Unquestionably the most influential guitarist to emerge from the late-'70s/early-'80s U.S. hardcore/punk movement was
Black Flag's
Greg Ginn. Never afraid to incorporate other musical styles into his playing (namely jazz fusion and
Black Sabbathy heavy metal), as well as squealing feedback from his amplifier,
Ginn's guitar also served as a defining ingredient in the
Black Flag sound as he was the only member to remain in the group from its formation until its demise. Influenced equally by
the Grateful Dead and
the Stooges,
Ginn formed
Black Flag in 1977, but the group didn't really start to make a name for itself until
Ginn set up shop in Hermosa Beach, California in early 1979, where he began running an electronics supply business called Solid State Transmitters, abbreviated as SST. When
Ginn had trouble finding a label to release the band's music, he founded SST Records to release
Black Flag's
Nervous Breakdown EP. Although members came and went at a steady rate (including singers
Keith Morris, Ron Reyes, and Dez Cadena),
Black Flag prevailed, building a large and loyal following on the strength of their explosive live show, EPs/singles (including such classics as
Jealous Again and
Six Pack), and an appearance in the cult classic L.A. punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization.
Ginn also began to favor a Plexiglas Dan Armstrong guitar, which would soon become a trademark of sorts for both him and the band (despite eventually becoming covered with black tape).
Black Flag began to make a nationwide impact when superfan
Henry Rollins signed on as the group's fourth vocalist, which resulted in the group's first full-length album, 1981's
Damaged, cited by many as one of the greatest hardcore albums of all time. Although legal red tape would keep
Black Flag from issuing a follow-up as quickly as they would have liked (which included
Ginn being sent to jail for five days), the band returned more ferocious then ever, with such releases as
My War and
In My Head, among others.
Black Flag also managed to issue a completely instrumental release,
Process of Weeding Out, which inspired
Ginn to launch his own instrumental project,
Gone, resulting in a pair of releases around this time as well,
Let's Get Real, Real Gone for a Change and
Gone II: But Never Too Gone. Additionally,
Ginn launched another side project around this time, October Faction, which included contributions from many other SST artists.
Black Flag broke up after a final U.S. tour in 1986, and while many assumed that
Ginn would simply play with
Gone full-time, he decided to focus on record company work, forming an all-new label, Cruz, while running
the Minutemen's former label, New Alliance, as well as SST.
The early '90s saw
Ginn return from his exile as he began issuing solo albums, including such titles as
Getting Even,
Payday,
Dick, and
Let It Burn, as well as surprisingly relaunching
Gone.
Ginn has also performed as part of several other acts (
Mojack,
Hor,
Killer Tweaker Bees, etc.), briefly operated a coffeehouse, The Idea Room, and has been known to appear under an alias, Poindexter Stewart, on his own radio program, Screw Radio. In 2003,
Ginn staged three
Black Flag reunion shows to benefit several cat rescue organizations, though Dez Cadena was the only readily recognizable former member besides
Ginn.
Ginn moved to Taylor, Texas in 2004 and created a new instrumental band called
the Texas Corrugators; he played everything but drums, which were handled by Steve DeLollis. They recorded two albums,
Bent Edge in 2007 and Goof Off Experts in 2008. (Live outings included different personnel, with
Ginn on bass and guitar, and with guitarist Gary Piazza and
New Monsoon's Sean Hutchinson on drums.)
Ginn described their live sets as being 100 percent live improvisation incorporating rock, jazz, Latin, psychedelia, and country. In 2010 he changed the group's name to
the Taylor Texas Corrugators and released the album Legends of Williamson County on SST. Meanwhile, he continued to release experimental albums under his own name, including 2011's
We Are Amused and 2013's
Fearless Leaders.
In early 2013, to the surprise of many,
Ginn announced he was re-forming
Black Flag, with Ron Reyes on vocals and two new members, Dave Klein and
Gregory Moore, on bass and drums. The band set out on an international tour, with another
Ginn project,
Good for You, as opening act. In December 2013,
Black Flag released a new album, their first since 1985, titled
What The...; both the tour and the album received decidedly mixed notices, and during a show in Australia a few weeks before the release of the album, Reyes was relieved of his duties as singer, with Reyes declaring he'd quit and
Ginn's representatives insisting he'd been fired. In 2014,
Ginn announced he'd assembled a new
Black Flag lineup, with
Ginn joined by singer
Mike Vallely (who also sang with
Good for You), bassist Tyler Smith, and drummer Brandon Pertzborn, with touring and new recordings due in 2014.
Ginn also remained busy as a solo artist, issuing the album
Gumbo and Holy Water in May 2014. ~ Greg Prato