Steven Blush

Steven Blush is an American author, journalist and filmmaker known for his book American Hardcore and its documentary film adaptation. He founded Seconds magazine and has written about music and popular culture for publications including Spin, Kerrang! and The Village Voice. His work focuses primarily on punk and hardcore music.

Early life and education Blush grew up in suburban New Jersey in a Jewish family. He traveled frequently to New York City with his father, who operated a print shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side, and began spending time around the downtown music and fashion scene.

Blush also spent time in England, where he encountered UK punk acts including the Clash and Sham 69. He later moved to Washington, D.C., to attend George Washington University.

As a student, Blush worked as a DJ at the college radio station and booked concerts, including arranging for Dead Kennedys to play in the university cafeteria. After graduation, he returned to New York City and continued DJing in local clubs. His first published assignment was an interview with the Cro-Mags.

Books American Hardcore In the mid-1990s, Blush began researching and writing American Hardcore, a history of the U.S. hardcore punk scene from 1980 to 1986.

A documentary film adaptation, also titled American Hardcore, was released in 2006. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and later screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

American Hair Metal Blush's book American Hair Metal examines the U.S. glam metal scene of the 1980s.

Lost Rockers Lost Rockers profiles musicians whose careers did not achieve mainstream success. In interviews, Blush said he chose the period to reflect shifts in both the city's music scene and cultural life.

Kirkus Reviews described the book as a "brisk overview of New York City's rock 'n' roll tradition, from doo-wop to hard core, mirroring the city's transformations". AM New York described it as a wide-ranging overview of well-known and lesser-known acts associated with the city's rock scene.

Works

Books

American Hardcore: A Tribal History (2001). 0.45 Dangerous Minds: The Most Intense Interviews From Seconds Magazine (2005). American Hair Metal (2006). American Hardcore: A Tribal History (2nd ed.) (2010). Lost Rockers: Broken Dreams and Crashed Careers (2016). New York Rock: From the Rise of the Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB (2016).

Film

American Hardcore (2006) – documentary film (based on the book).