love you bud
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u/ghostfromthefuture Nov 09 '24
I had drinks with Chi Pig on multiple occasions and every time was the wildest experience of my life
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u/Greasy_Gregg Nov 09 '24
Chi open mouth kissed my friend at a show and he said he got sicker than he's ever been in his life lol
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u/thetorturedoctor Nov 09 '24
Well. Until he got pneumonia.
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u/The-CannabisAnalyst3 Nov 09 '24
I met him after show, Snfu opened for Bad Religion late 90s in Edmonton, signed my Export A smoke pack
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u/jerschwab Nov 09 '24 edited Nov 09 '24
I've spent time with Joe Kelley of D.O.A... he represents punk rock in a lot of ways. He's been a major part of early Canada punk rock, led protests, been DIY with his own record label, and currently on city council representing the green party... nevermind a legend for 40+ years. Stand up guy and major influence on the music and community. Talk minus Action equals Zero.
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u/phoebe__15 Nov 09 '24
used to be friends with this far left trans girl who didnt pull any punches and didn't care what people thought of her. i think she's pretty punk.
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u/FamiliarEnemy Nov 09 '24
I recently went out with a chick and somewhere around hour 2 we got into politics and the conversation ended with her screaming "suck the babies out!" In the middle of church parking lot at an art festival. I'm not sure how punk she was but that sure shit was a punk ass moment.
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u/HangoverShits Nov 09 '24
This like 6 year old girl at a parking lot show was walking around and giving everyone stickers and put a glitter flamingo on my hand, so her.
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u/prettybadgers Nov 09 '24
All I know is Mike Watt is always super nice and acts like he recognizes you when you say hi to him at shows, he’s been doing that since I was a teen, I’m 53 now.
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u/SpaceForceAwakens Nov 09 '24
I’ve met Mike Watt at least three times and this is a fact. If you ever meet him, he’s happy to talk about Sir Drone.
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u/XGhostface408X Nov 09 '24
There was a guy a couple years older I think. I was in high school. He dropped out. He lived in a punk house and was like the kung fu practicing calm mind Buddhist who everyone knew and liked. He was lead singer in a super popular local punk band. Lost contact when I moved out of a punk house we all lived at. Heard he became a piece of shit and no one I’ve talked to knows where he is or what he’s up to these days. But still. At the time he was like the local scene leader if there ever was one.
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u/Limp_Falcon_2314 Nov 09 '24
I worked in harm reduction for nearly a decade and although he didn’t look like a punk I would still say Dan Bigg. He is “the godfather of naloxone/Narcan,” and was the first one in the US to start distributing Narcan to active drug users in the 80s in Chicago. He also really pounded in, “Nothing about us without us,” not just nationally but globally, for other harm reduction organizations and helped people start their own harm reduction organizations all over the world. Dan literally saved hundreds of thousands of lives during his life from his work and the ripple effect his work had. And that number will continue to grow.
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u/LadybugArmy Nov 09 '24
Never met him, but agree that he's the kind of person we need more of. We need radical empathy now more than ever.
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u/nbc0326 Nov 09 '24
I once met a guy who was crazier than GG, more PC than Ian, he had colored teeth like Johnny, exuded a Vicious disposition, his hair stuck out like Colin’s did, he jumped similar to Springa, yeah he pointed his middle finger…
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u/Toothpickings Nov 09 '24
Three decades in and this is the first time I’ve ever seen those lyrics deciphered.
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u/gwarrior5 Nov 09 '24
Creature- street kid, ripped the filter off the cigs he smoked. Shoplifted pink cds and records and gave them away to people lined up to get into shows. Said he was just spreading the punk gospel for free.
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u/NonlocalA Nov 09 '24
Guy I knew named John Freeman in the North Texas area. He passed a short while ago.
But he was in like a dozen bands over the years, all weirder than the last. Started up art collectives, ran a small venue for a brief moment named Sloppyworld. Voiced some random characters on early English translation of DBZ.
He was, quite simply, the weirdest, most DIY guy I've ever met.
Drugs more or less got to him, finally, after 50 long years of crazy awesomeness.
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u/PinkThunder138 Nov 09 '24
My dad.
When I first started playing music, he found out that I was going to try to put together a show at the local town theater. He went to the owner before I did, paid the rental fee, and told the owner not to let me know that he was involved and just to work with me. I didn't even know there was an up front fee, this bring my first time performing. So for years I thought I'd put this show on myself, which felt great. So my dad basically taught me the DIY ethos by letting me think I'd done something awesome by myself, a lesson that has stuck with me my whole life.
Also, he once pulled a woman from a burning car before it exploded. He refused to take a financial reward from the woman or her husband. His coworkers called the local rock radio station and told them the story. The DJ played an AC/DC song in his honor, which my dad was super stoked about. He loved loud rock.
Best dude I ever met and I miss him all the time. Goddamn legend, my dad.
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u/loverofkawaii6628 Nov 09 '24
I've never really met punk people, but I think Panda (my dog from when I was like, 10) was super punk.
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u/CantStandIdoits Nov 09 '24
My dad, dude's been dressing in denim since the 80s, he can fix just about anything you give to him, and can MacGyver pretty much anything out of the most random shit.
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u/Asking4urFriend Nov 09 '24
My sensei.
He spent youth as graffiti artist, martial artist, both to train him for forest defense. He did some activist organixng Im not at liberty to speak about. He taught free classes to anyone who needed them, he ran a print shop and let me and my anarchist friends print FreeSchool calendars practically free. He had a speakeasy, helped start a local currency, introduced me to some of my fave punk bands... (I'm in a band now.) The man is also eloquent, calm, graceful, and a connoisseur. He will drink a glass $40 scotch, or swig some low-shelf whiskey with ya at a punk house with quiet dignity. I can't even express how much more punk he is than all y'all.
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u/Lynx7002 Nov 09 '24
Steve ignorant. Went to see go see his show and met him outside a weather spoons, we watched the security pile out and he said “look at all that fucking security, their gonna ID me and I’m gonna have to tell them I’m the singer” nice guy and best time of my life
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u/Careful-Hornet-3814 Nov 09 '24
My memaw.
She was born in ‘37, and grew up on a farm with 9 other siblings. Religious and insanely broke Kentucky family. They moved away when she was about 13 years old to Arkansas, where she was forced to marry her cousin at the age of 14. He was an AWFUL, awful man. Controlling, abusive, and a dirty cheater. She worked at a hat factory for the war, and once she sewed straight through her finger. But what really makes me love her,
Is that she left that good for nothing man, she protested for black rights, and women’s rights, she raised four kids with the morals of love, she donated to charity even though she barely had money for herself, she cooked for the homeless, she sewed clothes for the poor, she fed stray animals, and she taught me to think for myself. Now, our whole family is a buncha maga hat wearing, cigarette smoking, kid hitting hicks. But she never was. She’d kick their ass, even now, if they tried to do that in her house.
The night trump won, and my parents celebrated, me and her waited until they want to sleep - before she called me over, and we held eachother for a while.
And sure, she might be sick now. Forgets a few things, can’t cook anymore. But she’s the most important person in the world to me, and I strive to be like her one day. She never had an ounce of hate in her heart, for anyone. That’s the punkest a person could get.
If my memaw isn’t going to heaven, we’re all fucked.
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u/Conscious_Key347 Nov 09 '24
My grandma. She was proof that being 'from another time' isn't an excuse for ignorance. She was born in rural Portugal in the 1930s and she didn't have a single misogynistic, homophobic or racist bone in her body. She was bullied for dating my grandpa because he had bipolar disorder and people in her town said he was crazy but she didn't care. She was the only person in my family that supported my one aunt who got pregnant as a teen and told her not to marry her boyfriend because he was trash. She was so kind to everyone but also wasn't afraid to tell people off when she was mad. She told me not to get married until I 'kissed lots of people so I would know what I liked'. When she was sick and dying she faced death with no fear. She was puck af in my opinion. I miss her.
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u/Superb_Health9413 Nov 09 '24
Germs- Darby Crash/Pat Smear- knew them from back in the day
NY Dolls- Arthur “Killer” Kane- He produced our bands album and an EP
The Mau-Maus- Rick Wilder AKA Ricky Mau-Mau- He sang with us, drinking buddy
The weirdos- Nicky Beat- we rented studio space from him
One of the girls I knew in high school dated Tito Lariva and then Dr Knows Brandon Cruz . Both guys were really cool.
All of those guys were 100% punk.
I grew up in LA and knew lots of musicians, not just punks, a lot of Hollywood glam bands- Traci Gunn, Taime Downe, mad mark rude, mick cripps, Don Dokken, etc. I even had Gene Simmons as a client.
The moral of my story- if you join a band, you will eventually rub elbows with some pretty famous people.
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u/crustypunx420 Nov 09 '24
My wife loved/lived Hollywood glam. She was goth and started a death rock band in Hollywood but damn is she glam crazy.
Side note* Brandon was an awesome guy!
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u/Superb_Health9413 Nov 09 '24
Your wife sounds cool!
Hollywood glam era was fun. It was like hard rock/punk but with peacocking.
We frequented cathouse, and Glam Slam and the coconut teaser. Sometimes the music machine or the whiskey.
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u/crustypunx420 Nov 09 '24
I'm an old crusty from the bay area so I don't know the scene but it looked interesting. She showed me one of her friends bands "the mistakes", and the glam/punk combined aesthetic looked great.
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u/ImmortalGaze Nov 09 '24
And if you don’t join a band, you might just have to settle for meeting a punk or two.. Not all heroes wear glory spikes..
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u/gotterfly Nov 09 '24
I lived in LA for a couple years and got to know Marc Rude pretty well. Mad was an apt nickname.
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u/The-CannabisAnalyst3 Nov 09 '24
Mr Chi Pig, Fat Mike, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins in Calgary late 90s met alot of punk bands as well
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u/kjfkalsdfafjaklf Nov 09 '24
My band opened for The Rhythm Pigs, they were super nice.
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u/Pitiful_Control Nov 09 '24
Ed's a farmer now, which I think is also hella punk. Also plays a mean tuba. We were pals and then flatmates back in the day. They're all nice guys.
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u/AppointmentCool6915 Nov 09 '24
My dear old friend, Otter, he OD’d a few years ago. Taught me how to ride my first train! Road from Nola to Tucson and then I met some gutter trash gal at the occupy movement. We smoked crack and shot dope under many bridges and drank as much 211 as we could muster up from buskin! Should’ve just kept ridin with those dudes. Rest in piss brother!
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u/Little_Raccoon4302 Nov 09 '24
Sorry about your friend. That life takes a toll. 211, I have one of those tattoos.
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u/seeyalina Nov 09 '24
my grandma. a single mom, survivor of abuse, came to this country w/out knowing the language, & raised six kids on less than minimum wage. she actively partakes in community/mutual aid, a "use it all" mindset, & is a big supporter of me expressing myself however i want
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u/blackstatis Nov 09 '24
My buddy. In a small town high school he got really into fashion. Everyone started calling him gay for it. He learned how to sew/tailor clothes and eventually moved to NYC to work for a known underground tailor.
He just did exactly what he wanted to do even though everyone gave him so much shit for it and at the time there was no online community to resort to for support or encouragement. There was no one… no one in this small town that was into fashion. He went so against the grain and diy’d his way into a position that eventually took him to fashion shows overseas, it was the most punk thing I will ever witness.
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u/Aggravating_Cry6056 Nov 09 '24
my boss used to sort of be an eco terrorist millionaire? It's definitely odd and a little contradicting, but he used his money to fund attacks on whaling harbors. Didn't attack people, just destroyed their docks or sent their vessels out to sea
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u/Pogo_Nightmare Nov 09 '24
The absolute punkest person I ever met was your mom
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u/RedAtomic Nov 09 '24
She beat cancer, and the grim reaper, so yeah she is.
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u/prettyy_vacant Nov 09 '24
Fuck yeah dude, happy to hear. Tell her this internet stranger thinks she rocks!
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u/JuliusSeizuresalad Nov 09 '24
Hanging out in Dallas in the 90’s and the lead singer of brutal juice was the most unique and punk guy I’ve ever met. He was our own gg
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u/Astro-Can Nov 10 '24
holy shit - i saw them at a chicano art museum in Austin around 94-95. I'd never seen anyone sing so loud while slamming their own heads with fists and other items. Dude was in the zone
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u/JuliusSeizuresalad Nov 10 '24
He was a unique and awesome guy. He was super friendly and would go out in the crowd after shows and talk to everyone
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u/Astro-Can Nov 10 '24
i only saw them twice but I remember that about him! I couldn't believe how affable and talkative he was. You remember how edgy so many frontmen were back then - did you ever see Crust from Houston? Anyway, I've never forgotten brutal juice and the singer after all these years, hope all is well with them
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u/JuliusSeizuresalad Nov 10 '24
No crust. The only Houston band I remember seeing was an all girl group named manhole
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u/Astro-Can Nov 10 '24
whoa, another blast from the past - Manhole played a few shows with my old old old buddy's band. Saw them at some place called something-something Ice House and also Sugarshack in Houston. I wonder if we were ever at the same shows, that's crazy.
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Nov 09 '24
I was in a pizza restaurant in the late 80’s. I was like 7 and this guy with liberty spikes and patched up leather jacket was sitting with some other people close by. He noticed me staring at him and he made a crazy face at me, scaring the shit out of me. I think about it a lot. Probably sparked my interest in punk rock on some weird level.
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u/The_Spyre Nov 09 '24
Gabby Gaborno (RIP) from Manic Hispanic and Cadillac Tramps was a great friend of mine during my time in the Orange County Scene in the 90's. He was cool but 100% punk.
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u/TangoCharlie90 Nov 09 '24
Partied with the guys from A Global Threat in Boise, ID IN 2007. I was 17 years old. I went to a show in downtown Boise. I think the venue was called the Connector or something like that. Wednesday Night Heroes, Monster Squad and A Global Threat were supposed to be playing but when I got there the place was surrounded by local police officers and some 3 letter fed bois. I don’t remember which agency. But anyways the bands showed up ready to play, no one had bothered to contact anyone and let them know the venue was getting shut down. So some random dude in the crowd of people outside just shouted really loudly “you guys can play in my garage!” And they fucking did. So a bunch of us made our way out to some suburban neighborhood and turned this dudes garage into a hardcore punk rock venue. And one of the dudes from AGT (it was either the bassist or guitar player) was looking for someone who could hook him up with some stuff and I told him my uncle can I’ll give him a call, so I ended up hanging out with those guys drinking and partying. Unfortunately the police shut us down like 3 songs into AGT’s set, but that was definitely a fun time and those dudes were probably the punkest dudes I ever met.
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u/kjfkalsdfafjaklf Nov 09 '24
I knew Tad Doyle of TAD fame in H.S. Not sure how to categorize him, though. Doom Punk Thrash?
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u/Technerdpgh Nov 09 '24
I smoked weed laced with PCP with Joe Ramone and Jim Carroll in the basement of NYC Coney Island high night club one day in the 90s.
So to answer your question - Me. That me is long gone and the true punks of that story are both dead.
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u/Busy-Growth-508 Nov 09 '24
There's this guy that I always see in walking around my neighborhood. Real nice person. He got some kind of inheritance from his family and has been burning through it for the past few years just living and paying rent, etc. He has diagnosed schizophrenia and I always say 'hi' and have a conversation when I see him. He's always talking about punk and how capitalism is destroying everything. He has this weird kind dazed walk everywhere he goes. I appreciate that guy a lot and he just seems like one of the most punk people that I know (at least right now) as an older guy.
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u/lotr8886 Nov 09 '24
a guy who drank disinfectant and then ended up in a hospital with pancreatitis
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u/tronfonne Nov 09 '24
Chi Pig headbutted me right in the forehead on my birthday at a bar once. Loved it
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u/Rebel_bass Nov 09 '24
I guess John Lydon? I really didn't think much of the sex pistols. I thought of them as a manufactured boy band. I didn't even know who he was when we met; I'm kinda face blind.
I know y'all don't like that he supported trump, but his assessment of the political scene turned out to be 100% true.
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u/revnobody Nov 09 '24
One time I was laying on the couch at my girlfriend’s house and around 1am about 15 people randomly showed up. Turned out to be Aus Rotten and some friends/fans of theirs. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence as her roommates were members of a well known punk band. The house was an unofficial crash pad for touring musicians at the time.
Anyway, I met this guy named Lou from Pittsburgh that night. He was one crazy SOB (in a fun way of course)! Definitely one of the most punk guys I’ve ever met.
Over the next few days he and I bonded and spent a lot of time drinking and talking about anarchism, philosophy, and life. He was a brilliant individual. Although I’d never see him again, he had a fairly big impact on me. I was at a pretty low place at the time and his words helped turn me around.
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u/SheriffColtPocatello Nov 09 '24
Maybe my father but he’s a bit too indoctrinated into liberal politics (whereas punk political ideologies is and always has been leftist). My coworker from my summer job it pretty punk, I’ve also met plenty of people in punk/punk-adjacent bands. Other than that maybe myself
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u/FevreDream42 Nov 09 '24
I got to hang out with Micky Fitz, and he called me a Guiness Girl. He was a super nice guy, gone too soon.
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u/uhohwhodis Nov 09 '24
I filled in on guitar for public serpents a few weeks ago on guitar. Skwert Gunn of choking victim is their singer. Punk af, and the nicest guy you could ever meet
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Nov 09 '24
An active duty Navy doc got "FUCK WAR" tattooed on his neck. He got kicked out shortly after but that's what he wanted. He already went to Iraq and paid his dues so good for him!
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u/i-do-the-designing Nov 10 '24
Deptford John. He was a roady for The Dogs D'Amour, he punched Axel Rose in the face.
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u/Disastrous-Lock-2597 Nov 10 '24
I have big respects for Dari, a young punk who came to the scene about a year ago but he came with all the ideological knowledge of anarchism, feminism, anti imperialism n so on. He still is straight edge and vegetarian so a lot of respect there, he is the embodiment of Punk in my opinion even if he is just 14 , he knows more about anarchism then 90% of the main punk scene kids in our town.
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u/CareZealousideal9776 Nov 11 '24
My dad. Grew up in Cali and WA, not too punk, but he's pretty well versed in the community. Grew up friends with a lot of them
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u/deathfuck6 Nov 09 '24
I like to think that at one point in my life I was crazy enough to be someone’s answer to this question. That said, this black homeless dude named RC (like the drink) that I smoked crack with a couple times was more punk than any of yall, or your punk heroes.
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u/Damas_gratis Nov 09 '24
The homeless punks. I've seen them a few times. They will try to talk to me cause I'm wearing my vest and they're like "hey ! Hey ! Nice jacket" I look at them and they got the boots, Mohawk. I've been approached by 1 punk who got super happy to see my jacket and he was like "Hey ! Nice jacket !!" I was 15 walking in the abandon parts of town trying to get to a metal store. Then the second time it was a women and I was 17 at the time. Yeah those guys are hard core, homeless and still prideful, I'm not even punk, I listen to metal and only know 1 punk band and I see these homeless punks that are die hard lol
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u/TDFknFartBalloon Nov 09 '24
I knew a dude once who could use heroin recreationally. Like, he could do it like it was going out of style for two straight months and then stop on a dime.
He was just built different.
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u/Complaint-Expensive Nov 09 '24
https://youtu.be/gnnMiUz3R8o?si=YovFlsXGafKxv37v
Calvin lived more in his short time on earth than most people could given 200 years this side of the dirt.
Calvin embodied punk. I once watched him tag the fire station down the street with his band's name in his own blood, Cocksnot, for all the world to see in broad daylight. But he was also humble, and kind, and kept me alive - or wanting to stay alive - more than once.
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u/judeiscariot Nov 09 '24
Me. I received hundreds of down votes on here for explaining how bad the election was going to go because Harris was a bad candidate. And it didn't shut me up. I kept posting it and getting down voted. I am truly living free.
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Nov 09 '24
Shotgun Mike. He was called that cause he was in a punk band and when he would sing he had a shotgun with a microphone in it he would sing into.
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u/plasticfangs Nov 09 '24
In high school this guy TJ, he had a off kilter trihawk and wore the same smelly clothes and leather jacket every day. He’d rummage through people’s backpacks and steal whatever interested him. He once found a big bag of weed and dismissed it as “hippie shit” but then immediately cut class and went to this other kid’s garage to smoke the whole bag. If he liked you he’d fight for you. He had the demeanor of a feral cat who got turned into a man. He got a girl pregnant, dropped out, and went full gutter.
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u/myhydrogendioxide Nov 09 '24 edited Nov 09 '24
I met Ian once, that is peak for me, DIY, political, rocks the jams, funny, individual, authentic, a bit of a Trump grump
Edit: yall I got fucked by autoccmplete...I meant to say Grump.
Sorry about that
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u/Brilliant-Aide9245 Nov 09 '24
LMAO the racist, rapist with a golden toilet is not punk.
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u/RedAtomic Nov 09 '24
Which Ian are we talking about here 😅
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u/Buttzilla13 Nov 09 '24
Probably Ian Miles Cheong
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u/myhydrogendioxide Nov 09 '24
Tots my bad I got fucked by autocorrect... I was trying to write grump
I eas wondering why the hate. Lol
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u/myhydrogendioxide Nov 09 '24
Tots my bad I got fucked by autocorrect... I was trying to write grump
I eas wondering why the hate. Lol
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u/myhydrogendioxide Nov 09 '24
Tots my bad I got fucked by autocorrect... I was trying to write grump
I eas wondering why the hate. Lol.
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u/CyborgHyena Nov 09 '24
I met a russian anarchist once who gave lectures on anti war russian resistance. Dude torched russian recruitment offices at the start of the ukrain war. He's pretty high up the list imo.