Oh wow, where do I start...
I've been listening to punk since a very early age. It's a massive part of the lifestyle around here: I live in a very close-knit Pit village (coal mining) in the midlands and punk music is a huge part of our history, mostly thanks to the Thatcher years and the reaction that came with them, so I'd been listening to Punk music before I even knew what it was.
I guess I got started on the typical stuff: Clash, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Sham 69 and Madness, after being exposed to it all through my parents LP collection and god knows how many awful Welfare discos and family parties. As I got old enough to appreciate music properly in my early teens, I branched out and discovered tons of English bands such as Crass, Toy Dolls, Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer and a lot of American bands that I'll list later. Towards the end of secondary school I was in two Punk bands and played a lot of gigs around the area. I got a job at my local venue working in the studio and behind the sound desk and from there I really got into the underground scene. From all this I got to meet a lot of really old school legends such as UK Subs, The Exploited, Riot Squad. The pub/gig scene is pretty much dead around here now, with all but 1 of the major venues in my local area shutting down in the past 2 years, so there's not much left, but looking back at my teenage years, I can't think of a better way to have spent it.
One of my most life changing experiences came from Punk music. I became good friends with a Punk from Soho called Alex who was in a band called The Flying Medallions. They toured non-stop in the mid 90's and were on their way to getting big. While they were touring Europe supporting Bad Religion, their mini van crashed. Their bassist was killed and another band member left with permanent brain damage. Alex was lucky to leave the wreckage alive and the incident changed his life. He's been sober and clean since (coming up to 16 years now, 10 years when i met him) and is still playing in his new band Wonk Unit. If you're from around the LA area you might be able to see them, they go over there every few months to play a couple of venues. So yeah, I've met a few people thanks to Punk music who have taught me a lot about life.
I love a lot of good Punk and ska bands, and I'm not picky about what's punk and what's pop-punk or whatever. Music is music.
Other bands I love (I'm just gonna run down my playlist):
Afi, Alkaline Trio, Anti-Flag, Atom and His Package, Authority Zero, Bad Brains, Bad Manners, Bad Religion, Black Flag, the Bouncing Souls, The Briggs, The Casualties, Dead Kennedys, The Descendants, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Fugazi, GBH, Goldfinger, Good Charlotte, Gorilla Biscuits, Green Day, The Hives, Jamie T, The King Blues, Lagwagon, Left Alone, Leftover Crack, Less Than Jake, The Living End, Mad Capsule Markets, Mad Caddies, The Matches, Mest, Minor Threat, No Use For A Name, NoFX, Operation Ivy, Propagandhi, Rancid, Reel Big Fish, Refused, Rise Against, Stiff Little Fingers, The Stooges, Strike Anywhere, Sublime, Suicidal Tendencies, The Suicide Machines, Swingin' Udders, TSOL, Tsunami Bomb, The Unseen, Wonk unit, Zebrahead
I fucking love Punk music.
