The passing of Steve Marinick sent shock-waves of sadness throughout our local and global punk rock community. Out of darkness comes some light with Steve’s family reaching out to us to make a memorial t-shirt that will not only Memorialize Steve but will benefit other musicians. On behalf of Steve and the Marinick Family, AZPX will donate $5 of every sale to Music.org. Photo by Joe Cultice.
If you compare the 80s punk scene in Phoenix to the British Invasion, it’s easy to see the Meat Puppets were our Beatles, JFA was our Rolling Stones, and Junior Achievement was our Who. Four dudes who were all great at what they did and when you put them together, it was magic. Steve Marinick’s guitar work in Junior Achievement was just as influential to the sound of Phoenix punk and metal, really, as Pete Townsend’s work was to rock and roll in general. Junior Achievement’s contribution to Phoenix music is often overlooked, but many of us would not be who we are without it. Viva JA!
-Tom Reardon
Some words from the band:
Todd Joseph: For Steven: We had to jump Steven into our gang. Cut his hair, get straight leg pants and “punk rock shoes”. He immediately became one of the most intelligent, hilarious, and creative people I have ever met in my life. Just a brilliant guy. My goal every day was to try to make him laugh and/or try to blow his mind with some weird concept. His unique guitar playing style is just an extension of how his mind works. I sure to do miss you a lot, my little gullible buddy. I’m glad I could call you my friend. —
Jon Yousko: Although it feels like I’ve known Steve for such a long time, the truth is that we were really only in each other’s lives for 5 years. After I left Arizona in 88’ to the east coast and a job with Burton we never really stayed that connected, only running into each other every now and again over the last 25-30 years. But the intensity of our friendship over those years is really hard to put into words. Being in 2 bands with Steve was like being in a gang together. Some of the greatest times of my life were with Steve. We played so many great shows, house parties, recorded records, toured the country in an old blue school bus…………we played CBGB’s together. Although our friendship didn’t burn for a really long time, it sure did burn laser-bright during our 5 years. Steve had so many great qualities besides being one of the best and coolest guitarists to come out of the Phoenix punk scene. He was incredibly smart, by far the sharpest and smartest dude in the band. He was also the funniest. Steve had so many incredible talents, but the one that I’ll never forget is how great of a sense of humor he had. One of the greatest things of hanging with him was how much and how hard we’d laugh. Gonna miss that dude, so fortunate to have the memory of our time together and all the incredible things we did.
Out of transparency, AZPX’s portion of the profit is just enough to cover the operating costs. The shirt is a DTG (Direct to Garment) digital print on a soft/fitted unisex Gildan 64000 t-shirt or a classic-fit Gildan 2000 t-shirt. Care: Turn inside-out and wash in cold water.
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