Mikey Bean
For the past several years – since 2007 – writer Mikey Bean has quietly been working away (or, depending on who you ask, not so quietly!), gathering an oral history of California deathrock for his upcoming book Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock from the LA Punk Scene. He’s assembled a treasure trove of interviews, flyer material, and other goodies and has had the support and involvement of most of the key surviving figures from the original LA movement. The book’s publication date has been pushed back several times, but there has been a demand for this history for a little while now, especially with the renewed cultural interest that has serendipitously dovetailed with his own work on the book. Below, Mikey shared information from what he has gathered from the hundreds of hours of interviews he’s conducted over the years, and he’s provided a chapter list for the book that is itself an impressive discography of the scene he’s been documenting.
“Phantoms: The Rise Of Deathrock From The L.A. Punk Scene”: An Interview With Author Mikey Bean
Los Angeles has always had an obsession with death. Our city’s celebrities and socialites have a habit of perishing in the most dramatic and mysterious fashion, Rozz Williams of course being no exception. It’s no surprise that from out of punk rock would come a death obsessed, black clad, sorrowful, mournful form of expression and rebellion known as deathrock. To celebrate the launch of Mikey Bean’s new 600 page encyclopedia of deathrock called Phantoms: The Rise of Deathrock From The LA Punk Scene,
Lethal Amounts and Release the Bats held a photo exhibit and concert celebrating the genre’s Los Angeles heyday. You need this bad boy on your coffee table.
Punx Undead: Phantoms Book Launch: The Rise of L.A. Deathrock Presented by Lethal Amounts
Historical Night in LA – Phantoms: Rise Of Deathrock In The LA Punk Scene
The event was packed with goths, punks, models, business owners, and so many different people from different walks of life. It was a special night for sure, one for the books! A great story you get to tell your grandkids if you were there!