Pete Flessas has completed "Kids, Soda & Punk Rock: The Story Behind Milwaukee's All-Ages Music Club Yano's," a book with photos and memories of the punk rock club he opened in the early 1980s on Milwaukee Street Downtown.
The book is available from blurb.com and Flessas celebrates with a release party on Saturday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. at The Foundation Tiki Bar, 2718 N. Bremen St., starring Yano's regulars Sacred Order and Flessas' own band NRK ... oh wait, those bands don't even exist anymore, they're certainly not playing in April.
In lieu of the bands, Flessas will sign copies of his book and there will be a video presentation, too. Admission is free.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
