FOOD

Up the Punks

@505punx Instagram account provides glorious trip down memory lane for Santa Feans of a certain era

BY ALEX DE VORE alex@sfreporter.com

Even before the pandemic shuttered us in our homes, effectively ending live music for over a year, many in Santa Fe would be quick to point out that even the sweetest of shows over the last handful of years have been nothing—no, nothing—compared to the halcyon days of yore. Once upon a time, the punks roamed the Earth, promoting DIY shows at the old Railyard space, Warehouse 21, private residences, Rockin’ Rollers and anyplace else electricity could reach. We’re talking the 1990s and early aughts, buds, and it was everything.

Certainly this is said with rose-colored glasses—though I was there for much of these goings-on and can confirm it was basically nonstop good times—but with the new instagram account @505punx, all those memories can come flooding back through a fledgling but growing and evolving archive of community-driven content. And honestly? It’s excellent.

The project is helmed by an anonymous former Santa Fean. Suffice to say I sleuthed out who’s behind the page (and others might, too), but they prefer to be unknown so the page can be about community rather than one person’s contributions. Usually, I’d insist a subject go on the record with their name, but in this instance, our anonymous admin makes a strong case:

“It’s not about me,” they tell SFR. “It’s us. It’s ours.”

The whole thing begins with the @punkhouseoakland Instagram account, another scene retrospective page wherein Bay Area punk history comes to life through myriad photos.

“I was looking at that and figured, I have quite a few photos—why doesn’t New Mexico have this?” the @505punx admin says. “New Mexico, in the late ’90s, had one of the best scenes in the country. So it’s fun, it’s weird and it’s a little sad—a lot of these people are gone—but I’m also getting so many submissions I can’t keep up.”

Some of those submissions have come from Jasper Schriber, a former Santa Fean living in New York City (who, full disclosure, played bass in my wildly mediocre punk band when I was a teen) who found a whole stack of photos from Warehouse 21 shows during a recent move.

“It’s cool to share those with people, and for [@505punx] to put them out there,” he says. “Plus the pictures I hadn’t seen, but with people I know—or pictures of shows I went to, but maybe I was on a different side of the room….It’s like experiencing this stuff again for the first time.”

Javier Romero, formerly of indie band Mistletoe and today the driving force behind the project Strange Magic, has similar feelings.

“I’ve never considered myself ‘punk,’ but seeing all the friendly and familiar faces makes me happy to have been strongly punk-adjacent and part of an awesomely inclusive and fun scene,” he says.

“Despite my being affiliated with ‘out’ music, the punk scene of the ’90s in New Mexico was my incubation,” says Carlos Santistevan of High Mayhem Emerging Arts. “The interesting thing is that now, everyone has a camera in their back pocket. Back then, no one thought about bringing a camera with them. Seeing these photos really makes me realize how well cellphones allow historical documentation of a scene.”

Musician and former Santa Fean Sonny Reinhardt (son of Warehouse 21 founder Ana Gallegos y Reinhardt, and today a member of Bay Area metal band Necrot) has submitted numerous photos as well.

“A lot of my closest friends are appearing on @505punx, and unfortunately a lot of them have passed away, so it’s a mix of joy and sadness,” he tells SFR. “Add in seeing pictures of good/bad times, exes, friends who used to be friends and just all-around missing those times of giving way less of a shit is bringing many different feelings— but ultimately it’s been a really great window into the past. I know there’s a ton of old photos waiting to be unearthed, and it’s been super cool that it’s growing more and more.”

If the curator behind @505punx gets their way, submissions will keep rolling in and a more fleshed-out product might soon become available. If they can secure funding, they say, they’d like to create a book. Would such a book have legs outside the immediate Santa Fe community? Schriber says it would.

“I would read a book about a smalltown punk scene that wasn’t one I grew up in,” he says. “I think that in the same way these scenes can all feel the same, they’re all so very different. It’s people who don’t belong finding a place to belong, and that’s such an inspiring place to be. That’s what I love about punk music.”

“I also hope this doesn’t become just a historical site, but is a living page that maybe can help resurrect the incredible scene and enthusiasm that existed back then,” Santistevan says. “The closest thing I see currently is the metal scene now, but I hope we can see that same energy when live music returns.”

For now, @505punx is on the lookout for any photos or fliers from the height of Santa Fe punk culture. Scour your basements, bug your friends and check in on your long-dormant social media accounts, just in case. “I’m growing a pretty decent archive of the scene,” says our mystery admin. “I have enough content to keep it going for a little while, but it will only grow as long as we contribute.”

COURTESY @505PUNX

New Mexico punks through the ages, including yours truly in the photo to the right (I’m second from left), abound at @505punx on Instagram.

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