Antista grew up in Fullerton, CA and once he reached his teens, he became fully invested in the flourishing Orange County punk scene of the late 1970s/early ‘80s. One of the tightest bonds he forged in high school was with Steve Soto of Agent Orange and the Adolescents, a staunch friend and ally who tragically died in 2018 at the age of 54. “I had never thought about playing an instrument until 1979 when punk rock exploded at my high school, Troy High School in Fullerton,” reveals Antista.​