John Doe

John Doe is a musician, actor, and writer best known as a founding member of the Los Angeles band X. Under the Big Black Sun collects first-person accounts of the city’s punk scene from 1977 through 1982, combining Doe’s connecting commentary with essays by Exene Cervenka, Dave Alvin, Henry Rollins, Jane Wiedlin, and other participants. Tom DeSavia co-edited and co-wrote the volume, which Da Capo Press issued in 2016 as Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk. Instead of presenting one authoritative memoir, the book lets different voices recall clubs, apartments, bands, friendships, and creative rivalries. Doe’s role in X gives him an inside perspective, while the multi-author design preserves disagreement and varied experience. He has also released solo records, worked with the roots-oriented group the Knitters, and appeared in numerous screen productions. The book’s rare photographs and personal essays make cultural history from memories of an influential local music community.