‘Tryin’ to Mess with Me’

As a punk rocker, he went by the name of Rocco Roll, but his real name was Rocco Francis Banich. He’s now 68-years-old and housed at the California State Prison-Sacramento (SAC) in Represa.

At the dawn of punk rock, likely the late 1970s, Banich created the Absentees, their only record release was a throbbing punk rocker with an odd guitar break, “Tryin’ to Mess with Me” in 1981.

Their record proved to be prophetic.

Banich first called the band Absentee Concept, a possible reference to absenteeism at Long Beach Transit, where Banich drove for a living. With Banich on guitar, other Absentees came and went, his band practices resembling a revolving door. A key member, Mary W., Banich’s girlfriend and singer eloped with another band member at about the same time the Absentees were scheduled to record their first single.

Two hundred copies were pressed, and Banich came up with $163, enough to pay for half the pressing. The other half (94 copies to be exact) were never picked up from the pressing plant. The copies that Banich did get were mostly given away and, of course, Banich made sure the subject of his contempt, Mary, got a copy.

At the time, the only game in town for punk rock was Zed Records. Opening its doors in 1973, at first Zed specialized in progressive, aka prog rock, bands like King Crimson and Yes, mainly UK acts where a member of the Zed family lived and worked for Island Records that thus could ship the newest British prog rock vinyl home to Long Beach. CDs weren’t out yet, appearing in 1981.

At some point, around the time Zed moved from Seventh Street to Lakewood Boulevard, it dropped prog rock and went punk. That’s when Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys appeared. A legend on the punk scene, Bay Area resident Biafra sought out rare punk 45s for his growing record collection.

In the racks of Zed’s 45s was that very Absentees’ release. Seems that Banich had left copies of his record at Zed’s gratis just so the store would carry it. A similar strategy was used in 1961 in the promotion of “Monster Mash” when its promoter, Gary Paxton, passed out freebies to record shops up and down central California to justify radio play, eventually making it a #1 hit for decades. Not so for the Absentees.

After acquiring a copy of “Tryin’ to Mess with Me,” Jello Biafra dubbed it of great interest to other collectors of punk rock records and spread the word, making it the most sought-after California punk single. In 1993, a bootleg release appeared in the Killed by Death CD series. Asked about this, Banich replied like so many early punk rockers have: “It was an illegal bootleg, but I couldn’t be happier that it was put out.”

Banich wasn’t so happy, when he engaged in a standoff with Long Beach police outside his home on Aug. 30, 2007, and was charged with attempted murder and two counts of attempted manslaughter for shooting at three Long Beach SWAT officers at the Til-2 Club, 475 W. Willow St.

As reported in the Press-Telegram, during Banich’s trial, “the bartender testified she recognized Banich peering over his fence with his gun and said Banich harassed her for roughly ten years. The prosecutor was able to prove Banich opened fire on a bar behind his house, prompting police to respond and a standoff with SWAT that lasted about five hours.

In the shoot-out with SWAT, Banich fired at least seven rounds from the rifle, with one bullet striking an officer in the shoulder, where it lodged in his bulletproof vest and the other passing through the inside of his pant leg near his groin. As that officer ran to take cover with two other SWAT officers, Banich continued to shoot at all three and police returned fire. Banich was hit in the forearm and suffered a graze wound.” During the trial, Banich “called the prosecutor and the judge ‘the devil’ and accused the witnesses in the case against him of lying.”

In an earlier phone call with police, Banich allegedly threatened an officer to be “cursed to damnation, your children will be raped and murdered, your elderly will die, and you will die, do not come here anymore.”

One of Banich’s songs, “Open Season,” targeted Long Beach police. Written in 1999, it was interpreted as a blueprint for the crime, including descriptions of shooting up the bar and killing cops. “Open season is the reason to come to Long Beach to kill some narcs,” reads one lyric from the song. Other songs: “Anaheim Whore” taken by some as another reference to his former girlfriend and “The Long Beach Police Tried to Murder Me Once Again.”

Banich, 52, was sentenced to 55 years to life plus ten months, and “will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he can be considered for parole, said Deputy District Attorney Lowell Anger.” He could be released earlier with the resentencing reform act for more lenient treatment of inmates more than 50 years old.

After Banich complained his trial was unfair, the judge said that Banich “would cheerfully repeat the conduct.”