About living in 80s LA you said: "Gangs were fist fighting and then they had automatic weapons. When cocaine was introduced, everything got way more militarized and crazy on the streets. You had to maneuver to get through it all. I think being into punk rock and skateboarding and being in a band kept us out of trouble". Are things changing now? Which positive and negative stuff in current LA life/culture do you see? Is the punk/metal/skate scene still alternative to urban madness?
I was describing the late 80's early 90's there, we're pretty far removed from that era. There's a lot more homelessness and drug abuse on the streets these days, throughout Los Angeles. Still need to maneuver around all of that. As far as all of the scenes that you mentioned, they seem to be all thriving. There's a lot of shows, different genres, etc. I don't really check for streetwear anymore or keep track of what's going on with that. It's cool to see how far skateboarding has progressed, I do check for that when I can.