Upstate Films‘ Sonic Wave, its popular Monday night series dedicated to great films about music, will mark the 15th anniversary of one of the most influential documentaries about punk rock with a special screening and discussion of American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980–1986. This acclaimed documentary is based on the 2001 book American Hardcore: A Tribal History, written by Steven Blush, who also directed the film and will attend the screening, which takes place on Monday, June 23, at 7 pm at Upstate Films’ Orpheum Theater, located at 156 Main Street in Saugerties, NY.
Blush’s music cinema classic premiered to great fanfare at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was one of the first films to explore the birth, evolution, and cultural significance of hardcore punk rock. Blush’s film boasts extensive underground footage shot during the movement’s heyday, along with exclusive interviews with early innovators of hardcore punk music from bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, and the Bad Brains.
Upstate Film’s event will be complemented with a post-screening slideshow and talk with Blush at the Inquiring Minds Bookstore at 65 Partition Street in Saugerties. This event will not only enlighten music lovers not about this important film, but also several notable books penned by Blush. These include his 2006 classic, American Hair Metal: Can’t Get Enough, along with his recent trilogy: When Rock Met Disco (2023), When Rock Met Reggae (2024), and the forthcoming When Rock Met Hip-Hop (November 2025). Peter Aaron, a local musician and music journalist who has authored books on The Band, The Ramones, and a forthcoming biography of The Cars’ Rick Ocasek, will serve as host for the Q&A at the screening and the post-event discussions at Inquiring Minds.
Steven Blush got his start in the 1980s promoting hardcore punk rock shows in Washington, DC. He published the award-winning Seconds magazine and served as music critic and editor for the late great Paper magazine, where he became the first writer to cover both rock and hip-hop music. His journalism has appeared in over 25 publications. These include Spin, Details, Interview, The Village Voice, and The Times of London.
Blush is the author of eight books about rock culture and sports, including American Hardcore (2001), American Hair Metal (2007), Lost Rockers (2015), New York Rock (2016), Bustin’ Balls (2020), and the trilogy of When Rock Met Disco (2023), When Rock Met Reggae (2024) and the upcoming When Rock Met Hip Hop (2025). He wrote and produced the theatrically-released, Sundance Film Festival-premiered documentary film American Hardcore (Sony Pictures Classics, 2006) and also released an expanded Second Edition of American Hardcore, which is now available in six languages.
For more information, visit https://www.upstatefilms.org/
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