The other day, someone asked me how we have persuaded so many legends of L.A. punk to play our humble little Save Music in Chinatown benefits: Chuck Dukowski Sextet, Mike Watt & The Missingmen, The Gears, Adolescents, Channel Three, FourEyedFour with members of the Flyboys, The Crowd, Ford Madox Ford with Chip from the Dils, Rikk Agnew Band… I still can’t believe my nine-year-old daughter gets to see bands like that.
In this case of our upcoming show on May 7, how did we get the original Dangerhouse punk band the Alley Cats to volunteer their time? Well, I’ve attended all of their shows at Cafe NELA over the last year like a groupie, had mutual friend Laurie Steelink introduce me to surviving/lifer member Randy Stodola while buying a T-shirt at a solo show in San Pedro, shared zines and flyers at other shows, and invited them to previous Save Music in Chinatown gigs. But it probably didn’t hurt when Tony Adolescent re-introduced me to Randy online, saying that The Alley Cats would be a perfect fit for one of our shows. I agreed.
So there you have it: Shameless, endless groveling and friends with big hearts.
Here’s a short Q&A with Randy, April Cady, and Matt Laskey to get you excited about the twelfth Save Music in Chinatown show (with Tabitha, Schizophonics, and My Revenge featuring Hector from The Zeros, as well as a reading by Alice Bag), going over The Alley Cats’ history in Chinatown and L.A. punk as well as its current lineup and new music…
MW: Got any thoughts about coming back to play in Chinatown, right across the plaza from the old Hong Kong Cafe and Madame Wong’s?
RS: Kinda funny but we did our first show at Madame Wong’s with The Zeros and our first show at the Hong Kong with The Bags… I’m excited for Matt and Apryl to be able to play there. It’s a cool part of town and it’ll be a new experience for them. I think it will be fun.
MW: Was the Alley Cats’ first show really with The Zeros in Chinatown?
RS: No, it wasn’t the Alley Cats’ first show. It was the first punk show in Chinatown. We played the first punk show at Madame Wong’s and later the first punk show at the Hong Kong. Actually, we were the first punk band to play a lotta places.
MW: You also played the infamous Elk’s Club Riot show with The Zeros. Was it as intense as people say?
RS: Yes. As the band before us was finishing, Dianne and I were sitting on the wide stairway that was packed with people and lead from the lobby up to the theater. Suddenly, a phalanx of police in full riot squad gear lined up in the lobby and, on signal without warning or provocation, suddenly charged up the stairway slamming people with batons and heavy flashlights. Dianne and I started running up the stairs as soon as we saw the police show up, so we were able to escape ahead of the onslaught, unharmed. But some people had broken bones and many were bloody.
I have never seen a group of peaceful people who weren’t protesting or doing anything at all suddenly be attacked in that way, without even a hint of warning. And since they did not warn the promoter or anybody else that they were closing down the show, the security thought that all these people suddenly running up the stairs were trying to crash the show and tried to hold them back. So people were trying to escape being attacked by cops on one side and were being stopped the hired security on the other.
The cops’ excuse was a claim that an drug undercover agent at the show had been verbally threatened by someone. I guess they needed an army of police to beat and attack everybody who happened to be there to rescue him, but the kids (there were something like a thousand people at the show) quickly reassembled in MacArthur Park and started throwing bottles and rocks at the cops (who, according to the media, eventually numbered 500) who were chasing them around. Helicopters flying overhead, cop car windows breaking, people yelling and screaming, loud bullhorn announcements over and over declaring that everyone had to leave the park or be arrested—it went on for hours.
MW: I love that you have not only regrouped the Alley Cats, but have such great chemistry and play often. Can you tell me how long this combo has been playing together?
RS: We have been playing together a little less then three years, I think. Both Matt and Apryl are wonderful talented people, and I am blessed to know and play music with them.
MW: Matt and Apryl, what’s the best thing about being an Alley Cat?
ML: Best thing is playing in a band I absolutely love; it’s all I ever wanted to do.
AC: I guess my favorite part of joining the Alley Cats would be playing music with good friends that come with meeting Randy and Matt, and all of the other people we play with and all of the adventures we have been through. There have been many adventures.
MW: Is it true that you are both transplants from the same hometown in Pedro?
AC: That is not entirely accurate. Randy and I both lived in Fargo for a part of our lives. Neither of us were born there, but it is a pretty cool coincidence.
MW: It seems to me like you sing in your own, cool style. Do you get some direction from Randy or do you just go for it?
AC: Alley Cats style singing is not very natural for me but I just try to go for it.
MW: Matt, do you try to stay true to the recordings or do you just go for it?
ML: I try to stick to the recordings, I love the songs, so why try and change anything? They’re awesome how they are.
MW: There are so many Alley Cats and Zarkons songs to choose from, and I love the sets you’ve been playing. How did the Avengers cover get in there?
RS: Always liked “We Are the One,” and it seemed appropriate to come after “House of Cards,” which is a new song. Actually 40-50 percent of our set are songs that were never recorded by the Alley Cats.
MW: Does that mean you have new songs ready to record?
RS: Yes…
MW: Our show is raising funds for music education at the elementary school in Chinatown. Can you share how you started to play an instrument and what it’s meant to you?
AC: Music is the most inspirational part of my life. I played in the high school marching band and I enjoyed that. I started playing guitar and bass when I was in high school, too, and it has always been something for me to relieve anxiet. I wish I could do it all the time. I love seeing young people getting excited about music and am looking forward to our show to raise funds for music education in Chinatown.
RS: When I was about 5, my sisters who were 7 and 9 years older then me, both got guitars and a book with first-position chords. But they never played them, so I borrowed them and learned the chords from the book. Not having any songs to play, I wrote my own. No record player, no song books, no one else to play music with or teach me—I didn’t have much choice isolated out in the country in North Dakota and then Upper Michigan. But I think that maybe that made it funner for me, just playing for myself many hours a day, alone just for fun. And it is still fun. It’s hard to quantify what it has meant to me, but I was lucky to have an instrument available to play at such a young age. Can’t play music unless you got something to play it on.
Follow the band at facebook.com/AlleyCatsSOB and get tickets for Save Music in Chinatown 12 at eventbrite.com.
