Interview: Marla Watson, photographer and author of My Punk Rock Life

Marla Watson is a photographer and author of My Punk Rock Life, a impressive collection of photos taken on Los Angeles punk rock gigs during the eighties. I spoke with Marla about the book, photography, LA punk scene, and many more fun themes.

You can order My Punk Rock Life HERE

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TWA: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. How have you been?  

Marla: I am well.  Really having the time of my life with the book release!  

TWA: I am curious to hear how you became interested in punk rock music. 

Marla: I was born in the right place (Los Angeles) at the right time (1962) so punk had just really started as I was entering high school. I was a smart kid and back then smart kids were definitely not cool.  I was an angry, confused youth with a physically abusive father.  I didn’t fit in anywhere.  When a high school friend took me to my first punk show I was hooked.  I found kindred spirits in the punk scene.  I really loved the politics of punk.  I was just a teenager and didn’t know shit about the world.  Punk rock opened my world view.  

TWA: Do you remember what was the first gig you attended? Can you please explain to our readers how much punk rock shows/scene changed over the years?

Marla: My first show was X.  I am not sure where.  What a great introduction to punk rock!  This was probably around 1979/80.  I did not go to a ton of shows back then because I was just discovering punk and slowly but surely, I got more and more into it. Most of my friends were into 70’s rock but a few were into New Wave.  We all liked The Cars, Joe Jackson, B-52’s, Devo etc.  I was just dipping my toe into punk and the water was warm and refreshing.  The punk scene changed over the years as hardcore took over as the predominant music.  By the mid-80’s it was a sausage fest and there was a lot of violence.  We always had punk gangs but they were just getting more aggressive as more kids joined the scene.   That’s when it stopped being fun. 

I always love The Cramps and The Meteors and found myself more drawn into the psychobilly scene.  I was lucky enough to go to the Klub Foot a few times when I was in London.  At that time music was changing.  I saw King Kurt in Brixton and when I went home I told the Goldenvoice folks all about them and eventually they brought them to the US and they played a show at The Roxy with The Vandals.   In Camden I saw a fairly early show of The Jesus and Mary Chain (I already knew about them from the music papers) and even though they played for ten minutes I went right out and bought their record which I believe was a 7” with a variety of different colored picture sleeves.  I still have them.  At the time this was cutting edge.  When I came back from London I had fully given up on the hardcore scene.  I must have been around 23 at this time.  23, so damn young!

TWA: Many books/documentaries talk about how LA punk rock gigs were dangerous back then. What’s your impression about it? 

Marla: I am the eldest of four girls and a child of abuse so I could hold my own in a dangerous situation inside a club.  That being said, in the early days of the hardcore scene the danger was outside the club.  Punk shows were put on in some very sketchy neighborhoods.  By far the most dangerous thing outside a show was the cops.  They were brutal.

TWA: I assume it was even more dangerous outside the gigs since hardcore punk was a relatively new thing back then. Have you ever had trouble with jocks/normies because of your lifestyle?

Marla: To be honest, I refused to wear the punk uniform.  I really hate conformity and when everyone was wearing black leather jackets and bondage pants I was not.  I never looked particularly punk. I mean it is pretty punk to not look punk at a punk show, right?  I was 100% into the music and the scene and I loved every minute of it.  I did get called a poser a few times by some girls but I took care of them.  As for jocks they would show up in masse for a Dead Kennedys show.  They would get into the pit and beat up the kids.  They thought it was fun.  But we had some big punks who would go after them. Jello Biafra hated the jocks and would taunt them.  A lot of my friends who had mohawks and/or colored hair were harassed by jocks all the time.   People with  limited intellect really can’t accept anything that’s different.  

TWA: How did you decide to become a photographer? Do you remember what was the first gig you had a chance to shoot?

Marla: I was in college and copy editor on the school paper.  I met a boy named Mark who was also on the paper.  We hooked up and started our own fanzine called Skank Magazine. I happened to own a 35mm camera so I was the photo journalist.  We both interviewed bands, did reviews of shows etc.  The first and only issue we did had interviews with Jello Biafra and Klaus Fluoride, Jack Grisham from T.S.O.L., Jodie Foster’s Army (JFA) and Circle One.  The second issue was going to have an interview with Henry Rollins but Mark and I broke up before that could happen.  I do not remember the first gig I shot. I had taken a photojournalism class in college so it was right after that.  The teachers told us to never go anywhere without a camera and that’s what I did.

TWA: Have you ever had bad experiences shooting a gig?

Marla: As the hardcore scene wore on it got more and more violent.  Crowds would swarm the stage and I got hit a few times. I had the flash kicked off my camera a couple of times. This was especially true at the Olympic Auditorium. Many of the clubs on the Sunset Strip would not let me bring in my camera. The wonderful punk promotor Gary Tovar of Goldenvoice gave me a photo pass for all their shows.  

TWA: What were your favorite bands/artists to work with?

Marla: Hands down it was Channel 3. I love those guys! Minor Threat were also really cool with me, especially Jeff Nelson.  Because I had a photo on the lyric sheet of “Out of Step” Jeff would call my mom’s house (even after I moved out) to get my permission to use the photo on other forms of the recording such as cassettes.  Life was so simple in the 1980’s.

TWA: “My Punk Rock Life” is undoubtedly one of the best photo books I stumbled upon. What are the reactions from the crowd?

Marla: Thank you for saying that, whatever they are paying you I will double it, lol.  People seem to like the book.  I have a lot of great reviews and I have virtually/IRL met some awesome people.  Most people are so kind and take the time to reach out and tell me how much they like the book.  

TWA: Also, what are the reactions from musicians? Any positive feedback so far? 

Marla: Keith Morris from Circle Jerks liked it.  Jello Biafra sent me an email telling me how much he liked it.  I heard from Jeff Nelson and Ian Makaye of Minor Threat.  Ian even sent me a postcard and called my book “a triumph”. Of course, that postcard hangs on my wall.  Mike and Kimm from Channel 3 like it. Chett Lehrer from LA’s Waster Youth likes it and he was also a big inspiration for me. Fat Mike from NOFX really liked it and he’s not even in it, lol.  But he was at a couple of the shows as a young kid.  I have a few photos hanging in The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas and every once in a while online I will see someone posing with one of my photos.  This makes me so happy.

TWA: Are you satisfied with the book?

Marla: Yes I am.  This book was 100% D.I.Y.  I had to pay someone to print it but that’s because I don’t my own a press.  Otherwise I probably would have done that too.  I had no idea what I was doing when I started.  I just had to learn as I went.  I knew nothing about graphic design or book publishing which I think actually helped me.  I had no constrictions.  I just laid it out the way thought it looked good.  Later I learned about bleeds and margins and that stuff.

TWA: You flawlessly caught aggression, power, and intensity of hardcore punk shows with your camera. How difficult was it to capture musicians, stage divings, and people in the pit, considering that you worked with analog equipment?

Marla: I came into punk as a fan first.  I loved the music and the scene.  I had records or tapes of all my faves.  So shooting a band I was familiar with was not hard.  I knew all the songs and I would anticipate what was coming up. If a band member was a jumper (like Mike Ness of Social D), I knew he was going to be in the air several times during a show so I was ready for it.  We also all used a flash which made it easier to capture the action but you had to wait for the flash to recharge so you could only shoot one picture at a time.  I would be so excited to process my film, especially if I felt I captured some great shots.  It was also so disappointing when your film didn’t process correctly or it jammed in the camera.  Good thing now is technology is able to repair some of these shots.  

TWA: How much you’re involved in the scene right now? Do you still work as a photographer?

Marla: I moved to Portland, Oregon 31 years ago.   I still enjoy going to club shows.  I love to stand in front against the stage.  I do not use a professional camera anymore but I take some seriously bad ass iPhone photos.  We usually go to see touring bands I liked back in the day mixed with a smattering of new bands.  

TWA: Are any new projects on the way? Can we expect more photo books in the future?

Marla: I have a couple of ideas swimming around in my head.  

TWA: What would be your piece of advice to newbies interested in gig photography?

Marla:  Go to gigs especially in bars and at parties.   I know a lot of clubs in the USA do not allow a camera with a detachable lens but bar shows are where you see the up-and-comers. Just because a band isn’t famous doesn’t mean they are not worth shooting. Social Distortion, Bad Religion, The Vandals, The Descendents, Minor Threat, DOA, Black Flag, Circle Jerks were not famous when they started out.  They were playing small clubs with a handful of people showing up.  To photograph them now is a big deal, but back then you just walked on the stage and started taking pictures.  

TWA: Thank you for your time. Is there anything you would like to say to our readers at the end of this interview?

Marla: Are you still with us?  Lol.