The Death of Local Music Series

THE DEATH
OF LOCAL MUSIC

THE ARIZONA MUSIC HISTORY ARCHIVE
Preserving the bands, musicians, venues, recordings, flyers, photographs and firsthand stories that built Arizona music history across every generation, every scene and every volume of The Death of Local Music.
Richard N. Ornelas
aka Reverend Black Jack McBride
Author · Arizona Music History Archive
Try: RUKKUS · Mason Jar · Small Paul · Surgical Steel
SMOKE WAGON PRODUCTIONS · PHOENIX, ARIZONA · KEEP LOCAL MUSIC ALIVE
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Voices of the Scene — Interviews Archive

The Arizona Music History Archive

Voices of the Scene

The Interviews Archive
The books are being built from the voices of the people who were actually there. Musicians, photographers, promoters, engineers, managers, club workers, friends and fans all remember different pieces of the same history. This page is the public doorway into those conversations.
Firsthand Oral Histories · Published Profiles · Interviews in Development
The Oral-History Method

Memory Matters — And So Does Accuracy

The Arizona music scene was never documented in one place while it was happening. Much of the history survives in personal memory, old photographs, flyers, cassettes, newspaper clippings, recordings and the stories people still tell decades later. That makes firsthand interviews one of the most important parts of this archive.

Memory is also imperfect. Two people can remember the same night differently, dates can drift, and lineups can become blurred when bands changed members quickly. The archive does not erase those differences just to make the story look cleaner.

Firsthand Means Firsthand When someone tells their own story, it is preserved as their recollection rather than quietly rewritten into an unsupported fact.
Evidence Strengthens Memory Flyers, cassettes, photographs, press clippings, recordings and dated documents are used to lock down facts whenever possible.
Conflicts Stay Visible If two people remember something differently and the evidence does not settle it, the archive would rather preserve both memories honestly than invent certainty.
Corrections Are Welcome Names, spellings, dates, venues and lineups can be corrected when better firsthand evidence or surviving documentation appears.
Public Interview-Based Profiles

Voices Already in the Archive

These public profiles were built from firsthand interviews and oral-history material. They are intentionally not full transcripts. Each page gives enough history to establish why the person or band matters while preserving the deeper chronology, stories and interview material for the books.

Interviews Still Being Built

The Conversations Are Not Finished

Some histories are still being interviewed, reconstructed or checked against surviving material. They are listed here so visitors understand that the archive is active and the story is still growing.

Sacrificial Death / Scapegoat A long firsthand oral history covering Sacrificial Death, Scapegoat, Doc Martinez, CrankBait, recordings, lineup changes, flyers, venues and surviving tapes. Interview in Progress
Phoenix Romero Ongoing history involving management, television, scene promotion, FeMetal TV and other Arizona music-industry work. Follow-Up Interview Pending
Ken Rodarte Troll, Downhill Trend and the Arizona heavy-music history surrounding those projects are being preserved from firsthand recollection. History Collected
Lee Jackson Bad Axx, Living Dolls and the early Phoenix scene form an important bridge between the late 1970s and the explosion that followed. Book History in Development
Scapegoat Timeline Reconstruction Cornerstone 1992, Ragged Tiger Studios, lineup changes and later name changes are being checked against flyers, press and surviving recordings. Evidence Being Compared
More Interviews Coming Musicians, photographers, promoters, engineers, venue workers and fans from every era are still being contacted for the archive. Archive Open
The Website and the Books

Website = The Doorway. Book = The Complete Conversation.

The website is not meant to publish every transcript or every story. It is meant to establish the history, introduce the people and give readers enough to understand why each voice belongs in the archive.

What the Books Keep

Fuller chronology, longer stories, complete interviews, difficult memories, wild anecdotes, archival discoveries and the connections between people that only become clear when the entire history is read together.

Were You There?

Your Voice May Be the Missing Piece

If you were part of Arizona local music and have firsthand history to share, the archive wants to hear from you. You do not have to remember every date. Start with what you know, and surviving flyers, photos, recordings and other people can help rebuild the rest.

Useful interview information includes:
  • Your name and role in the Arizona music scene
  • Bands, venues, promoters or projects you were connected to
  • Approximate years
  • People you worked or played with
  • Recordings, demos, shows and venues you remember
  • Photographs, flyers, cassettes, passes or press material you still have
  • Corrections to history already published on the site