Rich Kids on LSD

Rich Kids on LSD (RKL) was a Californian hardcore punk band formed in 1982 in Montecito, California, a suburb of Santa Barbara. They were associated with the "Nardcore" scene that evolved out of nearby Oxnard. Their music expanded over the years from West Coast hardcore to a mix of hardcore with rock and metal elements. This style, along with touring, made them very popular on the European scene, especially among skaters in the 1980s and 1990s. Guitarist Chris Rest was the band's only consistent member. History Formative years The initial members of RKL got together at an early age. Chris Rest and Bomer Manzullo (sometimes credited as 'Bomber') were playing together and had asked Joey Cape to join as a second guitarist. Cape told them he would only join if Jason Sears could be the singer. Rest knew Sears from elementary school and youth soccer. Cape was frequently unavailable due to being grounded much of the time, so he was eventually left out of the band. RKL began playing shows around the area with myriad changes at second guitar and bass positions. In the end, Allen 'Alpo' Duncan joined as second guitarist and Vincent Peppars joined as bassist. Rest has said, "Bomer soon started writing the majority of the music." Band name and logo origin The group's name came about as a mere fluke from some light hearted criticism. According to vocalist Jason Sears in a 2002 interview with Thrasher magazine: “it happened that some guy said, 'ha, those kids will never be anything, they're just a bunch of rich kids on LSD, man.' The first party we played we didn't have a name for the band, so we put that one on the flier and it just stuck.” The beanie boy logo was born one night while Bomer and Jason were being tattooed. Bomer was attempting to draw a dragon pattern. On seeing the drawing, Jason commented, "Yeah dude, it's Cecil! Where's Beanie?" Dan Sites was sitting alongside drawing a flyer for a show supporting Suicidal Tendencies in Oxnard and drew a beanie guy jumping from a building. Beanie boy was born.