- WHAT THE PUNK! -
What have the Ramones meant to you?
To me they are musically important as Beatles are. the made a revolution in simplicity, with music but also they created an iconic image of themself, also the very punk logo they have. a punk band with american symbols in it (eagle for instance) that are not punk at all, but symbols of american institutions…
Anny Yi: I’m really drawn to punk. Even when I’m not thinking about “punk” and unexpectedly hear the Ramones, or see a photo of them somewhere, my spirit just reacts to it. Not only do I love the iconic look of the Ramones, I think the best thing about punk is the energy. When I started to play around with clay art, I thought it would be cool to hang out with a play-doh Joey Ramone, so I made that. Then, one day, it just came to me, that “Hey! Ho! Let’s Doh!” would be the perfect title for my clay art. So you can say the Ramones have influenced me a lot.
Eric Morse: I’ve always had a special affinity for the Ramones. As you mention, Sergio, there is something very “American” about the Ramones — about their music and also just the way they went about being a band. While American Punk is a broad category that includes bands of all types, the Ramones, as the first real standard-bearers of Punk in the US, were a sharp contrast to the specific, political and social anger of their British contemporaries. They brought a unique energy to their music, and they didn’t take themselves too seriously. Their music is distinct and subversive, but they also had the ability to make songs that were catchy and fun, and had a certain appeal that’s almost universal.
Tell us about “Punk” and what it means to you.
AY: The great thing about punk is that it has a “look”. Besides listening to the music, I love looking at photos of the early punk bands. I tend to collect photo books that cover this era. Not just bands, but the punk fans of that generation, they were amazing and bold.
EM: When I lived in Olympia, WA — home of riot grrl bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, and the town where Nirvana got its start (and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was written) — I really had the opportunity to immerse myself in Punk culture. It was an amazing time; Miranda July and Unwound performed in my garage, and I had the opportunity to design some punk album covers and tour with some excellent bands.
In 1998, when I was on tour with a band called IQU, we played shows with Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse, and Fugazi — who were heroes of mine at the time. (They still are!) After one show with Fugazi, we were all chatting and Ian Mackaye (singer of Fugazi and Minor Threat) said to me, “thanks for dancing during our set. That was the punkest thing!” That taught me a lot about what it meant to be Punk — that it doesn’t have to be about looking or acting a certain way, but about the fervor with which you throw yourself into the thing you love, your ability to shed vanity or pretension and be as uniquely you as possible.
what is your favourite band now, and most importantly: why?
before we used to know everything about our favourite band and the musician in it. today most people have to digest thousands of new artists so you don’t have the time to do that. I used to know particular drum moments (for example) of the early metallica records. or a rhythm change in a song that I found awesome… today this thing is lost to me. there are too many bands I want to listen.. I could not even mention ONE single band I prefore.. there are so many… What is yours?
Sergio, I agree that we have so much music available to us, so easily, now that it’s hard to be a “fan” in the same way that we used to be. I used to buy one or two albums at a time and lie on my floor listening to them over and over — memorizing every lyric and each chord change, etc. Just as you mentioned. Today we are flooded with new music and anyone who is interested in music can overindulge whenever they want to.
So, I have a hard time picking just one. The other thing is, I listen to different music — very different music — for different moods. I love the post-punk intensity of Savages, and the minimal electronic band Pale Blue from 2MR Records, and the soul of Anthony Hamilton. And no matter what, Fugazi and Beastie Boys will always be two of my top 5 favorite bands!
Which image from the book you liked working on the most?
AY: I enjoyed working on the Sex Pistols the most. It was the first one I worked on. It was fun to try and capture Johnny Rotten’s spirit and attitude, or making Steve Jones’ tattered mesh punk sweater out of play doh.
What is punk? the book. where the idea starts, how did it happen I mean, and how was cooperating on it for both of you
I love it because it reminds me a lot of 80s, the years where in Italy punk scene was really visible. Many people dressed like punk were a group you could meet in the streets and fighting with other groups … and also there has been a strong punk italian music scene with a lot of bands and small but very intense concerts.. I was very young and I discovered all that immediately after, at that time I saw this without realizing what was all that. I have been really fascinated by reading and finding documents and photos about that time.. and the book reminds all that in a way. what about you?
EM: Working on What Is Punk? was one of the most fun and rewarding creative projects I’ve ever been involved in. It was definitely a challenge to try to narrow down a list of so many influential and truly earth-changing punk artists to a small list, and then to capture their punk energy in short rhyming lines of poetry.
But it was so much fun, and my favorite part of all of it was working with Anny on the illustrations. Every time I got an email from her with a new piece of art, it felt like Christmas morning! When I found her blog, Hey! Ho! Let’s Doh! (http://heyho-letsdoh.tumblr.com), I felt like the two of us had been building up to this all along — we just didn’t know it!
What Is Punk? is not just a story about the punk scene — it actually never would have happened if it weren’t for some pretty important punks! A good friend of mine is Zach Barocas — former drummer for the ’90s post-punk band Jawbox and a great poet and publisher of Cultural Society, a literary review. Anny and I were planning to self-publish What Is Punk?, but at the last minute I decided to share the book with him. He loved it, and asked if he could share it with an old friend of his, Johnny Temple. Johnny Temple was the bassist for Girls Against Boys and Soulside — two bands from Washington DC that were in their prime at the same time as Jawbox. Johnny is now also a publisher, and his publishing company, Akashic Books, has published books by Michael Stipe, Richard Hell, Krist Novocelic (of Nirvana), Eric Erlandson (of Hole), Les Claypool (of Primus), and many many others — as well as the adults/children’s phenomenon, Go The Fuck To Sleep. Johnny immediately loved What Is Punk?, and the rest is history. It was very exciting and rewarding to see this project, which Anny and I loved so much and worked so hard on, be embraced by the Punk community!
Buy the book here! http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/what-is-punk/
