Oil Capital Underground - The Genesis & Evolution Of Punk Rock In Tulsa Late 70s To Mid-90s

Oil Capital Underground: The Genesis & Evolution Of Punk Rock In Tulsa Late 70s To Mid-90s documents a largely overlooked chapter of American underground music history: the punk, new wave, hardcore and thrash scenes that developed in Tulsa, Oklahoma from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s. Director Bryan Crain traces how musicians created an alternative culture within a city better known for the Tulsa Sound and its oil-industry heritage, building their own venues, recordings and networks far outside the musical mainstream.

The documentary follows the scene from early punk and new wave through successive generations of increasingly aggressive underground music, spotlighting groups including Los Reactors, NOTA, Pitbulls On Crack, Bunnies of Doom, Baby M, Brother Inferior and Tex Montana's Green Party. Musicians, promoters, club owners and other participants recount the development of a community sustained through DIY recordings, independent shows and touring. The stories include performances at venues such as the Bleu Grotto and Club Nitro as well as improvised spaces--including an empty warehouse at 424 where organizers commandeered electricity to stage shows.

Crain combines extensive interviews with rare live performances, period photographs, flyers, zines and other archival material, preserving both the music and the infrastructure that allowed the scene to survive. The film also places Tulsa's underground against the city's socially conservative environment, showing how punk provided a space for musicians and audiences who felt disconnected from prevailing local culture. Writing in Maximum Rocknroll, Carolyn Keddy praised the documentary for preserving precisely these kinds of local stories, while Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductee John Wooley called it "exceptionally well-crafted and fast-moving" and noted its examination of an often-neglected component of Tulsa's musical history.

Oil Capital Underground received recognition on the international independent-film circuit, including the Gold Award from Spotlight Documentary Film Awards, an Award of Merit from The IndieFEST Film Awards and selections at festivals in the United States, Europe and Japan. This DVD edition supplements the documentary with a wild outtake video reel, producer/director commentary by Bryan Crain and a behind-the-scenes photo gallery.