About Harley Flanagan
“Harley Flanagan’s incredible story is not just the history of New York hard core, of which he is a founding father, but a history of New York itself,” wrote the late Anthony Bourdain for the cover of Harleys recently published memoir, Hard Core: Life of My Own.
Raised in Europe and on New York’s gritty Lower East Side among the legends of punk and new wave, Harley began his own musical career at age 11, performing at legendary hangouts like Max’s Kansas City and CBGBs as the drummer for the classic NYC Punk band, the Stimulators.
By the early 80’s, Harley founded the seminal Hardcore band, Cro-Mags, writing the majority of their music and channeling his powerful survival instinct into the blistering soundtrack and storyline for the 80’s and 90’s. In March 2019, Harley was featured in PUNK, a four-part docuseries on EPIX from executive producer John Varvatos and punk music legend Iggy Pop. He’s also played himself and other punk characters in films and TV.
Despite his authenticity and intensity, at his core(!), there is a softer side of Harley. He’s a strong and visible advocate for mental health and an inspiring voice for PTSD. He is a loving father, devoted husband, outstanding friend and is in the process of creating a foundation that supports animal charities and underprivileged kids.
No mention of Flanagan would be complete without referencing his passion for martial arts. He is a second-degree blackbelt under Master Renzo Gracie and has been a BJJ practitioner since Renzo first arrived in New York in the mid-1990s. He has been teaching–and now directing–the kids’ program at Renzo’s flagship academy in NYC for the last 10 years.
BETWEEN WARS is Flanagan’s first feature film score. He’s also completing the Cro-Mags first album in nearly 20 years which will be released this year. He concludes, “I feel stronger, happier mentally, spiritually and physically then I have in years, and in helping bring this film to Park City, I am looking forward to the future.”
