About the film
Green Blah! The History of Green Bay Punk Rock is a documentary-in-progress that tells the story of the punk rock and independent music scene of Green Bay, WI and its neighboring communities of Appleton, Oshkosh, Manitowoc, Sturgeon Bay and elsewhere in NE Wisconsin. Green Bay is easily identified as being the home town of the smallest NFL franchise, the Green Bay Packers. It is also home to paper mills, pickle factories and cheese curds. Behind the scenes, Green Bay fostered a punk rock scene that spawned from meager beginnings and had a hard core roster of local punk bands, some with ties to the football team itself!!
Green Bay also developed into a destination point on the map for major touring punk bands: Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, the Decendents, ALL, the Dickies, Toxic Reasons, Agent Orange, Social Distortion, 7 Seconds, Soul Asylum...plus countless other bands.
If you ask the "man-on-the-street " what punk rock is, the obvious answers are plain to see: The Ramones in NYC, the Sex Pistols in the London or Black Flag in LA. But what happens when Punk Rock invades a small, Midwestern city with its former glory years fading in the twilight of the rust belt???
See the cast of characters that shaped and created an independent and vital punk scene from the ground up. See the story of how a DIY punk scene took hold in a small, Midwestern city known as the National Football League’s “Titletown” USA!!!
About us
Green Blah! writer/director James Baker has been a life-long participant in the Green Bay punk rock and alternative music scene for over 30 years as a musician, show promoter, creator of Underdog Fanzine, radio DJ on WGBW in Green Bay, Brown County employee, and local skateboard shop owner for over 15+ years. James was a key promoter in Green Bay booking the largest punk shows of the time: 7 Seconds, Social Distortion, Fugazi, The Descendents, ALL, Green Day and Danzig, just to name a few. James has been a singer for the bands: AxBxMx, Withdraw, Rosary and currently handling the duties in Perfume.
Green Blah writer/director Chris Pretti has also been a participant and member of the Green Bay and Milwaukee punk scenes for over 30 years as a musician, and with brief stints on WGBW radio and promoting shows locally. Chris has played bass and guitar for AxBxMx, First Sin, Forbidden Planet, Drop Forge, Skiptracer and Let's Play God.
We are joined in this endeavor by the editing team of Cole Quamme, Dan Boville and Max Hey.
Cole Quamme is a filmmaker and musician that resides in Milwaukee, WI. His main areas of focus are documentary films, music videos, and ad work.
Dan Boville is a multimedia artist based in Milwaukee, WI. His artwork is laid in a foundation of illustration and painting, and is educated in video production.
Max Hey currently studies film and animation at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and works as a freelance editor on the side. He has directed music videos for various bands and acts around Milwaukee including Soul Low, Phantom and Half.