Link 80 was an American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

band from San Francisco's

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

, United States.

Band history

Link 80 started in the summer 1993 in the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In the beginning, original members (guitarist

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (born February 19, 1978) is an American director, writer, actor, and musician. He is a founding member of the punk band Link 80 and co-creator of the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and Radio Silence Productions, Rad ...

, drummer Joey Bustos, bassist Adam Pereira and singer Jeff Acree) played around the Easy Bay as Drano and The Rag-Tags before settling on Link 80. The name came from the interstate highway

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

which they used to get to the drummer's garage for band practice and connected the band members' homes: members lived in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. In May 1995, Nick Traina joined the band after meeting Adam at a show in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Mission District The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...

. Nick's passion and voice combined with the rest of the band to make them different from most

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

bands and gave Link 80 the "against the rest" attitude they display throughout their lyrics. Far more punk than ska and with an energy and a sense of immediacy lacking in pop-oriented ska bands, Link 80 was able to avoid the clichés of ska-punk characterized by their peers. As

Asian Man Records Asian Man Records is a DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established in May 1996. History Asian Man ...

describes them, they are an energetic blend of

, and hardcore. The band's lyrics, audio samples and album artwork are notable for their diverse use of film and television references including ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'', ''

The Usual Suspects ''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 crime thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite and Kevin S ...

'', '' American Me'', ''

Happy Gilmore ''Happy Gilmore'' is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, produced by Robert Simonds, and starring Adam Sandler in the title role, with Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Carl Weathers. The film follows the namesak ...

'', '' Stand by Me'', ''

Pretty In Pink ''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. The film stars Molly Ringwald, alongside Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, a ...

'' and ''

I Walked with a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for th ...

''.

Before recording their first album, the band released three 7"'s, The Link 80 & Wet Nap Split, Remember How It Used To Be, and

Rumble at the Tracks Link 80 was an American punk rock/ska punk band from San Francisco's East Bay, United States. Band history Link 80 started in the summer 1993 in the East Bay of California. In the beginning, original members (guitarist Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, dr ...

''17 Reasons''

Recorded in 1996, Link 80 had released their first full-length album titled ''

17 Reasons ''17 Reasons'' is the first full-length album by the ska punk band Link 80. It was recorded in 1996 and released on CD and 12" vinyl by Asian Man Records in 1997. The record was the first original release for Asian Man Records (the previous f ...

'', in early 1997. The album consisted of 17 fast and energetic punk rock and

skacore Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones, making the genre ...

songs (and one hidden track, a cover of "Who Killed Marilyn?" by

Misfits MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...

). It was also the first album recorded for Asian Man Records (AMR1-AMR4 were originally released on Dill Records). The album title and a song title ("Turn It Around") come from two of the band's favorite local

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

punk rock compilations: ''

Turn It Around! ''Turn It Around!'' is a punk rock compilation album by '' Maximumrocknroll''. Originally released as two 7-inch records in October 1987, it served as a benefit to raise money for the Berkeley, California DIY punk scene (known as the Gilman Stree ...

'' and ''17 Reasons: The Mission District''. Their only official music video was off this album for the song "Verbal Kint." The video was partially filmed at

924 Gilman Street The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, almost exclusively referred to as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley, Berkeley, California, West Berkeley ar ...

and directed by Scott Pourroy. In 1996, with all the members still in high school, the band left for their first U.S. tour. On this tour, the band created their own "crew," known as ATRC, or Against the Rest Crew. Link 80 at 924 Gilman

The core line-up for these definitive years was Nick Traina (vocals), Joey Bustos (drums), Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (guitar, vocals), Adam Pereira (bass, vocals) and

Aaron Nagel Aaron Nagel is an American painter and the original trumpet player for punk rock/ska core act Link 80, born and raised in Berkeley, California. He later played guitar in the band DESA with other former Link 80 members Ryan Noble, Adam Davis, ...

(trumpet). Though he was not present on the recording of 17 Reasons, Jason Lechner (saxophone) joined the band in time to support it at shows and on tour. This line-up would release the first and second of their three albums. Unlike many bands, each member of Link 80 were an integral part of the songwriting team. With Aaron in charge of the horn lines, Joey, Adam and Matt were behind most songs' core-music, while Nick and Matt were responsible for the lyrics. In addition, everyone participated in background vocals, occasionally even singing lead. For example, Adam sings a majority of "Termination" and "Slap," while Matt provides the lead vocals on "Turn It Around." The following year Link 80 was on to its second US tour. Beginning in Oregon on June 14, the tour was cut short after a show at the Globe in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 1. The following morning the band went their separate ways, with some members flying home, some driving, and some taking a train.

''Killing Katie''

Link 80's last album with Nick, Matt and Seth Blankenship, ''

Killing Katie ''Killing Katie'' is the second album by the punk band Link 80. It was released on CD and 10" vinyl by Asian Man Records in 1997. It was recorded with Steve Fontano at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California between 18–20 April 1997. The al ...

'', was released August 26, 1997, less than one month before Nick's death. The album contains 8 studio tracks and 3 hidden live songs, including the long-time crowd pleaser "Blank Mind" (of which there is no studio version). Of the four hidden tracks, the first is a cover of

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (musician), Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely know ...

's "For What It's Worth," referred to as "Everybody Look What's Going Down" by the band. After Link 80, Nick started a new band,

Knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

, and immediately began playing shows and recording. Shortly thereafter, on September 20, 1997, Nick, who suffered from bipolar disorder, overdosed on his fourth suicide attempt, and was found dead by his caretaker at his home. Link 80 in 2000

''The Struggle Continues''

With Nick gone, Link 80 needed someone to fill in on vocals. After recruiting a man named Stoney Moak to fill in for vocals temporarily for their shows, Ryan Noble from the Blast Bandits was chosen to pick up permanently where Nick had left off. Along with Ryan and Adam Davis, who took over for Matt, came a new sound and lyrics, while still maintaining the "against the rest" attitude. Link 80 began to lead more towards a hardcore/ska sound rather than a punk/ska sound. With Ryan, Link 80 recorded the album '' The Struggle Continues'' as well as some b-sides that appeared on various compilations in 1999 and toured numerous times with such bands as Capdown and

MU330 MU330 is an American ska punk band from St. Louis, Missouri. Formed by students of St. Louis University High School in 1988, MU330 played a self-described brand of music called "psycho ska", high energy ska punk marked by manic performances an ...

. The last track on ''The Struggle Continues,'' "Unbroken", was written by ex-guitarist Matt for Nick after his death.

''Reunion''

After a few partial reunions over the years, the band's first official reunion was for the Asian Man Records 20th Anniversary shows on June 17 and 18, 2016. Both shows (at the San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill) were sold out. The lineup included singer Ryan Noble, guitarists Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Adam Davis, drummer Joey Bustos, bassists Adam Pereria and Barry Krippene, and horn players Aaron Nagel, Steve Borth and Jason Lechner. Many of the band members brought their kids to the truly epic show. Prior to the shows, a video tribute to Nick Traina was shown with

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. It consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards). Emerg ...

's "When the Angels Sing" playing over the video. The band released the video online on June 20, 2016. On May 21, 2021, a Link 80 cover of Rancid's "Junkie Man" was released from Lavasock Records' upcoming tribute to Rancid's punk rock classic '' ...And Out Come the Wolves'' titled ''...And Out Come the Lawsuits''. The newly recorded Link 80 song includes members Adam Davis, Barry Krippene, Joey Bustos, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Steve Borth and Ryan Noble. On October 17, 2023,

Mike Park Michael Brian Park is an American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and Ogikubo Station, as well as an acoustic solo p ...

announced that

would reissue ''

'' and '' The Struggle Continues'' on vinyl, as well as reprinting the band's first official shirt.

Related bands and projects

In 2002, the band consisting of Seth Blankenship, Adam Davis, Aaron Nagel, Steve Borth, Joey Bustos, Barry Krippene, and singer Ryan Noble went on hiatus. Steve Borth would join Rx Bandits, before forming his own band

Satori ''Satori'' () is a Japanese Buddhist term for " awakening", "comprehension; understanding". The word derives from the Japanese verb '' satoru''. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of '' kenshō'', "seeing ...

in 2006. The remaining Link 80 members would form DESA. They have since maintained that Link 80 would return, but for now they are focused on their respective projects. Joey and Ryan are currently in The Soft White Sixties (playing drums and bass, respectively). Matt formed a band called Dolores (with Nick's brother Todd Traina) that released on 7" on Johann's Face Records, founded the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and

Radio Silence In telecommunications, radio silence or emissions control (EMCON) is a status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area are asked to stop transmitting for safety or security reasons. The term "radio station" may include anything ca ...

and directed the films ''

V/H/S ''V/H/S'' is a 2012 American found footage horror anthology film and the first installment in the ''V/H/S'' franchise created by Brad Miska and Bloody Disgusting, and produced by Miska and Roxanne Benjamin. It features a series of six fou ...

'', '' Southbound'', and '' Ready or Not'' (all of which feature Link 80 and other Asian Man Records artists including

Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago. The band's current members are Matt Skiba (guitar, vocals), Dan Andriano (bass, vocals), and Atom Willard (drums). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Por ...

, Laura Stevenson and the Cans and The Atom Age). Aaron is now a successful artist who runs Two Twenty Two Design Studio and whose work has been feature in galleries around the world and can be seen on the covers of '' The Resignation'' and '' ...And the Battle Begun''. Adam Davis is currently in Gnarboots which has released their album ''A.L.B.U.M.'' on

. Barry is in a band called Terrible Timing with a former member of the Blast Bandits. Adam Pereria played with Thought Crime after leaving Link 80. Nick Traina started

before his death in 1997. Their album, '' A Gift Before I Go'', was subsequently released by Asian Man Records. As of 2019, Steve Borth and Adam Davis are a part of a new ska/punk project, Omnigone which released an album on Bad Time Records in 2019. The band also features current and former members of RX Bandits, Link 80, Skatune Network and

We Are The Union We Are the Union is an American ska punk band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, formed in 2005. The band is now based out of California. The band has had many lineup changes since its inception, with vocalist/guitarist Reade Wolcott and bassist Brandon ...

. Adam Davis stated: "The idea behind OMNIGONE: I want to play ska, punk & hardcore. Playing with Link 80 in 2016 was bittersweet. I miss playing music with my ex-bandmates, but there was too much involved to expect us to play shows again. This allows different configurations of my close friends to come together & play the music we grew up playing."

Members

* Nick Traina – lead vocals *

– guitars, vocals * Joey Bustos – drums, backing vocals *

– trumpet, backing vocals * Adam Pereira – bass, vocals * Adam Davis – guitars, vocals * Ryan Noble – lead vocals * Jason Lechner – saxophone * Seth Blankenship – saxophone * Barry Krippene – bass * Steve Borth – saxophone, backing vocals * Stoney Moak – lead vocals Timeline

Discography

LPs

*''

'' (1997,

) Recorded in 1996 *''

'' (1997,

) *''The Struggle Continues'' (2000,

)

EPs

*''The Link 80 & Wet Nap Split'' 7" w/ Wet-Nap (1995, Wannabe Brothers Records) *''Remember How It Used to Be'' 7" (1995, Switchblade Records) *''Rumble at the Tracks'' Split 7" w/ Subincision (1996, Switchblade Records) *''Nothing Lasts Forever'' Split 7" w/ Punishment Park (1998, Dream Circle Records) Given away for free at shows in Germany. *''Lifestyles, Textiles & X-Files Split'' 7" w/ Lesdystics ( Tomato Head Records) *''Split CDEP/7"'' w/ Capdown (Householdname Records)

Compilations

*''Skank for Brains'' (1995, Beach Records) *''What Are You Looking At?'' (1996, Switchblade Records) *''This Aren't Two Tone'' (1997, Too Hep Records) *''Cinema Beer Nuts'' (1997,

Hopeless Records Hopeless Records is an American independent record label in Van Nuys, California. History Hopeless Records was founded in 1993 by Louis Posen. The label's artists are generally considered to fall under the genres of punk rock, pop punk, post-ha ...

) *''Misfits of Ska II'' (1997,

) *''23 Reasons'' (1997, Tachyon Records) This contains the first two albums on one CD, only available in Japan. *''The Mongolian Wild Turkey.... Volume 4'' (1997, Bad Stain Records) *''It Takes a Dummy to Know a Dummy'' (1997, Dumb Ass Records) *''Punk Goes Ska'' (1997, Stiff Dog Records) *''Punk 'til Ya Poop'' (1997, Bad Stain Records) *''Ramen Core Volume 1'' (1997, Burnt Ramen Records) *''Dillinquents'' (1997,

Dill Records Dill Records was a small punk rock/ska record label based out of Monte Sereno, California, that put out CDs/ records from 1989-1998. The name is an allusion to initially the label's only band, Skankin' Pickle. The record label was started by Mike ...

) *''Unrealism'' (Function Productions, 1997) *''Puro Eskanol Volume 2'' (1998, Aztlan Records) *''Ska Sucks'' (1998,

Liberation Records Liberation Records is an American record company based in the Los Angeles area known for do it yourself ethos and pioneering guerrilla marketing strategies. It was formed by then 16-year-old underground rock music fanzine publisher David Taba in ...

) *''Mailorder Is Fun!'' (1998,

) *''Puro Eskanol, Vol. 2: Rice & Beans'' (1998, Aztlan Records) *''Skank for Brains: Saturday Matinee'' (1998, Beach Records) *''Waiting for Punk?'' (1998, Twisted Records) *''Ska: The Third Wave Checkered Box Set'' (1998, Beloved Records) *''Ska: The Third Wave, Vol. 4: Punk It Up'' (1998, Beloved Records) *''Hey Brother...Can You Spare Some Ska?'' (1999, Vegas Records) *''Mailorder Is Still Fun!'' (1999,

) *''Mission Control Presents: Dr. Strange Vs. Asian Man, Vol. 1'' (1999, Asian Man/ Dr. Strange Records) *''Punker Than Your Mother'' (1999, Sour/Soda Jerk Records) *''To Protect and Serve - Chapter 13'' (1999, Chapter 13 Records) *''Coffee, Cigarettes and Nuclear War'' (1999, Absolute Zero Records) *''Punk Goes Metal'' (2000,

Fearless Records Fearless Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 1994. Fearless is based in Culver City, California, and is best known for its early pop punk moments captured in the ''Fearless Flush Sampler'' and ''Punk Bites'' releas ...

) *''Plea for Peace'' (2000,

) *''Just Not Punk Enough'' (2000, Orchard Records) *''Here We Are Nowhere'' (2000, Substandard Records) *''Punked Up Love'' (2000, VMS Records) *''Taken from a High School Journal'' (2000, Deafinit Records) *''Have You Heard'' (2001, New School Punk Records) *''Ten Minutes to Ogikubo Station'' (2001,

) *''Shut the Punk Up, Vol. 1'' (2001, Orchard Records) *''Dropping Food on Their Heads Is Not Enough: Benefit for RAWA'' (2002, Geykido Comet Records) *''Mailorder for the Masses!'' (2002,

) *''Lessons for Today'' (2003, Almost Good Music) *''The Great Soup Opera'' (Wormhole/Atomic Records)

References

External links

Official SiteLast.FM Page
{{Authority control American ska punk musical groups Asian Man Records artists Third-wave ska groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups from Oakland, California Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Pop punk groups from California Punk rock groups from California