By David Pratt
British punk never died, and in 2020 it’s as subversive as ever. David Pratt looks back at how the scene began, and meets some of the characters keeping it alive.
The punk explosion of the late 70s and early 80s took the United Kingdom by storm, with its alternative fashion styles, loud anarchic music and rebellious attitude, the subculture was adopted by disillusioned youth across Britain. During the rise of punk, the political climate in England was extremely volatile, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was elected in 1979, presiding over mass unemployment with over three million people out of work by 1983.
Her time as Prime Minister was also characterised by privatisation. According to the Centre for Public Impact, by the time she left power in 1990, her government had privatised 40 UK state-owned businesses that were employing 600,000 workers, and employers like British Telecoms lost more than 100,000 jobs due to privatisation.
Her parties dismantling of the United Kingdom’s industrial jobs, such as closing coal mines, along with her attempts to dismantle unions, led to the 1984 miner’s strikes which saw 20,000 miners lose their jobs and left many young working-class people feeling disillusioned with society and politics. This political backdrop helped inspire the rise of punk.
As we reached the millennium, the subculture that had many parents across Britain clutching their pearls, seemed to be over. Bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols, who helped put punk on the map, had split up, the shock factor had faded, and other subcultures had become more popular. Despite the newfound absence of people donning leather jackets and mohawks stomping up and down British streets, punk never really died. Since its inception, the subculture has been sustained by passionate promoters, bands, activists and artists.
Now less about the Sid Vicious’s and Malcom McLaren’s of the world, the punk scene in the United Kingdom is an inclusive, broad community, made up of people with a wide range of experiences who all hold together one of Britain’s most important subcultural communities.
“Far from being a new or recent subculture, the DIY/punk/squat communities are the last vestiges of the original culture of all humanity,” says George F, author of Good Times in Dystopia, which chronicles his time spent around punk and anarchist scenes around Europe. “What we experience today, expressed in terms of the aesthetic and ideology of these groups, predates the current capitalist, authoritarian, consumerist society that is destroying our peoples and our world, and has existed in some form throughout our shared history. Before there were concepts such as private property, fashion, consumption, service and capital, all communities ‘squatted’, all practices were ‘DIY’, and all fashion and music were ‘punk’ – even if we would not recognise it in the limited manner that society does today.”
“This not to say that punks should be othered, fossilised, or fetishized, as often happens with ‘pre-civilized’ societies, but instead it should be realised that today’s DIY/punk/squat communities represent the smouldering ember of possibility to save not only the entire fucking world, but the very soul of our species. By embodying and acting in a spirit of defiance, autonomy and collective liberation, these communities represent a lived alternative to the smothering suicidal logic of capitalism and the passive subordination of consumerism.”
“The greatest hope for peace, anarchy and freedom for future generations lies in these communities more than anything offered by mainstream society. As the saying goes: better to squat than rot and DIY than die, because punk’s not dead.”
Punk is political, it always has been, and punk in 2020 is more politically engaged than ever. It’s a broad subcultural scene with thriving communities across the United Kingdom, from communists to anarchists, socialists to hunt saboteurs, as well as politically charged punk bands, many of whom express their views through their songs.
Every major city in the United Kingdom has a punk scene, from Leeds and Liverpool to Bristol and Glasgow, and there are countless major punk festivals, like London based Chimpyfest every September, Manchester Punk Festival in April, and Rebellion Festival in Blackpool in August. There’s a whole range of people to connect with and places to go, so anyone can get involved in today’s punk scene and take part in all sorts of ways.
LIVING A PUNK LIFE
Keith, 45, is originally from Darwen, Lancashire, but has lived in London for 20 years. He co-founded Dissident Island Studios in Tottenham in 2011, a music studio and practice space frequented by punk bands such as The Restarts, The Migraines and Circle None.
“What attracted me to the punk scene was the people (well sound), the music (well good), and the ethos of freedom, self-sufficiency and creating alternative spaces for punks by punks. Punk always stood for something, such as personal freedom and unity and always had great passion and aggression. The people involved tend to be a decent lot who live by their principles and treat each other with respect. You can go to certain gigs or venues and know that you will know half the people there – the punk community is pretty solid. It’s like a second family.”
“I co-founded DSI studios, a collectively run rehearsal and recording studio and occasional events space in Tottenham, to give punks across London a space to meet and create. I also promote shows and play in Flowers of Flesh and Blood, Poisonous Cunt, Gurgle and other bands.”
“The punk scene in 2020 is real. The punk scene in 1977, if we are talking about The Sex Pistols etc., is rehashed on every BBC punk doc which explains punk as only existing between 1977 and 1979. But that’s a media construct. If you want a real example of a band that took punk to the next level and showed us what DIY punk can be capable of, you need to look at Crass, not The Pistols! Crass and their record label Crass records, along with the likes of Discharge, led onto crust punk and hardcore. Most punk bands now are far more influenced by this than by Johnny ‘sneer for the cameras’ Rotten. But he will still insist he invented punk and is punk.”
MY PUNK LIFE IN FASHION
Gin ‘Tenji’ Morley, 30, is from Manchester but currently lives in London and is a former fashion student.
“It’s cliché, but the punk scene feels like a big family. People I’ve met have saved my life, changed my outlook on what’s important and helped me realise what I want out of life. It’s also a queer friendly scene, which has helped my confidence with my sexuality and gender identity and given me a sense of belonging.”
“I’m really into the fashion side of punk. I sew patches on my clothes, put studs on them, and wear typical prints found in punk, like leopard and zebra. I have hair that I always dye and shave partings into, and piercings and tattoos. Before I got into punk, I had a jacket I would put random patches and things on. It looked dreadful. My skills got better once I got into punk music, saw how people dress and I took inspiration from them. Sewing patches on everything was heavily influenced by punk, and I probably wouldn’t DIY my clothes as much if I hadn’t been exposed to a scene that promotes that.”
“I got into the music through my dad, who is an ex copper funnily enough. I remember asking my dad who Sid Vicious was and he ended up burning me about 20 CDs of different bands.”
“Punk comes into fashion every few years or so in various ways. Sometimes it’s the studs, or the tartan. A lot of people in the punk scene take it way too seriously sometimes. There will be pre-studded jackets in Topshop and punks will complain that’s stealing our style, but trend followers often forget about these things after a few months so who cares? It doesn’t affect our scene. Plus, when these things stop being trendy you can get some great things in the sales”
“I think punk has lasted so long because punk is about community and fighting against things that we believe to be unjust. Humans will always need communities, and the world is never going to be perfect enough to not have something to fight against.”
MY PUNK LIFE IN POLITICS
Lucien Mulcahy, 18, from London, is a member of London Anti-Fascist assembly (LAFA).
“London Anti-Fascist Assembly is an alternative to other anti-fascist groups in London because it emphasises the safety and support of women, those with disabilities, people in the queer community and is explicitly against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, which is something previous anti-fascist groups did not specifically offer.”
“There have been issues in the past with other groups being macho in their tactics and male dominated, not inclusive to those with disabilities, and some sexism, abuse allegations and other forms of discrimination.”
“As the left includes a very broad spectrum of people, it is sometimes hard to ensure that everyone you cooperate with in anti-fascist activism is on the same page. The existence of LAFA makes sure that everyone in it is safe and faces no discrimination from anybody else within the group, whilst also actively opposing all forms of discrimination from anyone outside of the group.”
“Certain punk bands, mainly from the anarcho-punk genre, such as Conflict, helped me develop my initial views when first becoming political, and realising that there was more to politics than just Labour versus Conservative. I learned about the squatting scene in the 80s, veganism, and more hardcore activism, and the lyrical content of these bands inspired me to care more, get on my feet, and do something about the problems we face.”
“On top of being politically active, being a ‘punk’ is a much more DIY lifestyle and it teaches people to fend for themselves and oppose what threatens them, as well as being explicitly anti-establishment. LAFA and other similar left wing/anti-fascist groups are important today as hope is being lost, and as the future looks bleaker by the day, a lot of people give up. These groups give people a chance to at least try and fight back and oppose those who oppress us, whether it be politicians, fascists, racists, sexists, transphobes, and so on. These slightly more militant groups also provide an alternative to those who are already active and dissatisfied with the groups that they are involved in, and show people that they are not alone in fighting for this cause.”
MY PUNK LIFE IN FOOD
Matty Owen, 25, works at the vegan fried chicken shop ‘Temple of Seitan’ in Hackney. Originally from Bristol, Matty has lived in London for 6 years.
“I was raised a veggie, excluding my teens, and became veggie again at 18. This was due to being into punk and regularly reading about animal rights stuff, which made the commitment easy. I made the transition to veganism because the more I learned about the dairy industry, the more I realised that it’s not as simple as, ‘but milking doesn’t kill animals’.”
“Liking punk gives you access to lots of new opinions and information through zines, band lyrics and blogs articles. I remember when I was a teen thinking so much punk philosophy – solidarity, anarchist stuff, veganism, anti-hunt, environmental stuff, feminism etc – should be common sense, but it just isn’t in society.”
“The thing that initially attracted me to punk was the fact that anyone can do it. The idea of a giant world-wide network of punks just got me going. I initially got into it by listening to the soundtrack to the PlayStation game Tony Hawks Underground 2 when I was about 14, and I researched all the punk bands and read every wiki page. Then I met one of my friend’s older brothers, who was a punk, and we used to hang out, drink and cause chaos in Bristol City Centre. Then we started a band, The Migraines, with my best mate, and other mates, and it went from there. 10 years later I’m still doing it!”
“Everything is run on anarchist principles, meaning it’s not about making cash, but instead you create a social platform that is for everyone’s benefit and mutual ownership- people are even starting to fundraise for punk run and owned venues. Punk ethics also promote living a life that tries to minimise harm done to other humans and animals, and a key way of doing this is by not eating meat.”
“Meeting hunt saboteur friends was a big inspiration to me. They put their necks out to defend helpless animals in an unfair fight against fox hunters. I admire that. I’ve never been involved personally, but they definitely planted the idea in my mind that animals are worth defending. Before that, the concept of standing up for something like this had not been a part of my upbringing.”
“A lot of punk ethics emphasizes respect for people who try to defend the victimised. So when you’re a punk who is friends with other punks, chances are they’ll support and encourage your newfound veganism, as well as sharing tips and advice to keep you going. You can listen to vegan punk bands too, like Flux of Pink Indians– their Neu Smell EP is great.’”
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