On a Saturday night, as families across Orange County settled into bed, the local punk rock band Forlokos played at a DIY concert behind a Buena Park Wells Fargo. 

The show, headlined by well-known local band the Degenerates, was shut down less than an hour after it began. I only just got to hear Forlokos’ lead singer, who wished to remain anonymous, decry former President Ronald Reagan at a crowd of dancing teens before a law enforcement officer ordered the group to disperse. While seemingly random, these pop-up gatherings are common within Orange County’s swiftly-growing hardcore punk music scene. 

Pioneered by SoCal bands like The Descendents in the late 1970s and True Sounds of Liberty (T.S.O.L) in the early 1980s, hardcore punk rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by its aggressive speed, stripped-down production style, and general disavowal of the established music industry. Over the years, these bands have maintained a dedicated young listener base.

 “It’s like the voice of the youth,” explained Chris Gronowski, a co-owner of Fullerton’s premiere punk rock venue, Programme Skate and Sound, “College and high school students today hear the older music and are like, ‘Wow, this still reaches me in the same way.’” Although artists of generations past remain popular among fans of the genre, it is the bands of today that will continue to introduce new listeners to the world of hardcore punk rock. This week, I chatted with two local bands that are keeping hardcore punk alive in Orange County. 

When listening to recordings of Garden Grove-based hard rock group NoiseGate, borrowed elements of 70s and 80s hardcore music are impossible to ignore. “My style, if you listen to it, it’s just literally the first T.S.O.L record,” joked the band’s drummer Thomas Wold, referring to T.S.O.L’s 1982 EP “Weathered Statues,” “I’m not that technical, I’m not that good. I just play fast, play hard, and that’s what makes the room move.” 

Wold, along with bassist and vocalist Ozzy Flores and vocalist and guitarist Eric Blay, formed NoiseGate earlier this year after meeting through mutual friends. “It was just like, ‘Dude, come hang out and let’s record bands.’” Blay reflected, “And then we bonded over music. And then it became like, ‘Oh wait, we could do something here.’” 

Since their first show on April 27, NoiseGate has played at venues across OC, attracting enthusiastic listeners of all ages. “[DIY shows] are our favorite,” Wold told me excitedly, “I think about this one we played every f– day. Like, I don’t play a lot of shows where the people actually, like, really like you, dude. We were playing, and [the crowd] was like, louder than Eric.”

 Whether they take place in parking lots, skate parks, or backyards, these do-it-yourself (DIY) concerts have been a fixture in OC’s hardcore punk scene since its inception. For more insight on this enduring practice, I turned to Seal Beach-based rock band The Chapel. “We prefer [to play at], I would say, a house party. We love to get a little rowdy,” guitarist Gino explained, “We have a closet full of broken mics.” 

The 10-month-old band shares drummer Thomas Wold with NoiseGate. “At our second show at FTG, the owner was just yelling at us from the crow’s nest,” Wold recalled, referencing the recently closed Santa Ana live music venue Find The Good Productions (FTG), “We play rock n’ roll music, y’know, and that scares people.” 

Despite its seemingly aggressive nature, hardcore punk music continues to attract a supportive community of listeners from across the country. “You gotta be there to understand it,” the band’s bassist, Parker, insisted, “From the outside, it might seem silly or scary, but, I mean, when you’re in there it’s completely different.”