A Memoir of a Teenage, Horror Loving, Heavy Metal Lesbian – A talk with author Tammy Germani

Imagine if you will the quintessential rust belt town, immersed neck deep in poverty. A city that industry has forgotten and that emptiness is written across the faces of the generations of lifelong residents. New Castle Pennsylvania is that town, a town that has a “rubber band effect” on all those who have made it beyond its borders. A town that is riddled with vacant buildings and government funded housing. 

However as you venture deeper into the neighborhoods and the side streets you will discover a vibrant mix of inhabitants. Those inhabitants, the taxpayers, the families, the freaks, the junkies, and the plain weirdos are what give New Castle, Pennsylvania its infamous reputation. It is from these streets that many a tails have been woven. Some of these tales are true, some have landed people on the wrong side of the law, and some of the tales remain unspoken in mixed company.

One of those home grown “inhabitants” turned California transplant is Tammy Germani. She has recently released a book titled “Tales of a Crestview Kid”. This book weaves a series of coming-of-age memoirs from New Castle, which is perfectly summarized by the book’s subtitle “A Memoir of a Teenage, Horror Loving, Heavy Metal Lesbian.”

I got to sit down with Tammy on the back porch of her mother’s house in the Croton neighborhood of New Castle. We reminisced about the days of our youth and growing up in New Castle. We also talked about her life experiences along with her giving some insight about the book.

First off, congratulations! I saw the book was up to #19 on Amazon in the LGBTQ+ biographies and in the 11,000s overall.
Yeah! That’s great. I had no idea that it was that many. I’m doing my best to stay off social media. I just sit and revel in it. I went and had a couple drinks as part of my celebration last night. Now it’s going to take me an entire month to recover because I’m old, and that’s how it works now.

Growing up in New Castle, how does that small town mindset translate to the big bad city of Los Angeles?
It’s definitely one of a kind, and that is why I wrote the book. I tell stories while I tour doing all this stuff in the music industry. We will have our down time after a shift and after driving all these rock stars around. I will start telling stories, and the people around me are looking at me and saying, “Where the hell are you from?” Then they are like, “You have some weird stories.” I guess so; I guess weirdness just follows me everywhere.
I try to explain that New Castle is like Kentucky meets the Bronx. Even in the way we speak, our slang, dialect, and the accent is a cross between a New York wiseguy and some trailer park trash. When I left in 1995, it was like Saturday Night Fever meets Twin Peaks, but now it’s more Duck Dynasty meets Jersey Shore. It went from two cool worlds colliding to two uncool worlds colliding.

Being in these large metro areas, is there something about New Castle that you wish these places had?
Oh Yes! Pizza Joes!   Augustine’s too. I miss the actual Augustine’s [not the frozen] and DeRosa’s Bakery. Their fresh bread was the best. So, yeah, there are things like that, but there is really not much like that around here anymore. You know, that feeling of “I really can’t wait to get home for this.” There is none of that anymore. The book is written from the 70s through the 90s, and there was so much in those times, but now it is literally a rustbelt. There is nothing left and nothing to do. Our drug problem is off the chain. I don’t blame people for being drug addicts. What else are you gonna do around here?

In that same vein, were there any stories that you left out or were forced to self-edit?
Oooh yeah. There were a lot of things that I was like, “I know I’m gonna get my ass kicked.”
All the names have been changed?
Oh yes, all the names have been changed. There are only two names that remained unchanged in the book aside from my family, because I couldn’t really change those. There were a lot of things that I thought about and said, “Mmmm that’s probably not a good idea to write about that.”

So, yes, there were some things I had to cut out, ‘cause this place is not afraid of handing out ass-whippins.

Speaking of ass whippin’ Crestview, where most of your book is based has changed its name to Oak Leaf Gardens and this week just like 20 plus years ago there was an ‘event’ there. Apparently, there was a man and a woman fighting for whatever reason. She was on a couch, and he flipped over the couch and caused her to break several vertebrae and is currently paralyzed. So new name, same game.

Sheeze. You can change the name of that place all you want. It’s built on an Indian burial ground or something. Get a bunch of broke people together and somethin’ gonna happen.

What has been the most overwhelming or surprising response you have gotten about the book?
I’ve been getting a lot of “It’s really good” responses, and I’ve been waiting for the “meh” or someone to say something shitty. I mean, I graduated from Vo-Tech and my grammar is not the best, but I had it all proofread and edited. Writing is not my wheelhouse. Playing drums, punk rock and heavy metal bands is what I do.

I started to write a tell-all about the rock stars I work for, but I felt I needed to write about where I’m from to lead up to this. I just can’t hit the ground runnin’ and talking shit. Once I started writing about where I grew up and Crestview, I realized this was much more entertaining than who the prima donna of this band is and who is having a meltdown over here. I have those types of stories for days about some of the biggest names in rock-n-roll. I have had to sign so many NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements).

Well, that was one of my questions. What made you want to release these stories out of your head and into the wild?
I initially wanted to do a tell-all book about these rock stars and throw everybody under the bus. I’ve been doing this gig for 20 years, and I didn’t care. I’m over it. And thought it might be hurtful to some people, and I don’t want to be like that. Although some of them kinda deserve it. But I didn’t want to be a home wrecker and do something terrible. Plus, I thought Crestview was way more entertaining. Once you read it, I think you will get a kick out of it.

You briefly mentioned your employment in the music industry. Tell us about being all over and working as a PA, a runner, a driver, etc.
I was just working Punk Rock Bowling with Rancid. I was there one day, and my brother called and said, “Mom is in the hospital,” so I hopped on a plane and came home.

I started out booking punk rock shows in LA. Local bar shows, like the Garage, El Cid, and Bar Delux. All the punk rock kids were stagehands, and that’s how I ended up pushing gear. I hated unloading and loading trucks, setting up, and pushing gear. Hated it! I was like, “What’s this runner thing? You just go spend other people’s money? I’m in! Where do I sign up?” So I ended up doing that for a long time and began working music festivals and artist transportation. I used to have a thing called Pit Fire Productions. It was me and my friend Jasper. She is the head of transportation for a lot of music festivals, like Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful, Coachella, Stagecoach, and all these big festivals. She said, “Just come work with me, be a driver.” So, I closed down doing the punk rock show in LA and have been doing that, driving around a lot and listening to them talk-shit. It’s funny, those rock-n-rollers will tell it all to each other, but I’m right there thinking, “I can hear you.” Everything, I hear it all. I hear about you cheating on your wife, and I don’t know if this girl is of age.
I’m like, “You don’t know me. Shut up.” Aside from that, most of the people I work for are great. I only have a few bad stories. Most of them have been really cool. There is much more positive than negative. More often, it’s not even the artist, it’s their people. It’s that rigger guy, or the stage manager dude, or whatever. It’s never really the band.

Back to the book, which you self-published. What was the biggest fear about taking that step aside from being afraid nobody would read it?
Back in LA I went to a bookstore I used to work at, and I asked if I could do a signing there. They were like “eerrrr self-published… I don’t know.” But it looks like they are gonna do it and I’m waiting to hear back from The New Castle Public Library. Also have one in Boardman, Ohio along with one in Parma, Ohio which is in the Cleveland area. I’m working on some things for the West Coast too.

I think I got sidetracked. What was my fear? I kept getting rejected by publishers, because nobody wanted a memoir. It is kind of narcissistic to write about yourself. I kinda feel like an ass writing about myself, but that’s what I know the best. I was getting bummed out from the publishers and just decided to put it out myself. I’m still able to have a publisher take it over if it comes to that. I just have to suspend everything with Amazon. Now it is something tangible, something to hold in your hand. At first I kinda got big headed and I wanted a publisher, but with all my bands we put out our own stuff. I never had a problem doing that before; I don’t know why I thought that way now.

Is there a part 2 in you?
Oh yeah. For sure. That is definitely going to happen once I leave here and head back to LA. But it’s going to be fun, because I can’t remember anything. I mean I was drunk or on drugs. I was in a complete blackout for all the 90s.

That is actually one of the things I wanted ask you. How is it that your write? I mean are you like “Oh I remember this” and start jotting down notes?
Yes, I will be with friends and remember things, but they are just as wet-brained as me. I’ll start telling them this or that happened and they are like “No it didn’t” and I have to tell them “Yes it did!”
So, yes I have some ideas. I lived in a punk rock house on a couch. I had a dirt bike and backpack and I slept on the couch. I’ve been evicted, lived in my car. The whole LA starter package, it totally happened. I fell into the going out all the time. It’s one of those “If you could tell your younger self” things. It’s like “wise up”. I was sooo drunk all of the time. What a bummer.

Looking back what the one “I should have never done that” thing?
Oh, there is so many. I can’t even. I don’t have enough fingers to count. Some people are like “No Regrets!” I’m like bullshit, there is nobody who has no regrets, and if you don’t you’re a dick.

What next for you?
I’m going out on tour with a band Phum Viphurit from Thailand at the end of August. I’m kinda like their den-mom. I’m like “I made sandwiched, get in the car, get in the van, get your stuff”. I tell them “Go do sound-check, I’ll get the luggage and take care of dinner”.

He’s is kinda like Jack Johnson. Not exactly my style, but Phum and the whole band are great.  I was out with them a couple years ago and doing it again through the US and Canada.

At this point a large moth/butterfly flies across the porch we are sitting on.
What the hell was that? It’s some big moth of some sort.

Mothra or Mothman?!?
Yea, we got Mothra live
Have you ever been to the Mothman Festival?
Oh yeah, Plesantville?
Yep,
I went to the psychic fair here yesterday. It was at Hill View Manor. I love all that stuff. I have an insane occult book collection. It’s more or less for reference. Oh, you had a dream about werewolves, let’s see what that means, I have a wall of books that can give many interpretations.
That’s the other thing about this area, Lawrence County; there is a high level of activity. I don’t know if you want to call it paranormal or maybe because it’s old here. I wrote about some of them in the book, some just really weird experiences. That kind of cross over kind of ghostly kind of thing.
I didn’t realize Mary Black was a New Castle thing until I said it outside of New Castle. I’ve been in Pittsburgh and people have no idea what I’m talking about.
Really? I know people in California knew what it was, but didn’t know where it originated from. I’m like “Originators.”
That and The Green Man.
I wrote about The Green Man in the book too. As kids we would hear the legends of that. My friend Jeff would say “If you don’t have cigarettes for him he will tear your arms off. He has super monkey strength”. We were terrified of this whole Green Man thing. My mom heard us and was like “What? No. Not even like that.” The poor guy got burnt and we are going to stare at him. It was kinda messed up, but he’s a legend.

Then there was Zombie Land. This was out by what we called the Heavy Metal Graveyard.  It had these big iron spiked gates like it was a King Diamond album cover. We used to go drink out there all the time. There was supposedly all this Satanic, occult stuff happening out there.  We would all go out there and get scared. Nothing really happened.
I used to work for a construction company in the early 90s. There was an old mechanic guy who worked there. He had to be 60 years old if not older. One day he asks me if I ever heard about the UFO that flew down the streets of Ellwood City or Wampum. He went on to tell this story about how the police chased a UFO through town and that then never were able to catch up to it. He also said that everyone who was close to it, their mouth tasted like pennies.
Oh I never heard that, that sounds like a good one. We were working Bonnaroo one year and our friend Gary; his van got hit by lighting. All the gauges and the speedometer went all crazy; he said “I can’t get this metal taste out of my mouth.” So we would make fun telling him he got abducted by a UFO. We would ask him if lost any time. Did you have a black out? Do you remember driving here?

I went out to Kecksburg Pennsylvania a couple of times. Kecksburg has a UFO event that definitely happened. It’s about an hour or so drive from here. They has a recreation of it right there on the main street. In Kecksburg everything is the same address, the fire department, the VFW, the landmark, everything. The UFO is shaped like a bell and it has these weird hieroglyphics around the edge of it. Apparently it crashed there in 1965 and the Army was there quicker than lighting and loaded it onto a truck and got it out of there. There was all this weird talk about it being part of Die Glocke, the Nazi time travel project.

So when you go there to see the UFO stuff and gift shop, they are like “go here and ring this buzzer.” It’s in the VFW. So we go and ring the bell and say “We are here for the UFO stuff.” They are like “uuuhh ok, I’ll buzz you in.” We walk in and it’s a bar and there is nothing, just an American flag and a bunch of drunk dudes. They are like “oh yea, it’s over there.” It’s a closet. You open the closet and realize somebody didn’t have a laminator back in the day. It is all these newspaper clippings and some are just copies. They just Scotch taped them and they are all peeling off, falling down, and bent over. But I still bought a coffee mug, a t-shirt, a book and all that. I buy all that shit. I love all that Bigfoot and UFO stuff.

As you were writing these stories, who did you see in your mind reading this? Did you imagine it being read by New Castle your family, or something else?
I was writing it more or less in hopes that somebody would make a script or series out of it. So it’s not really to tell people from here since they already know. It more for outsiders and I’m finding that is who is enjoying it more, is those people who aren’t from here.  

Any last points you would like to add?
Just that for the most part I write it to be funny, but it also is about being in dire straits. There is nobody with money living at Crestview Gardens. Its stories about being broke. It’s about trial and tribulation and the hustles that your mom pulls to make things work. It’s funny, but there are things that pull at the heart strings. I mean Crestview is Crestview it was the projects for a lack of a better term. Once HUD took over there were some mentally ill people there that I don’t think really should have been around children. Then at the same time crack became a thing, and that was just insane. I had my ass kidded by adults. I was just a kid, maybe 13 or 14 years old and my mom didn’t even hit me like that. Adults tuned me up as a kid. I wanted Drew Barrymore’s Fire Starter telekinesis and I would have caught everybody on fire cause I was so mad. But the book is funny. It kinda reminds me of “Crooklyn” the Spike Lee movie or some people have said it’s like “Everybody Hates Chris”.

So there you have it, just a taste of the insanity that is Crestview Gardens and New Castle Pennsylvania. If you want to dive deeper into the mystic and lunacy you can get your very own copy of the “Tales of a Crestview Kid” from Amazon.

About Author

Josh Drespling

Josh is the Publisher and creator of Empire Extreme and it’s sister publication Kingdom Extreme Magazine. He is an accomplished writer, photographer and graphic designer. He is always conjuring up new ideas and has a amazing passion for the music industry and all the things that surround it.

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