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 Adam Ritchie and his band inside the DMZSteve Schmidt and Link Smith skating in DMZ parking lotSteve Schmidt, somewhere between the heights and downtownGrove Circle Punx - Andy Conrad, Utrillo, Bryan Spinas, Matthew Thompson, Jason White, Josh Bentley (92)
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Arkansas Times: Punk [and there's no need to be alarmed] Excerpts from Arkansas Times "Punk [and there's no need to be alarmed]" by Ashlie Atkinson (September 13, 1996):
Rett Peek's left eye is splotched with blood, the bright red almost obscuring his iris. But the 17 year old seems unfazed by his injury as he sits on the Kavanaugh benches, bumming cigarettes and chatting with his friends, Sam Murphy and Matt Werth. "Yeah, man, I don't know what happened to it," he says, rubbing his face with the ragged hem of his Black Flag T-Shirt. "I just woke up and it was like this." The chains and spikes adorning Peek's arms and neck reflect the light as he moves. "Have you been drunk and puked lately? Because you might have been straining and busted a blood vessel in your eye," someone suggests helpfully. Peek's visible eye lights up with childish joy. "YEAH!" he says in awe, turning to Sam. "Remember two nights ago?" he asks gleefully, and Sam nods in return. "Man, that's rad. I puked so hard I busted my eye! I gotta tell people!" And off he runs down Kavanaugh, chains jingling, as Sam and Matt start laughing. If Little Rockers have any idea that there is an active punk scene here, a lot of them probably picture 50 Rett Peeks running around doing damage to homes and offices ... and themselves. These unknowing people need a reality check. As do the mainstream masses who have never heard of punk rockers or skaters, never driven by Das Yutes A Go-Go or Riverfront's Belevedere and observed the activity at night. And those of you who think the punk music of Little Rock ends at the door of Vino's need to wake up and smell the body odor. Little Rock punks have been creating a world for themselves for 15 years, and they're doing just find without your help, thank you.  // For better or worse I felt the article written about the Little Rock scene was good, but I did notice that shows in Little Rock were being shut down more often. I was amazed that we were able to get away with having shows by the river for years with phony permits. Of course I could see how the article might have been spun to make the punk scene seem one way than what it was. But I suppose the good that came out of that is there are more venues in Little Rock than there was back in the day. // Thanks to this article hitting the stands, there was a massive city crackdown on free shows and on punks and weirdos in general. Ashlie Atkinson wrote the thing, and still claims to this day that she turned it in right before moving away to New York, at which point the editor spun the piece into the exploitative article that saw print. I dunno if I buy that. In any event, LR couldn't handle the idea that we were "stealing electricity" to put on free public shows at some deserted gazebo. Police shutdowns became very swift. Fake permits no longer worked. So new tactics were developed, as well as a few short-lived but very generous local businesses that let us have shows, like the Kumba Cafe.  Trouble submitting your story? E-mail towncraft@matsonfilms.com Matson Films reserves the right to edit all responses. Please be courteous to your community. |
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Arkansas Times
Das Yutes
