HOLLYWOOD
BRENDAN MULLEN
Recent photo of Brendan at the still preserved Masque totally posing with Flipside #3.
An appreciation by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers:
A comment by X-8:"When we were little baby brats and starting Flipside, we used to take the bus from Whittier on Saturday afternoons drinking NyQuil and go to the Masque to hang out and talk and sometimes interview the bands who rehearsed there. Brendan was kind of the father of the whole place making sure we didn't get out of hand, but we always did somehow.
At night when the Masque was in full throttle mode, we would ask for sips of other people's beers and would sometimes pass out before the headliner began. There are pictures of me (probably in someone's attic) passed out sitting on the toilet with Darby Crash and others taking turns posing with me.
Once I was hanging out at the Masque one afternoon with Robert Lopez (El Vez) of the Zeros and we found a hidden compartment in the huge space that contained Government Issued Crackers. The place was designated as a bomb shelter apparently. And yes, we ate them.
We used to visit him at his home and he didn't have punk on his turntable, but Kool and The Gang and James Brown. Oh the joy of hearing "Hollywood Swinging" as I was spinning on Thunderbird and malt liquor.
Brendan provided a place for all of us to converge and communicate with each other. Little did we know it would have an impact on the music world. We didn't care at the time.
He used to spin records at Small's around 1992, which at the time was walkable distance from where I lived. I introduced him to out of town bands like White Zombie.
He told Billboard magazine one time that the Nike phrase "Just Do It" came from Flipside.
Later, I would see Brendan from time to time hanging out at goth club Bar Sinister and he would tell me he was always a closet goth. hahaha.
A good spirit. He'll be missed greatly.
X-8, co-founder, Flipside fanzineLexicon Devil. Book by Brendan Mullen. X-8 starts the book on page 1.
PARIS
X-8 INTERVIEW BY INDRA SINHA
LOS ANGELES
SWING HOUSE STUDIOS
9 large works hang at Swing House Studios in the main hallway and throughout the studio.
Swing House clients include: 30 Seconds To Mars. AFI, The Ataris. Aimee Mann. Fiona Apple. Band Of Horses. Bad Religion. Bauhaus. Blink 182. The Breeders, Buzzcocks. John Cale. Circle Jerks. Ry Cooder. Chris Cornell. Danzig. Eels. Green Day. Iggy Pop. Jane's Addiction. Jet. Steve Jones. Keane. Linkin Park. Courtney Love. Love And Rockets. Marilyn Manson. Mars Volta. Moby. My Bloody Valentine. New No 2. New York Dolls. Nine Inch Nails. Ozzy Osbourne. Queens Of The Stone Age. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Santigold. She Wants Revenge. Stone Temple Pilots. Tom Petty. Weezer. Wolfmother. Ron Wood. Yeah Yeah Yeahs.------------------------
PREVIOUS EXHIBIT:
X-8, Swing House, Los Angeles. Photo: Adam Wolf. [click for larger image]
Swing House, Los Angeles. Photo: kaRIN. [click for larger image]
2008-2009 EXHIBIT:
+ Little glimpse in video piece (Eyewitness News, Los Angeles, ABC TV, September 2008)
+ A small glimpse of the blood from the painting "Ancient Rituals" appears on MTV's The Hills. Filmed at Swing House, the scene starts at 6:45 into the show. (MTV, May 2009)
(L-R) Bernard Yin of Astra Heights. Phil Jaurigui, President and CEO of Swing House Studios. Sylvain Sylvain of The New York Dolls and Frank Infante of Blondie. Photo: Annicke Eve, December 2008.
OPENING PARTY (EVENT POSTER 2008)
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM YELP MAGAZINE:
"Swing House recording studios in Hollywood, California has seen some of the most influential bands of our time walk the halls of their music complex over the years. But this past weekend, on Saturday, July 26, 2008, it was the place to see and be seen.""The artwork and photographs adorning all areas of the studio were a pleasure to look at and the topic of many conversations with fellow party-goers."
"The cavernous feeling when you enter the studio made me want to hang out in the hallway with the artwork on the walls."
"The art in the main walkway inside was great. The lighting was chill and the beats Chris was spinning in the early parts of the evening were perfect."
"I am a glutton for beauty and art and was pleased with the red paint and colorful art pieces that decked the halls and walls on the inside of the venue."
Thanks to Django James for the last minute performance as well.
LOS ANGELES
COLLIDE
kaRIN. Photo by Dan Santoni.
"The other night I went to good friend and underground artist X-8, which is my favorite place to get a creative re-charge. Spent the night drinking Tequila straight, talking about art, watching music documentaries and taking pictures. Need your own creative re-charge...then take a visit to his site."- kaRIN, Collide blog.
Close-up panel from Quilt by X-8. Photo by kaRIN.
WORLDWIDE
GERMS: WHAT WE DO IS SECRET
DVD AVAILABLE NOW
Movie about the rise of Los Angeles punk pioneers The Germs and the short life of its singer Darby Crash.
"I went to a screening for the film last week with Lorna Doom, Don Bolles, Hellin Killer and the cast of the film. The movie captures the youth, wild abandon and debauchery of those fun lawless days.Flipside was one of the first magazines to interview the Germs. We did the interview in Pat Smear's family garage in West Los Angeles. In the living room, Al and I drank beer and rifled through the family's mail to find Pat's real name while the band 'prepared' for us.
Prior to the interview, singer Bobby Pyn announced that he had changed his name to Darby Crash and wanted that to be mentioned. We thought he was joking and so we noted both names in the intro. Later, they played "Lexicon Devil" for us. They said we were the first people to hear it. They had just written it and the song was a departure from their sloppy and drunken sound. The rest is history."- X-8, July 20, 2008
+ Germs interview. by Al and X-8. Flipside #2, 1977. [with embedded live concert audio]
Official trailer
www.X-8.com