My Punk Rock Life Hardcover Edition - The Photography of Marla Watson Book

My negatives were safely stored in my attic until I had more time during the Covid years to scan them and write a book.” Marla’s book foregrounds the fans’ point of view. She reaches out to friends and strangers to write short texts about what it felt like to be a punk back then, including personal stories and experiences. The feedback so far from people like Ian MacKaye, Jello Biafra, Keith Morris, Mike Burkett, Jeff Nelson and others, many of whom are featured in the book, has been overwhelmingly positive. “A crucial document of the early days of US hardcore!” “A great archive of the era. The bands, the people, the venues… it’s all so well documented.” “Marla paints an excellent picture of the SoCal punk scene in the 80s with her photos and anecdotes.” Marla started photographing at punk shows in Los Angeles in the early 80s, just as the US punk hardcore scene was emerging. This was her salvation. She got a press pass and stood by the stage with her camera at all these great shows. She has compiled the photos of this unique experience in this 254-page book. Featuring over 300 high-quality and rarely seen images from the early days of the hardcore punk scene with groundbreaking acts such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, The Dead Kennedys, The Misfits, The Damned, Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, The Vandals, Channel 3, The Adicts, Stiff Little Fingers, Shattered Faith, Fear, White Flag, Youth Brigade, Social Distortion, The Angry Samoans, Battalion of Saints, Redd Kross, 7 Seconds, Suicidal Tendencies, Descendents, Bad Brains, Discharge, UK Subs, The Clash, The Varukers, The English Dogs, T.S.O.L, The Lewd, Subhumans, Red Scare, Ill Repute, The Pandoras, The Blades, The Bangs, The Toy Dolls, Sin 34, GBH, The Dickies, DOA, and the list goes on! These photos lay untouched in a box for forty years. Now Marla shares her photographs with the world in her first book: “My Punk Rock Life.” About the Author/Photographer: Marla Watson was born at the right time in the right place. Her birth in late 1962 gave way to her coming of age in the late 70s when she discovered punk rock when a high school friend took her to an X concert. She immediately felt accepted in the L.A. punk scene and gained a self-confidence she had never felt before. In the early 80s, Marla studied journalism in college when she met a punk from the school newspaper and the two decided to start a fanzine. Marla owned a camera and became the photographer. The couple produced one issue of Skank Magazine before breaking up, but Marla continued to go to concerts and take photos. In the mid-80s, the hardcore scene in L.A. became increasingly dangerous, and in 1985, Marla, fed up with injuries and broken cameras, stopped photographing punk and turned to other music genres and new interests. She continued to write and photograph for various local magazines. Marla’s photos have been used on LPs by Minor Threat and Channel 3. Most of Marla’s work remained unseen until this book, “My Punk Rock Life.” Marla left Los Angeles in 1991 and moved sight unseen to Portland, Oregon, where she met her extravagant husband Walt and settled down to raise their daughter Hailey. Now the children are grown, and they have two spoiled German Shepherds named Iggy Pup and Strummer Jo. “My Punk Rock Life” was created during the Covid lockdown when Marla finally had time to complete this project. Marla’s photographs are featured in the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, as well as in the recently released T.S.O.L. documentary “Ignore Heroes” and the upcoming documentary about the Orange County punk scene “Where The County Line Ends.” She will also be featured in a documentary about the horror-rock band Haunted Garage, as well as a documentary about punk and gangs in L.A., which is currently in production. She will also show photos from the memoirs of Leonard Graves Phillips of The Dickies.