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1.)    Please could you provide a bit of background info on yourself (where you were born/raised/educated etc)

 

I was born in Newport Beach, CA and shortly thereafter moved to the San Gabriel Valley. When I was seven years old, my family moved to Fullerton where we grew up from then on. We went to the Fullerton schools and community colleges. Youngest brother Alfie persued his education much further and is now a math and physics professor at Cal State University Fullerton.

 

2.)    Did you have music lessons as a child, and was the bass guitar your first choice of instrument?

 

All three of us Agnew brothers are self taught multi-instrumentalists. My first instrument was an inexpensive bass guitar I recieved for Christmas when I was 10 years old. Before that it was a broom pretend playing to records! When I was 13, I moved on to guitar and eventually taught myself keyboards and other instruments.

 

3.)    What music were you into whilst growing up, and what were your influences?

 

We grew up in a home where music was played often. My father is Irish and he listened to The Irish Rovers, The Clancy Brothers, Dennis Day and Eddy Arnold. He prefered Irish folk and country music.

 

My mother is Mexican an she mostly listened to Mariachi music and Harry Belafonte, though she was a fan of all kinds of music. My older half-sister was the one who turned us on to Rock music. She was a big fan of The Beatles, The Four Seasons, The Monkees and most of the brit pop era mid-sixties stuff. She had a stack of 45s that I would listen to often as a child.

 

During the 70s, my older brother Rikk became a record collecting music fan. We were big fans of all the British rock and progressive bands. I was a big fan of the original Alice Cooper Band on top of all the other stuff. When punk came around Rikk got us all into that as well.

 

As far as punk bands that influenced me, it was The Damned, The Buzzcocks and Generation X.

 

My guitar influences were James Williamson (The Stooges), George Harrison, Mick Ronson, Derwood Andrews, and Captain Sensible.

 

4.)    (According to wikipedia) you formed SxDx in 1978 along with your older brother Rikk, and Casey Royer. You were only 14/15 at the time - can you tell us how the band came together, and who came up with the band name etc? Also when exactly was this (various sources cite 78, whilst others say it was 1979 when the band formed). Did you all know eachother from high school?

 

Actually, the band Social Distortion were formed in Fullerton in 1978 with Mike Ness on guitar, Casey Royer on drums, a 6’7” singer named Tom Corvin (who ended up a TV reporter for Channel 9 news, now a freelance writer) and a bassist named Mark Garrett. Mark was let go not to long after and was replaced by my older brother Rikk. That lasted to around mid 1979. Mike was determined to bring in his friend Dennis Danell on Rhythm Guitar. Great guy but couldn’t play at all at the time. The other guys weren’t happy and they fell apart. Casey and Rikk then started a non Mike Ness version of Social D with me on Guitar but it didn’t last long. Rikk and Casey joining up with a reformed Detours, then in mid 1980 to The Adolescents. Mike and Dennis toiled around for a year then put together a three piece Social D with Mike on Vocals/Guitar, Dennis on Bass and a friend named John Carrot on Drums. That Mike Ness Social D has been in existence in one form or another ever since.

 

5.)  Can you tell us your memories of the first Social Distortion show - where/when etc?

 

The first one I recall attending was a house party in near Fullerton in March or April 1979. I remember quite a bit but would take me too long to type it all! That’s the party where I met Steve Soto and who was playing with Agent Orange at the same party.

 

6.)  Who was the main songwriter at this time, and can you remember what songs were rehearsed/performed back in the day (Amoeba, 1945, playpen, Mainliner perhaps?).

 

The early Mike/Casey Social D version: I believe it was Mike writing the music with Tom Corvin and Casey writing the lyrics. The songs I remember from thet era was the song “Social Distortion” an early version of “Amoeba” and “Total Control” which I believe was an early version of “Playpen” with different lyrics, and some others I don’t remember. I do remember them doing a cover of The Rolling Stones “Shattered”.

 

The lyrics to “Amoeba” were written by Casey Royer. Rikk later wrote new music for it when it became an Adolescents song. There was stuff going around at the time that The Adolescents ripped off Mike Ness with Amoeba but I can say for sure that the music was totally rewritten by Rikk and sounded nothing like the original, except the lyrics.

 

7.)  There is also an early song called Social Distortion - is this one which was written whilst you were in the band?

 

See above

 

8.) The track Amoeba - is that the same song that later features on the 1981 debut Adolescents album?

 

See above

 

9.)  What are your memories of SxDx and the those early days?

 

I was barely 14 when these bands sprung up in the North Orange County scene. The Detours, Social Distortion, Agent Orange, The Middle Class and some others. I remember it as being new, fun and exciting. It made me feel like I could actually play in a band too!

 

10.)  What was it like playing in SxDx and how did you get along with Mike?

 

I was never in a band with Mike at the same time but as friends we got along well.

 

11.)  Rumour has it that the song 'Kids Of The Black Hole' recalls Mike Ness' apartment at the time, which was apparently a hang out for likeminded friends & punks.. - what do you recall of those days?

 

 That apartment was the go to place when there was no gigs and no where else to go. It was a one bedroom apartment in Fullerton, couldn’t have been more than 500 SqFt but was often packed with us early punks. Mike anf his roomate Joe Manforte (later Robert Omlit) had the apartment from the fall of 1979 till they got evicted at the end of March 1980. Before they left, Mike and Dennis Danell completely destroyed the place. I think thats when Mike permanently damaged his index finger on his fretting hand. I have a lot of memories of the Black Hole but too much to type again!

 

12.)  I can find no record of early SxDx live shows (from 1978/79 to 1980 period) - why is this do you think (is it because the band mostly played small one off shows at this time perhaps?).

 

 The 78-79 Social D did only play house parties and one off local gigs. Our scene at the time was rather small and none of us except The Middle Class had broken into the LA scene yet.

 

Also, as said above, they were completely inactive between late 1979 and mid 1980 when Mike reformed the band with Dennis and Carrot.

 

13.)  When Mike made the decision to bring in Dennis Dannell on bass guitar, was this the reason for the breakup ?  ..how long did this first line up (Ness/Agnew/Royer) last for, before you all left Mike to form Adolescents?

 

See above

 

14.) What are you up to in 2017 – any music projects planned?

 

I’ve just joined up with my younger brother Alfie’s band “The Professor and The Madman” who incidentally have Paul Gray and Rat Scabies playing Bass / Drums on the upcoming album. Really incredible stuff! Check them out on Facebook.