A musical and cultural celebration of the South Bay’s punk roots with participation from members of legendary bands like Pennywise, The Minutemen, X and others is coming to Hermosa Beach during a new two-day city-wide festival.
The inaugural South By South Bay festival is set to take place at several venues in the beachside city Feb. 7-8. It will feature live music, film, poetry readings, photo shows, art exhibitions and panel discussions.
“This area has a musical history that compares to Seattle and other really big towns. So many massively influential music came out of this whole area and we thought it was kind of criminal that most people don’t know about it. So this is an attempt to champion what’s happened in the past, but also that there’s a future,” said Larry Little, co-owner and music director of music venue Saint Rocke, which will host many of the events alongside Studio Hermosa. Other venues will be announced at a later date.
Inspired by the much larger South by Southwest festival in Austin Texas, the new festival adds another key local event meant to celebrate the area’s musical spirit. It joins the more established BeachLife Festival, which was launched in 2019 and brings dozens of famous acts to Redondo Beach every spring.
South By South Bay kicks off with a screening of the documentary “Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story” at Saint Rocke. It will include a Q&A with Director Andrew Reich and brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald of Redd Kross. The screening will be followed by a performance from the Hawthorne-born band, which formed in 1979.
Little hopes the first day event, with band members interacting with the audience, sets the right tone for the festival.
“In the world of Coachellas and huge festivals this is the opposite. It’s DIY like punk rock itself. The separation of your heroes on stage and people in the audience is minimal,” he said.
The next day is about art, culture and history and starts off with poetry from some of punk music’s biggest stars with readings by Exene Cervenka of X, Jim Lindberg of Pennywise and Mike Watt of The Minutemen at Studio Hermosa.
“It’s curated by Exene, and it’s amazing just to have her there as a poet,” Little said.
That will be followed by music panels and discussions at Saint Rocke touching on things like South Bay punk music history and insider topics like how to book flights when going on tour. Moderators and panelists for these discussions feature a who’s who list of punk music including Don Bolles of The Germs, Keith Morris of Black Flag and Circle Jerks, Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise, plus Watt, Lindberg and Kevin Lyman, the founder of the Vans Warped Tour.
But of course the day will end with music with a performance by Venice Beach alt punk band Strawberry Fuzz. And while the inaugural event is much smaller than South by Southwest and BeachLife, Little hopes to steadily grow South By South Bay over the years.
“We started small this year but we hope to do it every year and expand as each year passes,” he said.
South By South Bay
When: Various times Feb.7-8
Where: Saint Rocke, 142 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach; Studio Hermosa, 636 Cypress Ave., Hermosa Beach; and other venues to be announced
Tickets: Various events are free. Tickets for live shows start at $24.95 at saintrocke.com