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Agent 86

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The background for the Agent 86 MySpace is a repeated photo of a screaming man with a gun held to his head; in front of him is a newspaper headline reads, “Reagan Landslide.” It looks like something from a punk rock album cover or flyer from the ‘80s — and it is. You might have seen it on a telephone pole in Arcata in the early ‘80s. If you did, it was because Mike Briggs put it there. 

When Mike moved to Arcata from Oregon at the end of the ‘70s to attend HSU, he’d mostly heard the few punk rock bands that made it to the radio back then: The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Ramones. He started his own punk band, The Fix, but before long had to lose the name — it seemed there was a high profile Brit band with the same moniker and he eventually received a cease-and-desist order from Warner Brothers lawyers. In 1982, he founded Agent 86, one of Humboldt’s first punk bands, certainly the only one from back then that’s still in existence.

The early ‘80s DIY scene was growing by leaps and bounds, and since no one was bringing the bands he wanted to hear to the area, he started doing shows himself. His first foray into concert promotion was a show pairing Agent 86 with Hüsker Dü at the Arcata Vet’s Hall. “That was the one and only how we did there,” he recalls. (A complaining neighbor called the police and that was the end for punk shows at that venue.) From there he switched to a club called Mojo’s, in the former bowling alley space now the home of the Humboldt Brews music room. Thus Agent 86 opened for Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, D.O.A. and many others — playing Briggs’ politically-charged songs.

“My songs are really folk songs, they’re just loud,” he says, referencing Woody Guthrie as a role model. For Briggs music is a means to vent his anger and frustration at the injustice he sees around him. Give a listen to a song like “Rally ‘Round the Flag” with its telling samples from George Bush speeches set to thrashing rock guitar (it’s on the band’s MySpace) and you’ll see where he’s coming from.

After leaving Humboldt, Briggs continued with Agent 86, assembling like-minded musicians wherever he went — Eugene, Seattle, Washington D.C. and most recently Las Vegas, where he has a day job as a substitute teacher. Since next week is Spring Break, he decided to take Agent 86 on the road. “It’s the first real tour I’ve done since I left Oregon 16 years ago. I don’t want to call it a reunion tour, but I’ll be revisiting a lot of places where I have old friends.”

The current Agent 86 lineup includes his wife on bass, so it’ll be a family affair with their kids in tow along with their pit bull (“he’ll guard the van”). While the tour was originally supposed to be a joint venture with label mates The Originators, that band’s guitar player resigned unexpectedly, so many shows (including their Arcata gig) will be Agent 86 only. “We had to learn a few more songs,” said Briggs with a laugh.

After working their way up the coast from L.A. over the weekend, Agent 86 hits Arcata Monday, March 29, just in time for Budget Rock night at the Jambalaya. Cover: just $2 (bring extra for merch). DJ Herpes Villachaize opens at 9:30; expect Agent 86 11-ish. Expect members of the Humboldt County Punk Scene 1970’s to Current Facebook group out in force. Check the photo section there to see Counterpeace, a zine Briggs put out in 1982.

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