The Grammy Museum hosted a special screening of X: The Unheard Music on Monday, July 29 with a post-screening panel moderated by Matt Pinfield featuring members of X discussing their creative process behind the film. Attendees were also treated to a short intimate acoustic performance featuring X members Exene Cervenka and John Doe.
Formed in 1977, X quickly established themselves as one of the best bands in the first wave of Los Angeles’s flourishing punk scene. Featuring vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist and bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer DJ Bonebrake. Their debut 45 was released on the seminal Dangerhouse label in 1978, followed by seven studio albums released from 1980 to 1993. Over the years, the band has released several critically acclaimed albums and topped the musical charts. The band continues to tour with the original line-up fully intact. In 2017, the band celebrated their 40th anniversary in music with a Grammy Museum exhibit opening, a Proclamation from the City of Los Angeles, and being honored at a Los Angeles Dodgers game where Exene threw out the first pitch and John Doe sang the National Anthem. In 2020, X celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Los Angeles and a surprise release of Alphabetland, their first new studio album in 35 years. The band is set to release their final studio record, Smoke & Fiction, on Friday, August 2, 2024, via Fat Possum. The final album accompanies the band’s official farewell tour entitled The End Is Near.
The night began with a screening of X: The Unheard Music, an hour-and-a-half documentary that details the up-and-coming journey of X. The band is shown at its peak in this legendary 1986 film, which took five years to make and includes interviews with all four members telling their stories. This innovative and unconventional film puts us inside the world of X using a striking, visionary style reflecting the uncompromising passion and raw energy of their music. The film includes X classics from their critically hailed first four albums: Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun, and More Fun in the New World. The film not only depicts the band becoming legendary leaders of a punk generation but it also showcases the American underground scene and response to the Reagan era.
Immediately following the screening, X’s Exene and John took the stage for an intimate acoustic performance. After thanking everyone for attending, the two quickly went into a rendition of “Because I Do,” followed by a new song from their upcoming album titled “Flipside.” The two promised that the track is much faster and heavier than the acoustic version they performed at the Grammy Museum. The performance closed out with a third and final song, a cover of Tim Hardin’s “If I Were A Carpenter.”
W.T. Morgan, Director of X: The Unheard Music, joined the two X members for a Q&A moderated by radio personality Matt Pinfield. Exene shared her story of how she arrived to California. It was 1976 and Exene couldn’t find a job in Tallahassee, so she sold her 1950 Cadillac for $300 and shared gas expenses with a friend to arrive in California with only a suitcase and less than $150. The trio reflected on the years the documentary captured, having people doubt the band and only have Slash Records see their potential. Morgan revealed that the infamous scene in which Ray Manzarek from The Doors is singing “Soul Kitchen” with X at the Whisky A Go Go, does not include the actual live sound that matches the footage as their sound person had left for the night before X took the stage. In fact, their sound engineers altered a recorded track to make it sound as though it was live.
When asked by an audience member who they believe is the artist or band that allows them to step into a mentorship role and/or pass the torch to an up-and-coming group, John answered that in the past there were bands such as Jane’s Addiction who opened for X and today there is Skating Polly. Exene elaborated that she met Peyton Bighorse and Kelli Mayo of Skating Polly when they were about 8 and 12 years old during one of her solo tours. She then went on to produce their second record Lost Wonderfuls. John acknowledged the new wave of female-led punk bands such as Starcrawler and gave some credit to Girls Rock Camp for the “uptick in women fronting punk rock influenced bands.”
The two X members also clarified that the final tour does not necessarily mean it will be their final set of shows. The two explained that touring has become exhausting as they travel in a van. “We’ve been doing this a long time and it is very physically hard and emotionally hard, but I love the shows. I love playing the shows. If you could just do that part, we could do it forever,” said Exene. John stated that the band might just cut back on how many shows they perform each year.
The iconic L.A. band X changed the face of punk music with their vibrant, original style, now they hit the road for their farewell tour. The group is currently on tour with their final date for The End Is Near taking place on September 1st in Albuquerque, NM. For more information on X or more show dates visit here.
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