X: “We’re Desperate”

A lot happened between ’73 and ’78. I had a brief foray into bad prog rock and then I came out at the other side of that listening to new wave. Then I went to go see Devo play, and X opened, and I was like: That’s what I want to hear. X really does symbolize a shift for me into L.A. punk rock and immersing myself in that scene. I started out with X, and then I graduated to the Germs, and then Black Flag. Those three bands are the holy trinity of L.A. punk rock to me.

So I’m listening to those bands and then I see Bill [Stevenson], the drummer of the Descendents, who was in my geometry class, selling this little single he’s done. He’s like, “You want to buy a copy?” That was the Descendents’ first single, “Ride the Wild/It’s a Hectic World.” I was instantly smitten. After listening to it for a while I got up the courage to ask him, “Hey, can I watch you guys practice?” They would play the song but they wouldn’t necessarily sing it. I said, “Well, that mic is set up for some reason, and I know how to sing the song from your record, so I’m going to sing it,” and they’re like, “Go for it, dude.” So I sang “Ride the Wild.” It was not this mind blowing thing to either them or me, but they thought I had a lot of energy, and shortly after that they let me in the band. It was a good outlet for some of the spastic, frustrated energy that I had coursing through my veins as a 17-year-old kid. So I went from being obsessed with L.A. punk rock to being a part of it.