Jacob Lopez Elizabeth Miossec-Backer WR. 323 12 March 2014 Where Do We Go From Here?

: Building Punk Communities and Redefining Do-It-Yourself Politics I remember my first time I heard Crasss- Bloody Revolutions like it was yesterday. I dont really remember my first kiss, and I am hazy on the details of my day on 9/11/01, the day that defined my generation, but I remember the first time this song hit my ears. As each note resonated in my body I knew I would be different. Crass introduced me to Do-It-Yourself punk and radical politics; they have completely changed my life and altered the shape of punk to come. Ive since been part of the punk community for over 10 years, and have watched it change drastically. Crass recorded and distributed their own music, made flexi records to be distributed for free (resembling 45 rpm singles but much thinner, less expensive to make, and not made for long term play), with each record declaring pay no more than $. (Glasper 19-25) Do it yourself ethics, or DIY ethics, reflect a mentality of self-motivation that exists outside of mainstream standards...to build a community based on friendship and cooperation and doing things ourselves, to build an alternative(Carroll and Holtzman. Between Resistance and Community). Punk rock today has changed a lot since Crass disbanded in 1984. Today punk albums are reviewed by MTV and other mainstream music outlets, whereas in the 80s bands sang songs like MTV Get off the Air and Only Stupid Bastards Support EMI. Thousands of distribution labels and online forums across the world make punk accessible to people across the world, and you no longer need to have a two-foot high Mohawk and studded leather jacket to fit in as part of the punk scene. DIY Punk

takes cues from the movement created in the 80s but has grown far past the image and ideals that the Sex Pistols and The Ramones had when they introduced punk into the world. Today DIY Punk is so multifaceted that many different subcultures can trace back to the same beginnings of basement shows, DIY ethics, and rebellion against mainstream society and consumer culture. In a lot of ways punk has outgrown itself. The image that punk has today has both negatively and positively affected the community. In a lot of ways it has made it more accessible to everyone, introducing many more people to radical politics and DIY culture. This accessibility takes away some of the sense alienation that propels people to invest in building a community and support local scenes rather than large mainstream artists. The feeling of being outcast is what draws people to anti-consumer ethics, and a sense of community through music. Swedish hardcore band Refused played what they thought would be their last show in a basement in a small town in Virginia to a crowd of no more than 40 people. They have had an unsuccessful tour and decided to disband after the show. As they played their last song police officers started making their way through the crowd attempting to shut down the show. As Singer Dennis Lyxzen sang Rather be dead than alive by your traditions. Rather be dead than alive by your desires cops made their way to the stage and turned off the instruments as the crowd chanted the last verse Rather Be Alive, Rather Be Alive (Steen). In 2012 Refused reformed, playing shows in the United States. They received much scrutiny for turning their back on the DIY community for playing shows at music festivals like Coachella and FYF Fest. As situationist anarchists, punks, and former members of the DIY community their reformation is seen as . Similar to the controversy in the early punk scene over The Clash signing to a major record label, this act is seen as manipulating the punk ethos to appeal to a more mainstream crowd, not to build community or spread ideas, but to sell more records.

As the already nebulous subculture grows and shifts about it encompasses so much that sound alone is not what can make music punk. Bands and artists that dont have a typical punk sound classified by fast, aggressive, distorted music, still have punk roots evident in their music. Emo band Dads writes songs about their Crass patches and growing up in the punk scene. Experimental-Post-Rock band Silver Mt. Zion, composed of a guitarist, piano player, two violinists, and a drummer, considers themselves a punk band because of their do it yourself ethic and anti-capitalist aesthetic. Gloomy folk artist Chelsea Wolfe came out with a tribute record to anarcho-punk band Rudimentary Peni. Even Lady Gaga modeled her release Paparazzi Bastard after 80s punk band Dooms Police Bastard. Kurt Cobain put it best when describing punk, "Punk rock should mean freedom, playing whatever you want, as sloppy as you want as long as it's good and it has passion". Punk no longer reflects a formula for spikey hair and bad attitudes, but a group of people dedicated to building a community around the music they feel passionate about. Today so many off-shoots of punk intersect and explore new territory that it is difficult to say exactly what punk is outside of a general movement reflecting the want of something different, and something done ourselves. The Long Island punks classify it as a Rumbling and discontent of kids that want to change all this [mainstream society] and build an alternative (Carroll and Holtzman. Between Resistance and Community). Screamo, Anarcho, Riot Grrrl, D-Beat, Crust, Powerviolence, Grindcore, Hardcore, Metalcore, Pop Punk, Folk Punk, Doom, Sludge, Noise, and 77 are all different types of punk that sound very different and each have their own style and membership. Sometimes these subcultural identities clash but more often they intersect. Since punk is something that lacks concrete definition its open-endedness allows for fluidity and movement between smaller groups and between mainstream culture.

Punk takes different shapes depending on your upbringing and social identity. Many people rally around their identity as a member of a marginalized group and fight against oppression because the rebellion inherent in punk is fundamentally against systems of oppression. Although there are bands like Screwdriver promoting racism, there are bands like Jewdriver as well (An all Jewish anti-racist band) who are punks that identify as SHARPs (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice). Riot Grrrl came out of the neglect of women in the mostly white male dominated punk scene and paved the way for women in the movement to have a place up front and on stage. The Riot Grrrl movement was one of the strongest subcultures to utilize the energy and DIY spirit of punk to fight against oppression. The Pacific Northwest Riot Grrrl scene is responsible for the boom in Zines (self-published pamphlets on any subject from Photo-zines to comics to DIY gynecology). Many punks, including the Long Island punks from Between Resistance and Community, are involved deeply in their community participating in existing infrastructure to build community or going completely outside of it to start something new. In Between Resistance and Community the kids all do Food Not Bombs, which is a completely DIY form of solidarity and redirecting the waste of capitalism. Food Not Bombs makes it a point in their purpose to take place in solidarity and not charity; there is no hierarchal structure to the way in which Food Not Bombs operates and there is a focus on the community aspect of people coming together to help one another out. Due to its loose structure and informal procedures, Food Not Bombs has even been able to be among the first on site for disaster relief after events like Hurricane Katrina. Food Not Bombs serves food all over the world as autonomous groups with non-hierarchal structure and a do-it yourself approach to redistributing the waste of a capitalist society. Hosting shows(small concerts), supporting touring bands, and preserving alternative spaces to have shows is important to a vibrant scene. Most cities have shows in people houses, bars, coffee shops,

or black box venues (Spaces that are first and foremost a venue; a black box for performances and not much else). Cities with large enough punk scenes have radical spaces dedicated to punk shows, like Portlands very own Laughing Horse, Los Angeless Bridgetown DIY, or Salt Lake Citys Boing! House, just to name a few. Punk music itself serves as artifacts of our history. Record sleeves of punk albums from years ago come with fliers and ads that the original owner attained, or that the band, record label, or record store put in themselves. My copy of Aus-Rottens The System Works For Them comes along why a 1992 Why Vegan Pamphlet, a flexi record of Mumia Abu Jamal, a popular prison activist, speaking on poverty, as well as an advertisement for records available from the label which are no longer available over 20 years later. Lyrics reflect our wants, our needs, our desires, and our convictions. Many bands make overtly political music while others focus on making music that they are passionate about that may or may not be overtly political. Against Me! has been a band that has cared about both politics and creating an alternative community. In the song Reinventing Axl Rose Against Me!s lyrics demonstrate the overall attitude of community building and existing contrary to popular music scenes.
We want a band that plays loud and hard every night -And doesn't care how many people are counted at the door-That would travel one-million miles and ask for nothing but a plate of food and a place to rest Just gimme a scene where the music is free-And the beer is not the life of the party- There's no need to shit talk or impress-'Cause honesty and emotion are not looked down upon-And every promise that's made and bragged-is meant if not kept-We'd do it all because we have to, not because we know why Beyond a gender, race, and class, we could find what really holds us back (Against Me!, Reinventing Axl Rose)

These words are demonstrative of the punk and DIY mentality. Punk values experiences and participation over mainstream recognition. Punk manages to escape concrete definition while building

communities around the world that emphasize community, rebellion against the mainstream, and a do it yourself lifestyle that gives you agency over your own community.

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