When punk erupted in the nation's capital in the late 1970's, it was a mighty inter-generational convergence of powerful music, friendships, uncompromising wills and clear minds. The sounds and people that emerged from those early years of punk/hardcore-punk continue to influence and inspire around the world. Created over the span of a decade, this documentary is an in-depth exploration of that seminal time (circa 1977 to 1984).
A legendary DC artist’s collective named Madam's Organ looms large in our film, as a real and metaphorical ‘free space’ where so many great bands got their foothold from 1979-1980. It was a place where world views were formed, generations and musical genres mixed, and which the punks eventually took over as ground zero for DC’s hardcore-punk explosion. From the perspective of this family-sized row house, this film dives back into an array of local area bands of the late 1970’s (Slickee Boys, Urban Verbs...) and forward into the growth of DC’s hardcore punk scene of the early 80’s (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Market Baby...).
