{"id":9021,"date":"2026-02-26T17:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T17:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/the-energy-was-phenomenal-how-the-clash-fired-up-the-la-punk-scene-153451\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T17:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T17:48:13","slug":"the-energy-was-phenomenal-how-the-clash-fired-up-the-la-punk-scene-153451","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/the-energy-was-phenomenal-how-the-clash-fired-up-the-la-punk-scene-153451\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe energy was phenomenal\u201d: how The Clash fired up the LA punk scene"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Spike! Where and when did you first encounter The Clash, and how did it affect your photography and outlook?<\/strong>
I first heard Give \u2019Em Enough Rope<\/em> in 1978. My neighbour Don Snowden, a music writer for the LA Weekly, gave it to me in our Hollywood apartment building. It made an immediate impression \u2013 and then after listening to their first LP, I realised that authority was always to be questioned and that has always stuck with me. At the time I was working as a paparazzo \u2013 hotels, award shows, celebrities. It paid well enough, but I didn\u2019t get much out of it. The Clash felt different: urgent, direct, and believable. I wanted to be closer to that world. The camera was how I did it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Click here to subscribe to Uncut<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hi Spike! Where and when did you first encounter The Clash, and how did it affect your photography and outlook?<\/strong>
I first heard Give \u2019Em Enough Rope<\/em> in 1978. My neighbour Don Snowden, a music writer for the LA Weekly, gave it to me in our Hollywood apartment building. It made an immediate impression \u2013 and then after listening to their first LP, I realised that authority was always to be questioned and that has always stuck with me. At the time I was working as a paparazzo \u2013 hotels, award shows, celebrities. It paid well enough, but I didn\u2019t get much out of it. The Clash felt different: urgent, direct, and believable. I wanted to be closer to that world. The camera was how I did it.<\/p>\n

What was the LA punk scene like in the late \u201970s?
<\/strong>Unsettled, energetic and very DIY. LA was spread out, so the scene wasn\u2019t centred in one place. Clubs like the Starwood, the Whisky, the Roxy, Madame Wong\u2019s all mattered. People drove long distances for shows. There was no MTV, no national radio equivalent to the BBC, and no John Peel. If you wanted new music, you had to go and find it. The scene wasn\u2019t punk in a narrowly British sense. It included art students, surfers, outsiders, freaks, queer kids and people with nowhere else to go. You could see very different bands on consecutive nights. Nobody had money, but there was a lot of intent.<\/p>\n

How influential were touring British bands on the LA scene?
<\/strong>Very influential, though often indirectly. Most arrived with major label backing, so they already had status. Seeing them live showed local bands what was possible \u2013 in sound, attitude, and scale. The Clash carried particular weight. Their first US shows mattered. If they\u2019d failed, it could have slowed the momentum of the LA scene. 2-Tone bands like Madness and The Specials also had a strong impact, although without the UK context it was shorter-lived. Even so, it fed into later American punk and ska.<\/p>\n

\"Stiff
Stiff Little Fingers. Photo: Spike Waltzer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What were some of the craziest things you witnessed at shows?
<\/strong>Crowds were physical. People climbed onstage, knocked equipment over, and security was often unprepared. PiL at the Olympic Auditorium was strange \u2013 the venue was used to boxing and wrestling, not punk. The Germs at Flipper\u2019s roller rink was chaotic and barely held together. What stayed with me more, though, was watching bands develop quickly. The Go-Go\u2019s changed noticeably within months. Unknown bands played small rooms with complete commitment. You could sense things forming, even if no-one was thinking in those terms at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Go-Go's\"
The Go-Go\u2019s. Photo: Spike Waltzer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tell us about the lead-up to The Clash\u2019s first US shows in 1979\u2026
<\/strong>By early 1979, expectations were high. The records were out, the singles were already well-known, and the local press was focused on their arrival. There was excitement, but also a sense that it mattered. They were controlled, intense, and convincing. The show they played at the Roxy [in April 1980] was the best gig I\u2019ve ever been to \u2013 the energy was phenomenal.<\/p>\n

How did you end up gatecrashing an official Clash photoshoot?
<\/strong>A friend blagged an interview by saying he was from the NME. I came along and started photographing while another photographer was setting up. It wasn\u2019t deliberate \u2013 it just happened. The photographer wasn\u2019t pleased, but it didn\u2019t escalate.<\/p>\n

And the LAX photos \u2013 how did those come about?
<\/strong>I checked which flights they were arriving on from previous tourdates and went to the airport. I was fortunate with the timing. They\u2019d just landed and were unaccompanied, and they stopped to pose for me. The photographs reflect that \u2013 straightforward, unguarded moments.<\/p>\n

\"The
Photo: Spike Waltzer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Did you get to meet or spend time with the band?
<\/strong>No. I wasn\u2019t looking to socialise. I saw them working, and they were consistently focused. They understood what the shows meant to the audience and took that seriously. They lived up to the expectations. <\/p>\n

Spike\u2019s exhibition Picture This: A Public Image<\/em> is at Camden Open Air Gallery, London (Feb 27 \u2013 March 11), New Century, Manchester (March 23 \u2013 April 5) and Gallery 40, Brighton (May 12-16); the accompanying hardback book is available now from here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post \u201cThe energy was phenomenal\u201d: how The Clash fired up the LA punk scene<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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