Brian Gorsegner seems to be your common punk rocker-turned New Jersey dad, however in fact he’s actually an alt-rock Indiana Jones — an city archeologist bent on recovering long-lost relics of the rock and roll that modified his life.
A music reserving agent by day, Gorsegner has spent his nights — and weekends — for greater than 20 years combing via the basements and attics of ageing punk rockers, their households and obsessive followers, comparable to himself, sleuthing for forgotten artifacts.
And in November, the 41-year-old unearthed a treasure trove at an previous home in Queens — discovering the unique case for Johnny Ramone’s favourite guitar, an instrument which bought for near $1 million at public sale in 2021.
“To lots of people it won’t imply lots, however for me or fellow collectors it’s like discovering the Mona Lisa buried in a bunch of trash. It’s loopy,” Gorsegner informed The Submit.
As with most of his finds, Gorsegner was placed on the path of Ramone’s guitar case by phrase of mouth — this time when an previous NYC rocker reached out to share tales about being buddies with the Ramones, the Misfits and different seminal punk bands from the ’70s and ’80s.
After swapping tales, the rocker informed Gorsegner they had been transferring and planning to empty most of their home right into a dumpster, however welcomed him to peruse the piles of previous musical gear for one thing he would possibly need.
The home had fallen into disrepair and Gorsegner needed to claw via the place with a crowbar at instances. He was in a position to pry 45 information and posters, and previous setlists from cupboards till he stumbled upon the guitar case — and knew he’d struck gold when he noticed “RAMONES” stenciled throughout it in white paint.
“I’d seen it earlier than. There’s a fairly well-known {photograph} by David Godlis that he took of the Ramones enjoying at CBGB’s in ’77,” Gorsegner stated, referring to the legendary East Village punk membership the place the likes of Patti Smith, Madonna, the Speaking Heads, Mink DeVille and Blondie acquired their begins.
“The picture has their gear all laid out on the stage. They usually have these like, actually nice trying, {hardware} store-like stencils on them. So I knew as quickly as I noticed the case that it was a type of unique instances,” he added.
Having all however forgotten it, the previous NYC rocker went on to recall a Ramones present in 1978 or ’79 the place the case’s latch broke and Johnny pitched it right into a dumpster behind the membership. However the rocker wanted a case, and Johnny stated to seize it if he was prepared to restore the latch. So the rocker did, and went on to make use of it for years.
“This factor was within the trash 4 years earlier than I used to be born,” Gorsegner stated. “And now, happening 50 years later, right here it’s, nearly on the point of hit one other dumpster. That form of pleasure is why I actually simply acquired so into doing these items.”
Gorsegner was ready to make use of Godlis’ picture to confirm the case — a tear on its leatherette masking completely matched one on a case within the 1977 picture — and after speaking to some sources decided it was possible the case Johnny’s well-known white Moserite guitar got here in when he purchased it that 12 months.
“This undoubtedly fell underneath that class the place it’s like, ‘My God, all these years individuals stroll previous this home. And this factor is up there,’” he stated. “You understand? Who f**king knew that it was simply within the attic in a home in Queens, the place it sat for 40 years gathering filth and dirt.”
“Once you make these discoveries, it’s simply the good s**t on the earth.”
Whereas it was one among his greatest finds, Gorsegner has greater than 20 years of hits underneath his belt relationship again to when he first began scouring for punk rock artifacts within the late 90s.
He fell in love with the style when he was 13 and began enjoying in bands of his personal. By the late ’90s he was working in a display screen printing store alongside plenty of different rockers supporting their music — and a “aggressive” memorabilia gathering scene sprung up among the many group.
However Gorsenger took it one step additional, and was quickly shopping for total collections off individuals who had seen the ’70s and ’80s punk scene firsthand.
“I discovered if you happen to pay individuals proper and also you deal with individuals effectively, and if you happen to’re simply genuinely passionate about no matter it’s you’re on the market doing — and never doing it to make a buck or no matter different slimy motive that tons of individuals do this sort of stuff — you recognize, phrase travels, and also you construct relationships,” he stated.
Through the years he’s crisscrossed the nation instances — he now takes his spouse and 11-year-old daughter underneath the guise of household holidays — following down leads and tips on collections or caches of artifacts that could be up for grabs.
A few of his greatest scores embody fan mail a 15-year-old Dave Grohl wrote to the band Necros requesting stickers and D.C. tour dates; an early Beastie Boys live performance poster hand-drawn by the band; and metallic spikes from the Misfits’ leather-based jackets that one among their fathers machined at his manufacturing facility job.
However Gorsenger’s favourite finds are posters and flyers that bands made once they had been younger and searching for a begin, or highschool children in love with the music as he as soon as was.
“They had been these bands that no person cared about. They usually had been making fliers at their highschool Xerox machine, they usually had been display screen printing their very own T-shirts,” Gorsegner stated. “Even the Ramones. Like, you don’t consider them as like stenciling their very own guitar instances. However there was a time and a spot the place they had been doing simply the whole lot themselves.
“The truth that 40, 50 years later, these unique artifacts, these minimize and paste fliers, and the truth that the unique mockups nonetheless exist in somebody’s attic someplace, that’s simply thoughts blowing to me that it by no means acquired left in a replica machine. It by no means acquired a beer dumped on it. And that’s really an artifact for my part.”
“Once you peel poster off a phone pole on the Bowery in 1978, that’s not alleged to nonetheless be round,” he added.
Gorsegner loans most of his assortment — the dimensions of which he stated is tough to quantify — out to museums, college displays or different establishments. Generally he sells issues, however at all times reserves gadgets for individuals underneath 20 at reductions in hopes of jumpstarting a brand new era of punk ardour.
“After I found punk once I was 13 and I began enjoying in bands it grew to become my total life. It saved me in highschool. Like, I don’t know that I’d have made it via numerous stuff if it wasn’t for these bands and that scene,” he stated.
He’s even written and revealed a guide — “Historical Artifax” — documenting his assortment alongside interviews with individuals who made the music and noticed it carried out.
As for the Ramones case, Gorsegner has no plans to promote or mortgage it out within the close to future, however expects in the future he would possibly let it go.
“I hope to maintain issues till they’re able to go on to wherever they’re alleged to go,” he stated. “However that Ramones case shall be a tough factor for me to chop unfastened. Largely due to its historic significance and the truth that the Ramones are the best band of all time, and everybody ought to agree with that.
“But in addition due to the joys of discovering it. It’s not simply one thing that I purchased on eBay. It’s one thing that I like discovered within the wild. And that reminiscence, it’s like getting that current that you just’re hoping to get Christmas morning. You always remember that.”
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