Are You There, God? It's Me, the Punk Scene
By Stephen Rainone
Since the 70's, punk has been around, not
consciously creating a scene, but allowing
the music to create one itself. To me, it
seemed like the scene started as underground
mole people, barely seeing the light of day.
Then as some of the bands got to play gigs
at places like CBGB's and Maxwells, the scene
began to
surface from beneath the earth. Many bands
stuck to playing backyard parties and basement
shows like The Bouncing Souls for example.
Eventually, word spread far and wide as labels,
both indie and major began to scoop up these
bands, getting them and their music to a wider
audience.
Even those bands that didn't get their chance
at first (and still today) made demo tapes
and sent them out to record labels, and gave
them to people who were willing to listen
to their music, and support them and the emerging
scene. Today, there are still a lot of bands
without labels to keep them afloat in the
music world, mainly through the internet.
Many of the bands were lost. A lot of their
fans were left disappointed,
longing for them to make a triumphant return,
to which some did, like Agent Orange who formed
at the end of the 70's, and are playing on
the last leg of this years Warped Tour. Other
bands broke up due to years of hard touring,
no fans at all, or disputes within the group,
and for other reasons like substance abuse.
Yet, the punk scene survived and thrived,
and from that, other scenes sprang up (not
all necessarily from punk), like the rude
boy scene (ska), emo (which begot screamo),
pop punk, hardcore, posicore- the list is
almost endless. For many years the punk scene,
from clothing to attitude, slowly changed.
From mass produced, designer labels such as
Hot Topic came "raggedy" punk ensembles
including matching skull earring, and sneakers,
to leather jackets, crazy hair colors, piercings
in every imaginative body part, and studded
belts all which are available at your local
mall.
Punk never had a fashion to it (just ask
Mike Ness from Social Distortion), it was
more like, whatever you find on the floor
of your bedroom that doesn't smell as bad
as your socks, and felt cool, would make it
into your punk "wardrobe." Back
than hair color, piercings, etc., weren't
a necessity, but they were a part of what
signified that a person was hardcore, crazy,
and against conformity. It meant something
to everyone who were into the scene, and they
expressed themselves in their own unique way.
Now it's changed.. A lot of the new generation
have less and less punks who still stand by
it's original meaning. There's a lot of people
who claim to be "punk," but are
just joining to look good, or be accepted,
or to be an "outcast" at school
or home. I know that by being punk you are
an outcast from the norm, but those people
that are purposely going out of their way
to do so are doing the original punk scene
an injustice.
Besides the "fashions" I mentioned
which also includes soccer shorts to ungodly
things like skull & cross bones boxers,
it's also now "punk" to give "high
fives" and hugs to everyone! I mean it's
kind of kewl to do, but where's it being punk
to do so? Whatever happened to backyard parties
with bands playing, drinking, having fun,
and just being punk, like at one of Tim's
parties? I strongly believe that punk will
survive in the long run. Even the younger
generation will help it thrive, if they keep
true to it. Punk is about being unique, not
just someone else. It stands for the feelings
your afraid of showing, and punk music can
help get them out through a song. But most
importantly, it stands for your individuality.
