There was a, as far as I know, a yet to be documented faction of the American east coast punk scene that I'd love to see get a formal treatment. Where the traditional view of punk is anger with volume, I found and became a part of what we called "a psyc club" - a sick club / a pseudo intellectual club - where everyone was style-wise a Sid Vicious punker, but in addition everyone was well read and serious into philosophy. Bands like Joy Division, Psychic TV, Einstürzende Neubauten and authors like Burroughs, Jean Genet, and Hesse, artists like Brion Gysin, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Warhol were our idols. The overriding aspect of these punkers was intellectual depression, with a public debate held at Boston's "Pour House" bar about 3 days a week with the topic being "what is and has value" with the debate finding no value worth pursuing in earnest over and over. It was a shared nihilist delusion, with one another egging each other to view darker, and darker. The debate disbanded after two debate members killed themselves.
Four decades later, my memories are like we were role playing the end of the world, wishing for the drama that would allow. I'd love to see a formal treatment of that scene.
Hmm no, I do get invited to pretty seriously non-mainstream parties despite being in my 40s. And I do go. I don't have a family so I don't have to schedule between birthday parties and judo classes.
But it's still not the same. I remember working in a bar in the 90s, thick with smoke, serving underage customers, staying open till 6am though we had a permit till 2, not caring about anything. Fuck the rules. Things were really much rougher then.
These days even the rough places are 'responsible'. No drinking if you're serving, no smoking because it's EU law, at 3am the lights come on.. Bleh. The "illegal" (usually meaning no permits) parties are a bit better but even they do most of this stuff. And they are hard to find not because I'm not invited but because nobody wants to organise them anymore.
Touché, I have many fond memories of partying at Metelkova in semi legal bars where high schoolers, college kids, and old rockers mixed as one. Some nights you’d get a punk or metal sore from a band happy to get 10 people listening, other nights it was an underground great on their European tour who packed the club so tight you couldn’t move.
Good times, cheap drinks, and lifelong memories.
I think sfba (where I live now) still had a thriving scene like that until a few dozen people died in a fire a few years ago. That put a damper on the mood around underground bars and clubs I think. Turns out rules are there for a reason …
But it’s something else too I think, a novel I enjoyed (Close Enough For The Angels) put it perfectly: When we were young, selling out was seen as a shame, now it’s the goal. Everyone wants to get famous enough asap so they can sell brand deals and sponsorships and whatever. The art is secondary.
It’s very hard to sell advertising and branding deals if you aren’t seen as “safe”. Bland is best
There's a great scene in the movie Wall Street. Bud is an ambitious wall street trader asking his dad for money, and his dad is a working class union representative.
>Bud: It's Queens, Dad and a 5% mortgage and you rent the top room--I gotta live in Manhattan to be a player, Dad. There's no nobility in poverty anymore, y'know. One day you're going to be proud of me, you'll see...
Much of that raw, punk, diy, screw the rules mindset came from the working class. In the 90s it started to shift I think along with the offshoring of many blue collar jobs, and rise of FIRE [0] (finance, insurance, real estate) which are historically conservative industries.
Nowadays musicians are celebrated for their gross ticket sales more than their music, look at Taylor Swift's recent tour. People in my office obsessively discussed all week how much money she was making at each show. Back to your point, profit is the driver today, for better or worse. You won't get a filthy, crusty punk show anymore, but at least the venue is compliant with all current fire codes.
>And when we do get invited it’s like “Ugh Wednesday is no good for me, how does Thursday 3 weeks from now work?”
I feel personally attacked! All kidding aside, life's gotten more complicated since I was a teenage suburban punker. work, daycare, exercise, family outings, and the occasional museum visit take up all my time.
“There are not a lot of photos of Icons of Filth. Apparently they encouraged people not to take them because there were animal products used in the processing of film.”
LOL I suppose film is technically an animal product, as it contains gelatin, normally obtained from boiled up cow bones.
They didn’t kill the cows to make film though, it’s a byproduct. This is the first time I’ve seen anyone attack old-fashioned photography for not being vegan enough.
Oh, that's brilliant, wish I could attend. The Partisans are the only one I recognise and used to listen to a bit. There's a whole list of Welsh punk bands on RateYourMusic, so maybe I'll rediscover some of them. Would likely have to be on YouTube, through fan rips...
Four decades later, my memories are like we were role playing the end of the world, wishing for the drama that would allow. I'd love to see a formal treatment of that scene.