Jimmy Alvarez

With their feet in the air and head on the ground, alternative music fans still love their Pixies. There are very few people these days who haven’t heard their music in one form or another. This band has done it all. They’ve been featured in movies, TV commercials and conquered the radio airwaves. What is […]

In an age of social media, pop culture, ordinary internet stars who have next to no talent, and fake news… there is nothing fake or ordinary about the Damned. Formed in 1976, these punk pioneers have the distinction of being one of the quintessential bands to come out of the era. They set the world […]

You just never know what direction the wind will blow when it comes to certain punk bands. Most are lucky to get through a handful of summers together. So it’s almost surreal that Social Distortion, OC’s first breakout punk band, is in its fourth decade of existence—not without their share of turbulent times of course […]

Slightly Stoopid were severely inexperienced when they signed their first record deal back in the early ‘90s. The San Diego-based outfit were still in high school playing mostly punk-rock and ska tunes when Bradley Nowell of Sublime signed them to Skunk Records, the label he founded with producer Miguel Happoldt, after a performance at Foothill […]

He was born John Duchac from Decatur, Illinois; but, we all know him as John Doe. In his early days, co-founder and bassist for legendary punk band X called Baltimore home. After one too many cold winters, he decided to head out west in ’75 to that goo-goo muck that was Los Angeles. Who knew […]

“The record company's gonna give me lots of money, and everything's gonna be ALL RIGHT!” More prophetic words have never been written about being a young adult, but the last line of Reel Big Fish's “Sell Out” better sums up teenage angst: “I can't work in fast food all my life.” We consciously put so […]

For several years, there have been a multitude of cool new ska bands trying to make the 4th wave of ska happen in Southern California. Unfortunately, none have been able to crack terrestrial radio, or any type of big time radio stream. When they started in 2012, a quintet from Los Angeles called The Interrupters […]

Jamie and Tim Ankeny went on their very first date a few years ago; it was at Disneyland. Like so many people, that destination has so many meanings. For scores of adults, it’s a place their parents took them as children. For Tim and Jamie, it’s where their story started and where their family memories […]

“Who Do Voodoo, We Do!” That‘s the chant you hear from the crowd every night just before Voodoo Glow Skulls take the stage. Voodoo is one of the premier and long-running bands to come out of Southern California. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know the guys, and I can honestly say I have really […]

It’s funny how life works out sometimes. As a kid, I loved my music icons. As a teenager, I loved bands like Led Zeppelin, Boston, AC/DC, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rick James and Prince. I know, it’s an odd combination, but that’s the way it was in the late 70’s to early 80’s. In my […]

It’s been a long road since the Descendents were 18 and formed a band in Manhattan Beach, California in ‘77. They were high school buddies playing backyard parties and one-off’s at the weirdest venues throughout LA, and Orange County. Since then, they’ve become required listening for any punk with an iPod in their possession. The […]

[Editor’s Note: Jimmy Alvarez has been a radio DJ for the better part of a quarter century working at KROQ and currently at TNN Radio on KX 93.5 FM. In that time he’s interviewed just about everyone involved in OC’s ska scene. The following is both a personal history and an essay on the development […]