Guerin’s Punk-Rock Time-Machine

If you’ve never been to a punk rock concert, you’re missing out on a hell of a time. What other musical experience offers you a chance to elbow a stranger in the nose, spill beer all over your date, blow out your eardrums, and even get vomited on by the lead singer—all in the same night?! That’s the spirit of punk rock music, and one man, Guerin Myall, has been there since the beginning; as a fan, lead singer, and documentarian. 

The sturdy 56-year-old Santa Cruz local lives, eats, and breathes punk rock and is sure to die by it. Hell, I’ll bet he’ll be flying the punk flag even when he’s six feet under. I can imagine it now–dozens of mourners with fading tattoos forming a pit around his grave, slam-dancing to Black Flag with misty eyes, stopping only briefly to pour Pabst Blue Ribbon on his casket– while Myall looks on from the Great Beyond with utmost satisfaction.

Over the past forty-plus years, Myall has been participating in and documenting the punk-rock-scene relentlessly, his status as an insider allowing him to capture the inherent chaos and rawness of the rebellious musical genre with unparalleled intimacy. His images bring you up-close-and-personal with these charismatic musicians, so vividly that you can almost smell the blood and feel the knuckles connecting with the back of your skull.

These days, Myall’s mellowed out a bit, finding success as a videographer, screen-printer, magazine-maker, and father of two, but he’s still active in the punk rock scene— traveling across the country to catch and film shows, supporting the new wave of young local punkers, and most recently, reuniting with his former Stench bandmates for another go at playing some live shows. 

He’s holding on to so much golden documentation of his time in the center of the punk-rock maelstrom that I thought it would be fun to have him pick out a selection of some of his favorite moments behind the lens and give a bit of the backstory on how the images came into being. Enjoy!

This Good Riddance photo was taken in 1997 at Palookaville in Santa Cruz, California. I just remember the crowds back in these days being so involved in the singing, and just the overall motion you felt from that second wave of Punk Rock. I shot a lot of Good Riddance photos and videos with a crew of guys. They are one of the bands I’ve shot the most of—not just because they’re from Santa Cruz but since they are one of my favorite bands of all time. They definitely brought the sound of the 80’s into the 90’s, and they’re still going strong in the 2020s! This photo was most likely taken with a Canon EOS 3 35mm film Camera.

Pennywise at the Catalyst, in 2007. I have hundreds and hundreds of shots, as well as video, of Pennywise from around the world, but the emotion and the slow shutter-speed make this one of my favorite shots. It’s just complete action—if I was to turn the camera around there would be a pit of hundreds of people going apeshit behind me. So much fun! Pennywise was one of those bands that exploded in popularity back in the early 90’s, even though they started playing in the late 80’s. They never disappoint! Taken on my Canon 7D.

This is Greg Hetson of The Circle Jerks. Greg was also the guitarist for Bad Religion for decades. I’ve always loved shooting Greg because he is a wild man on stage, always jumping around. He brings the raw emotion of punk rock into his live performance . If anyone needs any reference, watch The Decline of Western Civilization from 1980. This photo was taken at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz in 2007. Camera used was the Canon 7D.

RKL, which stands for Rich Kids on LSD. RKL was one of my top bands that I absolutely loved. As a singer myself, I can appreciate Jason Sear’s (RIP). He had such a whiny, screaming voice that I absolutely loved. This was taken at the Mediterranean bar in Aptos in around 2002. Obviously, this was a long exposure to get that streaking, double-superimposed shot. You have to look at this photo clearly for a while to realize all the cool things going on in it. It’s kind of a crazy shot! This was shot on the Canon 1D, the first professional digital camera that Canon came out with.

Youth of Today. One of my favorite straight-edge bands of all time. The energy this band brought was undeniably insane, even though there were no drugs or booze involved in their act. Ray, the singer of the band had this loud, screeching voice that you could barely understand with lot’s of heavy growling—apparently I’m drawn to more whiny, growling-type vocalists. This photo was shot at Punk Rock Bowling in 2021. The camera of choice was the Canon 1DX Mark II.

Brandon Cruz of DR.KNOW takes Punk Rock seriously!

Bad Religion. Just a cool black-and-white photo with heavenly light shining down!

The Descendants. Here’s a nice, wide-shot of the band, as opposed to an extreme, close-up shot. Also one of my all time favorite bands.

Gang Green, also known as the drunkest punk rock band in the world. Half the time when they’re out on tour they have to quit because they’re so wasted. This is Chris Doherty, the front man.

This is Joe Strummer of the Clash. This is just an iconic shot I took in Bologna, Italy. I had video footage of all this and someone stole my cameras off the stage during the filming. This was shot five days before I got married in September of 1999.