The Devil's Music 45: Patrick O’Neil

Patrick O’Neil is a prolific author and talented writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications: Juxtapoz, Salon, The Fix, Decibel and Razorcake. A former heroin addict who lead a bank-robbing ring, he cleaned up, started writing in jail and eventually got an MFA in creative writing. This lead to his memoirs “Gun, Needle, Spoon” and “Hold Up”. He’s also an infamous punk legend who spent the 1980’s working behind the scenes as a roadie and tour manager for several famous bands. His latest memoir is out now on Punk Hostage Press. “Anarchy At The Circle K: On The Road With The Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and...Heroin” has a title that’s self explanatory and the book’s a terrific read. In this episode, Patrick and hostess Pleasant Gehman compare notes on the early 1980’s California punk scene and swap insane cross-country touring stories. Patrick’s experienced everything getting kicked off the Lollapalooza tour and stranded at truck stops in Wyoming or lots at Dead Kennedys concerts to drug deals gone wrong and more. You’ll also hear a few tales from his bank robbing days before he was busted by the feds, got sober in prison and turned his life around.

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