The Atlantic celebrates book on Gainesville’s punk past

On Saturday, The Atlantic will host a book release party for “Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands & Music,” a book by Matt Walker, a Gainesville resident and communications specialist with UF Human Resource Services. The show will feature reunion sets by local punk legends Strikeforce Diablo, I Hate Myself and Army of Ponch. This event will also serve as an LP release show for Deadaires, a band based out of St. Augustine, Florida, with strong ties to Gainesville through its members, who have played in bands like Against Me! and Palatka.

Gainesville has bred several popular punk acts throughout the last 20 years. Bands like Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake and Against Me! all got their start in this town on the Gainesville-based independent record label No Idea Records.

With the popularity of these bands, as well as the growing hype surrounding Gainesville’s annual music festival, The Fest, there is a national, and even international, interest in the music scene of this small Florida town. The Fest celebrated its 15th anniversary in October.

“I’ve been interested in Gainesville’s punk scene for a long time,” Walker, 37, said. “Even before I moved here in 2006, I had been a fan of No Idea Records since the late ’90s.”

Walker came to Gainesville 10 years ago to attend graduate school at UF. While living here, he started an online blog called Lead Us Down about the Gainesville music scene before being approached by History Press, a publishing house based in the U.K., to write a book about Gainesville’s music scene. His book was released Nov. 7.

“The Lead Us Down blog was actually my final project for my master’s degree,” Walker said. “After I had been running the blog for a couple of years, the guys from History Press came across my blog and asked me if I could write a whole book on the history of Gainesville punk.”

His book follows the history of several classic Gainesville bands. Notable mentions include Roach Motel and Spoke. In “Gainesville Punk,” Walker interviews members from a lot of big acts that got their start in Gainesville.

“I got to interview some people from Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake and Against Me!” Walker said. “But I also got to talk to a lot of bands who are smaller and currently living in Gainesville. The primary source material for the book was talking directly to musicians.”

Walker also uses the book to consider Gainesville’s most notable venues for live music. From Hardback Cafe and High Dive, formerly known as Common Grounds, to impromptu concerts in living rooms around town, there is a strong, tight-knit musical community that thrives in Gainesville, Walker said.

“I saw Against Me! at a house show right after they released ‘New Wave,’” Walker said. “They were signed to a major label, but they played at this tiny house show in Gainesville. It was packed wall-to-wall. The windows were covered in condensation because it was so hot in there.”

Many Gainesville residents aren’t aware of the thriving punk culture that has been developing here for the last 30 years. Those who are in-the-know, however, appreciate the nurturing music scene and rich history of the town.

“We are pretty fortunate to have such a dynamic range of bands popping up all the time in such a small town,” Tom Rankine, the promoter for The Atlantic, said. “There is a tight community within the scene unlike a lot of places.”

The release show will start at about 6 p.m. with a $10 cover charge at the door. However, if you get to The Atlantic between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., there will be no cover.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 on The Atlantic’s website, and Walker’s book will be available for purchase at the release show, as well as at Arrow’s Aim Records, located at 10 N. Main St., and Hear Again Records, located at 201 SE Second Ave., before then.