Rikk Agnew is a household name amongst various circles within the underground. As the primary songwriter of Christian Death's seminal 1982 album, "Only Theatre Of Pain", Agnew became championed as an early pioneer of American goth. Others may have praised him for his work as a founding member of the bands The Adolescents and D.I., playing on the Adolescents 1981 self-titled album and the "Horse Bites, Dog Cries" and "Ancient Artifacts" albums by D.I.

Rikk Agnew was a master of mystique who projected an aura of eccentricity and eeriness. This ensured his personal mark was left on whatever that he touched, regardless of niche or subgenre. The signature Agnew Sound was unmistakably "his own" and no one else's.

While all of his bands and albums are deserving of their place within the pantheon of punk rock, the common thread of blunt brilliance only became glaringly apparent to some upon the release of Rikk's solo album from 1982, entitled "All By Myself".

The album was recorded after Agnew was kicked out of The Adolescents. All songs were written and all instruments were performed by Rikk. It is a transcendent display of the musical personification of the feeling of being ostracized. The album's dark and introspective lyrics convey a sense of true loneliness, and are matched by an equally unhinged sound. Yes, it's punk that still sounds like The Adolescents, but there's something desperate, emotional, and vindictive toward the world which has cast him to the shadows. The album is a gateway into Rikk's world in a way in which few other punk records invite the listener so intimately into the psyche of the songwriter.

At the time, solo records by punk records were considered taboo. It is a great credit to Frontier Records that they had the foresight to see what a unique album this is and make sure that it was properly released and then kept in print all these years.

We had the pleasure to speak with Rikk regarding the album, the writing process, his time in the Adolescents and Christian Death, and more. He was candid and dropped a few tidbits that will be sure to excite fans. Read on for the story behind Rikk's "All By Myself" album.

In a past interview, you said about half the songs for "All By Myself" were intended for the second Adolescents album? Is this correct?

It is correct. I was kicked out of the band for the first of four (and final) times.

Had you rehearsed or demoed any of the tracks with the Adolescents, and if so, which ones?

Not that I remember. I hung onto the songs as none of them were complete, and I had gut feeling my time was short in the band.

What led to you being asked to leave the Adolescents?

Ego, lack of ambition and self-sabotage, on the rest of the band. I always wanted to be a "Beatle."

How many of the songs from the "Welcome To Reality" EP did you have a hand in writing?

The songs were all written and recorded after I was let go. If you get the 10" version, it has a bonus track called "Richard Hung Himself" (familiar?) which was a collaborative effort sitting around with riffs that Casey was messing with.

Do you think tensions between you and the band played a part in that song being left off the EP?

I have no idea why it was left off the 7" version, good question! It was all after I was gone and working immediately with a new band that excited me called Christian Death. Something new and different. Punk rock was already eating itself and becoming an oxymoron of itself.

How was the idea for a solo album proposed to Lisa Fancher at Frontier Records? Was she immediately interested in the idea? There were few solo punk albums...

I called her and asked her one day if she would release a solo LP of mine. She said yes. The idea came from a friend of mine named Jon Lee who had a record store called Up Another Octave. He was instrumental in helping the OC scene grow. He was killed one day in his store "assassination style." Miffs and saddens me to this day. It's still a mystery why. I told him how I had songs and didn't really know what to do with them. He showed me Alex Gibson's (45 Grave, Suburbia soundtrack) recent solo endeavor where he played everything except drums. He suggested and encouraged me to do the same, but since I was a very good drummer (Detours, etc.), I could truly record a solo record "All By Myself."

How did you record all the songs by yourself? Was it difficult?

I laid down all the drum tracks first, then bass guitar, rhythm guitar, lead and octave guitars, keyboards, lead vocals, backing vocals. Thom Wilson engineered and (with me) produced/mixed. It took three nights total including mixing. I was working a full time job in Santa Ana, was living in Huntington Beach and the studio, Perspective Sound (Adolescents, TSOL, China White, DK's, etc.), was in Sun Valley over an hour away. Worked, drove to the studio to record until it was time to head back to work for three days and nights. No sleep, no drugs, mass amounts of coffee, naps during my work lunch break. I did fall asleep on the mixing board halfway through the mixing process for the last three hours. I did all the tracks in three takes maximum. That's how. Difficult? Not at all. I have songs in my head all the time, complete!

"All By Myself" has a big outsider vibe. Did you feel like an outcast even in the scene full of outcasts? What made you feel that way?

Outcast by choice. I'm not from here. I love everyone and everything, but I can only truly relate to very few.

The lyrics to "Yur 2 Late" seem especially personal and angry. Was it aimed at a certain person or people that you knew, and can you talk about your resentment toward the punk scene attracting some "in-crowd" types at the time?

Autobiographical, like most of the songs. The LP "All By Myself" is a journal of sorts. The same "loadies" that would jump out of their cars and beat up and harass us (myself, Mike Ness, Casey Royer, basically the Kids of the Black Hole) a lot. I would all of a sudden see them at the Cuckoo's Nest or the Starwood with their hair cut short or dyed, have the "anti-fashion" gear on and come up and be like "Hey Rikk, what's happening?" I welcomed them on the outside, as I would rather be peaceful and have fun, but deep inside I never forgot. Let's just say I always kept many eyes open.

Any idea how many copies the album sold initially?

Initially the first one sold is all I know. I never bother with numbers and stats and such. Except if it is sports! I love baseball, hockey, basketball, fútbol, tennis, Jai Alai, The Olympics... especially curling and Australian rules football!

You went from the Adolescents almost straight into Christian Death. Was it a difficult transition or was it pretty easy?

It was very natural, very welcomed, and something I always wanted to do: mix monster movie, haunted house spooky music and look. And I was bitter to the punk scene, so we basically were the antithesis of punk: long hair, makeup and jewelry, fancy dapper clothing, cross dressing, acting and being gay, slow dark tunes. The lot. It was a refreshing transition. Punk was becoming accepted and losing it's bite, so time to stir the pot and rile the masses, even in our own scene. Keep the ball rolling, one step ahead of the lot!

Some songs on "Only Theatre of Pain" such as "Romeo's Distress" sound very similar to what you'd written for the Adolescents. Was there any overlap or reuse of material from the Adolescents in Christian Death?

"Romeo's Distress" in it's rough lyricless form was going to be one of those songs like what you said [an Adolescents track]. It's the octave "Rikk Agnew" guitar thing that is my key signature sound. Not to be boastful, but It has been used and influenced a plethora of bands up till today.

On your split with Symbol Six from 2015, you covered the song "Cosmetic Plague" by Rudimentary Peni. Were Peni a band you were listening to at the time you were writing "All By Myself," and did you relate to Nick Blinko's outsider perspective?

I had heard the name but never the music. I like some Crass for it's rawness, abrasiveness (Flipper is one of my top 5 favorite bands of all time, so...). Everything else under the Crass flag I never heard. I was hanging with some young punks my daughter's age in 2010-12 and my friend/protégé Emmita sent me a YouTube link for "Cosmetic Plague," and it knocked me outta my Doc Martens and struck a nerve of excitement. The first thing I thought was "I'm gonna cover this fukker one day." There you go. The flip side, "Screaming Fist" by the Viletones, was I believe the first Canadian punk release, before DOA or anyone from the Great Northwest. Two chords, minimal lyrics, balls to the wall. When The Detours (my first official punk band I played in from La Habra, California), we got the 45 and it changed our (and the entire OC scene's) lives. We loved the Damned, still do, Buzzcocks, Pistols, Ramones, etc., but this was no frills PUNK MOTHERTFUKKING ROKK! We always covered it, so it was time to pay homage. We connected with the guitarist, Freddie Pompeii in the 2010s via Facebook, and gushed to him what fanboys we were for them. He was a solid down to earth punker till the end, another viktim of the big "C" and wrote him until he passed. It was a sad, dark day for us. Nick Blinko is insane in the truest sense. I'm krazee and proud of it, but Nick is straight up bats in the belfry. I like that. I like insane people. I respect and admire them. I was lukky enough to befriend such characters like El Duce of the Mentors, GG Allin, Edwin Borscheim of Kettle Cadaver just to name a few.

Thank you Negative Insight for giving me the opportunity to answer some questions.

This interview was made possible through the help of the good folks at Destroy Art Inc. Check out their website for some features on some of the best known punk artists and much more at:

www.destroyartinc.bigcartel.com

The Rikk Agnew Band website can be viewed at www.rikkagnewband.com

Check out the Frontier Records website at

www.frontierrecords.com

Live photo is of Rikk Agnew performing with the Adolescents in 1988 ("Balboa Fun*Zone" era) at an unknown venue. Photo by Christian Fuhrer with permission to print from Rikk Agnew

Record photos featured here are from the collections of Dave Brown (the mastermind behind some of the best modern HC bands including Misanthropic Minds, Mad Men, and Deaf Mutations) and Negative Insight staff

All By Myself: An Interview with Rikk Agnew