Walker meticulously researched this volume through numerous interviews with the musicians, business owners and record producers who were there. He digs deep into old fanzine articles from recent years to nearly 40 years ago, even including a reproduction of the controversial Roach Motel poster that heralded the band and punk's arrival to Gainesville....Walker knows his stuff .Valdosta Daily Times

This weekend, thousands of frat bros will leave the sleepy college town of Gainesville, Florida, while a comparable number of street punks, deep-pocketed music fans, and various riff-raff flood its streets. It's a bizarre Halloween switcheroo that happens because the University of Florida Gators happen to take on their rivals in a recurring out-of-town football game that takes place at the same time as a giant punk rock festival known as the Fest kicks off. The few hours when the jocks and their Southern belle counterparts collide with the influx of train-hoppers is always glorious. Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music, [released this week, ] explores how the place that produced people like Tom Petty, Stephen Stills, and John Vanderslice went on to incubate talents like Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! and Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music. Vice Magazine

A little more punk history will be coming to FEST during its Flea Market that pops up during registration time on Friday. Matt Walker will be set up to debut his book Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music. The Arcadia Publishing website previews the book by saying that Gainesville became a creative hub in the 1980s and '90s for many of punk rock's greats.
Gainesville Sun

The book follows the history of several classic Gainesville bands. Notable mentions include Roach Motel and Spoke. In Gainesville Punk, Walker interviews members from a lot of big acts that got their start in Gainesville. 'I got to interview some people from Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake and Against Me!' Walker said. 'But I also got to talk to a lot of bands who are smaller and currently living in Gainesville. The primary source material for the book was talking directly to musicians.' The Independent Florida Alligator

Matthew Walker doesn't miss a thing with Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and Music.
The book is an all-killer-no-filler telling of how Gainesville, Florida's thriving punk scene grew up and evolved to national prominence over the course of three decades from the early 1980s to the present. theonlyfredsmith.com

The first of its kind, Gainesville Punk: A History of Bands and More by local author Matt Walker, provides an intimate look at the Gainesville punk music scene through the ages. Organized into three parts, the book describes three distinct musical eras. In the first part, Walker describes the origins of the punk scene, with a particular emphasis on bands Roach Motel and Mutley Chix. The other two sections describe revivals of the scene, the evolution of the local sound, and the ascent of Less Than Jake and Against Me! respectively.

Though it is a work of nonfiction, Gainesville Punk reads like a narrative. Compelling storytelling links seemingly every band in the punk scene, describing how they influenced each other and helped establish major record labels, zines, and venues that are still around today. The Florida Basement

Publisher: History Press

Pub date: 2016-11-07

Length: 160 pages