NEONS

It's hard for me to write an introduction for this interview... Ex-L.A. punk, ex-Rozz Williams (Christian Death)'s boyfriend, ex-drug addict, seropositive, extreme performance artist, writer, what other words can I use to describe RON ATHEY? This man's life is incredible and so is his work... (Raph Gordon) Where did you grow up? Your work is dotted with religious symbols. Is there a link to your life as a child? I grew up in Pomona California, the gateway to the Inland Empire (I'm only proud of that regional reference after the same-named  DavidLynch film  with the genius line,  ''do you know how to get the bus to Pomona?'' ) Yes the religious lens, raised Pentecostal in a Catholic neighborhood. So the obsession with Spiritualism and ecstasis is from my family's religion, but the iconography from catholic. What were your first contacts with punk rock? As a teen, between 15-18, I went to an all-ages disco called Odyssey, there was ...