“Punks are my people,” says John Waters, the infamous director whose transgressive, low-budget ’70s films helped spawn the midnight movie phenomenon around the same time punk rock was offering up an equally raw musical alternative to mainstream fare.
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Though he eschews tattoos and lives in suit jackets, Waters tells Billboard he feels more at home in a punk bar than a gay bar. “Punks are usually never square. Some gay people are, and the gay people I like would be in the punk bar and are often on the down low, which I find kind of refreshing in today’s world where everybody knows everything about everyone’s life.”
The cult icon is in the midst of prep work for his July 17-19 hosting gig at the Mosswood Meltdown festival in Oakland, Calif. He first emceed the punk fest in 2015 and has been doing it ever since, thanks to a kinship with the festgoers and an affinity for the Bay Area city. Headlined by Iggy Pop (July 18) and Bikini Kill (July 19) with a pre-party performance from Pavement (July 17), Mosswood Meltdown 2026 also features Otoboke Beaver, Mannequin Pussy, The Return of Jackie and Judy (a Ramones tribute band courtesy Sleater-Kinney and Fred Armisen), The Dead Milkmen, Wednesday, Vivian Girls and more. (You can see the full lineup on the festival’s site.)
