Nothing Is Anywhereis NYC punk icon D Generation’s first new album in 17 years and includes the same scrappy gang from its eponymous 1994 debut: guitarist/producer Danny Sage, vocalist Jesse Malin, bassist Howie Pyron, guitarist Richard Bacchus and drummer Michael Wildwood. It’s a defiantly New York collection of working-class anthems that celebrates the band’s gritty urban past while sneering at the gentrification and pretentious poseurs corrupting its city’s culture. These old schoolers are back, angrier than ever and ready to take that fight outside. They will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our feature on them.
Sage: I was born in Manhattan. My parents are New Yorkers. When I was growing up, it seemed like New Yorkers were “supposed to” bag on L.A. I never got that. To quote my (not) favorite Randy Newman song, “I love L.A.” (My favorite is “Sail Away,”recorded in L.A., of course.)
I remember the first time i ever went to L.A. It seemed like it really was everything I had ever heard about it. It really met all expectation. That’s an amazing achievement, especially to a cynical New York City kid like me. I got out on Sunset Boulevard, and it was all there: cars, girls, sunshine, hamburger stands. I mean, it was like I was in a Brian Wilson song. Sunset Fucking Boulevard. It really struck me. So yeah, even though New Yorkers are supposed to “hate L.A,” I liked it. A lot.
One of my best memories, ever, is driving up the Pacific Coast Highway in a really cool car with an L.A. girlfriend, and hearing “No Way Out” on KROQ. Something about being out there, in a place so far away, both physically and spiritually from my home, and hearing our song on the car radio. To sum it up, refer to “Nationwide” by ZZ Top. A long way from Avenue B, that’s for sure. It felt like … victory.
Plus, a lot of the bands and records I grew up with were made in L.A., from the Beach Boys to the Circle Jerks to Neil Young to the Ronettes, from Blue to G.I. … you can’t fuck with that. Sacred ground to me.
The other funny cliche about L.A. that didn’t fit for me was the meme that everyone in L.A. is “phony.” Yeah, in NYC when I was growing up, that was a thing. I eventually moved to L.A. for a few years. And though I was really homesick and moved back (of course), I wanna tell you that a lot of people I met there were (and remain) some of the best friends I have. Los Angeles has been very good to me, and I thank her for that. So, yeah … A big cheer for Los Angeles, even from a jaded New Yorker.
Video after the jump.
