whittier

The KnuckleHeadz may just be the thing to save America’s youth. They’re categorized too neatly as a punk band from Whittier, but they’re actually a movement: Southern California’s most raucous self-help program and hardcore band. The members are built like dockworkers and dressed like a deleted scene from “The Warriors”: black-and-green leather vests with a spiky-haired skull back patch. They are also the driving force behind the Punk Rock Fight Club, a Southern California-based organization dedicated to improving young men’s lives through fitness and structure. The rules are as strict as they are simple, and in this topsy-turvy world, truly radical: no hard drugs, no crime, no racists, no abusers. Respect yourself, your brothers and your community.

The KnuckleHeadz achieved a moment of internet fame after hosting a completely unsanctioned show in an unsuspecting McDonald’s for a hundred people. The viral clip of the show is the convenient entry point, but it sells short what the gentlemen have built. Onstage, the KnuckleHeadz are all sweat and spectacle: profanity-laced breakdowns, fans crowd surfing on boogie boards riding a human tide, and the green-and-black army in the pit pulling strangers upright. The absurdity of a fast-food slam pit, bodies and burgers briefly airborne — suggests anarchy. Look closer and you see choreography: Men catching falls, clearing space and enforcing a code. Punk has always promised salvation by noise. The KnuckleHeadz add a footnote: Salvation requires reps, rules and someone mean enough to care. Offstage, they run an infrastructure for staying alive.

Founded in June 2021 by frontman Thomas Telles of Whittier, better known as Knucklehead Tom, and with the help of guitarist and tattooer Steven Arceo, aka Saus, of El Monte, the Punk Rock Fight Club (PRFC) has grown in a few years to six chapters and more than 200 members across Southern California. What started as a tight circle around a band hardened into a movement: discipline for kids who never got it, structure for men who need it, and a community without substance abuse . Prospects earn their way through mornings, sweat and commitment before they’re trusted with the skull back patch. The rules read like a brick wall and function like a doorway.

“I started the club because I wanted to do good in the scene,” Knucklehead Tom said “I wanted to create a tribe where we all supported each other, a family for people from all walks of life, especially those who came from broken homes. I wanted people to know they have somewhere to go and a family they can count on.”

I first ran into the KnuckleHeadz and a few club members by accident three years ago in a London train station en route to the Rebellion Punk Rock Music Festival in Blackpool, a yearly event featuring more than 300 veteran and emerging bands. They were impossible to miss — part wolf pack, part brotherhood, pure energy. That year the KnuckleHeadz struck a chord with me, not just through their all-in, no-holds-barred performances, but also through their message, their obvious love for one another and their mission to better their community. Since then, I have taken a hard look inside both the band and the club; I visited their gym and attended many of their shows. I have met and talked with families and those the KnuckleHeadz and the club have helped. They have indeed, in many cases, worked miracles. But the guys don’t call them miracles. They call it Tuesday.

“Since we founded Punk Rock Fight Club, we paved way for what we knew was the movement and lifestyle many people in our scene needed,” Arceo said. “We’ve changed so many lives and with that our lives changed as well. We made a family built on brotherhood, loyalty with the camaraderie that can only be achieved through martial arts and punk rock. That’s something many of us grew up without. So to be able to bring this into the world is worth every sacrifice. We’re going on five years strong and will keep going till the day we die.”

The band’s ascent mirrors the spread of the club: a steady climb from underground slots to punk’s biggest stages. They earned a place on the final NOFX show and graduated from Rebellion’s side stage to the festival’s main stage. They’ve organized benefits for causes that don’t trend and for people who can’t afford to be causes. The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas recently added a piece of PRFC memorabilia, one of the club’s cuts — a leather vest with the skull back patch — to its collection, a true museum piece that still smells faintly of sweat. Next, KnuckleHeadz prepare for a U.S. run with punk legends GBH, the sort of tour that turns rumor into résumé.

The Whittier dojo, KnuckleHead Martial Arts, is where the KnuckleHeadz code gets practical. It’s where guys run martial arts drills and where the mats serve double duty as community center flooring. During the band’s “F Cancer” benefit for 17-year-old Cesar “Little Cesar” Lopez II, the driveway became an impromptu slam pit. Inside, kids tumbled on the mats while guitars shook the walls. Families brought food, local businesses donated services, and more than $6,000 went toward treatments. In the carnival-like atmosphere outside, Little Cesar grinned and hyped the pit from the sideline, proving that joy, like violence, can be contagious.

One member, Bernard Schindler, 55, of La Mirada, came in after a life of ricochets: rehab, prison, relapse, repeat. The club gave him a schedule first and a future second, and now with the support of the club, he’s been clean and sober for more than two years.

“Tom and the Punk Rock Fight Club completely turned my life around,” Schindler said. “It gave me purpose, discipline and a new family of brothers that push me to be better. I went from being a broken down drug addict to the healthiest I’ve ever been mentally, physically and emotionally in the 55 years I’ve been alive.”

Since getting involved with the KnuckleHeadz nearly three years ago, Schindler says he’s gotten closer to his family, including his three sons and his girlfriend, in addition to staying sober. “I can honestly say that I couldn’t have done it without Tom and our God-given club, the Punk Rock Fight Club,” he said.

The PRFC trophy case is full of medals and awards, sure, but the real accomplishments are much quieter and miraculous. There are pay stubs where rap sheets used to be, text threads that start with the question “You good?” at 3:17 a.m., and apartment keys handed over when a kid can’t go home.

Hip-hop synth-punk artist N8NOFACE, now a fixture on lineups from the annual L.A. festival Cruel World tours with Limp Bizkit and Corey Feldman, calls Tom “my brother” and credits that code with keeping him aligned. “I was getting clean, and I’ve always believed that if you follow the right people, it helps you stay on your path,” N8 says. “Tom was about health, about not getting all messed up, about being a fighter and a warrior and taking care of your body first. To find that in punk was very different.”

When asked about his hopes for the future of the band, Tom says, “I just want to keep having fun. We love doing it and are grateful for all the love and support.“ The band is currently playing shows across SoCal with gutter punk legends GBH, including a show Friday at the Ventura Music Hall.

“With the club, I want to keep changing lives. It makes me happy to know that my son Nieko has an army of goodhearted uncles if anything were to happen to me. The righteous men in this club make me so proud.”

That’s the trick. That’s the point. In the noise between those truths, a lot of young men hear something they’ve never believed before: a future they’re allowed to keep.

Slaughter is a photographer and writer who has covered music and culture for countless outlets, including the OC Weekly and L.A. Times. He is a founding member of In Spite Magazine.

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Central League

Bernstein 54, Hollywood 0

Contreras 46, Belmont 6

Roybal 35, Mendez 0

Coliseum League

Crenshaw 12, Dorsey 8

Washington 38, Fremont 8

East Valley League

Grant 48, Fulton 13

North Hollywood 24, Arleta 20

Chavez 28, Sun Valley Poly 16

Verdugo Hills 55, Monroe 20

Eastern League

Garfield 34, Bell 19

Huntington Park 28, South East 7

L.A. Roosevelt 16, Legacy 13

East Valley League

Chavez 28, Sun Valley Poly 16

Exposition League

Jefferson 56, Angelou 0

Marquez 50, Santee 0

Marine League

Gardena 29, Wilmington Banning 6

San Pedro 48, Narbonne 6

Metro League

Hawkins 20, Rancho Dominguez 6

Northern League

Eagle Rock 41, L.A. Marshall 7

Franklin 21, L.A. Wilson 2

Southern League

Los Angeles 44, West Adams 0

Maywood CES 62, Rivera 0

Valley Mission League

Canoga Park 37, Reseda 0

Granada Hills Kennedy 42, Panorama 7

Van Nuys 49, Sylmar 46

Western League

LA Hamilton 26, Fairfax 6

Palisades 35, Westchester 19

Venice 27, LA University 7

West Valley League

Birmingham 42, El Camino Real 7

Cleveland 36, Chatsworth 19

Granada Hills 46, Taft 30

SOUTHERN SECTION

Almont League

Montebello 52, Keppel 12

Angelus League

Cathedral 56, St. Paul 25

Paraclete 49, Alemany 6

St. Pius X-St. Matthias 42, St. Francis 15

Baseline League

Chino Hills 27, Upland 21

Etiwanda 40, Ayala 0

Rancho Cucamonga 24, Damien 22

Bay League

Leuzinger 43, Inglewood 32

Mira Costa 14, Lawndale 0 (postponed in first quarter)

Palos Verdes 48, Culver City 7

Big West Lower League

Murrieta Mesa 35, Temecula Valley 21

Riverside King 44, Corona Santiago 28

Big West Upper League

Chaparral 28, Vista Murrieta 20

Murrieta Valley 55, Norco 45

Bravo League

Corona Del Mar 33, San Juan Hills 10

Tesoro 17, Newport Harbor 14

Yorba Linda 28, Villa Park 7

Camino Real League

Mary Star of the Sea 21, St. Genevieve 12

St. Bernard 48, Bosco Tech 8

Channel League

Ventura 62, Buena 13

Moorpark 52, Oak Park 27

Royal 20, Oxnard 0

Citrus Belt League

Beaumont 56, Redlands 0

Redlands East Valley 14, Citrus Valley 3

Citrus Coast League

Grace 53, Del Sol 6

Nordhoff 55, Channel Islands 14

Conejo Coast League

Newbury Park 31, Santa Barbara 21

Thousand Oaks 49, Calabasas 34

Westlake 49, Rio Mesa 20

Cottonwood League

Silver Valley 22, Temecula Prep 0

Del Rey League

Crespi 42, St. Anthony 6

La Salle 47, Harvard-Westlake 37

Salesian 64, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 7

Del Rio League

La Serna 30, El Rancho 13

Santa Fe 34, Whittier 12

Delta League

Capistrano Valley 41, Western 14

El Modena 21, Trabuco Hills 7

Desert Empire League

Palm Springs 32, La Quinta 13

Shadow Hills 18, Rancho Mirage 14

Xavier Prep 19, Palm Desert 14

Desert Sky League

Barstow 21, Victor Valley 7

Granite Hills 25, Adelanto 20

Epsilon League

Huntington Beach 65, Laguna Hills 10

Foothill League

Hart 63, West Ranch 21

Saugus 41, Canyon Country Canyon 13

Foxtrot League

Dana Hills 35, Aliso Niguel 14

Laguna Beach 42, Northwood 0

Gateway League

Dominguez 21, Paramount 14

Downey 33, Mayfair 14

Warren 27, La Mirada 13

Golden League

Highland 28, Littlerock 6

Lancaster 34, Quartz Hill 20

Palmdale 28, Knight 9

Hacienda League

Chino 49, Covina 27

Diamond Bar 30, Walnut 7

Inland Valley League

Moreno Valley 42, Citrus Hill 7

Perris 13, Lakeside 9

Iota League

El Toro 27, Anaheim Canyon 17

Irvine 43, Santa Ana 7

Troy 42, Sonora 9

Ironwood League

Aquinas 75, Ontario Christian 27

Cerritos Valley Christian 35, Capistrano Valley Christian 26

Village Christian 17, Heritage Christian 13

Ivy League

Orange Vista 49, Paloma Valley 20

Rancho Verde 21, Riverside North 14

Kappa League

Brea Olinda 21, Westminster 0

Esperanza 58, Garden Grove 33

Segerstrom 27, St. Margaret’s 14

Lambda League

Beckman 34, Fullerton 14

La Palma Kennedy 14, Placentia Valencia 7

Manzanita League

Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian 47, Nuview Bridge 0
Marmonte League

Oxnard Pacifica 17, Oaks Christian 13

St. Bonaventure 41, Simi Valley 16

Mesquite League

Maranatha 20, Linfield Christian 14

Whittier Christian 7, Arrowhead Christian 6

Mid-Cities League

Compton Early College 63, Firebaugh 49

Gahr 48, Bellflower 13

Norwalk 25, Lynwood 6

Miramonte League

Bassett 37, Workman 14

Ganesha 47, La Puente 20

Garey 41, Duarte 0

Mission League

Chaminade 35, Bishop Amat 0

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 35, Loyola 10

Sierra Canyon 30, Gardena Serra 0

Mission Valley League

El Monte 28, Rosemead 7

Gabrielino 30, South El Monte 28

Mojave River League

Oak Hills 28, Serrano 14

\Ridgecrest Burroughs 17, Sultana 7

Montview League

Hacienda Heights Wilson 42, Pomona 13

Nogales 53, Azusa 3

Ontario 49, Sierra Vista 31

Moore League

Long Beach Wilson 23, Compton 21

Millikan 49, Long Beach Jordan 10

Mountain Pass League

Elsinore 34, Temescal Canyon 18

San Jacinto 53, Tahquitz 7

Mountain Valley League

Indian Springs 30, San Bernardino 15

Mountain View 41, Pasadena Marshall 13

Ocean League

Compton Centennial 28, Beverly Hills 0

El Segundo 38, Hawthorne 0

Omicron League

Buena Park 30, Katella 3

Garden Grove Pacifica 42, Irvine University 6

Portola 17, Woodbridge 7

Pacific League

Burbank 55, Arcadia 23

Burbank Burroughs 34, Glendale 12

Muir 49, Crescenta Valley 0

Pasadena 66, Hoover 8

Pioneer League

Peninsula 35, South Torrance 34

Santa Monica 21, North Torrance 13

Torrance 34, Redondo Union 24

Rio Hondo League

La Canada 44, Temple City 3

South Pasadena 23, Monrovia 21

River Valley League

La Sierra 35, Rubidoux 24

Norte Vista 67, Jurupa Valley 0

Patriot 31, Ramona 27

Sierra League

Bonita 21, Colony 7

Charter Oak 40, Glendora 7

Claremont 28, Los Osos 24

Sigma League

Estancia 25, Rancho Alamitos 17

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 42, Santa Ana Valley 14

Skyline League

Bloomington 16, Arroyo Valley 14

Rialto 19, Fontana 16

Sunbelt League

Hillcrest 41, Arlington 17

Riverside Poly 50, Hemet 0

Tango League

Anaheim 54, Loara 21

Bolsa Grande 14, Westminster La Quinta 7

Tri County League

Agoura 35, Santa Paula 10

Dos Pueblos 27, Hueneme 8

Fillmore 21, San Marcos 0

Trinity League

Mater Dei 25, Orange Lutheran 10

Santa Margarita 17, Servite 7

St. John Bosco 70, JSerra 21

Valle Vista League

Alta Loma 20, West Covina 6

San Dimas 35, Diamond Ranch 0

Zeta League

Saddleback 52, Godinez 14

Nonleague

Arroyo 27, Glenn 0

Brentwood 35, Don Lugo 0

Cathedral City 28, Indio 0

Mission Viejo 56, Long Beach Poly 7

Rim of the World 28, Chaffey 24

Rowland 57, Artesia 7

Yucca Valley 62, Banning 42

INTERSECTIONAL

Manual Arts 64, Verbum Dei 0

Rio Hondo Prep 49, Dallas First Baptist 28

8-MAN

CITY SECTION

City League

Animo Robinson 58, New Designs Watts 22

New Designs University Park 48, Stella 14

Valley League

Sherman Oaks CES 32, TEACH Tech 20

SOUTHERN SECTION

Nonleague

Cornerstone Christian 76, Public Safety Academy 20

Hesperia Christian 50, PAL Academy 18

Hillcrest Christian 60, Malibu 16

INTERSECTIONAL

California School for the Deaf Riverside 44, Colorado City (Ariz.) El Capitan 12

Vista St. Joseph Academy 50, California Lutheran 6