Masque Founder Brendan Mullen Dead at 60

Once again we have to report a bit of sad news.  According to the LATimes, Brendan Mullen author and founder of the Hollywood punk club The Masque passed away earlier this week. The cause of death was a massive stoke that took out the pioneer at the tender age of 60. During his time in the underground music scene Mullen and The Masque played an integral part in establishing some of music’s biggest punk acts.

Mullen founded The Masque in 1977 and according to Swindle Magazine it was mostly by accident.

“After being thrown in jail following noise complaints from a neighbor who lived above me,” Brendan claims, “I was out looking for a storefront, a warehouse, a garage, or something, anything where me and my friends could be left alone to blast music really loud and have insane freeform jams.” His search landed him in the basement of an office building on Hollywood Boulevard. He rented out the space he wasn’t using “at such rock-bottom monthly prices, even punk bands could afford them. Within a month or so, the basement morphed into a performance space.”

Even though the club only lasted a few years before it was shut down, several up and comers made their mark there including X, The Germs, The Mau-Mau’s, The Weirdos, The Quick, The Avengers, The Dils, The Skulls, The Controllers, Charleston Grotto, and even The Go-Go’s rented practice space at the venue.

One of the many people Mullen made a huge impact on was L.A. funk-punk rockers, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The group’s bassist Flea wrote a touching  tribute in the LATimes describing him and Anthony Kiedis’ first experience auditioning for Mullen.

Brendan was polite but could have cared less whether we were cool, or popular, or could sell tickets. He wanted to hear the music. We sat down and played it for him; he focused and listened, making occasional insightful comments about the music. We were so proud and excited when he liked it and booked us to open for Bad Brains.  It was a huge step for us to get that gig, but in a much more important way, I felt profoundly validated to be accepted and acknowledged by Brendan Mullen, who was a crucial part — a hub — of a scene that for me had mythological status.

Even after the Chili Peppers massive success, Flea went on to say,

Whenever I came home to L.A. and saw him, I knew that I belonged to something, that I was in a place that was my home. Brendan was an intellectual, a musician, a writer, a partier and a regular dude. And I speak for all of us when I say to Brendan . . . a love supreme! Brendan has broken through to the other side!

Were you familiar with Brendan Mullen’s history?