Quick Question
 

Do you still consider yourself a punk after all this?

All what?

I don't consider myself a punk at all.

in 1991 - I consider myself more fucked up than I ever could imagine myself being

..all this and more makes us the punk we never knew we could be :D
but I'm loaded so what do I know
my hair never looked punk but it felt punk does that count...let's all go to the firehall..

i never considered myself a punk.

I'd rather consider myself a rock and roll freak.

I don't care for punk at all. It always seemed like reactionary nonsense to me. Kids who should've been bad Marxists talking rubbish. And, with a few exceptions, the music is tepid and derivative. That's a big no from me then.

punks suck.

another work of art!

true modigliani.

mmmm...I used to probably when I was 16, but just for 2 weeks...
I'm talking about music tastes, behaviour (clothing, of course), the proper punk status...
I can say this attitude now still left something in me, especially on the aggressivity (both musical and nihilist-confidential behaviour).
I don't listen to punk anymore cos I find it boring now, just like any grupo or album listened for so many times in a relatively short and fast period.

Not sure what you mean by "all of this".

Identity in music genres and adolescents/young adults is pretty funny, sometimes "oxy moron"-ish.

We purposely tried to disassociate ourselves with the mass population because we thought we were superior and "being different, being ourselves" when that whole time all we did was follow one another without any thoughts of our own. Little did we realize the more we tried to differentiate ourselves with "popular culture", the more similar we looked in our scenes.

I'll admit it: when I was younger, I had the "you all are a bunch of followers, listening to brainless pop music and dressing all the same with your clothes you got at the mall".

We were the exact same as the people we despised. Only difference was the label that we had.

I considered myself a "punk" when I skated & listened to skate punk (alot of JFA, Faction, & SoCal punk), but it wasn't until Daydream Nation that I really just said, "who cares". It was then where I didn't want to be associated with any labels or scenes, although a couple of years later a new wave of punk took the scene by storm, the San Diego Gravity scene(Candle, Heroin, etc.).

I love the music and still listen to alot of old punk, but I don't like the attitude I had while being closely associated in those scenes, even the Gravity scene was very "snobby" and very pretentious.

I used to have super-short bleached blonde hair, does that make me an ex-punk?

I never subscribed to the 'movement' though. I like the music, but subverting society just for the sake of looking like the 'progressive rebel' is a load of bullshit. In doing that, you're adhering to a group mentality in the same way as the people you denounce.

Which is why I can't quite understand why everyone kisses Johnny Rotten's ass. I liked the music, but his whole Hall of Fame episode just irritated me. I don't care what kind of bad-ass persona you adopt - if you cut a record, you do so because you think you have something to offer, and that people want to hear it. If you didn't, you wouldn't bother publicizing your art - you'd keep it to yourself. Putting yourself in the public arena in turn garners you fans (hopefully), and, consequently, a following. You will, by default, be categorized in some way. So, to shun the approval of your fans because you're afraid it lumps you in with the 'mainstream,' and you don't want your apathetic punk reputation to be tarnished, is hypocritical, contrived, and just plain fucking dumb. Those fans are what got you where you are in the first place, and if you didn't inhabit the higher social strata they elevated you to, nobody would listen to your pseudo-political bullshit anyway.

I think Rotton was just bitter because he was far more successful (in record sales and, in his mind, artistically) with PiL.

I had a mohican for a bit a few years back. It was one of those 'I need a haircut, my mate has some clippers, but I don't want to shave it all off decisions. It looked pretty good, and got me quite a lot of ass (he says modestly and non-chavenistically). Anyway...

I was out one night, with said mohawk, and a 'punk' comes up to me and asks me if I'm a real punk. To which I say, "No". He says, "Oh, I suppose you copied your haircut from David Beckham then". I laughed and told him to fuck off. He then goes on about how 'fashion punks' really piss him off. Then:

Me: I used to listen to a bit of punk.
Him: What, like the commercial stuff, fucking Green Day and that shit?
Me:No, more the earlier stuff.
Him: What, the real punk stuff? Like Nofx?
Me: Nah, more like the pistols and the Clash.
Him: Who are the Clash?

I could not, and still cannot believe that this guy was laying into me for being a fashion punk when he HAD NOT EVER HEARD THE CLASH. And from then on I decided that punk was just a load of shite for idiots.

Interesting. Did you not get into punk rock because you may have been "too old" to really get into it or you just didn't know very many people into that kind of scene?

The Sex Pistols refusing to take part in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was a group decision, not Johnny Rotten/Lydon's decision. None of them wanted to. Also, I think you've completely missed the boat on what the Sex Pistols were really about. I think you may have taken them slightly too serious, why it's so personal for you is quite funny considering they took everything as a joke for a reason: that was their schtick.

I have to admit that some of my best times were during times I was into alot of punk.

One thing about punk though: bands loved to play live and the shows were very raw, full of energy and alot of fun.

Some incredible live punk bands:

Heroin
Angel FUCKING Hair!!!
Antioch Arrow
Adolescents
Fear
Universal Order of Armageddon
Nation of Ulysses
The Dwarves
Pitchfork
Fishwife
Drive Like Jehu
Rocket from the Crypt
Fucking Ramones(they still played amazing shows up to the end)

I can go on...



I never got into very much 70s UK rock like Clash & Sex Pistols. I respect it, but I've always found the Clash to be a bit overrated. Buzzcocks, Fall and Wire were much better.

I listen to a fairly small range of artists across a very wide range of styles, so I've never associated myself with any movement in that way. That said, there have been times where genres or scenes have produced a few bands at the same time who I've enjoyed, so there have been tendencies at times. But I don't try to immerse myself in one sub-culture or anything like that.

Punk has never been very big in my listening, anyway.

re: Mr Lydon, I think he sees his musical career as something that got better after the pistols, and I think he puts genuine effort into his art. I also think that, from 'Album' onwards, PiL far outstripped the Pistols. It's a bit sad that he's recognised more for the shock of the Pistols - if the musical merits of the two bands were considered more, then his work with PiL would get more praise, in my opinion. I can understand how that annoys him.

I think that America's 'Hall of Fame' recognitions fulfil a similar cultural role to our Honours system (MBE, OBE etc). There are always some people who don't feel blessed because self-appointed and largely unaccountable people give recognition to them, or their works. I wouldn't expect the Pistols to line up at the Palace if they were given the chance, so I'm not surprised that they choose to refuse a similar 'honour'.

I don't know if I agree completely. Steely Dan despised the Hall of Fame too.

We do not have any kind of 'Hall of Fame' system in the UK, the honours system probably explains why. Likewise, you have no royal family, so that would explain your development of an alternative system of praise.

I wasn't saying that only 'punk' bands feel animosity towards self-appointed and largely unaccountable people (my description). I think people generally should feel that way. Big up to Steely Dan for their stance, I say.

And now for some real shit, we shall play live mhuahaha!