Gary Floyd deserves major credit, not just for being such a talented artist but for being an openly gay front person of a punk band in Texas in the late seventies/early eighties. And this he boldly did as the powerhouse vocalist for legendary hardcore punk band The Dicks, the self-described "commie faggot" blues-derived, hardcore punk band who released their brilliant, rage-fueled first single, "Dicks Hate the Police," in 1980 on (fellow Austin punks) MDC's R Radical record label. This song, which many later learned via Mudhoney's cover version or (Gary's next band) Sister Double Happiness performing it, is a timeless punk classic (see lyrics below) and is currently available on The Dicks 1980-1986 on Alternative Tentacles. After the Dicks' demise, the tireless Gary Floyd, who has lived in San Francisco for the past 25 years, went on to form Sister Double Happiness, Black Kali Ma, the Gary Floyd Band, Hard Ride and currently, the raw blues/country Gary Floyd and the Buddha Brothers. Last week the Buddha Brothers performed at the Make Out Room in San Francisco on a bill with Penelope Houston, who sings on one their songs ("Take it Like A Man") and who joined them onstage. This week and next week Gary will be in the studio with the Buddha Brothers recording new tracks. Last week on my radio show on WFMU I had the opportunity to catch up with Gary, who in addition to music also paints, to talk about Austin, being queer, and how the formation of the Dicks was based on a lot drinking and telling lies.
GARY FLOYD: I started putting up posters around town (Austin) saying that The Dicks are playing and I would make up club names. So it was just a poster band. It was a lie. So I put up these things saying The Dicks are playing. And people would say "Oh you're in The Dicks?" And I would say 'Yeah' and they would lie to me and say 'Oh I've seen The Dicks' and I would look at them and think (laughs) 'You're a bigger liar than I am!' And then I met Buxf (Parrot) and Glen (Taylor) one night and they wanted to be in a band. And then we got Pat (Deason) and we started The Dicks. It was all started with a lot of drinking and a lot of lying.
