Annie Saunders, 46, grew up in the Chicago area, and as a teenager she moved into a punk house and began putting on shows. These days, she works as a veterinarian in Wisconsin and sings and plays bass in Chicago-based punk and power-pop band Time Thieves. Inspired by the Instagram page @punkhouseoakland, Saunders launched @punkhousechicago last month to document the city’s punk houses past and present. She’s accepting photo submissions at punkhousechicago@gmail.com.
- Saunders (second from left) and friend Emily Udell (third from right) behind Community Shower Loft with Italian band This Side Up
The whole concept of a punk house, at least to me, is that you could live with your friends for cheap while you learn how to navigate the world. It creates a tight-knit community that might be lacking elsewhere. That’s what’s reflected on Punk House Chicago. The focus is not as much on the bands as it is on communal life and the weird things you get up to when you’re making minimum wage and you’re bored.
I’ve played in Time Thieves for exactly three years this month. Before Wisconsin, I spent two years in Washington, but I’d save up any expendable income to come back to Chicago every six months or so to record or play shows for a weekend.
It’s about the sense of community and what we’re bonded by, which for most of us was local punk music. Though it’s called Punk House Chicago, it isn’t limited to just the houses that we lived in. I’ve got a few pictures from the Mutiny and the Fireside and other small venues too. To me, they’re just as important as photos of people dressing up in their living room on a Monday for no reason.
