Why do any of you who sends in these retarded babbling articles think you have the right to tell me that I’m not punk? Punk means something a little different to everyone, its not a strict set of rules and standards. To me punk is to be true to your heart and the beliefs you have that make you punk. The way you are all judging oneanother and being so hypocritical would be considered “unpunk” to most of you who do so. Just because a band is poppy or has had a single on Mtv or something doesn’t mean they’re sellouts and they aren’t punk rock. I understand that many “punks” dislike that, and I will honestly say that I have some dislike towards major labels and going on Mtv too and yet i still buy major label punk albums and watch Mtv all the time. Do you know why?, because IT DOESN”T MATTER. The only reason you all get so angered by bands “selling out” is because you don’t want punk to become big or the “in” thing to do. I don’t want that to happen it either, but come on, we all know it doesn’t mean anything. It’s great music and we should all just enjoy it and stop worrying about being punk and whether your ethics are punk enough. Listen to what you like and don’t worry about anyone else. If so many of you are so against being cool and being like everyone else you would realize that most of us are doing exactly that — trying to see who’s more punk. Hmmm… sounds like a popularity contest to me. I’ve probably been stupid and hypocritical too but oh well, just send me your stupid whiny emails about how “unpunk” I am and that I’m wrong and I’ll ignore them.
Why do I do this? Every fucking night its the same shit. the problems wont go away no matter how much i wish they would. nothing’ll ever go away.
The way i figure it is the bigger the problem, the more i get to drink. sort of like collecting box-tops to get a prize. but then, the more i drink, the more i think about everything. it plays over in my mind like a video tape. so why not stop drinking? because i eventually forget about why im drinking in the first place. either because i passed out or because im puking so much that im scared my stomach’s going to come flying out of my mouth and land on the curb. and this is how it is, was and always will be. this is how its been since ive been old enough to not be a dork and get friends.
When i was little, like 5 or 6, and he’d do this, id just lock myself in my room and color, pretending not to hear anything. it was so easy back then. now ive been back here for about 2 days and the same old shit is still going on. now i remember why i hate him so much. i dont hate him for kicking me out when i was 5 for barfing in the car floor, or for telling me that he should’ve drown me when i was a baby, i hate him for what he’s done to me, mentally and physically.
I hate him for all the lies he’s told me and all the shit he’s put in my head. he tells me being here will build character. I dont see how when theres no character to build on. so why do i do this? maybe i do it because i hope ill wake up and everything’ll be ok and ill have a chance to feel what happiness is like. maybe i do it because i hope its all one big fucking dream. i could keep going on about this but i’ll spare you the time and effort of reading this. you’d probably give your left nut for me to shuttup. this story has no point, really. just me trying to figure out why i always do this. i guess next time ill rely on a bottle of JD and some pop tarts.
It seems like I’m always complaining about something, but I have good reasons. I don’t want to go off on endless tangents, but it seems like people are becoming increasingly ignorant. Who can pinpoint what the cause is exactly? Maybe it’s TV? Maybe it’s the education system? Maybe it’s just that nobody cares! Even in the punk scene you can witness the ramafications of our society. The mainstream culture is trying to cash in on people’s lives, which is the cause of all these problems.
In America, there seems to be this perpetual cycle that takes advantage of subcultures. You can even trace the cycle back to the Native Americans and the first settlers of this great land. They took their food, stole their ways, and hung them out to dry once they learned all they needed. I see this happening in the “punk scene” right now, in an evolved form.
I trust all of the people that read this article to draw their own conclusions, and take action. I purposly did not develop my thoughts in this little article. I just worte these few sentences to get you thinking about what’s going on around you. I would like to hear what any of you think, about anything, so e-mail your comments to jon@truepunk.com.
Many people think of punk in different ways. Everyone has their own opinion on what it means. Punk to me is more than just music, punk is a very broad thing. Punk is doing what you believe in, not what anyone else does. It’s and honest form of self expression. Punk is a lifestyle. Punk is music. Punk, in my mind is the most uniting thing this world has. True punks come together, and support each other, not tear the punk way of life apart. Such people who tear it apart often use punk as a popularity contest so to speak. To some people its all about who out punk or be more hardcore than the next punk. People who disregard other punks for the type of punk they listen to. The most disregarded punks are the ones who listen to some commercialized music. This in general to me is ok to a certain degree. If you love the music and it means something to you it is ok with me, but if you are just listening to it because other people do or you are just radio oriented for any band I dislike it. Punks shouldn’t deem those who listen to some commercial music and love it posers. That is wrong to me. Everyone knows that for how many punks there are in an area there are usually just as many posers. The people who I think qualify as posers are radio oriented, do things or listen to a band just because other true punks are and have no love for it, people who just do it for the style, and people with a punk attitude with no beliefs to back it up. Punk is not a contest, it is unity, love for the music, an attitude, a lifestyle, and many other things to be true to.
Punk to me is a Renaissance, a rebirth, for enlightenment. Most do not take punk seriously, others think of it as a mere fad or a style of clothing. Punk is more than what meets the eye, I do NOT look at all Pnk, but I am. Punk is not a style of clothing or a specific appearance,
Punk is a way of life, a form of thought. Leading us to an age of enlightenment, an age of questioning everything, although many people think of us as weirdoes and people who lack any intelligence. The Classic Renaissance was based on the fact of questioning everything, including god, which was a rewarded w/ a wonderful execution :D. We are the unconventional intellects of the world, just like Walt Whitman, the man was a genius but he was rejected for his ideas. Looks like im wandering, well i’ll cut it short now. Punk is not to be taken likely, those who are in it just for the popularity and the recognition are NOT punk, but those who think for themselves and question everything are.
the punk attitude has confused me over the past year. some people think its a style, you go to hot topic and check out the “punk” section alotta kids think that by doing this youre a bad ass. but that cant be punk.places like those are like the gap for people who think theyre rebels, as my friend matt would say. and then theres those who think theyre punk because they dont go to church when their mom tells them to or dont do their homework and those kids who oh god, smoke! in a way thats punk, being rebellious, but i dont think its enough to make you a punk. then theres those little 7th graders who run around singing the words to “all the small things” and call themselves punk. i mean! i have no problem with blink182 or what they’ve become and how they’ve changed. but just liking that one pop-ish CD dosen’t make you as punk as the 15 year old kid you met at subway wearing the new found glory short before they got
[In the office of a bigwig major label guy back in 1995]
Scott: Hey Jim, since Nirvana came into the picture all those ‘indie’ labels started popping up all over the place.
Jim: Yea, so. Scott: So, aren’t you scared that one day, they will control the industry?
Jim: Scared? Are you fucking nuts? Those labels won’t last a year. How can they sell cds for ten dollars and make a profit? Those drunken idiots are wasting their money and my time.
Scott: But, Jim… That band Rancid is really doing some damage on the radio and MTV. The kids love them and we can’t have them. What are we going to do?
Jim: [smack] Snap out of it Scott. You sound like a rambling dildo that’s been up my ass for a week. If we can’t have Rancid, then we’ll find or make up a band that will sound like them.
Scott: Wow! That’s a great ideal. Jim: That’s why I’m the big cheese and you’re just a stinkin’ rat. Get Larry from the A&R department on the phone. [phone rings in Larry’s office]
Larry: Hey there, it’s your dime… speak to me, babe.
Jim: Larry, you bloody rag, don’t ever answer the phone like that again. Got me?
Larry: Sorry sir, I thought you were some talentless, dumb-ass musician, going to waste my time. Sorry. Can I get you some coffee or tea sir?
Jim: Get your nose out of my ass and listen up. I need a band, some punky, dirty looking band. Talk to me, I need one ASAP.
Larry: Jim, it’s not that easy. Finding the right band takes time. You have to give them water and watch them grow, just like a plant.
Jim: Shut the fuck up, hippie. Give me a band now! RIGHT NOW!
Larry: aaahhh don’t know. Hmmm
Jim: Now or your fired!
Larry: Wank!
Jim: Are they good? Do they sound like Rancid?
Larry: There awesome, but need some work and do they sound like Rancid? Well they say they do.
Jim: GREAT! Sign them to a six album deal and record their album now.
Larry: I don’t think there ready to record yet. They just formed the band a week ago.
Jim: I don’t care, it’s only punk music. It’s only being sold to a bunch of stupid kids that worship MTV. Just give me a polished turd and the marketing department will do the rest.
[thend]
I know that sounds like a bad tv sitcom, but it’s true. What happened to Wank? Better yet… who cares? This is how major labels run there business. They find every way to exploit their artists and make lots of money in the process. But times are changing, for the better. They’re scared little kids, running around lost in Wal-Mart ™. Anyone that reads the articles on the internet or in magazines knows. They cry wolf about how Napster destroyed their empire, but little did they know they destroyed it themselves. Isn’t it funny how their biggest grossing year in a while was actually when Napster was up and running? It only gets funnier because now their worst grossing year is with out Napster!
The bottom line, you fucked with the wrong music fans. This sixteen to eighteen dollar cd bullshit has to stop and or they are going to be out of business. Well we can only hope. I think the real reason why their sells are dropping is because…people know that it only costs them about one dollar to mass produce those shitty, Staind cds. Yes, I know that’s what their worth if that.
The fact of the matter is, they have been charging us an arm and a leg for each cd we bought for almost the last 20 years. Well times have changed, and independent labels are up on the rise. Not only do they pay their bands better royalties (majors get only eighty cents for each cd sold), but the music is one-hundred times better. Any independent band can become the next big thing with lots of money being pushed behind them. I don’t want to talk shit on this band because they are the fucking shit. However, AFI just recently signed to Dreamworks Records, which is a major label headed by Mr. David Geffen. However, they now will be thrown into the mainstream ring to duke it out with a bunch of shitty bands. We know that AFI is better then all of them, but what does this mean to us, the loyal fans, that have been around since there first seven inch?
It means we have to pay a lot more for the major label debut. Which is fine by me, if I knew that a good bit of the money was going to them, but we all know better. So what the fuck should I do? Wait till they come into town on tour and just hand them a eighteen dollar donation in hopes that they will give me a copy of their cd in return. Or should I stop being a jaded asshole and give in? I’m going have to stay up every night and think hard about that one. Well in the long run, AFI will get my money because they deserve it. I just wish that the suits weren’t putting their hands in my pockets also. If you can… Only support independent music and watch the majors drown to death in their own vomit. If you have to buy a music release, like the new AFI cd, then I suggest (at your own risk) stealing it from a music chain store and sending AFI the money for the cd. That way, they get all profit. I may be right or jaded! -jr
Written By: jr. | jrsone@staff.truepunk.com
This day was in the making for the last eighteen years and I finally got into my car and left. I didn’t exactly know where I was heading, but I knew it was out of this town. Just like every other punk stuck in a really small town with a bunch of rednecks. You’re just fighting a battle that you will never win. All of those hours of lying on the floor listening to a third generation copy of the Descendents’ Somery album. Staring at all those posters taped up on my baby, blue walls wishing that was me in those pictures. I’ve dreamed of the day that I would give this town the middle finger and never come back.
Music is the only thing that fuels my motivation to do something with my life. After I graduated from high school, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I knew it would have something to do with music or the punk scene. My original plan was to go to some recording school in Ohio, but I got sidetracked. Shit happens and it usually happens every fucking minute of my life. At least I know now that going to that school would have been a big waste of money. I mean, you plug the microphone in, place it near the amp and push record. I know there’s more to it then that, but it’s not brain surgery.
So I blew the whole fucking summer off, just doing a lot of nothing. I saw some great shows and had fun playing with one of hundred punk bands that I’ve been in. However, my life was slowly turning into a pile of shit. I did stupid shit here and there to keep me from going insane. Like starting a paper zine that no one read. I don’t know why I have to be somebody, but I do. It’s a fucking disease and I hate it. I mean, it has taken me six years to beat it into my skull and I still secretly want to make a difference with my life. But time will tell and I have chosen to just live my life and let things just happen.
Instead of trying so hard to come up with some stupid idea and watch myself fall flat on my face. Another thing I do is sabotage my own plans to beat someone else to the chase. I know I’m a fucking basketcase. I didn’t go to college because I wasn’t smart enough. My mother said I wasn’t, so I didn’t want to waste their money trying. If my mom was a motivational speaker, everyone would jump off the bridge to their bloody death. So try living in her house, with her rules, going to her schools. I just want a fucking Pepsi, that’s all. That’s what I love about music, some band out there is singing a song about what I went through. So that leaves me with one option. Be in a punk band and try to make a living at it.
Well that would be a great beginning to a Behind The Music story for Green Day, but in the real world… shit happens. I wanted to be in a punk band that toured everywhere, record albums and the whole nine yards. But in this town, with the friends I was playing with. They had better things to do besides being a band. It seemed that I was the only one in it for bigger things. I’m not talking about major labels, gold fucking teeth, just making enough money to get by. However, everyone else just wanted to be in a band for fun. What the fuck? I’m having the time of my life, but I can’t make something of it?
Being in a band that has no goal is not fun, but a waste of time. Yes, I enjoy making music and jamming with other people. But that shit gets old very quick. If you enjoy doing that, then go start a cover band for a bunch of old farts at a retirement home. Of course that summer some shit happened, but I don’t want to get into that. It was a life altering moment that has changed me for the worst. I gave up wanting the band experience. So I do what any normal nineteen year old would do that is being hounded by their parents. Get a job.
The summer was over and so was my life. What was suppose to be the best years of my life, turned to the worst. I found a cool job that paid great and that was the problem. I gave up my complete music life plan and joined the society of greed. I had nothing to work for, so I blew all my money on stupid shit. Of course I bought a car, which made me one step closer to a life sentence to a boring life. I had a monthly bill. That means that I had a reason to get out of bed to go to my job to make enough money to pay on a car to take me to my job. What a life, but I fell right into it, like a greedy fool.
Well, I’m still at that very same job today. Lot of things have changed since then. I have a lot more things tying me down in this small town now then I did before. It seems you wait your whole life to be free, but then you jump at the first chance you get to have it taken away from you. Well I did get into my car that day and I did leave my town behind. I didn’t know where I was going or when I would be back. I got on that road and drove around until I would make up my mind. Well you already know the answer, but I drove back home. I never really made it out of state that day. The stars just weren’t lined up that night. I have faith that one day it will come and I will be gone. However it will be whole different reason than seven years ago.
Those seven years may be a short period of time, but I learned so much more in life than I would have in college. I got a jump start in life experiences, than my friends have who have just graduated from college. Every path leads down a different road, it’s whether you decide to stay within or venture out that makes you the way your life is lived. Even if I don’t get to go on tour playing in a band, or make a name for myself. I know that whatever my life becomes, it will not be wasted. If I die tomorrow, I will regret all of those things. I live another 50 years, then I will make up for the time I wasted dreaming, and start doing. Listen, you only have one life. Stop fucking around, do the things that you want to. Don’t end up like me, wishing in one hand and shitting in the other.
I’m just glad I realized this now instead of ten years down the road, or worse… after it was too late. What’s great about punk music is that if you get jaded and take a break for awhile…. It’ll still be there for you to come back to and you won’t miss a beat.
Written By: Kryzta | chaos_riotgirl666@hotmail.com
“MTV is ruining punk. Avril Lavigne is not punk, she’s a poser. Good Charlotte, Sum 41, Blink 182: it’s all the same generic pussy punk.” I have heard these phrases in so many ways said by the very people who claim themselves as “punk.” But isn’t part of being “punk” not caring about what other people think or say? Why are the very people who state these morals complaining so god damn much? If you don’t like it, turn it off. Part of having a remote control is so that you can change the channel. Why waste your time watching something you don’t like? There is no need to make anti-Avril sites and bitch all day long about how MTV is destroying punk. Express your freedom of choice and just don’t listen to it. If you think the song or band is bullshit, then don’t buy the CD( or steal or rip or burn or download or how ever you chose to get you music fix). Now you might say that when I say “Express your freedom of choice,” that there is also the freedom of speech. But the more you complain and give these bands and artists your time, the more fuel they get for the fire. If we all stopped watching MTV then think of how low their ratings will go. It’s all a simple matter of switching you television station. Me as Kryzta, I don’t like MTV at all and I actually do think that the station is bullshit along with the music they play then call “punk.” But I don’t watch the stupid channel then criticize it. I just see that as common sense. So there is my piece
Where was Mrs. I have to move kids around the classroom everyweek going to sit me? Please please i beg sit me by someone not annoying…or stinky…or perky. As i sat praying to Bhuddah not to sit me next to the cheerleader Mrs. Vasche asigns me my seat. Next to me sits a girl decked out in Dickies…converse..anti-flag…possibly the most “punk” looking girl i have ever met. Sitting next to her I give her a small smile but i know the stench of intimidation is coming off of me like smell of month old bologna comes out of me locker. While teacher takes role the girl turns to me “Hello my name is molly (names have been changed to protect feelings of ppl who may read this)” I answer back with my name and we start up a regular conversation. You need to understand that i ahve not even began to enter the relms of the punk scene and these bands that she was talkiong of i have never heatrd of. I went back to my old safty net…smile and nod. Molly was not to be fooled. She knew that i didnt know of these bands and she offered to let me borrow a few Cds. Needless to say this encounter blossomed into a beaytuful friendship between two people.
Getting to know this girl i figured out that she realy wasnt that different from me. Recently she had to move from me but befor she left she confided a secret. Molly told me that when Mrs. Vasche sat her next to me she was also intimidated thinking “oh wow…sitting me next to a punk emo chic….wow am gonna look so poser.” I didnt relizethat the bands i knew and was talking about also made her feel like i was more “punk” than her! As you can see both of us were intimidated by the way someone looked, but really both of us felt that we were very poser. I guess how im gonna sum this up is being punk isnt something that you can name yourself. Its all about how people perceive you. Ok that was the first article i wrote…maybe ill do more…who knows?
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