Rockin’ the suburbs

Paul Saitowitz

Mark Adkins is no stranger to sweat-drenched rooms filled to capacity

with teenagers launching gobs of saliva in his direction. In fact he

wouldn’t have it any other way.

The rambunctious front-man for Huntington Beach veteran punk act

Guttermouth has had loogies from all over the world adorn his stage

attire. Offstage the duplicity of his persona awakens images of Dr.

Jekyll and his infamous alter-ego.

In 1995 the singer was charged for inciting a riot during a 30-band

punk show at the Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore. It turns out Guttermouth

was one of the final acts of the day at the affair, which was laden with

rows of bolted seats -- something punk-rock crowds are not akin to.

“By the time we took the stage the kids were restless and they started

ripping the chairs out of the ground,” Adkins said. “The police tried to

falsely charge me with an a assault with a deadly weapons charge, when we

showed them the video of the show they admitted to trumping up the

charge.”

Guttermouth officially formed out of the laments of teen angst in 1989

in La Habra. While most of their high school classmates were enthralled

with school spirit and sports, its members were thinking of ways to ditch

class and get alcohol.

“We just weren’t apart of that scene at all,” Adkins said. “As soon as

we graduated we realized we had to get out of there and we headed for

Huntington Beach.”

From there the band took to playing backyard parties and any other gig

it could get its hands on. One of it’s first DIY -- do it yourself --

shows was playing the courtyard of the Huntington Beach apartment complex

Adkins was living in on the Fourth of July.

From there the band put out a few seven-inch records on various

independent labels and then released it’s first album aptly titled “Full

Length” on the Dr. Strange imprint. The album, which contains the

still-heavily requested “Mr. Barbecue,” is one of the band’s top selling

records.

Relentless touring with acts such as the Offspring and Bad Religion

gave the band a lot of exposure around the world, and it eventually moved

on to Nitro Records -- the label owned by the Offspring front-man Dexter

Holland -- for its next six releases.

“Dexter and the Offspring have done so much for us as a band, when we

were starting out we both used to play tiny clubs in front of 40 people

together,” Adkins said. “When they eventually broke they really did

whatever they could to help us along.”

Later this year Guttermouth will embark on it’s eighth tour of

Australia, the group canceled a fall European tour because of the attacks

on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Of the bands five members -- Jamie Nunn bass, Derek Davis guitar,

Scott Sheleon guitar and Bill Smith drums -- Adkins is the only one still

single.

“The best part about being in a band is that we have been able to see

the entire world, but at the same time being on the road can be rough,”

Adkins said. “You just don’t get any sort of normalcy, and being away

from family and friends can be a drag.”

The group’s most recent release, “Covered with Ants,” is it’s first on

indie powerhouse Epitaph Records -- NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise.

While regular radio rotation and exposure to a greater audience have

been advantages of going to a bigger label, the band has received some

flack from die-hard fans.

“It’s just the next logical progression for us, we were getting

stagnant as a band and we needed to make a change,” Adkins said. “The

change has re-energized us and hopefully we’ll be able to keep doing this

for a while longer.”

Guttermouth will headline the Glasshouse in Pomona on Dec. 30 and 31.