How a 1979 Ramones show at the Rendezvous sparked a punk rock career

Transmission 258: Interview with The Vandals

• The Spark: A 1979 Ramones concert served as the catalyst for the band, proving that even local high school kids could share the stage with legends.
• The Evolution: The band successfully transitioned from a volatile early scene marked by “joy buzzers” and drug issues to a stable, musically explosive lineup featuring Josh Freese and Warren Fitzgerald.
• Beyond the Music: The interview highlights unique intersections of punk and mainstream culture, from the bassist studying law at Loyola to Keanu Reeves’ brief stint on the bass guitar.

The Vandals are an American punk rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California. In their music and performances, they have addressed significant themes of suburban alienation, social commentary, adolescent rebellion, and the absurdities of American culture through satirical lenses.

Since their formation, they have demonstrated multiple approaches to punk rock songwriting that help audiences understand how humor and sincerity can coexist within aggressive musical frameworks, allowing listeners to experience catharsis through both laughter and rage. What began as straightforward hardcore has evolved into something more complex, with songs that cut deep while maintaining their bite.

Featured image: monkey_take_photo

What was the first show you attended that made you want to be in a band yourself?

I saw the Ramones at the Rendezvous in Garden Grove in 1979. The Crowd opened for them. They were just high school kids. So I thought if I formed a band, I could open for bands like the Ramones and go inside that backstage door where the Ramones and the Crowd were both using.

How did you first meet Jan Nils Ackermann and get involved with the early Vandals lineup?

There was a process going on to become the Vandals drummer. Stevo and Vince Mesa didn’t get along. Todd Barnes of TSOL was advocating for me to become the new drummer. Meanwhile Steve Jensen was calling my sister and asking her to ask me to become the drummer. I didn’t like Jensen because he did things like shake my hand with a joy buzzer when he would come to pick up my sister for a date. I didn’t want to be in a band with that hippie.

What I didn’t know is that he was the same guy who was singing for the Vandals. So I was simultaneously rejecting the Vandals while I was trying to get into the Vandals. Finally we squared the problem away and I joined and became good friends with Jan. We went to UCLA together.

At what point did you realize humor would be central to the band’s identity?

The guy with the joy buzzer and the whoopee cushions really had no other choice.

What were the biggest obstacles in the Huntington Beach scene when you were starting out?

Other bands called the Vandals, getting money for rehearsal space, gas money to go to rehearsal, having your equipment stolen, having band members that used drugs.

“Urban Struggle” became an unlikely hit—did you expect that kind of reaction at all?

Not at all. It seemed so easy it was ridiculous.

What do you remember about the chaos around the Cuckoo’s Nest and Zubie’s?

Tough guys who really liked to fight. Punks look like “homos” to the cowboys. They thought they could lick them, but they soon found out the punks may look like easy targets, but they were psycho and dangerous when cornered.

How did it feel stepping into the bass role permanently, and was that a natural shift for you?

It’s easy to play bass, it’s hard to play bass well. Jan was very generous for letting me do that.

What led you to study law while still touring and releasing records?

I thought the band’s future was over many times. So one of those times I called Loyola and asked them to send me an application.

How did the dynamic within the band shift when Fitzgerald and Freese joined and the lineup became stable?

We were kind of stagnating. We had an identity crisis. Then with Warren and Josh we were suddenly wildly entertaining but the musicianship exploded.

How did you end up getting Keanu Reeves to fill in on bass that one time?

The real story is I was at a wedding and couldn’t make it to this party we were supposed to play. Keanu was there and was nice enough to hop on the bass and I think they played Pat Brown or something. He’s a prince.

Is there any unfinished or unreleased material from the early ’80s lineup that you’ve considered issuing?

There’s a demo somewhere with maybe one or two unreleased songs on it but we’re talking about the 1970s and most people associated with it are dead and we’ll never find the tapes. And that’s probably a good thing. We had a song called “Questions” that would ruin us.

Are there any plans for new studio material, or is the focus more on select live shows and catalog projects?

We are in the studio recording some stuff that I don’t see not getting released sporadically. We went from recording nothing to “hey, let’s get back in the studio and have some fun. We are starting with some covers and will eventually do some original stuff. Not an album. Just some stuff.

Photos courtesy of The Vandals

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others