New Book Details Orange County Punk Scene

A new book about the history of the vaunted Orange Country punk scene is hitting shelves May 20th.

Titled Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: How Punk Rock Brought Orange County to the World (pre-order here), the 400-page book was authored by journalists Nate Jackson and Daniel Kohn, who interviewed many of the scene’s biggest movers and shakers.

Among the bands featured in Tearing Down the Orange Curtain are Social Distortion (whose frontman Mike Ness penned the foreword), The Offspring, No Doubt, Sublime, and others. The book’s official description reads:

“Tearing Down the Orange Curtain delves deep into the personal and professional lives of bands like Social Distortion, The Adolescents, The Offspring, and their ska counterparts No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, and more, and gives readers a deeper look into the very human stories of these musicians, many of whom struggled with acceptance, addiction, and brutal teenage years in suburbia.

Through many exclusive and first-hand interviews with the principal personalities, Tearing Down the Orange Curtain brings the 20-year period of OC punk and third-wave of ska (1978-2000) to life, focusing specifically on the historical and musical roots of this creative explosion. Thought-provoking, meticulously researched, and refreshingly candid, this book presents a compelling narrative of how a suburban wasteland turned into a hub for rock-n roll culture, just over 30 miles away from the bright lights of L.A.”

Authors Jackson and Kohn will be heading out on a brief California/Nevada book tour supporting its release.

Each date features Q&As with different artists, as follows:

• May 20th at Fullerton Museum Center in Fullerton (with Noodles of The Offspring, Georgette Collard, and Jim Washburn)
• May 21st at Fingerprints Records in Long Beach (with Jim Ruland)
• May 25th at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas (with Jonny 2 Bags of Social Distortion)
• May 28th at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles (with No Doubt’s Adrian Young, The Vandals’ Joe Escalante, former Social Distortion/No Doubt manager Jim Guerinot, and moderator Kat Corbett)
• May 30th at Shea’s Tavern in Reno (with Bud Gaugh of Sublime)

Pre-order Tearing Down the Orange Curtain via Amazon. Check out the cover art below, along with our exclusive video featuring The Offspring’s Noodles naming 10 SoCal punk albums every music fan should own.