Punk 101: The Black Denim Punk Vest
I know, I know. Punk isn’t about fashion. It’s about attitude. However, sometimes it’s fun to dress up. There are a few ways to get the mythical black denim vest. One way is to get a blue denim vest (either in vest form or by cutting off the sleeves) and dye it black. This method works okay – it’s not a solid, crisp black usually turns out blackish/gray but it does have a diy feel to it. The other way is to simply get a black denim vest. There’s a couple of websites that sells them. My favorite is Black and Blue. It isn’t the cheapest out there but it’s American made so you aren’t getting a vest made in a sweatshop. To me, part of being punk is being ethical about what you buy when you can. I own a vest from them and the only problem with it is the extra wide arm holes are too wide. I’m female-bodied so not that broad plus I am wearing it solo and not over clothing. If you were planning on wearing the vest over clothing it might be an advantage which is why it was designed that way. But, for my purpose it just looks baggy due to the big holes. So, if that’s a concern – just order the jacket (same price) and cut off the sleeves to make a vest with normal size arm holes. The fit for me, other than the arm holes, is just right and I highly recommend it.
Now that you got a quality vest – what are you going to do to it? The punk vest is a labor of love and can be very time consuming. The last vest I made took 30 hours which was relatively short. The next vest I am planning is going to take 60 hours at least. Unless you’re going to silkscreen your own patches – there’s lots of different sites to get patches from. It just depends what bands you are into – you can either browse a site like Angry Young and Poor, Interpunk, or Crustpunks. Or just google band names you like. Try to stay off of Ebay – there’s one guy on there who’s selling Contravene patches for $7.50 – for $7.50 I’d make my own patch but people are buying them. There are some really cool back patches at Punk Stuff and if you have a month to wait (they custom print all their orders so it takes a month to get it usually) – Night Gaunt Graphics has some awesome stuff. You can also get studs for your vest from Studs and Spikes. I don’t recommend getting spikes since they can hurt people in the pit or with any physical contact. Studding denim is really easy because you don’t need to poke holes through it first as with thicker material but it still takes a LONG time. If you want to learn how to stud, there’s how-to-videos online – just google or youtube them. Try to get brass based studs – they cost more but they don’t rust like the steel ones do with time and wear. Just be patient – with a punk vest, you get what you give.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!
Does “Punk” Need Capitalism?
I was talking to a friend today and I pointed out how in a capitalistic society there is no way to be a “true punk”. However, she pointed out to me that “punk” needs capitalism to exist. I thought about and I think she’s incorrect. Punk would exist under any other form of government (even if only in secret). As long as there is angry people and something to be upset about and people always find something to be upset about – there will always be “punk.”
Wealth isn’t a prerequisite for punk. At first glance, it looks like “punk” and capitalism are intertwined. That an excess of time, money, and education is required for “punk” but that is not the case. I saw the documentary “The Punks Are Alright” and it was about punks from first world countries to third world countries. The punks from first world countries had more style and made better noise because they had time and money. But, in the third world, the punk scene was/is huge in Indonesia. Even though the people didn’t have the wealth that capitalism provides being the cheap labor the system thrives off of, they still rage against the machine. Even though they only had the resources to have band practice twice a year – they still had bands. Even during fascist regimes that kill off people for opposing: resistance exists. The people just go into hiding and underground. No system is “perfect” and there will always be something to be pissed off about.
It just so happens that our current establishment, the capitalistic system, foundation is based on have’s and have nots. Which has people angry – reasonably so. However, if we did have a system of true democracy, freedom, and justice for all – there would still be people who would oppose it for whatever reason. Not all punk is about freedom but all punk is about being angry at the establishment. As long as there is an establishment and society can’t exist without it, there will always be punk.
Punk is not dependent on “capitalism” or any system except the need for something to oppose. There is always something to oppose so there will always be “punk.”
Punk Rock 101: Nick Blinko: Author and Musician
I am a huge Nick Blinko fan. I feel a bond with him because he has schizoaffective disorder like me. I was browsing the internet today and found a copy of his book The Primal Screamer – which is a rare, out of print book, online. The link is: http://www.pissinapod.com/#/the-primal-screamer/4527608721. I also finally picked up a copy of his new book The Haunted Head from http://copticcat.greedbag.com/. It’s limited to 350 copies for the hardback book that contains a note card with a written excerpt by Blinko. The micro edition which is limited to 60 copies (25 which have been reserved by collectors and museums) comes with a note card with an original pen and ink drawing by Blinko. I’ll write a review of the book once I read it without giving anything away. So far, from what little I have read about it since there is little written, I heard it’s hard to read. It’s only 200 pages long with 99 chapters. I’m pretty excited and looking forward to reading it.
Nick’s band is Rudimentary Peni, for those of you who don’t know. They are an anarcho-punk band. They stopped performing live gigs years ago due to health reasons but they still make music. I recommend checking out “Death Church” which is a work of punk art.
The lyrics to the first song on the cd is called “1/4 Dead” and goes like this:
Three quarters of the World are starving
Three quarters of the world are starving
The rest are Dead
The rest are Dead
Overdosed on Insensitivity,
All Varnished to Crosses
Three quarters of the world are starving
Three quarters of the world are starving
The rest are Dead
The rest are Dead.
*****
The song was written 26 years ago and is still relevant today. Not much has change, has it?
Punk 101: Anarcho-Punk
I consider myself to be an anarcho-punk. Anarcho-punk is punk that promotes anarchism. The band Crass was the first anarcho-punk band. Many anarcho-punks support peace, equality, freedom from oppression, and hierarchies. I found a cool website dedicate to anarcho-punk and you can download some music from there.
Enjoy!
Punk 101: Studs and Spikes
Where would punk rockers be without studs and spikes? I recommend only using studs because it’s not mosh pit friendly having spikes. You can really hurt someone with spikes. I never wear spikes – because I don’t trust myself not to stab myself with them.
Studs and spikes are the perfect accessory to any punk look. They are intimidating and shiny. The best website to get studs and spikes from is http://studsandspikes.com/.
Denim is pretty easy to stud. You just take the stud, push it through the fabric, and use a spoon or pliers to bend the ends secure. Studding leather is a little bit more involved. First, you need to put the stud on the leather and let the prongs leave a mark. Then, where the mark is left from the prongs, take a dart and make holes in the leather. Then put the prongs through the hole and use a spoon or pliers to secure the stud in place. For a video tutorial go here.
It takes a lot of time to stud things so be patient. I usually prefer studs with some space between them because solid studding gets really heavy. I have a vest that’s very well studded and it weights 8 pounds. My favorite studded vest has about 100 studs on the back – it looks awesome without being too heavy. Sometimes less is more – remember that. Good luck! Happy studding!
Punk Rock 101: Basic Punk to Listen To: 77's, 80's, 90's
1977 Punk
What is punk music? It’s three chord rock. It’s debated if it was founded by The Ramones in America or The Sex Pistols in the U.K. I say: Who cares? It exists. These are probably two of the first bands you want to give a listen to – along with The Clash, The Damned (Damned, Damned, Damned), Dead Boys (Young, Loud, and Snotty), The Germs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bad Brains (These guys are homophobic and I don’t agree what they sing about but they are considered to be the first hardcore punk band. They sound good, just don’t listen to their lyrics. ;)), and a personal favorite of mine X-Ray Spex. Click on the links to read some of the histories of the bands.
Listening to punk is two-folds: listening to the songs plus knowing the band histories. It’s common punk knowledge that Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols killed his girlfriend Nancy in the Chelsea Hotel and then died of a heroine overdose. Plus, Sid was famous for his lock and chain necklace given to him by Pretender’s Chrisse Hynde. Sid was a horrible musician – he could barely play the bass. Then, there was the Germ’s Darby Crash, who was gay, and committed suicide. Joey Ramone from the Ramones is often referred to because everyone wants to sleep with him – it’s a joke, his brother even wrote a book entitled, “I slept with Joey Ramone.” Johnny Rotten has since did a butter commercial.
Early punk is often referred to as “77’s punk.” There are some punks who only listen to 77’s punk and considered that to be the only true punk. My personal opinion of some 77’s punk is that it was corporate punk with money making in mind. Like, the Sex Pistols were formed by Macolm McLaren and the “Sex” of the Sex Pistol is from the name of his clothing shop. Some of the punk look was original started by Richard Hell and was taken by McLaren and Vivienne Westwood to make the big bucks. The Sex Pistols were signed to a major record label. That’s not DIY it’s EMI. Punk was about rebellion for a half a second but was really about the money. However, along came the 80’s and the punk band that would live up to what punk is supposed to be. Their name was Crass.
1980’s
Anarcho-Punk
Crass was the ultimate embodiment of punk rock. They took the idea of anarchy seriously, were activists, and pacifists. Now-a-days, you can find Crass t-shirts at Hot Topic which is why I said they were punk rock. They used to sell their music at little above printing cost. Spreading ideas mattered more than money. Crass even stopped the Falklands War by releasing a disinformation tape of Roland Reagan talking to Margaret Thatcher that got the British public so upset that the war was put to an end. Punk is the only subculture to ever have stopped a war. Which is one of the reasons why if people are going to box me into a box – I’d like it to be punk. Crass sounds very crass but their lyrics are amazing. My favorite cd of theirs is Best Before 1984. My favorite song is Big A, Little A, Bouncing B. They were as punk rock as punk rock could be. They are the founders of the punk genre known as anarcho-punk. Some other anarcho-punk bands worth listening are Flux of the Pink Indians, Conflict, Subhumans, and Amebix.
Plasmatics
I don’t know really what category to put this band into – so I’ll make them their own. The Plasmatics are AWESOME. Anti-corporate, anti-consumerism, and anti-materialism. The lead singer, Wendy O. Williams was in my opinion, the first riot grrrl. She promoted vegetarianism and animal rights before it was trendy. She blew up cars and did amazing stunts. She wasn’t the first person to wear a mohawk in punk but she was the first person who brought it to the mainstream. She was as tough as nails and amazing. She also killed herself 1998. I wish she didn’t, I would have loved to have met her. All their music is awesome. She was a real threat to the establishment.
Hardcore Punk
The 80’s was the time of hardcore punk. Most notably: Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Reagan Youth, Dead Kennedys (Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables + all their stuff is good) and Social Distortion. I never really listened to Social Distortion but they are one of the better known punk bands. I see t-shirts and stuff for them all the time so they might be worth listening to. Also worth mentioning is the Misfits who were the first horror punk band.
1990’s
This is the decade that some punk bands started making it big. This is the decade of “selling out” and the birth of the “Hot Topic” punk. If you want to know about Hot Topic punk – go to your nearest Hot Topic or browse their cataloged online. Warp Tour and all that – not punk. Time period of lots of people thinking they are punk rock when they aren’t. I’ll waste no more time on them. Two big things happened during the 1990’s: the birth of riot grrrl and queercore.
Riot Grrrl
Notice something funny about almost all the punk bands mention until now except for X-Ray Spex, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Plasmatics? Yep, punk music is dominated by men. There have been very few female punk musicians. Riot Grrrl for a brief time changed that. The girls going to Evergreen University in Olympia, WA were tired of it. Riot Grrrl is credited with being founded by either Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill or Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile. Both bands which I recommend listening too. Huggy Bear was a U.K. riot grrrl band which are pretty awesome too. Anyways, it was all DIY with zines, political actions, and activism. This ladies shared their rage with the world.
Queercore
What’s better than pissed off ladies? Pissed off queers. My favorite genre of music which very few people even know about – Queercore. Queercore is about being discontented with the agenda of gays and lesbians to assimilate and oppressing other minorities to try to fit into society. This was all DIY through zines, art, writing, and film. Bands to listen to: Fifth Column, Pansy Division, Sister George, Team Dresch (my favorite queercore band!!!!! Both albums rock. Listen to them NOW.), Tribe 8 (Love the song “Wrong Bathroom” by them.), and Limp Wrist. I also highly recommend checking out The Need and Cypher in the Snow. Both very underrated and awesome.
Punk Rock 101: Dressing "punk" verses being Punk
There are lots of people out there who dress “punk” but very few punks. If all the kids who talked the talked, walked the walked, the world would be amazing. But this is not the case. Most of the time these punks are little more than frat boys in leather jackets. My friend Alex suggested that I write about the difference.
First off, anyone who claims to be a “real” punk is a poseur. It is impossible to be a real punk in capitalistic America. From the clothes you wear to the food you buy to the gas that gets you around – someone is being exploited. No one’s hands are clean. We are all guilty by association or are we the mere victim of society? Anyways, the crust punks you see begging for change for money to do drugs: not punk. They are still living off the system by being leeches. They still depend on money and the system. Plus, they smell bad and are annoying. Most of the time, when they are done playing street rat, they have a trust fund waiting at home.
Drinking, doing drugs, and smoking: Not punk rock. The beer you drink is made by some corporation that is doing evil things to the world. The drugs you buy are transported and damage lives. The cigarette companies are terrible plus harmful to the environment and yourself. Putting chemicals in your body is self-destructive and irresponsible. Imagine if people stopped smoking, doing drugs, and drinking and put that money and time to changing the world: that’s punk rock.
Being punk is all about a mindset. It’s about thinking for yourself, being independent, and not a sheep. Most people who dress punk are assholes and violent – thanks to the media representation of punk rock to give punk rockers a bad name. A real punk is probably one of the nicest people you will ever meet because they know the world is a cesspool and the only way things are going to change is if the people change. Be that change.
People who are activists are punk rock. People trying to make the world loving, tolerant, equal, and free from oppressions are punk rock. People wearing a punk uniform and doing what they think they should do rather than what they know they should do: not punk rock. People getting an education to change the system from within: punk rock. Someone dressing punk who listens to punk music but remains ignorant: not punk rock.
Listening to punk music doesn’t make you punk rock. Dressing in punk clothes doesn’t make you punk rock. Being DIY (do it yourself), learning, growing, and sharing are all punk rock. Just being a good human being is punk rock.
Punk Rock 101: Wearing Bullets
I have a tendency to wear bullets (empty shell casings). I have a few bullet belts, a bullet wallet chain, and bullet on a chain necklace. The idea of wearing bullets is to make people think. When something is out of sight, out of mind, like war being an ocean away it’s easy to pretend it doesn’t exist. The idea is to confront people and make them think about what their tax dollars are doing. It’s a protest. I am an anarcho-pacifist punk – so war is the last thing I want being served.
Today, I was confronted by airport security guards about wearing my bullet chain – a chain with some bullet shells on it. They didn’t like it because it might make people feel “uncomfortable.†Here, in captalistic America – it’s not PC to make other people uncomfortable and think. Being that I was in a zone with zero rights, I wasn’t about to explain my position that making people uncomfortable is kind of the idea so maybe they think about what’s going on in the world. That war is real and not just something you hear about on television. Anyways, the guards let me go with my chain as long as I agreed to be censored and keep the harmless bits of metal in my pocket since someone might be upset by it. What happened to my freedom of expression?