May 03, 2016 Under The Big Black Sun at the LA Public Library
In a culture where hardly anyone reads books, what is the role of a public library? Pretty much the same as when everyone used to carry books around: It’s a place where people gather and ideas are shared. Ideally, such a culture might even instill a sense of civic pride.
That’s what happened on Sunday, when John Doe and Exene from the band X joined a conversation with writer David Ulin to celebrate the release of a brand-new collection of essays about the early L.A. punk scene called Under The Big Black Sun. Written and edited by Doe and Tom DeSavia with chapters by Exene as well as the likes of Charlotte Caffey (Go-Go’s), Chris D. (Divine Horsemen), Dave Alvin (Blasters), Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Jack Grisham (TSOL), Jane Wiedlin (Go-Go’s), Mike Watt (Minutemen), and others, of course the event’s tickets ran out as soon as they went online.
While the stories about much-loved-and-overlooked bands like the Screamers and Weirdos and unsavory-but-missed venues like the Masque and Starwood were amazing–as were anecdotes and insight into X–I thought it was extra cool that John Doe and Exene talked about books. Coming from Maryland and Florida, they were very aware of Chandler and Bukowski and the Beats. And then they worked at places like Brentano’s and Beyond Baroque, and John Doe even talked about going to the Central Library and checking out books that Hank himself might have read.
So how cool is it that musicians would be bringing people into the library by making a book? That they played a few X songs? That many of the contributors attended the talk and stuck around to sign the book afterward? (The signing line was off-limits to photography for efficiency purposes but Tom snuck me a photo with him and John Doe!)
The program was part of a series called Made in L.A., which is taking place at various branches of the Los Angeles Public Library through June 30. It’s a diverse and inspiring lineup–as evidenced by the unlikely championing of a brilliant and underappreciated music scene that is obscure to the general public even in its hometown–and on weekends there’s $1 parking for library card holders at the Los Angeles Central.
I am fortunate to live around the corner from our local branch and pay visits to check out books and DVDs on a weekly basis. It looks like I’ll be visiting other branches in other neighborhoods, though, and it turns out libraries don’t give us an excuse to sit on our couches as much as they widen our worlds.
Check out Under the Big Black Sun‘s Facebook page as well as lapl.org for future Made in L.A. events. And follow Imprint on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, too!