We recently connected with Brenda Perlin and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brenda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Publishing punk anthologies are my most meaningful project. Several years ago I put out a memoir (Burnt Promises AKA Home Wrecker) without much fanfare but I learned a lot through the process and later went back to my punk roots and started writing the stories that were in my head from over forty years! From that I have been able to reconnect with friends from the early eighties and align myself with new folks that share the love of music and a passion for that old scene. Putting out these books, including these people has been so rewarding. Had I not pursued this passion-project, life would not be as fun or rewarding. I meet new people all the time online and at shows. I also share my love for the scene on Instagram at @losangelespunkrocker

Brenda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Through my Indie book publishing experience, I met many great supporters and learned from some of my mistakes, which were many. One thing I will never regret is writing about my days in the early eighties in the LA Punk scene. I wasn’t famous or in a band, but this scene belonged to all of us who were there, and those were some amazing days. My author pal Mark Barry convinced me to go back, so there I went.
LA Punk Rocker was my first punk anthology. A new/old world opened up for me. Online, I was able to get in touch with many people I hadn’t talked to in a zillion years. I guess it’s true. Once a punk, always a punk!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to express myself, share many viewpoints with the hopes that others will do the same. Society has always been judgmental and oppressive so I would like to see more people do what makes them feel most alive and satisfied because life ends and there’s no reason not to have your voice heard. It’s still DIY! Do it yourself and do it with soul and passion. We are an inclusive community. Or at least we strive to be that!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Excerpt from #LAPunkRocker by Me. @losangelespunkrocker

“My girlfriends and I took chances, but we were silly and young. That is not always such a good mix. We had no idea that bad things, I mean very bad things, could ever happen to us. We were making a habit of putting ourselves in harm’s way every chance we had. We were fearless and naïve.
What wasn’t very “cool” was seeing some of my closest pals get hooked on crack or finding out my friend was raped. That was when reality set in. But again, we were young and any tragedies we witnessed didn’t seem real.
The rape happened during a weekend getaway while we were all in San Francisco. It must have been 1981. I had turned seventeen and talked my mom into letting me stay at a friend’s for the weekend. My parents didn’t approve of sleepovers, but for some reason my mom permitted me to go.

It wasn’t until after we returned home that we heard friends had been raped that weekend. They met up with us at the show, but had driven in their own car. We had only seen them one day out of the weekend and connected in Berkeley for the event. There were so many bands and so many people, but amazingly enough, we were able to find each other. When we did meet, it was all fun and games. No one would have ever guessed these girls had been through the worst nightmare of their lives.

I would never learn exactly what took place that day with the girls, but what I heard was chilling and made the hair on my arms stand up. While they were getting ready for the concert, some men knocked on the door to their hotel room. Without hesitation, one of the girls opened it. From that point on, it was hell on earth. The men knew exactly what they were doing. They must have seen them go into their room.
The two men who entered the dingy hotel room took turns raping them repeatedly for hours; they were treated worse than pieces of meat. All they could do was take the abuse until the men finally ran out of juice and left on their own.
No one even called the police. The men were never caught for those despicable acts of violence…”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/losangelespunkrocker?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LAPunkRocker

Image Credits

Artwork by Doc Ivan @docivansfn for Book Soup. Brenda Perlin with Linda Ramone