“Punk rock changed our lives”, a line from The Minutemen’s “History Lesson - Part II”.
I was a 13 year old rocker in 1987. Every day I selected a different concert t-shirt to display to my peers from beneath my denim jacket and fluffy mullet. I was a chubby kid who spent his Saturday nights at home watching Headbangers Ball until one in the morning. And once the rock ended, I’d try to get the cable box to fuzzily tune in the late-night softcore movies on Cinemax.
Metal has everything that a 13 year old boy could ever want... It’s full of danger, satan, fire and blondes. In my mind, the bands that I listened to lived a charmed life in Los Angeles. They’d wake up with perfect hair, pull on their leather pants and jacket, jump on their motorcycles and speed to the club. Once there, they’d be greeted by gorgeous busty women in tattered skirts who would join them for whiskey drinks before the show. On stage, pyrotechnics would light up the room and spotlights would follow the band members as they prowled the stage. And after the show orgies would last long into the morning.
But metal was changing. And I was growing up.
I started listening to a different type of metal. As I became a less-confident individual, I was drawn into a less glamourous form of metal. I no longer wanted to look at gender-bending men being chased by women I would never have. There were metal bands that were faster and angrier. Bands filled with people who dressed like me in jeans and t-shirts. Bands whose members were uglier than I could ever be, but could care less.
I considered these new metal bands to be more honest. Their lyrics didn’t deal with heartbreak and there certainly were no power ballads. They didn’t dress a part. They didn’t “do” their hair. They screamed lyrics of distrust, anger and death. I’d never heard speed, passion and aggression like the sounds of Megadeth, early Metallica, and Venom. In my mind, music could never get more brutal and it would never be faster.
Then, on a visit to Park City with my family, I purchased the Minor Threat cassette at Get In Here.
The Minor Threat tape didn’t leave my Walkman for the better part of my 14th year. Just when I thought it couldn’t get louder, faster or more passionate, this tape rolled into my life. I didn’t know who these guys were. You couldn’t buy magazines at the 7-11 to see their pictures. There wasn’t an Internet where you could find out about their peers. The only thing I could do was mail a post-paid envelope to the 3819 Beecher Street address of Dischord Records to get a “catalog”.
Soon I was riding the bus downtown to visit Raunch Records at Positively Forth Street where Brad Collins stocked a fascinating collection of all things punk-rock. A whole new world presented itself from that storefront. I met people there that I know to this day who were and are involved in a scene. Some of them were angry. Some political. Some positive. Some jackasses. I bought everything that I could afford and taped what I couldn’t afford from my new friends.
Punk rock provided a creative community outlet. Instead of being an introverted metal kid, I was becoming (laugh if you know me) more extroverted. I’d found my herd and a light came on. I learned that anybody (for better or worse) can make music. Anybody can book a show. Anybody can release a record, draw a cover, make a zine, screenprint a shirt. Punk rock removed boundaries.
Punk rock changed my life.
How has music changed you? What band or show was it when your light went on? Get all DIY with your bad self and go to 24tix.com/experience and tell us about it. Get involved. We’ll hook you up with some concert tickets and other shit if we select your entry.
On an unrelated note, Johnny Cash died four years ago last week. If you’ve never listened to Johnny Cash, download some classic Cash this weekend. He wasn’t just a country singer. He was a passionate individual who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. And that’s fucking punk.
Also unrelated, The Fucking Champs are playing at Urban Lounge on Friday night. Even though I abandoned metal for punk in my youth, metal was still my first love. Check them out on on iTunes and hope to see you at the show. I'll have a 24tix.com pin on. Say hi and I'll buy you a beer.
--Shon
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