Maximum Rock and Roll interview continued...
Actually what struck me most about the whole story was your comment about people bad mouthing 924 Gilman Street. I think it is such a shame that we have such a great venue which can really be taken advantage of in a positive way and people continually bad mouth the place. I mean where else in the country is there a volunteer run co-op venue which caters to punk rock? The fact that there are rules against drinking outside the club and against racist or homophobic behavior are the smallest standard by which such a place can remain a bastion of the scene. If people in the bay would have a look around anywhere else in the country they would feel honored to be so lucky. Really if people aren't satisfied with the place all they have to do is get off their asses and go to 2 meetings in order to raise new ideas and vote as a member. That being said, what is your involvement with the club?
My involvement with Gilman is simple: I'm the house photographer, and nothing else is asked. It's the best non-paying job in the world. From time to time I try to go to meetings. The last couple of times I literally fell asleep in the middle. I'm a lone wolf(ley). Committees and co-ops are not my style. Some time back I tried to get them to change that single exit door by the stage to a double outswing exit for safety reasons; I got nowhere. Everything happens so slowly there. But part of the point of the place is having young people have the experience of running such a place. Someone older might run it more efficiently, but then it wouldn't be Gilman. I want to add that the general feeling among the staff is right now the best it has ever been (and they will even come close to breaking even this year). Back in the 90's there was a lot of competition to be top dog, it seemed to me; I hardly dared to go in the staff room. But the selflessness and hard work of the people there now, young and old, is amazing.
Any closing comments? How can people check out your work and contact you?
Closing comments. I want to thank everyone who has put up with me over the years. Growing up in those tiny Illinois towns I always felt like a misfit because of my intellectuality, and for social life I may as well have been in Siberia compared to what Gilman represents. So I constantly have a vicarious second, better youth through the scene. I never felt totally like I belonged in the academic world either. So to the extent the punk scene is an artistic movement, I feel more at home here than anywhere I've been. I'm straightedge now, and the drugs and booze in the scene sometimes leaves me conflicted; but everyone has to struggle with their demons in their own way.
Again, thanks.