What's not to love about driving across North American highways in a well-used van, drinking copious amounts of beer, blaring Hall & Oates and passing a well-used copy of Catcher In the Rye amongst sweating, stinking punk rock brethren? The answer is contained in Mike Magrann's Miles Per Gallon book. It is a delectable tale of punk pock pioneer camaraderie: carving paths for future generations and establishing new routes whether playing to hundreds or a handful. It is a well-written lore that establishes Magrann as a top-seeded punk rock laureate. I had the opportunity to chat with Mike about his travels with his well-established and loved band Channel 3 and their merry prankster adventures (minus the hippies)!
Scene Point Blank: Hey, Mike nice to meet you!
Mike Magrann: Yes, nice to meet you. Where are you calling from?
Scene Point Blank: I am calling from Canada. I am a couple of hours outside of Toronto.
I know Channel 3 played Toronto, but I never saw you for some reason. My friend saw the gig, though, and said it was one of the most violent gigs he ever attended because of the skinheads descending on the show.
Mike Magrann: Haha. We were not violent but we attracted some strange crowds at times. So how old are you?
Scene Point Blank: I am 57 and, like you, I have some Irish in me.
Mike Magrann: Oh, so you were around for some of the good stuff. Yes, I am half Irish and half Japanese.
Scene Point Blank: You mention Toronto and Canada quite a bit in your book. Jill Heath brought you over, didn't she?
Mike Magrann : Yes, that is correct. Do you know the guys who made the Toronto Hardcore book [Tomorrow Is Too Late]? I had reached out to them to ask where Jill was these days, as she has no social media presence, and they gave me her email address to get in touch with her. I wanted to send her a copy of my book. She was like the den mother of punk rock!
Scene Point Blank: Yes, Jill Jill Productions was her handle. I know one of the guys who was a bouncer at her shows. I met her years back when I was a little skinny punk rock kid but she wouldn't know who I was. She had a record label called Lone Wolf Productions. I think you guys were on it. To answer your other question: yes, I know the people who put out the book on the Toronto hardcore scene. It is a great book. I contributed a few lines to it.
Mike Magrann: Yes, we morphed into this big hair rock 'n' roll band, as it was what everyone was doing back then. We were stuck in this demo tape hell phase. We were shopping it around to major labels but only had five songs. They were like, “Let's see what you guys can do,” so we went back into the studio to write another five songs or so. All the labels rejected us, hence the record's name that finally came out (Rejected). Anyways, Jill came forward and said she would put it out. We asked her why and her response was, “Because it was great!” So Jill put out our final record. It's funny because we're going through all the files now and we're realizing there are some cool songs on it. People here and there have asked about that release, as it was never digitalized, so we are thinking of releasing that stuff again.
Scene Point Blank: I had the record at one point but I sold a lot of stuff in the ‘90s -- early eBay days. I still have your earlier stuff though.
Mike Magrann: I am just looking it up now... It was Lone Wolf Productions/ Fringe Records.
Scene Point Blank: Oh, yes, Fringe released a lot of stuff back in the day: DRI, COC, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, etc. Jill released stuff like Straw Dogs, Toxic Reasons, and Articles of Faith.
You refer to The Damned in your book quite a bit, mainly because your wife is a huge fan. I have seen them the last couple of times they have been here. The Captain fell off the stage and broke a couple of ribs when in Toronto.
Mike Magrann: I heard about that. Do you know what happened?
Scene Point Blank: Apparently someone threw a beer on stage and he slipped and went off the stage. End of show. I was jealous that you guys get The Avengers opening for The Damned. Although I must say The Ichi-Bons are a great instrumental group and did a good job warming up the crowd. You have played with The Avengers in the past though.
Mike Magrann: Yeah, we've done quite a few shows in the past with The Avengers but this past October we got to do like a three-week tour of Japan with them, which was just insane, you know? I thought it was incredible that they opened for the Sex Pistols on their last gig. I questioned Greg and Penelope about the gig while on tour. They didn't seem phased by it. They are such a great band and very cool people.
Scene Point Blank: The Avengers played here at The Horseshoe Tavern. We always got a lot of New York bands, and Vancouver would get the California bands. Your band was a bit of an anomaly, as you jumped in a van and went across the country. Canada is so vast, right? Like, you know, going from Vancouver to Toronto is not something you want to do in a car -- or at least I don't!
Mike Magrann: I think we only did Toronto once or twice. We flew in or maybe we flew to Buffalo and then we drove across in the big white van. The big, long summer tour of 1983.
Scene Point Blank: I checked with a friend. It was the Upper Lip you played and bands Youth, Youth, Youth and Micropedge opened. The violent gig with skinheads I talked about earlier. [Thanks Dave!]
Mike Magrann: I have the journal of the tour right here. Sometimes, I was sober enough to write down the name of the club, haha!
Scene Point Blank: Since a good portion of your book takes place in Canada I thought I would bring up the Canadian beer you seemed to like for its higher alcohol content: Extra Stock. Americans always loved our beer and we would love to get them drunk on it since we thought your beer was piss water, haha. Dave Scott (of AOD) mentions it in his book as well.... must have made a lasting impression.
Mike Magrann: Oh yeah. Do you know The Stretch Marks from Winnipeg? We met them early on in that summer tour and we traveled with them for a week or two and, you know, they're just giving us shit about American beer the whole time. They had been saying for a while that, “When you come to Canada, we are going to get you to drink real beer.” So they would only allow us to drink Extra Stock and, yes, we would just be dropping like flies off of the alcohol content. We did smuggle a bunch back home just to show people, “Check out this beer, man,” and then watch the fireworks begin after they consumed it, haha.
Scene Point Blank: Funny you mentioned The Stretch Marks. They were a great band. I liked their single (which I don't own anymore!). I still have the LP though. You also mention S.N.F.U., who I saw a lot in Toronto with Chi Pig. I have some great shots of Chi hanging upside down on the pipes. He was a great frontman. There was a whole network happening back then. I spoke to Stephen Hamm of Slow and he said Joey Shithead would just give you his black book of contacts. D.O.A. and Black Flag are always touted as bands that carved paths, like pioneers, through cities and towns -- bringing music to places that probably didn't get a lot of live bands.
Mike Magrann: Yeah, it was incredible and it wasn't like a competition or anything. There was encouragement and they would be like, “You guys should go, just do it.” It was actually like a dare and very few bands would do it. Kimm was talking to Chuck Dukowski almost daily, and he was really forthcoming. It's like, “OK, well, how much time do you have? Well, if you're going to be there, then go here.” You would create a small route but somehow these enclaves of kids in small communities would show up at your gigs. You could find established big clubs and promoters in LA, New York, and Chicago. However, in between you would be playing small towns and sometimes only the 12 punks in town would be your audience and that would be like a Tuesday night. You would play your set and then they would feed your dinner and give you a place to crash. You would then have friends for life. You can't replicate that today, for better or for worse.
Scene Point Blank: Old Man screaming at cloud here...There was a time when you walked down the street and you'd see someone with a Black Flag T-shirt on and you'd go up to them because you realized that they were few and far between and it was an automatic comradeship. I think those days are gone. You would get screamed at, call you derogatory names, or "Hey buddy, Halloween’s over" or, the big one, “Hey Devo,” haha! Today someone with green hair means nothing.
Mike Magrann: Truly, back then, if there was a guy in a Black Flag shirt, he most likely made it. Kids would write you letters and you could tell their heart was invested in the music. You know the tribe is bigger now, but it's not quite as loyal.
Nowadays anything culturally significant is instantaneously transmitted across the country. So, is that better or is it worse? I don't know.
Scene Point Blank: Before I discovered head shops I would make my shirts and paint my favourite bands on my studded leather jacket. Don't tell anyone, but I made a Channel 3 t-shirt, haha.
Whatever happened to the original Channel 3 van? Did it end up in punk junkyard heaven (or hell)?
Mike Magrann: Yeah, it's, funny. That van just kept going and going. It's been around the country and the continent numerous times, and then the speedometer broke on it. So we had no idea how many miles were on it. After we got back, I wanted a different car after being stuck in the van all that time so Jay Lansford the bass player took it over. He ended up running it into the ground. It was done. He walked away from it. Who knows where it is now?
Scene Point Blank: I thought it might have ended up in the Punk Rock Museum.
Mike Magrann: That would be great! All the guys in the book are still alive. In all honesty, I said, “Let's find the van and we'll recreate that summer and we'll make a Netflix series.” I got no response whatsoever, haha!
Scene Point Blank: They did find somebody's original van recently. I think it was someone like Aerosmith's that was found in a junkyard. I think it's in a now in a museum now or something. I was just curious because you spent a good amount of time in that van. I'm sure there's still some crushed beer cans in there somewhere.
Mike Magrann: Yeah, wherever it is, there's no way they get rid of all that beer smell.
Scene Point Blank: The climate at the time had bands like R.E.M., The Replacements, and Hüsker Dü all being played on college radio and becoming the media's darlings. All these bands were perhaps a little less rough around the edges, although The Replacements could fall into that category, depending on the night, and even earlier Hüsker Dü. Then you had bands like Battalion of Saints, Big Boys, and Youth Brigade who were slightly under that current and probably not getting the same type of love on the college radio circuit. Where did Channel 3 fall into all of this?
Mike Magrann: There was a definite line drawn in the sand and you either fell on one side of it or the other. We got labelled a punk band pretty quickly. They were labelled indie bands even though Hüsker Dü was considered a hardcore band earlier on and The Replacements’ first couple of records had some fast punky songs on each of them. We didn't see ourselves much differently and stated we could do what they were doing or were doing it already. However, we were told, “No, you are a fucking punk band.” So that is the line we get all the time. Look at Hüsker Dü: they were playing stuff at breakneck speed. However, I think people saw that they could transcend that shit and they soon became media darlings.
And it's funny because their early albums aren't the most accessible -- the Land Speed Record is noisy. Then, of course, they got a little more radio-friendly. Regardless, they're a great band.
