PUNK IS DEAD

Punk rock versions of Grateful Dead songs?!? Two high school buddies reunited after about 20 years apart, and decided it would be a good time to start a band. The two had very similar taste in music, and it just made sense. What they concocted, however, was not normal: a punk rock band playing Grateful Dead songs. You see, one of the friends is Jeff Abarta, the very first (and still current) employee hired at Epitaph records, the preeminent punk rock record label, based in Los Angeles. He soon became engulfed in the world of the Grateful Dead, which did not sit well with many of the bands on the label. This interesting quandary was documented by Fat Mike, by writing “Jeff Wears Birkenstocks?” on NOFX’s 1994 album Punk In Drublic. So when Jeff and Mike San Miguel got together over a few beers, and decided they should start a punk rock band, and that it should exclusively cover Grateful Dead songs, it seems that any preconceived notions about the two worlds being entirely mutually exclusive was shattered. Jeff had already been exposed to the harsh realities the hippies faced against the punkers, so he was ready to get lambasted. Much to the surprise of the two, there has been nothing but warm receptions everywhere they go. Even opening for old-school punk bands like the Adolescents and Bad Religion have yielded comments like, “Man, I have always hated the Grateful Dead, but that was awesome!”, and Dead Heads tend to dance their asses off. Instead of creating a war between the two tribes, it seems the band has found a previously unforeseeable intersection of mutual respect. Punk Is Dead is a three-piece band, consisting of Jim Snyder on drums (Total Massacre, Henchmen 21), and Jeff Abarta on bass and vocals (Total Massacre, FullOn), and Mike San Miguel on guitars and vocals (Total Massacre). Three cheers for making this long strange trip, even stranger than it might otherwise be. https://soundcloud.com/punkisdeadband/albums