Contemporary Counter Culture - Punk Rock

"Punk rock is just a rebellious rock fold kids follow, not a bunch of old men playing music for your mothers and fathers, that's what you have now it's what they call rock" - Johnny Ramone

Throughout this mini essay I will be referring quite a lot to the 2007 documentary "Punks' Not Dead" directed by  Susan Dynner. As far as information goes, this film was the most eye opening and proved a valuable source of information for almost everything related to punk rock albeit slightly condensed.

The beginning of punk rock is not official defined however it is believed that the movement originated between 1974 and 1976 in North America, Australia and The United Kingdom. It was a period of political unrest, then president Ronald Raegan's "raegonomics"policies. The punk movement was solidified in it's desire for rebellion, and the dissatisfaction with the status quo and mainstream culture and music. Punks were initially hated by the public, Mike Ness of Social Distortion said "They would shout at us on the streets, "hey you punk rock faggots" you know, and we flipped them off and they came back and we fought". During the beginnings of punk rock culture Shawn Stern of Youth Brigade recounts "if you were walking down the street and saw somebody that looks like that it was instantaneous that you became friends with that person". Punk rock culture is rooted in the DIY, do it yourself idea, many of the bands wanting to put out records had to do it on their own, as Derek O'Brien from Social Distortion says "In the early stages, you know, there were no record labels at all that wanted to work with a punk band, let alone major record labels, you know it was kinda like 'this is crazy shit'. They didn't look at it like a viable commodity like they do today, they saw it as an insurance risk". Punk rock is cited to be an important time in musical history, when kids put together their own bands, put out their own records, set up touring networks and the major labels were completely unaware. In the United Kingdom several iconic bands such as The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Cramps, Stiff Little Fingers provided an outlet to the citizens there. Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols describes the movement as "working class, it's nothing to do with the arty fart middle class, 'were alright' trip" the music was perceived as honest and reflective of society, the way people were pacified and afraid of punks again through the use of media, ah the media our good old friend.

Early Punk Bands, and variety of looks:

Sex Pistols - UK

Black Flag - California USA

Minor Threat - Washington D.C USA

The Buzzcocks - UK

Various Punk Looks, although keep in mind that nowadays its mostly about the fashion, nobody is shocked by the look anymore, unless it's maybe your parents. These are examples of more recent fashions.

The Casualties

Anti Flag

The Inter(national) Noise Conspiracy

During it's heyday, Black Flag was perceived as one of the bands that defined American hardcore punk. Early punk rockers were attributed to be very masculine and angry(hence the 'hardcore') and with that said, there were elements in place that allowed punk rock to start its evolution into something different. Billy Joel Armstrong from Green Day says "at the time everyone was playing fast, everybody was playing aggressive, everybody was macho. Everybody was taking off their shirt and showing their muscles to other young boys who were taking off their shirts and showing their muscles and we were like well that's not really what we want to do, we want to get into more songwriting". Prior to Nirvana which had it's roots in punk rock, there were only a few major bands running neck and neck in a quiet competition or popularity. During the late 1980's there was a period of decline in the overall popularity of punk music, a lot of bands threw in the towel because there were just not enough fans to support them. Luckily in 1988 Bad Religion release 'Suffer' which is deemed to be one of the albums that re-ignited the punk rock scene. Bad Religion took a newer approach to punk rock by focusing on songwriting. Their lyrics even to this day have a lot to do with the human condition, focusing on emotions and interactions between human beings. The release of 'Suffer' was a cornerstone in punk rock culture and is attributed to starting the 'punk renaissance'. Joe Escalante of The Vandals says "There were always a few splashes of punk in the mainstream, but not from a young new band that was part of the movement". With Nirvana being one of the few punk inspired, alternative bands to reach astronomic success, the gates opened up for the aforementioned young new bands such as Rancid, L7, Pennywise, The Offspring and Green Day. Jello Biafra from the Dead Kennedy's mentions that he is surprised by the amount of time it took for punk rock to be accepted and adopted into the mainstream, saying "..part of the reason I guess was that the music was so intense, it delayed the inevitable mass embrace".

With Punk Rock gaining even more popularity over the years, like any medium it has been diluted and 'bastardizes' as some older generation punks will tell you. John Doe from punk bad X says "I think it's kinda wonderful and kinda sad that it doesn't have the shock value anymore, but it's kinda cool that if a kid wants to dye their hair blue they don't have to put up with all the grief. Punk rock as it was in late 1970's is a paradigm of the past, and with times changing the music has to change. There has over the last decade been a lot of name calling,because what the media has to do when they look at a band is say 'they belong in this category' so often bands are faced with a stigma of being too poppy sounding, or too mainstream when some of the bands actually play music for the same reasons that the punk rockers of the 1970's did. Ultimately what it comes down to is a band is either in it for the money and fame, or simply broadcasting a message, if the latter occurs and it so happens that that band becomes popular and people are willing to pay money for what they do then is it selling out? I personally don't think it is although today things seem a little ambiguous, you never know if a band is going for the fame and money or the genuinely like doing what they do. What it has come down to is more the music itself, if you like it then buy it, if you don't like it you don't buy it it's a simple as that, you can even choose the specific songs you want thanks to services like iTunes and Beatport.

In recent years, the contemporary 'punks' have taken a stand on issues that were not present 35 years ago such as deforestation, destruction of the environment an the start of an anti-globalization movement. This particular movement opposes corporations and the power the gave to cross borders without consequences. However there are other outlooks, Jim Lindberg from late 80's punk band Pennywise says "The problem is ok if you decide that ok I'm not going to have anything to do with corporations 'cause I'm so much of a crusty gutter punk and I'm the most punk guy in the world well you're pretty much going to have to sit in your house and never go outside because unfortunately if you live in America or anywhere else in the world corporations make the food that you eat, the clothes that you're wearing, the antiperspirant that you're wearing". There is the debate that tours and shows that are sponsored by corporations are just a venture designed to make money for everyone that's involved and take all the money off the people coming to the gigs. On the other hand the bands themselves have the ability to reach audiences that they could otherwise never reach playing basement shows. It just comes down to a matter of personal standpoint, some punks will say that its the most punk thing in the world to use the money that the corporations are providing as a tool to reach audiences everywhere, others see it again, as just some corporate venture that swindles people out of their money. From my own point of view, making music, touring and just generally being in a punk band is just something to do, if you started a band with the intention of getting signed by a big name label and making lots of money then you could probably achieve it, however that was never what punk rock was all about. It's a heart statement of who you are and what you believe it.

"If the kids are united then we'll never be divided" -Sham 69

Visual Generation (Exercise 10 Part 6)

I couldn't find a rigid definition of a 'Visual Generation' but go figure, the definition is in the phrase itself. Yes, a Visual Generation is a generation brought up and dominated by images and the spectacle as a whole. I can safely say that even the Baby Boomers, a post Word War II generation were somewhat part of the visual generation. This is more relevant now than it has ever been, everything is connected to a picture. We live on the internet, which is dominated by images of everything you could possibly imagine. We have images of ourselves, and images that represent us through avatars, be it an image created by you or somebody else. When there's a story, we seek proof through images, 'show me a photograph!'. Ever since the International Typographic Style movement made people aware that images can be a huge part of your business (or should I say word and image combined) everyone now has a logo, or a design, or a poor attempt at a design. Either way, imaged and videos are an integral part of our society. No longer do you have to read through 'How to guides' even on the internet, and thanks to Youtube you can actually see videos of people doing the tasks, with immediate results. I don't really have a standpoint on censorship, I personally think that there is only some much protection you can offer, especially to children but we have to try at least until they hit a certain age(the one where they can operate a computer on their own, then it's goodbye to bad words and sexy movie restrictions). I do believe that we have been desensitized to an extent, we see the bad all over the place, the news are a prime suspect. All they show is the bad, yeah sure they manage to slot in a happy ending somewhere, but it's a small percentage of the overall awful content they show. Crime, Politics, Corruption, Violence are just the tip of the iceberg. We should expect this sort of thing nowadays, it's nothing new anymore(I don't know why they are still insistent on calling it 'News'). In a way it's a good thing that images of violence and such no longer bother us as much as they used to, but on the other hand you have a lot of censoring happening all over the world. China being the biggest culprit, censoring or at least attempting to censor many parts of the internet(which we know is not possible entirely unless they somehow 'shut it off' and those determined enough will find a way to get to the site they want to get to). The more you try and bar someone from getting through, the greater their need/want becomes for getting through, and this leads to multiple people forming groups and protests against censorship.

As an artist/designer(Yes I went there, I identify myself as both) I know how important images are. For someone like me, I need as much information as possible for a project, because the more you look at the work and images created by others, the more of a database you will have to draw from. Ideas don't come from thin air, they come from a combination of your experiences and interactions with the world around you, and you need those images to make the ideas happen. Not only that, you also need reference points, and what's better than borrowing from history and the imaged it has provided for us. Images are a great thing, it's just that people don't necessarily use them for good anymore. The world of images is also so diluted that one can easily get confused without context.

Generation Y (Exercise 10 Part 5)

 Generation Y comes after Generation X, anyone who was born roughly after the 80's. Also Called 'The Millennium Generation' , or 'Generation Next' this is the young people's generation, myself included (born in 1990). As with  Generation X, Gen Y has been shaped by certain events during the time period, in particular the Global Economic Crisis of 2008-2012 which left many young adults entering the world from studies of school unable to find work. Gen Y is also tech savvy, they have grown up during a technological boom and an unprecedented progress in the fields of technology and science. Here's some survey results on Gen Y:

So they binge drink a lot more? I can agree with that, I know numerous people who would much rather stay at home and smoke weed all than do something that might be considered worthwhile. Call me old fashioned, strange or an 'old man' I just think that for me there are other things that I'd rather be doing with my time, things that are more exiting than drinking and getting high. It just comes down to what you want, and it seems to me just by looking at my friends and step brother that they either want money(get rich) or to sit at home all day and do anything but working towards some kind of career or achievement. I got into design and art because I not only love what I do, I also love the communal aspect that being an artist brings with it. I don't want to say there seems to be no hope for my generation, there definitely is and I'm an optimist, I try and see the best in people it's just that they constantly disappoint me with their attitudes. Not really a focus of my final topic, I do however want to include some info about certain celebrities who may or may not have contributed to Punk Rock's rise in popularity and ultimately embraced by the masses.  

Generation X (Exercise 10 Part 4)

Generation X is a name given to anyone who was born roughly between 1960's and the 1980's. The time frame of birth is really more of a guideline and is not specific. People falling into Gen X, especially those affiliated with it's cultural movement were likely shaped by various events that occurred during the above time period which include : election of President Ronald Reagan, The Chernobyl Disaster, The Energy crisis in 1979, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and subsequently 9/11 and The Gulf War. Gen X is the one I will be examining when I take a look at early Punk rock and how it has evolved in what it is today as the people that started the bands during the mid 1970's would be in their teens then. As far as examining the people of the generation I'm only going to talk about those that matter to me and the topic at hand, so without further ado, here are some famous People falling into Generation X.

General Famous People

Who can forget Back to The Future

Michael J. Fox

Bon Jovi

Quentin Tarantino

Brad Pitt

And now for some important Punk Rockers

Keith 'Monekey' Warren of The Addicts

Henry Rollins, Black Flag

Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day

Dexter Holland, The Offspring

Tim Armstrong, Rancid, Operation Ivy

Brett Gurewitz, Bad Religion, Owner of Epitaph Records, if not the only label to break Punk rock into the mainstream.

Fletcher Dragge, Pennywise

Greg Graffin, Bad Religion

Counter Culture (Exercise 10 Part 3)

Counter Culture as you'd have it is a term used to describe any sub-culture who's values go against mainstream culture. A Counter Cultural movement manifests itself through a dissatisfaction with the status quo, and leads to a group of people coming out with a new perspective, they believe in anything that goes against mainstream culture. If I had to define it using the present day I would be at a loss. The reason for this is simply because there is no longer one kind of mainstream culture, sure you have America with all the glamour, materialism, reality television and pop starts, and that hasn't changed significantly in the larger scheme of things over the last 40 years or so. I don't want to say that A Counter Cultural movement like the American Hardcore Punks of the 1970's are irrelevant now, all the values they hold still stick today, the only problem is that movements like punk are now much more universally accepted, especially the look and maybe not so much the attitude. As former member of Pennywise, Jim Lindberg says "You can be the most hard core crusty gutter punk, but in this day and age if you don't want to have anything to do with corporations you'll pretty much never go outside". Corporations have been a major driving force behind the popularity of not only Punk Rock but all kinds of music. As far as Counter Culture goes, all movements start out underground, and slowly attract a following, and if the movement has enough depth to it then it will inevitably be embraced by the masses. Corporations eventually help spread the word by sponsoring tours, gigs and showings. Vans, a multi-million dollar enterprise began sponsoring the 'Warped Tour', a Punk Rock oriented show in the early mid 1990's and there has been multiple views on whether it was a good thing or not for the values and beliefs of the performers involved. Some said that it went completely agains what the believed which was Punk Rock was never meant to be cool, it never meant to be mainstream, while others embraced the Corporations saying that It's the most punk thing you can do to take their money, and thanks to the corporations the music is still out there. Inge Johansson from the International(Noise) Conspiracy says "It's easier for us to use the tools and the channels that the capitalist industry is offering us for free than try to do it ourselves, and not reach as many people as those greedy bastards". I'll go into more detail about Punk when I finally write about it in the final part of this exercise. For now, here are some pictures of what could be considered counter-culture:

Hippie Movement:

Psychedelic Posters

Punk Rock

Youth Culture (Exercise 10 Part 2)

Who would have guessed, Youth Culture is the culture of the youth! Sarcasm aside, Youth Culture is believed to be the collection of behaviors and trends among adolescents, yet another paradigm so to speak. The way I see it the actual term 'Youth Culture' could very well be an umbrella term  and encompasses all the ever changing sub-cultures. There are plenty of them to choose from and although having many differences, some are just branches or derivatives of previously existing sub cultures. The specifics about youth culture would be very difficult to pin down as young people even in the same age range have been exposed to different factors such as place of birth, religion, school, peers, parents and the media just to name a few. It is believed that youth culture emerged due to compulsory schooling, where previously children and young adults primarily interacted with adults(their parents) now they identified and interacted with people their own age, developing new 'norms' within this adolescent social circle. I don't know if I would call it culture, but certain archetypes have definitely developed due to school. Terms like 'Geek', 'Nerd', 'Jock' surely came from a schooling environment, the adult world just doesn't have that. The same can be said for the adult world where they have developed their own social circles and define their status through a variety of means. On school to be popular often times means that people like you, or even if they don't like you they are forced to show respect because you have a powerful and influential social circle. Cultures and attitudes developed through education vary greatly from the adult world where the majority of the attitudes you learn in school or college fall away when you leave school or college. Going to school or college will have some positive or negative impacts on a person and again depending on the context and variables. Some people get bullied till they commit suicide or bring an arsenal to school and blow away their classmates, others cruise through unnoticed while the popular kids seem to have the time of their life. Youth Culture cannot be pinned down, all of us have different moral standings and beliefs and those are articulated by the context in which we grew up.

Here are some examples of the archetypes from school and college as well as some sub-cultures

Jocks:

Ok thats about enough out of that, here are the opposites in order, Nerds, Emo's , Goths, Metalheads, Otaku

Otaku, followers of japanese anime and all the merchandising that comes with it

Again, these are just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many different 'looks' and sub groups within the sub-cultures it's going to take another ten years to document them all, and by then dozens of new sub cultures would have popped up.

References :  Coleman, J. (1961). The adolescent society. Glencoe, IL: Free Press

Pop Culture as I see it (Exercise 10 Part 1)

I decided to choose western culture as my topic of discussion for the exercise and the first thing I will be examining is Popular Culture. I've decided to split exercise 10 into parts, with the final part examining one counter-culture of my choosing.

Having experienced dissatisfaction with pop culture in the past I can comfortably say that I can not deny taking part in it. We seem to have forgotten what Pop means, especially when it comes to music, ow it's just a label slapped on to music that has a certain aesthetic and sound and no longer means 'popular'. Pop culture is a paradigm, something that the 'masses' subscribe to, this ranges from all forms of entertainment, fashion, music, your choice of hair spray or the car you drive, the television shows you choose to watch. As far as I'm concerned, the people who produce content that fits into the 'pop culture' bracket are very observant and know what people will buy into. On the other hand it might seem like we have no other choice. An example would be our very own South African radio stations, and more than likely radio stations in countries all over the world. They feed us content that is very similar across the board, songs are repeated dozens of times over the course of the day and so are the news and headlines that is of course if nothing new comes up.  Year in and year out the content remains relatively similar, sure there are new artists coming and going, and those are usually already popular artists, made popular by a popular television show that a lot of people watch. These shows are run during 'prime time' a time the broadcasters have figured out is ideal to catch the unsuspecting victims who are at home watching their television sets. Now it might seem like I've taken a little bit of a negative standpoint on the matter by calling the people 'victims' but that's exactly what they are to me, they are drawn in by the supposed 'talent' shown to them, and often the 'talent' is there, I won't deny it, some of the people that end up winning contests like the 'Idols'  or the 'America/Britain's Got Talent'  series do have talent and more power to them, because they are there for all the world to see. Some of these contestants are critiqued or ridiculed for the hilariously awful performances, others get record deals, because hey you saw it on the TV, and these guys were good so why not sign them up, people will go see their shows, buy the t-shirts and albums, download the songs from iTunes and spread the word leading to an increase in profits for everyone. That is the way of popular culture, and some trends just become popular over time, such as the Punk movement. Started in the late 1960's with bands like The Ramones, followed by The Sex pistols and American hardcore bands including Black Flag, TSOL, and DOA. Punk was never about a certain 'way', they did not spike up their hair to set a trend, it was a sign of rebellion. Now the trend of dressing and looking like a punk rocker seems almost 'cool' and accepted, where previously there was a lot of negativity towards those who subscribed to a counter cultural movement. Come to think of it, there is my counter culture chosen.Nice.

For now, here are some images that I would associate with popular culture (currently of course, if you're reading this 50 years from now bear in mind this is what it was like in 2012)