Tony Reflex of The Legendary Band The Adolescents
Interview By: Ginger Coyote
Tony and I have been friends for years. Our bands have played shows together. I felt it was high time I interviewed him for Punk Globe. I hope you all dig this fun interview….
Punk Globe: Thanks for the interview Tony Happy belated Birthday We have known one another for years The Adolescents formed in 1979 by you and the late bassist Steve Soto who were the longest-running members. However, you did leave the band in 87/88 for a while. Can you tell us about that?
Tony: I used to bring my schoolwork with me on tour. At the time I was going to college. I would get clearance from my professors before I would leave on tour to make sure that they would accommodate my educational needs. It meant I would be missing about a third of the classes. I think some of the professors got a kick out of the fact that I was in a band and I think they saw my touring as a learning opportunity that I couldn’t get anywhere else. One of them actually told me that he thought I would learn more on tour for three weeks than the 4 classes I would miss. He told me to keep a journal.
On that tour tour in 1987, I had it falling out with the booking agent and decided to just put my focus into school and so that’s what I did. I left the van and the band to go to school for a couple of years.
Punk Globe: I loved the first album Adolescents on Frontier Records that the band released. It was amazing. Who was in the blue album lineup besides yourself and Steve?
Tony: Thank you! The other guys in the blue album lineup are Frank Agnew, Rikk Agnew, and Casey Royer. The band, believe it or not, broke up 4 months after the album was released. That lineup was meant to implode, I think. Too much ego and too much talent. We didn’t have a chance. We were simply too immature.
When Rikk first joined the band he was the drummer. He didn’t have a drum kit so we’d always have to borrow cymbals or cymbal stands from other bands so that we could rehearse. Rikk kept breaking things that belonged to other people so we quickly realized that we would not have much of a future as a band if our drummer kept breaking the equipment of our friends. so Rikk switched over to guitar and Casey joined as a drummer. When we recorded The Blue Album most of the drums were done by Casey, but I was there when Rikk went back in and redid some of Casey’s snare drum parts to make them louder. Rikk was a great drummer and the substitution isn’t audible in the mix.
Steve Soto once told me that the Adolescents Blue album was the perfect angry punk rock record because it started and ended with the word “hate.” The first line, “I hate children” is finalized on the album by the song “Creatures” with the lyric “I hate them all.” It wasn’t intentional, but it is an astute observation.
Punk Globe; You and Steve formed a strong friendship. Can you tell us about that? I know his passing was hard for you.
Tony: Steve and I were called ourselves “rock wives” and that simply meant we were married in music for many years. Other rock wives examples would be Kimm & Mike of CH3, Kaa & Decker of the Crowd, and Leonard & Stan of the Dickies. It is a special bond and it spans decades. A special kind of friendship.
I met Steve in early 1979 when he was the bassist of Agent Orange. I was a fan, the kind that got on stage and made a nuisance of myself. It was that energy that Steve wanted to tap into, and we first became friends and then planned out our new band. Steve taught me how to use my voice- he was a great singer- and encouraged my writing. He helped me believe in myself.
We bonded over music, especially the Beatles, Buzzcocks, the Damned, the Ramones, and the Clash. Years later we would still listen to those bands in the van, and we were thrilled to later play shows with the Buzzcocks and the Damned.
Joey Ramone recognized Steve’s talent, and Steve actually recorded and did shows with Joey, and later would play guitar in CJ Ramone’s band. Pretty fucking cool. Dan Root, the Adolescents guitarist, played in a number of bands with Steve, including the one with CJ. It was Steve who brought Dan into the CJ band and Steve who brought Dan into the Adolescents. Dan was asked to join 1n 1988 but didn’t join until 2012. Steve and Dan had a special relationship. It makes me cry when I think about it.
A day doesn’t pass without thinking of Steve. I hear his voice all of the time. Especially at times of important decisions. I miss him more than I can express. He was part of my family, was in my wedding, advisor, and friend to my children. I miss him very much.
Punk Globe: I read that in the day you might sing with Rikk Aknew’s band General Hospital. Named after one of my favorite Soap Operas, did that band happen?
Tony: Sort of. Rikk was known as General Hospital in the late seventies. In fact, I always called him General and didn’t learn his name was Rikk until the beginning of 1980. Sometime in 1979, he told me that he was interested in starting a band, but he went on to join the Slashers, and then the Detours. So I started a band with Steve. In 1990 Rikk and I would eventually, sort of, start a couple of projects- Pinups, and then ADZ,. Rikk left both projects in the middle of recording, and neither project would see Rikk and me actually doing live shows together.
Punk Globe: Is it true The Adolescents was an all-girl band in northern California after you and Steve began the band?
Tony: Well yes, there was an all-girl band in Petaluma and they were called The Adolescents. I used to be pen pals with one of the women back in 1978 and asked her if they were going to use the name. The two of them would go through two or three names a month, always changing the name to suit their band and interests. I don’t think they actually ever had a band, but it was one of those situations. If you say you’re in a band, then you’re in a band. Anyway, I asked them if we could use the name since they weren’t using it anymore. They said, “Sure.” and so I named the new band the Adolescents, and Steve (who made the real decisions) agreed that it described us well. We were literally teenagers at the time. Many years later Metal Mike told me about a 60’s garage band called Little Willie and the Adolescents. They released a single- “Get out of my Life”- in 1966!
Punk Globe: Tell us about the early days with The Adolescents. Was it hard getting taken seriously and how about getting shows?
Tony: In the early days we were still in high school most of our shows then were at high schools and one was at a Rec Center. The shows were kind of tough to book at the beginning. We had curfews and stuff. So we mostly played early parties in backyards, at warehouses, and in garages. It just became easier as we played more because we got tight and because people started to take an interest. Eventually, we got our first shows at nightclubs like the Fleetwood and then the Starwood, Whisky and the Vex. In 1981 was “86’ed for life” by the Starwood and by the Whisky for causing mischief. I got into fights with the bouncers, and it rarely worked in my favor. Since I was all of 100 pounds, I must have come across as quite threatening.
In the very first few shows and parties, it was difficult to be taken seriously; it was clear that we were young and that we were still learning how to play the songs as a cohesive unit. As the sound matured and we became a tighter band people started to take us seriously. We never had that problem again.
Punk Globe: You did your first album with Frontier Records. Tensions started happening with the band and Rikk Agnew he was replaced by Pat Smear
Tony: Kind of a funny story. We were playing at the Starwood and Rikk came without a guitar. He was borrowing Pat Smear’s guitar and we had to play two sets. In between sets, Pat was not on stage with the guitar when Rikk needed it, and Rikk came down the Starwood staircase expecting the guitar to be waiting for him on stage- which it wasn’t. We couldn’t wait anymore so we started playing our set without Rikk. He got upset and stormed off so we asked Pat right on the spot to play guitar which he did. Rikk was fired, and Pat stayed on with the band for 3 months. He left because he couldn’t leave the state- we wanted to tour- and he was replaced by Casey’s then-roommate Steve Roberts, He was the second guitarist- not Rikk- on the “Welcome to Reality” EP, and Steve Roberts was also the first guitar player in D.I. When I first saw D.I. at a party, Casey was playing bass. They were great.
Punk Globe: Do you remember playing that Punk Fest in Portland that Book Em Danno put together? White Trash Debutantes played that show and I remember hanging out with Butt Trumpet, MDC, The Adolescents, Channel 3 on a hill across the street from a Plaid Pantry and I was getting beer there and the cops were checking out Punk Rock Patty who was smoking out with you all. The cops were amazed to see an 88-year-old woman with pink hair and all the punks having a grand time.
I don’t recall but I wonder if it was the 1987 or 1988 tours. I wasn’t on those. Sounds like it was a fun time! I myself didn’t make it to Portland until 2007 or thereabouts.
Punk Globe: Yeah the Punk Fest was in 92’. The festival was fun but the promoter burned all the bands. The Adolescents had Derek O’Brien playing drums with you and Punk Globe Writer Jamie Pina playing with you at one point that was after the band reformed in 2001 right?
Tony: Derek O’Brien played drums with the band for a period of time and he recorded and produced the album “OC Confidential” with us. Derek toured with us in both the United States and in Europe. Fantastic drummer. I am not sure who he is drumming with, but I know that he is a recording engineer these days.
Jamie was a member of Electric Frankenstein and toured alongside the Adolescents on Steve’s last tour. As much as we’ve talked, Jaime never played in the Adolescents. That would have been great. I loved his guitar playing in the Chemical People.
Punk Globe: Do you care to talk about The ADZ
Tony: ADZ was my band in the nineties. Like many of my projects, it looked much different in the beginning than it did at the end. The band went through many personnel changes but managed to tour parts of the US and Europe and to release 6 albums. The ADZ/Sister Goddamn trip to Europe in 1996 was my first one, and the one that brought me the most wonder. It was confusing, bewildering, and fantastic all at once. I was so overwhelmed by culture shock at first. At the time there was no single currency, so we would be given pretty colored paper currency from Deutsche Marks to Lire, to Swiss Francs- and none of it made any sense to me at all. Haha. The shows were great and we got a good response, but many of them were sparse. Unfortunately, it lost thousands of Deutsche Marks and it would be ten years before I would make it back. I made a few friends on that trip who I still have now.
Punk Globe: Tell us what is on the horizon for The Adolescents?
Tony: The band just released an album called “Caesar Salad Days” on Frontier Records. It is our fourth with Frontier. Now that it has been released I expect we will do some more touring in both the United States and Europe. We are currently working on material for another album, but it is going slowly. The Pandemic has thrown a wrench into any serious plans. Everything is so tentative, and I am very cautious about thinking too far ahead.
People have asked me about the current line-up of the band. We are all friends and get along well. Dan Root and Brad Logan I have known since the eighties. They were both in a band with Rik L Rik, and Rik was a mutual friend of ours. Dan also put in time with Tender Fury- one of the TSOL spin-offs, as well as in One Hit Wonder. He told me some great stories about Mick Rock, Hunt Sales, and Tony Sales. Those cats are legends. Dan joined the band in 2011 and has played on the last 6 albums. Brad came to the table with F-Minus and Leftover Crack as bands he had played in. Rancid even wrote a song about him, haha. Since joining the band, Brad has recorded two albums- “Russian Spider Dump” and “Caesar Salad Days.”
Brad is a special addition. He has the hardest job of anyone I know- and that is to play bass now that Steve is gone. Brad was on Steve’s last tour with us as a driver and tour manager. When Steve passed away we had a tour to finish. Steve was adamant that the band never cancels a show because it lets down all of the club workers who rely on the show because it is their job income, and canceling the show lets down the fans. With that in mind, it was decided to finish the tour with Brad playing bass. I believe that is what Steve would have wanted.
Mike Cambra has played drums with us since 2013 and came to us through the band Death by Stereo. An interesting fact about him is that his uncle was the drummer for the Tubes. Talk about pedigree.
Ian Taylor, I met back about twenty years ago when he was in a great punk band called Furious IV. He was from the desert and was in a couple of significant bands out there, one being Unsound, and the other was Mondo Generator. He is the left-handed guitarist. And is the only lefty to have been in the Adolescents, haha.
This was the band that toured with Steve for years. I can’t imagine navigating life without them. A great group of friends, I look forward to traveling with them as soon as possible.
Punk Globe: Describe yourself in three words
Tony: quirky, perplexed, amazed
Punk Globe: Any last words for Punk Globe readers on the magazine celebrating 46 years old?
Tony: 46 years! Oh man, that’s incredible! Dedication, and persistence, go a long way. My last words for the Punk Globe family:
Do what you want, and do it well.