Jennifer Finch: SH!T MY ROCKSTAR SAYS
Welcome to The Inaugural Issue. 🥂
HELLO
THOUGHTS/ESSAY: “Describe your niche? How?”
EVENTS: L7 Shows 2024/Cruise with us in 2025
PHOTO GALLERY / ARCHIVES: “Warped Tour” aka Negatives From the Crypt - questions, comments and concerns
GIRL CAUGHT FIRE: Memoir style essays on my life / Childhood (coming soon)
Explaining the 90s to Jennifer Finch (essays on 90s culture - coming soon)
HELLO. my name is Jennifer Finch. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I have dedicated my life music and vusial art and am adding essayist to evolving list of intertests. I love reflecting on cultural production, media, modern mythology, punk rock, fashion, society and self.
I've been a Substack reader for as long as Substack has been a thing. There's something about its candid nature, ease of use, and genuine spirit that stands out. In a world of over-curated, algorithm-driven platforms, this one feels like the most authentic space left. Some of the writers and creators I respect most—who make me laugh, think, and feel stuff—are here.
So why have I resisted starting my Substack?
Maybe it’s a sweetass combo of imposter syndrome and the fear of burnout. I’ve been there before—doing more, giving more, only to hit the wall. Historically, it’s a concern shared by many others, entepenuers, artists, parents, and, well, humans.
However, one of the most “cock-ish” blocks for me is the nagging question every platform, school system, and dating app seems to always ask:
“Describe your niche?”
And that’s when my shoulders tense up, and I think, Seriously, I can't be niched like that! My next thought is always, "Just be yourself," but then the conversation circles in my head and I end up… taking a nap. Sound relatable to anyone?
As a musician, a visual artist, and a photographer, I get that having a niche helps people know what to expect, to build a foundation, Make sales…
“Genre-ification has never really been my genre”
Like when someone asks, "What style of music do you play?" I’ve never been able to describe L7 accurately or in any cohesive way—it’s just my nature to be a bit messy when it comes to coloring within the lines. Sometimes I like to go slightly out, and sometimes I bring a watercolor canon to a crayon fight.
So, what will you get if you subscribe to my Substack? Well… you get me.
You’ll find me talking about cultural production, mythology, metamodernism, grand narratives, diving into my photo archives, Punk Rock, sharing humble bits of wisdom, tour diaries, thoughts on my lived life, and a bunch of other unlucky, bothersome topics that refuse to be 'niched.'
But here’s the thing—it feels important right now… for us.
(Un)Social Media / Deathbook / Dead Internet Theory
If you’ve followed my Instagram, you’ve probably noticed a shift in my content. The vibrant, lived-in online life has morphed into a space where we recreate avatars. The text of the content has gotten more personal and real, while the photos have become more hyper-realist—over-beautified, filtered personas that are too real to actual be real. Social media, for me, died a while ago. It’s a place where truth and vulnerability get punished by algorithms, and anyone trying to create something interesting is buried as ‘unfollowable.’ Smaller content creators, the ones doing original work, have gasped their last breath.
That’s why I’m here on Substack—hoping this can be a space for real communication. At least as a testing ground. A place where we can share ideas and stories with authenticity, without the goo.
I like to think that these mismatched threads—seemingly unrelated topics—can weave new conversations and ideas. Here, maybe we can recolor the world together?
- Jennifer Finch
L7 SHOWS
Photo by Matt Ellis @3songsandgone for columbusunderground.com\
November 2024
2024-11-23 Fast & Frightening Takeover (Tickets) – Los Angeles, CA
December 2024
2024-12-6 Good Things Festival – Flemington Racecourse (Tickets) – Melbourne, AU
2024-12-7 Good Things Festival – Centennial Park (Tickets) – Sydney, AU
2024-12-8 Good Things Festival – Brisbane Showgrounds (Tickets) – Brisbane, AU
May 2025
2025-05-09 – 05-13 Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise (Tickets) w/The Hellacopters, X, Reverend Horton Heat, Social Distortion, Rocket From The Crypt, and more.
PHOTOS FROM THE ARCHIVES OF JENNIFER FINCH (Negatives from the Crypt)
Top Left to Right: Charlie G. from Civ (polaroid Portrait), Civ (Live - outdoor stage), Civ (live in Warped Parking lot)
Bottom: Quicksand, No Use for a Name, L7
_ all photos Warped Tour 1995 Concord Valiion,CA
For this batch of photos, I’ve included a few moments that I never thought too much about at the time but now seem to funny or interesting to not mention.
Sergio from Quicksand is rocking Etnies with Lakers shorts—way ahead of his time. I mean, the rest of the world didn’t catch up to that mood until 2003.
Donita Sparks (L7 guitarist) and I have since swapped hairstyles (funny how life does that) - She had reddish hair and I was the platinum blond :)
There’s also this live shot of Civ that I dig, with Anthony mid-jump, and if you look closely, Charlie and Sammy are locked in this intense stare. It’s the kind of detail I actually did not notice until today.
One standout from all my Warped Tour photos is Civ playing in the parking lot in Concord, CA, during a very early Warped Tour. The crowd was small compared to what it would become, but the energy was undeniable. What’s wild is the backdrop—L7 just played Concord Pavilion with the Foo Fighters in August 2024, and we drove up the same side road where Warped Tour set up that side stage all those years ago. It’s located just south of the actual venue.
For those unfamiliar, none of the Warped Tour stages were inside the main venues; they were always on makeshift stages in parking lots or even on loading docks. As we made that left turn, seeing the same view hit me like a haunting. That image of the past flashed in my mind, and it was surreal to think about how much had changed and stayed the same.
And now, the real question that I think everyone should be asking: why are Charlie from Civ and Chris Shiflett (then in No Use for a Name, now Foo Fighters) wearing the exact same shirt (Motel 666)? Coincidence? Or something deeper?
The greatest East Coast hardcore mystery of them all!
Love everything about this and you ❤️❣️
Bring on the stories, mama!