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Friday, March 8, 2013
Words Here's One of My Punk Stories, Now Share Yours
Posted by Megan Seling on Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 4:19 PM
Over the last few days I've had some amazing conversations with friends about what punk means to them—the positive impact it's had in their lives, the people they've met because of it, the people they are because of it.
Now I want to hear yours, too.
This isn't to prove anyone right or wrong. This isn't to declare anything bullshit or not. This is just to share some stories.
I'll go first—here's just one of many:
When I was barely a teenager, growing up in a suburb of a suburb, I was, as so many do, existing on a diet of pure self-loathing. I was into "grunge" music—Nirvana, Alice in Chains, even Candlebox—and since a lot of that music was filled with even more self-loathing, it didn't really help my misery. (It comforted me, sure—I still love Nirvana—but it was hard for me, a 14-year-old high school freshman, to feel 100% comfortable with the lyrics to "Rape Me," for example. My love for Nirvana grew stronger later in life, when I was less intimidated by them.)
But when I was introduced to Operation Ivy, my outlook changed. Their music was just as snarly, just as imperfect, but their message felt so much more positive. Less "You're a fuck up, we all are, and it will never be okay," and more of "It's okay to be a fuck up! Let's figure this shit out together!"
It happened almost instantly in my brain, like a light turning on. I realized that being imperfect in society's eyes didn't mean I was a fuck up, and more importantly it didn't mean I couldn't contribute in some way. I wasn't supposed to just conform or get out of the way. That was just the beginning for me, and it was huge. It still feels huge when I think about it, even if it might seem unimpressive on paper blog. Thanks, punk.
So, what's your story?
1
I got into grunge when I moved to Seattle, before that mostly typical Canadian music like Rush, Loverboy, Bryan Adams, Corey Haim, Mind the Gap, 54-40, Bachman Turner Overdrive.
My exposure to punk was from the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, when early punk musicians would do sets, and we'd hang out in the performer's sections, while I'd head off to check out slide guitar blues and music from Australasian bands. That plus some PJ Harvey, cause she was cool.
My experience was that punk was self-loathing and that the other music was upbeat, but the punk I did choose to listen to was positive, like Billy Bragg and PJ (cause Paula Jean rocked in that throaty pain kind of way).
But that's my story. I'm sure everyone's is different. I'd mostly blast metal and rock anthems when we'd go on operations in the Army. That or Blues.
My exposure to punk was from the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, when early punk musicians would do sets, and we'd hang out in the performer's sections, while I'd head off to check out slide guitar blues and music from Australasian bands. That plus some PJ Harvey, cause she was cool.
My experience was that punk was self-loathing and that the other music was upbeat, but the punk I did choose to listen to was positive, like Billy Bragg and PJ (cause Paula Jean rocked in that throaty pain kind of way).
But that's my story. I'm sure everyone's is different. I'd mostly blast metal and rock anthems when we'd go on operations in the Army. That or Blues.
2
I still remember the name of the man who introduced me to badass punk ruck - Aaron Ipock. I was a kid in high school, pretending to play guitar, and being 100% clueless on punk outside of Green Day and the Ramones.
Ipock made a mix tape - Punk Ass Music for Mike because He Don't Know Shit - inclusive of everything from Billy Goats Gruff to G.G. Allin, Descendants to Head. He also included some Melvins and Ween. And yes, there was Operation Ivy.
The diversity of the music was awesome, and opened my eyes to a shit ton of new artists and labels. More importantly, I learned that it wasn't a style of music so much a style of attitude. Ipock would say the Melvins were the most punk rock band ever because they did what they wanted to, without regard to what shit people might talk (granted, I would never talk shit to Buzz Melvin).
I eventually formed my own little rock and roll group (The Wise Guys), and put on a shit ton of grange hall shows. We hand bands like the Tripods and Sadie Hawkins Rejects playing with Moral Crux and Jim Jones Revival. Positively Negative and Third doing the same show was a treat.
And it worked - were the music "styles' different? Sure. But in the end, it was a bunch of kids getting together to listen and experience music they knew, and music they didn't know. More importantly, we all had a kickass time doing it.
Ipock made a mix tape - Punk Ass Music for Mike because He Don't Know Shit - inclusive of everything from Billy Goats Gruff to G.G. Allin, Descendants to Head. He also included some Melvins and Ween. And yes, there was Operation Ivy.
The diversity of the music was awesome, and opened my eyes to a shit ton of new artists and labels. More importantly, I learned that it wasn't a style of music so much a style of attitude. Ipock would say the Melvins were the most punk rock band ever because they did what they wanted to, without regard to what shit people might talk (granted, I would never talk shit to Buzz Melvin).
I eventually formed my own little rock and roll group (The Wise Guys), and put on a shit ton of grange hall shows. We hand bands like the Tripods and Sadie Hawkins Rejects playing with Moral Crux and Jim Jones Revival. Positively Negative and Third doing the same show was a treat.
And it worked - were the music "styles' different? Sure. But in the end, it was a bunch of kids getting together to listen and experience music they knew, and music they didn't know. More importantly, we all had a kickass time doing it.
3
I grew up also in the most suburban of suburbs (Redmond), in the early to mid-noughties. I was the kid who got bullied for being gay *even though I wasn't gay*. I was never a part of "the scene" and I was too bookish and too introverted to go to live shows (still true -- loud noises are a bother for me). But punk was the first music that resonated with me. Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols (Sex Pistols! I could write reams), the Mr. T Experience, the Screaching Weasels, etc. What the music said to me, over and over, in its every variation, is that there was dignity in being different, that the very fact that people loathed me for being true to myself was the surest sign I was doing something right.
4
A friend of mine's older sister (maybe 12) had Elvis Costello and Sex Pistols records. She said they would have parties and throw darts at each other. I was completely impressed with the music and the girl. I lived in a white trash neighborhood, and I wanted to rebel and be different from everything there. A couple years later, my friends listened to Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, DOA, Nomeansno, SNFU and Skate Punks, and I shaved off my hair, had a board and didn't appear to give a fuck. I think it made me accepting of people's choices and critical of authority. It was good for me, but I got out and never go back there. It wasn't a happy ending all over, but were other factors at play.
6
I met my wife when I lived in a punk house. Her band's veggie-oil tour ambulance broke down the morning after they played in my living room. I got to spend a few days with the cute keyboard player, much to my excitement. It's six years later, and we're married.
7
Your punkrock story is listening to a recording band that hasn't played a shot since 1988?
Where is the sex, drugs, violence, train hopping, sleeping in ditches, rooftops and houses full of pitbulls and fleas?
OP IVY was just slightly before my time, and energy/hectic was a great album. The song Bad Town is about the city I came of age in, when they played there some of my older friends beat the shit out of them and stole their equipment. Years later after becoming acquainted with Tim Armstrong and Lars, I say they fucken deserved it, those guys are fucking assholes.
Where is the sex, drugs, violence, train hopping, sleeping in ditches, rooftops and houses full of pitbulls and fleas?
OP IVY was just slightly before my time, and energy/hectic was a great album. The song Bad Town is about the city I came of age in, when they played there some of my older friends beat the shit out of them and stole their equipment. Years later after becoming acquainted with Tim Armstrong and Lars, I say they fucken deserved it, those guys are fucking assholes.
9
I was living in New York during the disco era when we despaired -- all that great '60s rock dead to beep beep disco.
And then punk came along, and I fell in love with the Ramones, 20 feet of speakers piled up on a 14th street stage, and I was in the first row (Dee Dee smiled at me!)
The raw energy of CBGBs: Debbie Harry's pure voice. A friend was a liaison for Stiff Records and I ended up engaged to the bass player of a (since become) English cult band. I'd sleep in the guitar cases when they were onstage.
When it seemed that music had died: punk was the blood thirsty zombie that brought it to life again..
And then punk came along, and I fell in love with the Ramones, 20 feet of speakers piled up on a 14th street stage, and I was in the first row (Dee Dee smiled at me!)
The raw energy of CBGBs: Debbie Harry's pure voice. A friend was a liaison for Stiff Records and I ended up engaged to the bass player of a (since become) English cult band. I'd sleep in the guitar cases when they were onstage.
When it seemed that music had died: punk was the blood thirsty zombie that brought it to life again..
10
I love Megan's definition where she sums up the message of punk as;
"It's okay to be a fuck up! Let's figure this shit out together!" It's true that punk is very positive.
I used to go see (loud) punk (rock) and death metal bands a lot in the late 90's, because my friends were into it, but for me it was just noise, and on the surface had a very male, very macho feel to it.
I still remember at one gig, in a crusty pub mostly full of dudes with mohawks, piercings, tattoos safety pins and patches sewn onto their clothes, with lout aggressive sounding music, and then seeing two punk guys make out.
I remember thinking at the time that they were probably straight guys making out as a political statement against homophobia, because the atmosphere seemed very heterosexual, but in retrospect, I don't know why I assumed that, but seeing that expanded my idea of what the punk scene was about.
Seeing all the anarchy symbols on people's patches, and slogans such as "work, consume, be silent, die" I got an incling of the philosophy behind punk, and that there was a strong crossover between punk and anarchist philosophy, but for me, the music didn't deliver that message very well.
I was more interested in the written message than the shouted message (as I had trouble making out the lyrics), so I preferred spending time in my local anarchist bookshop over seeing punk bands any day.
It was not until about 7 years later, when 'Antifolk volume 1' came out that I started to discover punk in its other (musical) forms. Why? Because a lot of antifolk (and also riot grrrl music, and Peaches) has punk philosophy, but you can actually make out the lyrics, and also, it's not as macho and aggressive.
These artists led me back to their (non rock) punk foremothers; The Raincoats, the Slits & Crass.
More...
"It's okay to be a fuck up! Let's figure this shit out together!" It's true that punk is very positive.
I used to go see (loud) punk (rock) and death metal bands a lot in the late 90's, because my friends were into it, but for me it was just noise, and on the surface had a very male, very macho feel to it.
I still remember at one gig, in a crusty pub mostly full of dudes with mohawks, piercings, tattoos safety pins and patches sewn onto their clothes, with lout aggressive sounding music, and then seeing two punk guys make out.
I remember thinking at the time that they were probably straight guys making out as a political statement against homophobia, because the atmosphere seemed very heterosexual, but in retrospect, I don't know why I assumed that, but seeing that expanded my idea of what the punk scene was about.
Seeing all the anarchy symbols on people's patches, and slogans such as "work, consume, be silent, die" I got an incling of the philosophy behind punk, and that there was a strong crossover between punk and anarchist philosophy, but for me, the music didn't deliver that message very well.
I was more interested in the written message than the shouted message (as I had trouble making out the lyrics), so I preferred spending time in my local anarchist bookshop over seeing punk bands any day.
It was not until about 7 years later, when 'Antifolk volume 1' came out that I started to discover punk in its other (musical) forms. Why? Because a lot of antifolk (and also riot grrrl music, and Peaches) has punk philosophy, but you can actually make out the lyrics, and also, it's not as macho and aggressive.
These artists led me back to their (non rock) punk foremothers; The Raincoats, the Slits & Crass.
11
Mid 80s. I was growing up in a "good" neighborhood, but was never athletic, tended toward my own interests (I liked rock when everyone else liked disco in 4th grade), and friends with some of the "weird" kids as well as those destined for the in crowd. By late middle / early high school, I found that my former friends didn't really want anything to do with me.
Instead of reacting with despair, I got pissed off. And somewhere around that time, I was exposed to punk rock (more accurately, hardcore) and it clicked. Besides expressing the rage I felt, it showed me that I didn't need them. Better yet, a lot of it was anti-Reagan and very left wing, which was in line with my own politics which had been informed by years of watching the news at dinner time and being raised with a sense of compassion for others instead of contempt. While U2 (who were a fresh and not yet gigantic band at the time) expressed that better, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and other bands felt what I felt, and it gave me a new scene to belong to.
Instead of reacting with despair, I got pissed off. And somewhere around that time, I was exposed to punk rock (more accurately, hardcore) and it clicked. Besides expressing the rage I felt, it showed me that I didn't need them. Better yet, a lot of it was anti-Reagan and very left wing, which was in line with my own politics which had been informed by years of watching the news at dinner time and being raised with a sense of compassion for others instead of contempt. While U2 (who were a fresh and not yet gigantic band at the time) expressed that better, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and other bands felt what I felt, and it gave me a new scene to belong to.
12
When I was in high school, we were either in one of two groups: English Rock and Southern Rock. You either had Zoso marked on your 3 ring binder and listened to Led Zeppelin or else you wore a green Army jacket and listened to the Allman Brothers.
There was one station in New York that defined "progressive" radio, WNEW where one of the most famous d.j.s in the world, Scott Muni used to spin. He could command interviews with major rock stars like Pete Townsend and John Lennon because of his reputation as one of the founders of commercial stations that played long songs, album oriented rock and he respected and knew music.
In the middle of this, there came punk rock, and Muni, although in his 40s was tuned into the scene. So he had this show on Friday afternoons that I would listen to after school called "Things from England" where in addition to "classic rock" oddities he would play the Sex Pistols, Clash and all the early punk groups and try to explain it to people. So I got this education in Punk and then moved on.
I digested this in my high school junior and senior year and by the summer of '78 punk was beginning to become common place. then I went to college and suddenly all these people were into punk. They were punks. But it was more like they had just gotten into it...more so as college wore on. One of my friends was in a short lived punk band that did song about Son of Sam ("he was such a kind mailman") but I think it ended up just being an "extra curricular" to make his application look "well rounded". So, into freshman, sophomore year, punk was always present, become more sophisticated, turned into new wave and by senior year turned into U-2 and REM. (I claim to be the first person to play the U2 album Boy on the air, because I received it at my college radio station and opened it and put it on the air. At least that's what I remember.) Another group of people formed this home off campus and had Never Mind the Bullocks repeating on the turntable all day long. I mean all_day_long, like going to sleep and leaving it on and then it's still playing at 8:30 in the morning and no one goes and grabs the needle and picks it up. Again, this was now 3 years or so since I first was listening to it along with Mr. Muni.
But (and this happens to me a lot) I was into Punk so much earlier that by the time everyone else was Punk I had forgotten it and they were in my face with "oh this is so punk". Yeah, I know. Because way back when...
More...
There was one station in New York that defined "progressive" radio, WNEW where one of the most famous d.j.s in the world, Scott Muni used to spin. He could command interviews with major rock stars like Pete Townsend and John Lennon because of his reputation as one of the founders of commercial stations that played long songs, album oriented rock and he respected and knew music.
In the middle of this, there came punk rock, and Muni, although in his 40s was tuned into the scene. So he had this show on Friday afternoons that I would listen to after school called "Things from England" where in addition to "classic rock" oddities he would play the Sex Pistols, Clash and all the early punk groups and try to explain it to people. So I got this education in Punk and then moved on.
I digested this in my high school junior and senior year and by the summer of '78 punk was beginning to become common place. then I went to college and suddenly all these people were into punk. They were punks. But it was more like they had just gotten into it...more so as college wore on. One of my friends was in a short lived punk band that did song about Son of Sam ("he was such a kind mailman") but I think it ended up just being an "extra curricular" to make his application look "well rounded". So, into freshman, sophomore year, punk was always present, become more sophisticated, turned into new wave and by senior year turned into U-2 and REM. (I claim to be the first person to play the U2 album Boy on the air, because I received it at my college radio station and opened it and put it on the air. At least that's what I remember.) Another group of people formed this home off campus and had Never Mind the Bullocks repeating on the turntable all day long. I mean all_day_long, like going to sleep and leaving it on and then it's still playing at 8:30 in the morning and no one goes and grabs the needle and picks it up. Again, this was now 3 years or so since I first was listening to it along with Mr. Muni.
But (and this happens to me a lot) I was into Punk so much earlier that by the time everyone else was Punk I had forgotten it and they were in my face with "oh this is so punk". Yeah, I know. Because way back when...
13
I started out a small town boy (like the song goes) interested in the shrapnel of English punk like The Cure & Depeche Mode. What my friends liked then got really boring really fast, in a little bubble of time when alternative music was R.E.M, 10,000 Maniacs & Edie Brickell with New Bohemians. Metal was a joke at the time, Cinderella & Poison ruled.
Looking for something infinitely more offensive, not to mention some rhythm, I was drawn in by Dead Kennedys' music, name, and the album cover to In God We Trust, Inc. Winston Smith placed our savior Jesus Christ crucified on a cross of cold cash. The album was only about 15 minutes long, so the cassette version said "home taping is killing the record industry, therefore we have left the other side blank for your enjoyment".
The religious blasphemies that initially caused me anxiety in Crass & DK (even DM) cracked a little hole in my young Catholic shell that ultimately freed me from that slavery. So thanks to you, Jello Biafra!
Looking for something infinitely more offensive, not to mention some rhythm, I was drawn in by Dead Kennedys' music, name, and the album cover to In God We Trust, Inc. Winston Smith placed our savior Jesus Christ crucified on a cross of cold cash. The album was only about 15 minutes long, so the cassette version said "home taping is killing the record industry, therefore we have left the other side blank for your enjoyment".
The religious blasphemies that initially caused me anxiety in Crass & DK (even DM) cracked a little hole in my young Catholic shell that ultimately freed me from that slavery. So thanks to you, Jello Biafra!
15
Seeing.bands like Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dickies, Butthole Surfers, DI, Vandals, MDC, and Social Distortion growing up in suburban 80's LA, and surviving riots and gang fights at Fenders Ballroom. Sadly, I was a couple of years too late for Black Flag and Minutemen.
16
In 1982 in Carnation WA during the junior high lunch period AC/DC was played on the school sound system in the gym/lunch room pretty much every fucking day save for the occasional Ted Nugent album.One day three of use talked the VP in to letting us listen to something else. The tape was queued up to God Save the Queen and the first cords stopped 300 kids talking, they all looked up or turned around and starred in confusion. When Johnny Rotten belted out "god save the queen/fascist regime" the looks of confusion turned to disgust and shock. The VP quickly crossed the room and shut off the tape player, she looked at us like she wanted to say something but didn't know what.The ladies and gentlemen returned to their regular programing
17
Still never heard Black Flag, Social Distortion, or Operation Ivy. For me it was ~1997 in Seattle - the Velvet Elvis, some shows at RCKNDY, beloved Old Firehouse, the Goathouse and that house by TJ's (long gone). Blood Brothers, Murder City Devils, Karp, Behead the Prophet, but also - big shout out to the women of Candy Ass and Chainsaw. I was obsessed! So alive, so intense! The whole catalogue! That was, and is, punk to me. Many fond memories, many lifelong friends.
18
I was into punk with working class themes- think DKM, NOFX, Rancid. They made it okay to be the poorest fucking kid in our middle class town.
19
There was an article in the NME in 1998 or 1999 about white noise, and it basically listed all these "seminal" records of the time, the likes of: Autechre, Atari Teenage Riot, Merzbow, Patric Catani, Aphex Twin, Nic Endo, whitehouse, Bomb20 ..... consuming all of that gave us the most liberation to do what the fuck we wanted and we met a lot of people, made a lot of noise, recorded a whole album in sound recorded - chewd biscuits for drums, super distorted guitars, samples from all over the place. Listening back to our self released CDRs (some on playstation black cds), is bizzare, it sounds bad, but we did unique things with unique people. A big pint of Hoegaarden was 2 pound 45. We saw people play radiators, the paper middle of a record, scream on top of tables and slowed down doo-wop. Manchester, UK 1998-2001. White Noise was my punk rock.
I can't remember more than I can remember, but what I do remember is a lot of who I am.
Anyways...........
I can't remember more than I can remember, but what I do remember is a lot of who I am.
Anyways...........
21
Punk for me was less about music- I didn't get into it too much until I was "old", like nineteen. Except for Op Ivy- they sang to my heart. I had just gotten out of rehab and didn't know a thing about life or living. I was living on the streets just trying to stay clean around junkies, never had a record player or even a boombox. All the kids that could rattle off lyrics to songs I couldn't understand- I didn't know that 7"s had the words on their sleeves because I'd never owned one.
I started hanging out with the street punks, riding trains, living in exquisite, old abandoned mansions and creepy warehouses. I grew up thinking I'd never do anything, go anywhere, and all I wanted to do was see America. Then these kids showed me the way, many ways to live.
I know everyone has some crappy story about being fucked over or being too drunk to pay attention, and I do as well, but the good ones outweigh the bad. As I wove my way through the drunks and junkies and angry kids and weekenders and house punks and crusties, I learned about choosing my fate, being accountable. I found ways to build my own life. The punks taught me feminism. The punks taught me to explore my racism, homophobia and to take it seriously. The punks taught me that I could be wild and be sober.
If the punks had never come my way, well, I'm sure I would have done something awesome. Who else supports drinking and not drinking, smashing shit, fixing shit, and reading, and eating good, and eating like shit, and abusing yourself for the greater good by never sleeping while riding trains, doing graffiti, and never bathing, being socially responsible by developing a world view through listening to Democracy Now! and eating garbage while at the same time telling everyone to fuck off, throwing your body in front of the cops, risking your life just to get a damn good view of the city at night, wear really fun clothes and hair styles, and garden, but also drink too much and barf in that garden, all at the same time?
More...
I started hanging out with the street punks, riding trains, living in exquisite, old abandoned mansions and creepy warehouses. I grew up thinking I'd never do anything, go anywhere, and all I wanted to do was see America. Then these kids showed me the way, many ways to live.
I know everyone has some crappy story about being fucked over or being too drunk to pay attention, and I do as well, but the good ones outweigh the bad. As I wove my way through the drunks and junkies and angry kids and weekenders and house punks and crusties, I learned about choosing my fate, being accountable. I found ways to build my own life. The punks taught me feminism. The punks taught me to explore my racism, homophobia and to take it seriously. The punks taught me that I could be wild and be sober.
If the punks had never come my way, well, I'm sure I would have done something awesome. Who else supports drinking and not drinking, smashing shit, fixing shit, and reading, and eating good, and eating like shit, and abusing yourself for the greater good by never sleeping while riding trains, doing graffiti, and never bathing, being socially responsible by developing a world view through listening to Democracy Now! and eating garbage while at the same time telling everyone to fuck off, throwing your body in front of the cops, risking your life just to get a damn good view of the city at night, wear really fun clothes and hair styles, and garden, but also drink too much and barf in that garden, all at the same time?
22
Small town, listening to a lot of prog, picked up the Time Magazine with their horrified story about punk rock -- this would be 1977. The idea of punk appealed to teenage me. I went in that direction as far as I could, within the confines of whatever signal from the punk world I could get in that tiny backwater I was trapped in. Got the first three Ramones albums (already burn racked!); hooked up with like minded friends and hung out reading Creem. We commandeered the school literary magazine and filled it with punky ransom note graphics (pushing out the Heavy Metal swipe art where we could).
Went to college in Oregon, and after a year wound up in Portland. Saw X there, saw The Neoboys and a very early show by Poison Idea. Crapped out, wound up back in my home town -- You want to know why punk had to happen? When I left, the local hip FM station played "The Wall" straight through every Saturday night. When I got back, almost three years later, they STILL were playing "The Wall" every Saturday night.
I consolidated my strength and finally moved to Seattle, on a whim, and have been here ever since. It's been a wild ride here, hasn't it? Out of the received ideas and half-formed doctrines of punk, I took enough away to give myself the courage to get the hell out of my little town hell and move to a bigger town hell, a less pathetic and insulated one. That's enough to have made it worthwhile.
Went to college in Oregon, and after a year wound up in Portland. Saw X there, saw The Neoboys and a very early show by Poison Idea. Crapped out, wound up back in my home town -- You want to know why punk had to happen? When I left, the local hip FM station played "The Wall" straight through every Saturday night. When I got back, almost three years later, they STILL were playing "The Wall" every Saturday night.
I consolidated my strength and finally moved to Seattle, on a whim, and have been here ever since. It's been a wild ride here, hasn't it? Out of the received ideas and half-formed doctrines of punk, I took enough away to give myself the courage to get the hell out of my little town hell and move to a bigger town hell, a less pathetic and insulated one. That's enough to have made it worthwhile.
23
I was introduced to punk in the early to mid 80s while living in Moorhead, MN...of all places. A friend gave me a mix tape, which I still have, filled with bands like JFA, Fang, MDC, Die Kreuzen, Circle Jerks, Minutemen, 7 Seconds, etc. I threw myself in full on. Leather biker jacket and all. I spent my summer nights at the "concrete park" (read: a plaza in front of a bank) in Fargo and met the best and most f'd up crew of characters. I was soon trading cassettes through the mail via the classified of Flipside and Maximum Rock & Roll. Those were fun days. My first show was, oddly enough, the Vampire Lesbos...at a conference room in a Holiday Inn, followed by the Circle Jerks at the civic center.
24
As a kid (elementary school age) my parents would get coffee at a spot in Portland Maine where all the punk kids hung out. I still don't know why...good coffee?? I was impressed by the mowhawks, spikes and mostly the bad-ass attitudes of these kids. One guy took time to nod at me and offer a "hey kid". For me it meant he knew I was somehow like him.(ummm...I ALWAYS read too much in to things)
Years later when first listening to Crass, Fear and other bands I considered my dirty little secrets, I'd remember that guy and always kinda felt like he represented what my insides looked like.
Years later when first listening to Crass, Fear and other bands I considered my dirty little secrets, I'd remember that guy and always kinda felt like he represented what my insides looked like.
27
i think my first memory of punk is from 1995ish, when i was 10 years old, living in olympia, and my family had just moved into this little white house on 20th ave. my mom told me that the landlords had two daughters, maggie and tobi, and that tobi was in a band called bikini kill (she played drums, thats why the garage had all these egg cartons stapled to the wall, my mom told me). my mom had a copy of "the cd version of the first two records", and i remember sitting down at the stereo and listening to it while reading the lyrics and just being totally scandalized because every. single. song. had a swear word in it.
a little while later, maybe when i was 11 or 12, a friend of my mom's started baby sitting my sister and i. her name was mary margaret, and she was a riot grrrl who gave me the doubles of all her zines. i learned about dental dams and feminism and masturbation and rape and maybe things i was too young to learn about, but i wasn't scandalized by them (i think maybe my baby sitter thought i was gay and wanted me to know that it was chill and there was a community for me if i decided i was). i started going to shows, and because this was olympia in the mid 90s, that meant sleater kinney, behead the prophet, karp, a million calvin projects, yo yo a go gos, ladyfests, etc.
by the time i was 14, i mostly wanted to listen to sublime and no doubt and the ataris (and SO MUCH SKA), but when i started rediscovering feminism in my early 20s, i realized it was a huge advantage that i had grown up in the gender-subversive culture of olympia, so these ideas were not foreign to me. so much of punk is still "white dudes thinkin' about girls and shit", and i really feel like growing up in a community that really WAS punk has given me the tools to think critically and actualize subversiveness in my life.
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a little while later, maybe when i was 11 or 12, a friend of my mom's started baby sitting my sister and i. her name was mary margaret, and she was a riot grrrl who gave me the doubles of all her zines. i learned about dental dams and feminism and masturbation and rape and maybe things i was too young to learn about, but i wasn't scandalized by them (i think maybe my baby sitter thought i was gay and wanted me to know that it was chill and there was a community for me if i decided i was). i started going to shows, and because this was olympia in the mid 90s, that meant sleater kinney, behead the prophet, karp, a million calvin projects, yo yo a go gos, ladyfests, etc.
by the time i was 14, i mostly wanted to listen to sublime and no doubt and the ataris (and SO MUCH SKA), but when i started rediscovering feminism in my early 20s, i realized it was a huge advantage that i had grown up in the gender-subversive culture of olympia, so these ideas were not foreign to me. so much of punk is still "white dudes thinkin' about girls and shit", and i really feel like growing up in a community that really WAS punk has given me the tools to think critically and actualize subversiveness in my life.
28
Early eighties, late stages of high school, a life of small towns, the only new music source is the radio. One night, bored out of my mind, I ventured further down the dial than I'd ever gone before. Past the "classic" rock, past the country, past the christians, past the preachers and the baseball games, there was the college station. What were these magical sounds? Punk, you say? Ska? Reggae? Never again David Lee Roth!
AND there was a club in town where sometimes these punk bands played?!? I was there every weekend, sometimes weekdays too. You didn't have to dress a certain way, dance a certain way, have a certain haircut, know certain people...there was a couple who would interpretive dance along with the pogo-ers. There was a guy who would set up a canvas onstage and paint during the sets. There was the guy who would end up drunk and naked every time yet wouldn't get kicked out. A girl could dance in front of the stage and no one would bump into her if she didn't want to be bumped.
After a year or two, punk rock began to codify. The mohawk, the jacket, the boots. Skinheads would show up at the club, looking for fights. The mosh pit prevailed. Sure, a girl could watch from the back, but what was the point of that? I don't call getting beat up "fun" so I stopped going. Got a job, got a boyfriend, got old. But I still have that wild adventure in my heart, young as it will always be.
(and that classic rock station STILL plays those same songs)
AND there was a club in town where sometimes these punk bands played?!? I was there every weekend, sometimes weekdays too. You didn't have to dress a certain way, dance a certain way, have a certain haircut, know certain people...there was a couple who would interpretive dance along with the pogo-ers. There was a guy who would set up a canvas onstage and paint during the sets. There was the guy who would end up drunk and naked every time yet wouldn't get kicked out. A girl could dance in front of the stage and no one would bump into her if she didn't want to be bumped.
After a year or two, punk rock began to codify. The mohawk, the jacket, the boots. Skinheads would show up at the club, looking for fights. The mosh pit prevailed. Sure, a girl could watch from the back, but what was the point of that? I don't call getting beat up "fun" so I stopped going. Got a job, got a boyfriend, got old. But I still have that wild adventure in my heart, young as it will always be.
(and that classic rock station STILL plays those same songs)
29
@ 27, "white dudes thinkin' about girls and shit" is pop punk, and most of that is punk in name only as far as I'm concerned. There was none of that to be found in the first decade of punk, outside of a couple of Ramones songs and transitional mid-80s Descendents. Riot grrrl, OTOH, is the real deal.
30
This has to be one of my favorite comment threads to ever exist on Line Out. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your stories. So, so great.
31
I thank God that 2 skaters in high school introduced me to this music! Punk taught me to think for myself, but only little-by-little, subversively. Most of all it was, what did Danny Fields call it?
"It was the music I'd been waiting my whole life to hear."
It ultimately means fun.
There are so many different versions of this music that help to stretch our minds and our concepts.
Even in small towns like the one I grew up in there was a student-radio station/venue/record store/zine that helped to spread the meme "Think For Yourself". And it sent that message in music that sounded energetic and attractive to so many kids (say good-bye to Classic Rawk).
First show was right out of high school, The Big Boys, in my hometown. Bit by bit I'd find out about DIY sounds, first the English version, then the 60s and post-punk versions, then more home-grown sounds.
It still speaks to me today, as a middle-aged fart. Let the detractors have their say, but anyone who doesn't love the Ramones gets only pity from me.
"It was the music I'd been waiting my whole life to hear."
It ultimately means fun.
There are so many different versions of this music that help to stretch our minds and our concepts.
Even in small towns like the one I grew up in there was a student-radio station/venue/record store/zine that helped to spread the meme "Think For Yourself". And it sent that message in music that sounded energetic and attractive to so many kids (say good-bye to Classic Rawk).
First show was right out of high school, The Big Boys, in my hometown. Bit by bit I'd find out about DIY sounds, first the English version, then the 60s and post-punk versions, then more home-grown sounds.
It still speaks to me today, as a middle-aged fart. Let the detractors have their say, but anyone who doesn't love the Ramones gets only pity from me.
32
My first punk show (the Posies) was right about when it was breaking around Seattle and little did we all know that the Puget Sound Region would become the birthplace of 40 bands that sounded like Iggie Pop and the Three Stooges (or what would become known as Punk Rock). There were clams and mariner oil smells everywhere (at that time). Once the ninth Punk Rock band of the night was finished in the Jewell Box, Dodi at the Rendezvous gave us drinks after 2am and said "go to your room." We were all very nihilist.
I was drawn to this action like a moth to a very hot flame, what with all it's rebellment against fire insurance and leather-wearing. I was a prime player. If you had good news for me, I was embarrassed. So-called, quote-unquote "Good News" to me was bad news. If someone liked my skull drawings, I said "fuck you, dude" and tore them up. It was all that kind of stuff for a while. Tons of self abneagation disguised as humidity. It wouldn't be long before I became too pernicious to underestimate stuff, and I would soon be huddled with other Punks away from people who were not ironic to the point of cowardly.
Then, one very Punk Rock gloomy day in the Punkiest and Iggiest area of Wallingford, I was on the front porch drawing skulls and taking a piss at baby-boomer onanism, as I was want to do. Up walked the neighborhood dude who always had a blood-red and dogeared copy of Roget's Thesaurus peaking out his coat pocket (we called him "Pop" or "Dad"). He flipped a yoyo while saying nice things to me, and with his signature optimistic tone. Like, he would come up other times while I might be smoking speed, cutting myself, or narrowing an aperture of "cool", and i'd be all, "Dude, I'm internalizing my laundry-list of pseudo values, could you please bounce." For some reason this time I hoped he'd stay.
And it was this time I didn't tear up my skull drawings and vomit when Pop said he liked them. As he looked down, doing a perfect Cat's Cradle, what he spoke gave me a feeling of Out-of-Punk confidence and awe as I had not felt since before that first Punk Show so many wasted, ironic T-shirts ago. The names that Pop dropped of local luminaries whom he recorded and chilled with, almost in time to his limitless yo yo tricks entranced me: Jason Finn, Matt Chamberlain, Duff McKegan, Harvey Danger, Ben Gibbard. There were others. I was trembling now because here I was in proximity to a dude standing right in front of me who was in proximity to some heavy hitting dudes. Punk Rock? Maybe not. Famous? Definitely. I started wondering if Pop had a Wiki.
"Whoa, B-B-Ben Gibbard?" I accidentally knocked over a plant when I leapt to my feet. "That's the Death Cab For Cutie dude, right?" Pop slowly looked up and leveled his eyes toward mine as he snatched the yoyo out of the air after a perfectly executed Around the World.
"Yes," he said. "They are my friends."
Pop continued, calmly, but with a regionally almost Famous meta-derivative indie rock tone that could be mistaken for countless other sorts of regionally Famous meta-derivative and calm indie rock tones:
"Dude, Punk sucks bullshit. It always has. His yo yo seemed to be spinning fast enough to combust now. Can you finally admit to yourself that punk rock was always bullshit, Can you let it go? SAY IT WITH ME." Pop was stern, but cool.
He turned to "Walk the Dog" with his yoyo, which accompanied his exit. I thought of the famous people he knew and his kind wiseness. But that "Can you let it go, say it with me" thing before he left stuck with me. Whatever happened that day -- whether by coincidence, or due to Pop's presence and the ease of which those Names rolled from his kind lips -- seemed to melt my Ice Cave of fears and insecurities. Punk Rock, however not an unsubstantial achievement was, indeed bullshit.
More...
I was drawn to this action like a moth to a very hot flame, what with all it's rebellment against fire insurance and leather-wearing. I was a prime player. If you had good news for me, I was embarrassed. So-called, quote-unquote "Good News" to me was bad news. If someone liked my skull drawings, I said "fuck you, dude" and tore them up. It was all that kind of stuff for a while. Tons of self abneagation disguised as humidity. It wouldn't be long before I became too pernicious to underestimate stuff, and I would soon be huddled with other Punks away from people who were not ironic to the point of cowardly.
Then, one very Punk Rock gloomy day in the Punkiest and Iggiest area of Wallingford, I was on the front porch drawing skulls and taking a piss at baby-boomer onanism, as I was want to do. Up walked the neighborhood dude who always had a blood-red and dogeared copy of Roget's Thesaurus peaking out his coat pocket (we called him "Pop" or "Dad"). He flipped a yoyo while saying nice things to me, and with his signature optimistic tone. Like, he would come up other times while I might be smoking speed, cutting myself, or narrowing an aperture of "cool", and i'd be all, "Dude, I'm internalizing my laundry-list of pseudo values, could you please bounce." For some reason this time I hoped he'd stay.
And it was this time I didn't tear up my skull drawings and vomit when Pop said he liked them. As he looked down, doing a perfect Cat's Cradle, what he spoke gave me a feeling of Out-of-Punk confidence and awe as I had not felt since before that first Punk Show so many wasted, ironic T-shirts ago. The names that Pop dropped of local luminaries whom he recorded and chilled with, almost in time to his limitless yo yo tricks entranced me: Jason Finn, Matt Chamberlain, Duff McKegan, Harvey Danger, Ben Gibbard. There were others. I was trembling now because here I was in proximity to a dude standing right in front of me who was in proximity to some heavy hitting dudes. Punk Rock? Maybe not. Famous? Definitely. I started wondering if Pop had a Wiki.
"Whoa, B-B-Ben Gibbard?" I accidentally knocked over a plant when I leapt to my feet. "That's the Death Cab For Cutie dude, right?" Pop slowly looked up and leveled his eyes toward mine as he snatched the yoyo out of the air after a perfectly executed Around the World.
"Yes," he said. "They are my friends."
Pop continued, calmly, but with a regionally almost Famous meta-derivative indie rock tone that could be mistaken for countless other sorts of regionally Famous meta-derivative and calm indie rock tones:
"Dude, Punk sucks bullshit. It always has. His yo yo seemed to be spinning fast enough to combust now. Can you finally admit to yourself that punk rock was always bullshit, Can you let it go? SAY IT WITH ME." Pop was stern, but cool.
He turned to "Walk the Dog" with his yoyo, which accompanied his exit. I thought of the famous people he knew and his kind wiseness. But that "Can you let it go, say it with me" thing before he left stuck with me. Whatever happened that day -- whether by coincidence, or due to Pop's presence and the ease of which those Names rolled from his kind lips -- seemed to melt my Ice Cave of fears and insecurities. Punk Rock, however not an unsubstantial achievement was, indeed bullshit.
33
Punk in The Philippines in the 80s was about protest in the most visceral sense. I was more into Crüe and Van Halen, but the radar was also up for punk because of the overreaching dissatisfaction with the Marcos regime. American foreign policy was also partly to blame for propping up a then 20-year long dictatorship. The music from the likes of Betrayed, The Jerks, Urban Bandits, etc were mostly being released by the Twisted Red Cross label. Compilations from that imprint had bands that talked about oppression--by parents, by schools, by government and their death squads, and by Reagan and Bush I. As a teenager you couldn't help but make politically charged discourse even at 14 years old. This was partly fueled by the music and the life. Themes like joining riots at the bridge leading to the presidential palace were commonplace.
Many years later, the old punks that still play now hold a mirror to society and ask their listeners what they've done to change society after overthrowing Marcos. It's still good to hold the public as accountable as the government with where a country or society is going.
It was all about community for me then and now, whether it's inspiration also derived from The Clash or Sleater-Kinney's One Beat that continues to challenge me to be a better person and a better contributor to my community, even after moving halfway around the world o Seattle.
Post script: it's not until recently that I realized that quite a number of the kids that played in those punk bands in The Philippines were related to the oppressors running the government back in the day.
Many years later, the old punks that still play now hold a mirror to society and ask their listeners what they've done to change society after overthrowing Marcos. It's still good to hold the public as accountable as the government with where a country or society is going.
It was all about community for me then and now, whether it's inspiration also derived from The Clash or Sleater-Kinney's One Beat that continues to challenge me to be a better person and a better contributor to my community, even after moving halfway around the world o Seattle.
Post script: it's not until recently that I realized that quite a number of the kids that played in those punk bands in The Philippines were related to the oppressors running the government back in the day.
34
@25: The Vampire Lesbos were horrible. But when you're living in the Red River Valley as a teen, you take what you can get. I remember a pair of brothers who used to have epic parties. They were kind of metal, but all the punks would hang out there. It was in the midst of the metal-punk crossover. There were gutter punks (before they had a name) and runaways and star pupils who had an edge and we were all a little family. At least that's how I remember it. Fargo Rock City, indeed.
35
@34...same story in Portland, Maine circa 90-94. I'd be lying if I said I didn't see Vampire Lezbis more than once. 14 year old me liked some pretty awful music:)
36
Darby Crash at the North Park Lions club (San Diego) 1980 . I was over the mohawk thing already and wore a hawaiian shirt as a joke.Of course it got ripped off in the pit but I made a headband out of it then. My sorry ass was in mortal danger then but what was I expecting. My (badass) girlfriend stormed in and the usual riot continued. Ah the memories
37
and we had a similar hangout..at the guy from Big Meat Hammer's house...a big old black house where I met some sketchy sketchy...and a few cool folks
38
Terrible big-hair bubblegum metal bands dominated the LA music scene in the mid/late-80s. Fortunately there were bands like X, fIREHOSE, Thelonious Monster, The Circle Jerks, Fishbone, Rage Against the Machine and, yes, Jane's Addiction for the rest of us.
40
I grew up in Orange County, CA back in the mid-80s and at that time surf punk was big. We'd go party hopping along the beach in Balboa on Fri/Sat and usually one or two open parties would have a local surf punk band ripping tits.
I'd go see X play at the San Juan Capistrano Coach House every time they came into town. John Doe was and still is an idol of mine.
Punker friends of mind introduced me to Doggy Style, The Dead Kennedys, Buzzcocks (Spiral Scratch is still my favorite all-time punk album), Sex Pistols, and the Clash. I bought the Clash's Sandinista album and I entered a new plane of existence.
More recently, I have been into the Stooges. Punk is in my veins. I grew up with it as the music of choice. I slammed heavily back in the day and pay for it today with a lot of messed up bodily pain.
I'd go see X play at the San Juan Capistrano Coach House every time they came into town. John Doe was and still is an idol of mine.
Punker friends of mind introduced me to Doggy Style, The Dead Kennedys, Buzzcocks (Spiral Scratch is still my favorite all-time punk album), Sex Pistols, and the Clash. I bought the Clash's Sandinista album and I entered a new plane of existence.
More recently, I have been into the Stooges. Punk is in my veins. I grew up with it as the music of choice. I slammed heavily back in the day and pay for it today with a lot of messed up bodily pain.
41
@38 Fishbone used to play University of California, Riverside's "Barn" venue quite often. I remember hitting the Barn with a few friends a couple of times when Fishbone was playing to only maybe 3 other people in the place. We were big Hendrix fans so we'd ask for the more esoteric Hendrix tunes and the band would do their best to cough it up. Never thought Fishbone would become as big as they did.
42
I told this story during a radio interview on our last UK tour- it seemed to make everyone laugh:
I grew up in a very rural area, and had no access to non-country/top 40 radio or cable TV. We moving into the 'big city' of Bismarck ND when I was 12. I was up late watching USA Up All Night and they played Rock and Roll High School- the Ramones-intensive b movie. Totally changed my world in those 2 hours. I rode my bike down to the little strip mall music store and got the Ramonsmania cassette that monday (stores were not open on sunday).
I grew up in a very rural area, and had no access to non-country/top 40 radio or cable TV. We moving into the 'big city' of Bismarck ND when I was 12. I was up late watching USA Up All Night and they played Rock and Roll High School- the Ramones-intensive b movie. Totally changed my world in those 2 hours. I rode my bike down to the little strip mall music store and got the Ramonsmania cassette that monday (stores were not open on sunday).
43
Roderick was on KIRO on the weekend. His basic points:
1. 90% positive comments of the 750+ on the Seattle Weekly site;
2. Punk never progressed beyond nihilism;
3. Certain groups disliked others in the movement (hardcore v. straight edge);
4. Everything positive in punk was taken from another movement;
5. Everything positive that happened from it to you was just your doing;
6. Punk began as a conservative movement (aligned to Ayn Rand) and became a liberal movement; and
7. Punks can't take criticism.
Less of an argument than a bunch of points. Nonetheless, Seattle Weekly editor described it as a 'thesis'.
1. 90% positive comments of the 750+ on the Seattle Weekly site;
2. Punk never progressed beyond nihilism;
3. Certain groups disliked others in the movement (hardcore v. straight edge);
4. Everything positive in punk was taken from another movement;
5. Everything positive that happened from it to you was just your doing;
6. Punk began as a conservative movement (aligned to Ayn Rand) and became a liberal movement; and
7. Punks can't take criticism.
Less of an argument than a bunch of points. Nonetheless, Seattle Weekly editor described it as a 'thesis'.
44
My dad had mix tape that he made in the early 80's that i found when I was about 12. He had totally forgotten about it. Side A had The Clash, Devo and Los Microwaves. Side B was Creedrence and Black Flag. Growing up in a christian household this was a rare find, indeed. Changed my life forever, and it also renewed my dad's love for music. Now all my dad want's to do is chat about Lightning Bolt, or e-mail me Dethklok videos. (Punk) Music rules.
45
90% positive comments of the 750+ on the Seattle Weekly site, going to show that the Weekly truly is nothing but a milquetoast ad rag for aging suburban squares who can recall a summer of slumming it while smoking weed with Candlebox back in '94. it's like when my junior year history teacher called me and the two other "punk" kids in class the "ten percenters" all the time. we get that we're in the minority, but that doesn't make us wrong, just outnumbered.
speaking of high school, here's my punk story... I grew up in Orange County too, but in the mid 90's instead of mid 80's, so the bands I went to see were a little different and there was barely any scene to speak of. it was so anemic in fact that when I got to high school, all the older punks were basically just junkie skateboarders by this time. really mired in apathy. there I was, one of the few kids in my school outspokenly anti-racist, anti-fascist, pro-gay rights, etc, holding my own against an alarming number of neo-nazis (I lived in a military town). there were plenty of instances of me getting my ass kicked for standing up in what I believed in, and rarely would I have anyone to back me up. but no, what I believed in wasn't bullshit.
speaking of high school, here's my punk story... I grew up in Orange County too, but in the mid 90's instead of mid 80's, so the bands I went to see were a little different and there was barely any scene to speak of. it was so anemic in fact that when I got to high school, all the older punks were basically just junkie skateboarders by this time. really mired in apathy. there I was, one of the few kids in my school outspokenly anti-racist, anti-fascist, pro-gay rights, etc, holding my own against an alarming number of neo-nazis (I lived in a military town). there were plenty of instances of me getting my ass kicked for standing up in what I believed in, and rarely would I have anyone to back me up. but no, what I believed in wasn't bullshit.
46
I was a teenager in the mid-80's, and was blessed to live in an upstate New York city where the economy had fallen a long way from it's glory days, but the powers that be still had the means to prop up some of the decay. My friends and I would drive around all night in an Oldsmobile station wagon that I bought for $300, blasting Butthole Surfers and Sonic Youth and all kinds of wonderful long forgotten local bands, looking for adventures. We climbed onto roof tops and swam in the reservoirs and descended into the sewers, and the spontaneous ferocious energy of punk music was so much a part of that time.
47
@43
4. Everything positive in punk was taken from another movement;
and
6. Punk began as a conservative movement (aligned to Ayn Rand) and became a liberal movement;
What was this guy thinking?! Ayn Rand?
Made me laugh, anyway.
4. Everything positive in punk was taken from another movement;
and
6. Punk began as a conservative movement (aligned to Ayn Rand) and became a liberal movement;
What was this guy thinking?! Ayn Rand?
Made me laugh, anyway.
49
I remember being a freshman in high school, and deciding that I loved alternative and 80's wave. Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie, New Order and all the one hit wonders from my MTV childhood. This led me to learning that there was a band before New Order called Joy Division. This was 89 or 90 at the time, well before you could find this stuff out on the internet. Unexplained references in articles and magazines (of course, everybody should know that history, right?).
Well, Joy Division had became my obsession right about the time I went to my friends brother was promoting local punk show (Jesters of Chaos, Dumpt, Wermacht if I recall). At my second hardcore show, I saw Poison Idea and Neurosis. I was trying to figure out if I was a punk and needed to start dressing like a punk to fit in, because I felt like I stood out for being clean cut.
Then Neurosis played a Joy Division cover (Day of the Lords) and I was like HOLY SHIT! A band THIS HARD likes Joy Division?! Suddenly the whole landscape of alternative music made sense to me. I no longer felt like a poseur for liking both New Order and Neurosis, or any other band for that matter. It made it okay to dress in whatever style I wanted, listen to whatever music I wanted, be in whatever scene I felt like, and not give a fuck who thought what about me.
And that to me seemed a lot more punk rock than getting a studded leather jacket or a Misfits teeshirt.
Well, Joy Division had became my obsession right about the time I went to my friends brother was promoting local punk show (Jesters of Chaos, Dumpt, Wermacht if I recall). At my second hardcore show, I saw Poison Idea and Neurosis. I was trying to figure out if I was a punk and needed to start dressing like a punk to fit in, because I felt like I stood out for being clean cut.
Then Neurosis played a Joy Division cover (Day of the Lords) and I was like HOLY SHIT! A band THIS HARD likes Joy Division?! Suddenly the whole landscape of alternative music made sense to me. I no longer felt like a poseur for liking both New Order and Neurosis, or any other band for that matter. It made it okay to dress in whatever style I wanted, listen to whatever music I wanted, be in whatever scene I felt like, and not give a fuck who thought what about me.
And that to me seemed a lot more punk rock than getting a studded leather jacket or a Misfits teeshirt.
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