In Conversation: On A Punkhouse in the Deep South: The Oral History of 309

Author, visual artist, and musician Joey Seeman was born and raised in Miami. After his metal years in high school, he was introduced to the local punk rock scene in 1984. He played in local bands, most notably with Naughty Puritans, before moving from music to painting and settling in South Beach in the early ’90s. With co-writer Chris Potash, he has been working on Highs in the 80’s, an account of the South Florida punk/new wave scene during its birth in the 1980s.

Scott Satterwhite is a historian, writer, educator, and nine-year resident of 309. He writes for the IN Weekly and edits the zine Mylxine, which he started in 1995, and has contributed to several publications, including Cometbus, Florida Historical Quarterly, Literature Compass, and Maximum RockandRoll. The co-founder of the End of the Line Café and the Open Books Prison Book Project, Satterwhite was also in the band Tender Cobra. A Punkhouse in the Deep South: The Oral History of 309 (University Press of Florida), co-written with Aaron Cometbus, tells the improbable story of the house at 309 6th Avenue that became a crossroads for punk rock, activism, veganism, and queer culture in Pensacola, a Gulf Coast city at the border of Florida and Alabama. In the book, residents of 309 narrate the colorful and often comical details of communal life in the crowded and dilapidated house over its 30-year existence. The stories include playing in bands, operating local businesses such as the café, forming feminist support groups, and creating zines and art. Together, these participants, and their memories, show that punk is more than a musical genre or an emblem of teenage rebellion.

Valerie George is a visual artist, drummer, DIY recording artist, and the arts editor for Panhandler Magazine. An active member of the Pensacola punk community since the early 1990s, George is part of the 309 Punk Project. In A Punkhouse in the Deep South: The Oral History of 309 (University Press of Florida) – co-written by her partner, Scott Satterwhite, and Aaron Cometbus – residents of 309 narrate the colorful and often comical details of communal life in the crowded and dilapidated house over its 30-year existence. The stories include playing in bands, operating local businesses such as End of the Line Café, forming feminist support groups, and creating zines and art. Together, these participants, and their memories, show that punk is more than a musical genre or an emblem of teenage rebellion.

Social worker and suicide prevention counselor Lauren Anzaldo will join a discussion of A Punkhouse in the Deep South: The Oral History of 309 (University Press of Florida). Co-authored by Scott Satterwhite – Anzaldo’s partner – and Aaron Cometbus, the book tells the improbable story of the house at 309 6th Avenue that became a crossroads for punk rock, activism, veganism, and queer culture in Pensacola, a Gulf Coast city at the border of Florida and Alabama. In the book, residents of 309 narrate the colorful and often comical details of communal life in the crowded and dilapidated house over its 30-year existence. The stories include playing in bands, operating local businesses such as the café, forming feminist support groups, and creating zines and art. Together, these participants, and their memories, show that punk is more than a musical genre or an emblem of teenage rebellion.