Or, more about me than you’ve ever wanted to know…
I’ve been busy promoting my newest memoir, Anarchy At The Circle K, and the results are there’s a shit ton of interviews on podcasts, print zines, online journals, and even a few radio shows were interested in what I had to say. Basically I just got to talk about me… ad nauseam. My book is, after all, memoir–the only genre where the author get’s critiqued more than their writing.
But hey, that’s the deal, right?
Submitted for your approval, Author Patrick O’Neil, yammering on and on, about himself.
Hope you enjoy.
From the folks at It’s All Bad podcast, “This week we welcome punk rock roadie, tour manager, bank robber turned activist Patrick O’Neil. Patrick tells some tails from touring with the Dead Kennedys & TSOL to robbing bank. Make sure to check out his excellent book, Anarchy at the Circle K on Punk Hostage Press.”
***
Patrick O’Neil – Anarchy At The Circle K – in conversation with David Eastaugh
Anarchy At The Circle K is literally a punk tour-de-force. An in your face gut-wrenching, and at times humorous, tale of Patrick O’Neil’s stint as a roadie, road manager, and drug addict during punk’s heyday of the 1980’s. Crisscrossing the highways of America, on tour with such influential punk bands as Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, and Subhumans. O’Neil writes a brutally honest and no holds barred memoir depicting the sleepless nights behind the wheel, never-ending string of decrepit night clubs, a plethora of ruthless promoters, depressing dressing rooms, copious amounts of cheap beer, clandestine drug buys, riotous crowds, intense violence, inadvertent OD’s, and seedy motel one night stands. This book is an insider’s look at life on the road from back in the day and you’re along for the ride.
***
“Today my guest is a prolific Author, Teacher and Peer Recovery Counselor Patrick O’Neil. I had so much fun talking to Patrick! He is a kind and generous soul with so much wisdom to share. He clearly has done a ton of recovery work and has dedicated his life to helping others to heal.
Patrick shares his recovery story today along with his moment of clarity, the multiple programs he participated in to get and stay sober since 2001. I just know you’re going to appreciate him as much as I do. So with that, please enjoy this episode with Patrick!” — Arlina Allen
***
Interviewed for Razorcake Zine, by Daryl & Todd Taylor
Anarchy At The Circle K: “It’s a book of truths, many of them painful, some of them incredible–all written with a deadpan stare and dry wit. It’s a book where almost no one looks good. In this way, the book is a mirror, an authentic piece of art reflective of a time and place, not a softened-edge elegy, dishonest nostalgic, in the hopes of elevating a myth.”
Use this link to access interview
“Patrick O’Neil” Razorcake #130, September (2022)
This is a large PDF file – allow time to upload
***
Before he became an author, Patrick O’Neil was a bank robber…
“Patrick O’Neil’s new book ‘Anarchy at The Circle K’ – chronicling his life as a tour manager for punk rock bands like The Dead Kennedys – is out now. He is also a teacher and a substance abuse counselor. But before all that — he was a bank robber — responsible for a series of hold ups in the bay area with a gang of guys known as the ‘Men In Black.’
This episode is such a powerful exploration of the slippery slope that is addiction as well as the capricious nature of grace” — Nick Norton
***
Patrick O’Neil is the author of Anarchy At The Circle K: On The Road With Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and… Heroin.
Patrick and I discuss:
Infinite Jest sucks.
Punk rock, Mabuhay Gardens 1979.
Doing time in San Quentin.
Why books should be judged by their covers.
…..And so much more — Tony DuShane
***
Patrick O’Neil is a prolific author and talented writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications: Juxtapoz, Salon, The Fix, Decibel and Razorcake. A former heroin addict who lead a bank-robbing ring, he cleaned up, started writing in jail and eventually got an MFA in creative writing. This lead to his memoirs “Gun, Needle, Spoon” and “Hold Up”. He’s also an infamous punk legend who spent the 1980’s working behind the scenes as a roadie and tour manager for several famous bands. His latest memoir is out now on Punk Hostage Press. “Anarchy At The Circle K: On The Road With Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and…Heroin” has a title that’s self explanatory and the book’s a terrific read. In this episode, Patrick and hostess Pleasant Gehman compare notes on the early 1980’s California punk scene and swap insane cross-country touring stories. Patrick’s experienced everything getting kicked off the Lollapalooza tour and stranded at truck stops in Wyoming or lots at Dead Kennedys concerts to drug deals gone wrong and more. You’ll also hear a few tales from his bank robbing days before he was busted by the feds, got sober in prison and turned his life around.
***
On this episode of Salt Lake Dirt I speak with Patrick O’Neil about his new memoir Anarchy at the Circle K. The book gives his account of touring in the 80s with punk bands like Dead Kennedys and TSOL while trying to maintain an increasingly unmanageable drug addiction.
I first discovered Patrick’s work when I read his memoir Gun Needle Spoon and I completely fell in love with his writing. It was a pleasure getting to meet him and an honor to have him on the podcast.
Thanks for listening!
***
“Patrick O’Neil spent the golden age of American punk rock touring as a roadie and road manager with now-legendary bands Dead Kennedys, Flipper, T.S.O.L., Subhumans, and others. That time—the misadventures on the road, the grime and needs of addiction, and the violence of the punk stage—fills the pages of O’Neil’s new memoir, Anarchy at the Circle K: On the Road with Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and . . . Heroin. This book not only is a jarring and rousing work but also a companion to his previous memoir, Gun, Needle, Spoon, which details the depths of his addiction and how it led to his doing time for bank robbery” — Rob Bowman
***
LINK: Q&A: Patrick O’Neil On His 80s Hardcore Memoir Anarchy At The Circle K
“O’Neil talked to Decibel about writing Anarchy At The Circle K, the early days of hardcore, and life lessons from his years on the road. To get a taste of this book, check out O’Neil’s chapter on the police raid of Alternative Tentacles records during the Frankenchrist era which he graciously shared with us earlier this year” — Justin Norton
***
“Gifted writer, Patrick O’Neil makes a well-deserved return to Life Elsewhere to talk about the latest volume of his memoir, Anarchy At The Circle K. An in your face gut-wrenching, and at times humorous, tale of Patrick’s stint as a roadie, road manager, and drug addict during punk’s heyday of the 1980s. Crisscrossing the highways of America, on tour with such influential punk bands as Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, and Subhumans. O’Neil writes a brutally honest and no holds barred memoir depicting the sleepless nights behind the wheel, never-ending string of decrepit nightclubs, a plethora of ruthless promoters, depressing dressing rooms, copious amounts of cheap beer, clandestine drug buys, riotous crowds, intense violence, inadvertent OD’s, and seedy motel one night stands” — Norman B
***
Holy shit! That’s way more of me than anyone needs.
If you’re still here, thank you. If you’re not, I totally understand.
Either way, if you actually listened, read, and watched all this then there is nothing about me that you don’t know.
My life, as they say, is an open book (or two).
There will be a quiz later.