East Village artist leads
a rock-and-roll life at home
BY BOB KRASNER
John Holmstrom’s been there, done
that and he’s still here — specifically,
in the East Village, where he
has resided in the same apartment for
over 40 years.
The artist — notable for his role as
a founding editor of Punk magazine
and as the artist whose work graces the
covers of the Ramones classic albums
“Rocket to Russia” and “Road to Ruin”
— has seen a lot of changes but is still
glad to be in the neighborhood where it
all happened.
“The first time I came to New York
was in 1969,” he recalled. “We came to
see Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys
at the Fillmore East.”
From then on, Holmstrom “loved
NYC and always wanted to live here.”
He made the move from Connecticut in
1972, when he enrolled in the School of
Visual Arts.
“I lived in eight different places from
1972 to 1977,” he recalled. Among those
memorable residences was a luxury
building on the Upper East Side with
paper thin walls, a place on East 24th
Street that was the site of a fire, a spot
on East 3rd Street that was conveniently
located across from the Hell’s Angels
headquarters and an even more agreeable
location above Stromboli Pizza,
where he unfortunately could not afford
the $145 a month rent.
After couch-surfing for a bit, he ended
up in a storefront at 10th Avenue and
30th Street, living and
working with Legs Mc-
Neill and Ged Dunn
to create Punk magazine,
the now legendary
publication that was
the first devoted to the
music scene that was
thriving at CBGB’s on
the Bowery.
“If the Ramones
were still here, they’d
be filling Madison
Square Garden,” he
mused. “But back then
they weren’t drawing
big crowds. Talking
Heads was considered
a novelty act when
they started. Blondie
brought in the most
people.”
And Punk magazine
was not exactly bringing
in a lot of cash.
“I never made any
money from Punk. In the 3 1/2 years in
print, we lost money,” he admitted. “The
book (a recent hardcover retrospective)
lost money too, even though it’s almost
sold out.”
Holmstrom was actually supporting
himself with a steady gig doing
a comic strip for Bananas magazine,
where his editor was Jovial
Bob Stine (now known as RL
Stine, of “Goosebumps” fame).
Luckily his friend, Deerfrance,
was giving up her
apartment on East 10th Street.
Holmstrom thought, “This
will be a nice place to stay
for a year.” At this point, he
had some cash from doing
the “Rocket to Russia” LP
cover, so he could afford
the move.
But things began
to change in the real
estate situation.
“It used to be that
people would move
when it was time to
paint the apartment,
but in 1979, apartments
got scarce,”
he said.
And the 80s were
rough on the block
too. There were always
pot dealers
there, but the influx
of cocaine dealers
changed the scene.
John Holmstrom in his
East Village apartment,
holding a tote bag with a
reproduction of one of his
Punk magazine covers.
PHOTOS BY
BOB KRASNER
Aid McSpade, John Holmstrom with
the dressing room door at Metropolis
Vintage
Galleries closed, and there was at least
one fatal shooting.
The block where all four original
members of the Velvet Underground
once lived became less desirable, but
Holmstrom stayed put.
“At one point we had a crack den upstairs
and a shooting gallery down the
hall,” he said, “and when the dealers
went crazy shooting off fireworks, you
didn’t go outside.”
As the years went by, Holmstrom
worked with, among others, The Village
Voice, Heavy Metal and High Times,
where he went from managing editor to
president and publisher (he left in 2000).
Despite lapsed Japanese licensing
John Holmstrom
freaking out in the
Metropolis Vintage
dressing room, which
is filled with his
artwork
deals and movie options that
never came to fruition, he
remains optimistic about new
projects.
Nowadays, Holmstrom is
working on reviving “Hep Cat,”
the comic strip that he and his
buddy Aid McSpade created for
High Times magazine back in the day.
Metropolis Vintage recently celebrated
the launch of the new “Hep Cat” t-shirts
with a party at their new space at 803
Broadway, which is adorned with a logo
created by Holmstrom and a dressing
room that features his artwork, wall-towall.
Metropolis owner Richard Colligan
began his relationship with the artist five
years ago, when Holmstrom submitted a
design for the logo.
“We looked at a number of different
ideas, and John’s was the best,” said Colligan,
“and we knew his stuff would be
great in the dressing room.”
Having sold his archives to Yale a
few years back, Holmstrom is assured a
place in history – something that he does
not take lightly, especially when it comes
to his place of residence.
“This is the most amazing neighborhood!”
he exclaimed. “There’s a greater
appreciation of history here. When you
think about all the great things that happened
here — it’s amazing.”
Although there are plenty of places
that he misses, such as Free Being Records
(the site of the first Ramones record
signing) and Paul’s Lounge (where
he hung out with Joey Ramone), “I’m
pretty happy here at this point,” he concluded.
John’s show at the 72 Gallery, “All The
Stuff I Did With The Ramones” ends
on Oct. 18. For more information, visit
72gallery.com or johnholmstrom.com.
John Holmstrom in his East Village apartment.
26 October 10, 2019 Schneps Media
/72gallery.com
/johnholmstrom.com
