You may think to be truly punk rock you have to hail from London or New York? But you might be surprised if I told you that Oslo Norway was were it’s actually happening!

Turbonegro has been living the punk rock drama for the past 20 years. When speaking with Happy Tom this weekend I likened them to the Andy Warhol’s of the punk rock scene. He wasn’t especially impressed with my comparison. He said,”That’s terrible, didn’t he get shot”. But my point, and I did have one, was that Warhol really paid attention to popular culture, took the opinion and vices of the day and served it right back to the Richies all the while mocking their moral high ground. In essence Turbonegro has been paying attention to the most ridiculous trends in rock culture and then serving it right back to the world, only suped up, fast, hard, and totally rock.  As Happy Tom says, “We started off as a parody, and ended up a revolution”.

Sitting outside Turbo’s trailer at Coachella I had a lovely conversation with singer Hank Von Helvete and Happy Tom. Speaking of their origins in the very small and very cold city of Oslo. Hank painted a lovely picture of how all they do all day is lay about like centerfold models on Polar Bear rugs sipping wine in their tighty whities. And you know, I could kind of see that being true, they are just twisted enough to live like that, laughing all the while. With a band named to evoke, “a large, well-equipped, armed, black male in a fast car out for vengence” how could you not laugh too. The music they make may be some of the most honest rock n roll out there today. Their last release in 2007, Retox is no exception. Nevermind the sailor suit and the cape, these guys aren’t afraid to express themselves thats for damn sure.

They had been asked to play the Coachella festival 4 times over the past decade but for various reasons they weren’t able to indulge until now. Mostly they were excited to see some of the other bands on the bill, especially Mastodon, who they have a fondness for like proud pappas.

Turbonegro – All My Friends Are Dead

If you missed Turbonegro in Indio California, then you really missed them. They are heading home for some European festivals and then doing what they do best…returning to the bear skin rug. Alas, punk is not dead!

Words by Barbie Brady, Photos by Fever Dragon

Global Inheritance’s exhibits are pretty much an expected staple each year at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. For the past 6 years (out of the 10 that Coachella has been running) G.I. has had a presence, and hopefully has made an impact on its viewers. Dedicated to making activism hip for the next generation to embrace, this non-profit didn’t disappoint.

This year they showed their creativity with the 18 & Up exhibit. 18 & Up being a tongue in cheek reference to golf of course, as they took 7 re-claimed golf carts and re-engineered them to run on alternative forms of energy. Various artists then suped them up paying homage to performers who were in some way involved with this years line up.

One of the most successful carts was the one pictured above dedicated to Amy Winehouse, who was slated to play this year, then wasn’t, then was, then wasn’t for sure. At least her spirit was with us. The Hollywood based design firm, Eyerus executed this Ethanol run Rehabulance with an amazing degree of attention to detail. The Amy mannequin had near perfect replica tattoos, the upholstery was custom printed fabric, and the engine appeared to run on ethanol delivered by Jack Daniel looking bottles with custom Amy Winehouse Ethanol labels.

The other carts were no jokes either. The Turbonegro wind- powered cart was covered in dark denim, a long standing element of the band. Franz Ferdinand was represented in plaid.  Sir Paul McCartney was represented by a fun solar powered yellow submarine motif.  And M.I.A.’s cart was powered by paper planes…..no wait, that’s not right, it was solar as well.

G.I. also had a tent in the V.I.P. area that provided information on their initiatives. It contained a bike that provided a bit of a science experiment as in, how much power does it take to generate light?  I jumped on and have to tell you, its a LOT and should not be taken for granted.  They also had an exhibit of the cutest mini-re-cycle bins that various artists had transformed into artful reminders to recycle, a few of which they raffled off each day.

Words by Barbie Brady, photos by Matt Brady