THE STAGE
Photo : Glen E . Friedman
GREAT MILEAGE
A Triton ’ s life in punk rock and molecular biology .
BY JARRETT HALEY
THE WAY he explains it , you might think Milo Aukerman ’ 86 , PhD ’ 92 , has a chronic condition , one he ’ s had to manage nearly his entire life : “ Sometimes I just have this urge ,” he says . “ I just need to rock .”
Rock he does , and has , from the Che Café and The Pub on campus to concert stages worldwide . He ’ s done so for decades , all the while earning dual degrees at UC San Diego , doing postdocs around the country and embracing a career in molecular biology . And while punk rock stardom and scientific research may seem like polar opposites , for Aukerman , they ’ re simply two sides of the same coin .
“ All my life , I ’ ve just wanted to do things that are exciting and stimulating ,” he says . “ Punk and science were what did it for me .”
Both interests took hold of Aukerman in high school , where the self-described “ nerd ” was equally as obsessed with DNA as he was with bands in his hometown of Manhattan Beach , Calif ., and nearby L . A .
Eventually he ’ d join the Descendents , a band started by his classmates . “ I was just a fan at first , hanging around their practices ,” he says . “ But I thought I could try singing ; I was pretty shy back then and thought it might help me overcome that .”
The fan-turned-frontman soon belted out blistering songs full of either teenage angst or more fatuous topics like fast food and fishing . The Descendents soon gained a following , owing to intense musical precision behind the frenzy and exceptionally sincere lyrics that spoke to those who felt perpetually on the outside . This mixture is the essence of what is considered the band ’ s breakthrough album , intended to be Aukerman ’ s swan song as he left for UC San Diego and thus titled Milo Goes to College .
Aukerman did focus on school in La Jolla , notably breezing through O-Chem , running cross country and resuming his place as a mere fan of campus bands . The Descendents went on hiatus until drummer Bill
Stevenson mentioned he had new material and Aukerman felt the first of those chronic calls to rock . Throughout his undergrad years , on weekends , summers and the occasional quarter off , Aukerman would play shows , tour the country and eventually record three more albums with the Descendents , each growing in musicianship and honing a signature sound : a blend of punk fury and pop catchiness , with a strong sense of melody and occasional harmonies that were reminiscent of the Beach Boys .
While that sound would later influence much of modern rock music , back then , it stayed firmly in the underground scene , where even a successful band still toured in a run-down cargo van , crashed on floors and altogether scraped by . “ I just couldn ’ t see doing that as a career ,” says Aukerman . “ And the more it felt like a career , the less I enjoyed it . I had my degree in biology by then , and at the time , that seemed to have more of a future in it .”
With sights set on a PhD , Aukerman
48 TRITON | WINTER 2022