PUNK Magazine Coffee!

It’s Brewing Right Now!

This is a mockup of the upcoming PUNK Magazine Coffee Bag, which is based on the cover image of PUNK Magazine #17, which was created by Bruce Carleton (PUNK Magazine Art Director Emeritus).

That’s right! The first new PUNK Magazine production of 2025 will be available soon! Let me explain the whole story:

Miss Debra (who worked with me on the “Debtropolis” t-shirt design and last year’s Joey Ramone Birthday Bash Photo and Art exhibition at the Metropolis vintage clothing store) was walking around the neighborhood and saw this new coffee shop located at One East First Street and the Bowery—just a half block away from the original CBGB location and one block south of Joey Ramone Place.

Adios Amigos! LINK: https://www.darkmattercoffee.com/pages/adios-amigos

Inside the shop was a small exhibition displaying dozens of punk and rock photos, as well as wall paintings inspired by punk, hardcore and industrial music images. Debra tracked down the cafe’s owner, Jesse, and he was very interested in showcasing her photos along with some of my artwork. So we had a few more meetings and ended up planning a show to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash! We’re calling it “Don’t Punk Out! Backstage and More!” (Many of Miss Debra’s photos were taken backstage at punk rock events, while “Don’t Punk Out!” Is something Joey Ramone wrote for me when I got their first album cover signed at their first record company signing at FreeBeing Records on Second Avenue near St. Marks Place).

During one of the meetings Jesse mentioned that he had produced some custom coffees for rock bands, so I asked if he would be interested in making PUNK Magazine Coffee: The rest is future history.

PUNK Magazine Coffee will make its debut on May 1st at Adios Amigos coffee shop at the Bowery and First Street, so stop by if you can. It will be available in one pound bags and in single cans. We are also hosting an event on May 19th for the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash, and will close the show on May 31st with a special tribute to Arturo Vega. Stay tuned for details!

The “Debtropolis/Metropolis” t-shirt image.

My contributions will include the Debtropolis design as well as some sketches I made before I figured out the final design, as well as some of the photos we took for reference. Miss Debra will be exhibiting many of the photos from the Metropolis show as well as several more she found in her archives.

By the way, tickets to the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash will go on sale very soon! Check out joeyramone.com for the latest news.

Hope to see you soon!

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COURIER 3 by Ken Avidor

I worked with Ken Avidor on many collaborations: PUNK Magazine, Comical Funnies, STOP! Magazine, Roadkill Magazine, as well as a few exhibitions. He just released another episode in his “Courier” series. Check it out! It’s really great. The drawings are simple, but highly rendered with great detail. His color sense is fantastic and the story is intriguing.

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The Underground Museum Project Is Done

Sad news: Another company put up the deposit for the 9 Bleecker Street building, so it looks like it’s off the market now. My attempt to put together a group to buy it and create a permanent archive of New York City street culture failed.

I would like to thank everyone who pledged: We came close, but no cigar. If not for the terrible economy (believe me, this isn’t not the only project I have been trying to put together that can’t raise enough funding) it would have happened.

I will be sending back all of the pledged donations soon.

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