When guitarist Frank Agnew first went to the punk show, he was around 13 years old. It was 1978 and he went with his older brother Rick.
“When the weirdo came out, holy s-it was so good that it changed my life forever,” Frank said. “Since seeing the weirdo in whiskey, I sat there and thought, ‘I want to be that good, I want to be that tight,’ and that was my goal. ”
Frank and his brothers Leek and Alfonso “Alfie” Agnew created and played the next decade for some of the most important bands in the Punk Canon, including adolescence, detours, Christian distortions, TSOL, DI and more. Fox Theatre in Fullerton. Recently, their musical pieces of life were exhibited as part of a new exhibition, “Punk OC,” located at the Fullerton Museum Centre, which debuted last week. On a recent afternoon, the Agnew brothers gathered at the museum, posing for photos, reminiscing memories through artifacts of young punk rockers.
“I’m constantly being asked about my family, and Rick, Dee, youth, all of that. Not only do I know, but I care about it, but how many people are amazing.” “This is just as good as the Orange County scene and the people who have supported it in the late ’70s and late ’80s, but I think this is kind of a celebration for all of us.”
The documentary by film director Gabriel Zavala Jr., which was filmed almost between 2018 and 2024, captures the brothers performing various shows and navigating the circumstances of their personal lives, looking back at the brothers’ early history and their celebratory musicianship. Zabara told the Times that she was inspired to create a documentary after seeing Agnews play an explosive show together at Santa Ana’s observatory.
From left, director Gabriel L. Zavala Jr. takes a photo of the younger brothers Frank, Rick and Alfie Agnew, a punk band next to a display featuring the band from the suburbs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“At the time, people spin again into the youth versions of punk rock and leaks and Frank, and it was such an electric night, so it was a very rush,” Zabara said. “I said to them, ‘What would you do if you made a documentary about your family?” ”
Rikk, Frank and Alfie all agreed to make a documentary with Zavala, who quickly began filming and interviews with various musicians related to Agnews, including GVLLOW, Gitane Demon of Christian Death, and young man Casey Royer.
Zavala, a feature filmmaker who directed and wrote the 2015 indie film Rude Boy: The Movie, interviewed the parents of her siblings before she passed away while filming the documentary.
“I think they’re proud of it. They’ve always been very proud and endorsed the kids. I think my parents were reasonably unique to supporting such activities. They were punk rock and being a musician rather than becoming a doctor or lawyer, but ultimately they became professors,” Alfie said.
As parents of Irish and Mexican children with immigrant roots, the siblings say they grew up surrounded by a variety of folding music and heard everything from Irish people to Mariachi. Although their parents were not musicians, they agree that their siblings inherited the musical genes from their mother’s grandfather, Alfonso Fernandez. According to his brothers, Fernandez emigrated from Guadalajara and was a professional drummer called Latin Americans in Latin jazz bands in Mexico and the Southwest of the United States.
“When I learned about my grandfather, I was named after him, so it was especially personal to me. In fact, my first instrument was drums – I had such a connection and I was always very proud of it,” said Alfie, who plays the guitar.
Frank and Alfie didn’t know his grandfather – Fernandez passed away in 1965, but like Alfie, Frank believes that his grandfather’s legacy has influenced his own journey as a musician.
Frank brothers are on display at the Fullerton Museum Center in “Punk OC” punk band youth Alfie Agnew – From Suburban Streets. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“My mother would obviously say, ‘Your Grandpa Alfonso was a drummer and he was the best drummer,'” Frank said. “And he had a reputation for being like one of the best drummers throughout Mexico, so it was really exciting because she showed us a photo of him with his drum kit, which was like, ‘Oh, Grandpa was in the band, we can do that too.”
The brothers were at the top of the show while filming the documentary, but in 2020 they reverted the project and ended up finishing with the crew, resulting in some difficulties. First, the Covid-19 pandemic has grounded all operations, especially when the stay-at-home order was implemented in 2020.
“Covid hit this middle so we had to move on to this range that we couldn’t film for a month, then we had to go with people willing to get together and work under restrictions,” Zabara said.
This period also marked the time when Rick, Frank and Alfie’s parents died in old age. First up is his father, Richard Francis Agnew, and only six months later, his mother, Leah Paula Fernandez. Zavala’s father, Gabriel B. Zavala, a well-known Mariachi performer and teacher, passed away in early 2021 from complications of Covid-19.
From left, brothers Alfie and Frank Agnew, a youth from the punk band, will be on display at the Fullerton Museum Center with director Gabriel L. Zavara Jr. in “Punk OC.” (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“It was profound and sad, but that’s what we did because I know he wanted me to fight and finish the documentary,” Zabara said. “We leaned over. In a way, it was also a healing process where we didn’t really need to think about it. We focused on our goal of completing it, whether it was emotional, economic, or skeleton crew.”
Through the difficulties, Zabara was able to successfully complete the documentary for over six years. The brothers said they were grateful and were surprised that everyone found it funny enough to appear in a full-length film.
“I often hear from people how much we influenced what we did and how it was like something positive in their lives. If it’s the only takeaway, I think it’s cool,” Frank said. “Some of the things we did have influenced people in ways like making them happy, moving their legs and ‘Wow, I’m not the only one who feels that way’. And I think that’s great and good.
Get notified when the biggest stories of Hollywood, culture and entertainment are released. Sign up for La Times Entertainment Alerts.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
