The Slim Shady of punk

Kelly English’s big-bang moment happened at age 12.

“My dad was the high school marching band director. I had the sax, trumpet, and French horn shoved down my throat. In sixth grade I heard ‘Bodies,’ by the Sex Pistols. Overnight I became engulfed in punk rock.”

His teen years were dedicated to the Orange County punk scene of the early ’80s.

“I spent every weekend at the Concert Factory [Costa Mesa] and Skateway [Santa Ana] seeing Fear, the Circle Jerks, TSOL, and Black Flag.”

Singer/guitarist English lived the life of a hardcore punker who turned his experiences about “flipping over cop cars, full-scale riots,” and stints in juvenile hall into lyrics for his band Long Tall Sally. “They called me Kelly English because I was the Slim Shady of punk. Eventually, I legally changed my last name to English.”

Based in San Marcos, English now fronts the Infidelz. Because opportunities for local punk bands are scarce, English decided to become a promoter and hire big-name headliners so the Infidelz could get opening band breaks at venues in San Diego and Orange County. “In the short time we’ve been together, we’ve opened for the Cadillac Tramps, Guttermouth, Rat City Riot, D.I., and the Dickies.”

He rages against the concert business that he says is smothering the music he loves, claiming agents are nothing but greedy gatekeepers with a stranglehold on bands.

“Agents want top dollar and then they want more. You have to give them a guarantee, then they want 85 percent of everything over your expenses on top of that.”

English says he covered about half of the $2000 guarantee for the Dickies he promoted at Brick by Brick in July.

“It seems like San Diego is not a friendly atmosphere for punk rock,” says English. He says the 21-and-up venues in Orange County seem to get better turnouts. “If we could have gotten the younger crowd in for the Dickies, we would have done much better.”

Still, he’s not giving up.

“I’m 46, and this is probably my last band, but I want it to last as long as I live. We go into the studio in November. I’ll be promoting again after the first of the year.”

The Infidelz appear Saturday at Pier View Pub in Oceanside.