Notes From Underground - Duncombe

Duncombe's article covers a lot of ground in only a few pages, discussing the nature of community in the punk scene, particularly through zines. I thought the idea of a continuous conflict between "rebellious individualism and group identity" hit on something very real to any one with some experience in some kind of rebellious subculture. It's a perfect, concise way to state it. I couldn't help but think about the idea of creativity itself, especially in "art," and the generalization in society of what it means and/or looks like to be a "creative" person or "artist". This is, I believe, the most general form of conflict, and punk could be considered one side of that. It's a somewhat oxymoronic idea, as Duncombe points out. However, there's really no way to get around it, since in declaring that it is self-contradictory to single oneself out as a particular rebellious identity, the one making the declaration is really simply defining the identity in another way. This contradiction, according to Duncombe's elegant point, is the very nature of this scene, but it is also the root of the ineffectiveness of the political side of this community. The specialized nature of the "zine" phenomenon, where the extremely personal and subjective can be published and distributed...to those of like mind, is clear evidence presented for Duncombe's argument. The community starts out in rebellion against society, but embracing politics thought in some fantasy to apply to the whole world. In getting so caught up with the tiny sects they exist in, it becomes quite easy to forget the rest of the world. There goes the revolution!

Discussion question:
Duncombe points out that for many, the importance lies in expressing what is real for that individual because the rest of society does not concern itself with that experience. What do you think of this? Why is there such an appeal in pointing out that your oppression is ignored by others. Are zines self-indulgent in your opinion?

First Notes/Reflections/Research

A few questions have come up since starting on this topic. First, what "scenes" are related to the specific one I have chosen to write about? What shows and events are relevant to my research? I've found, unfortunately, that specifically drum and bass shows are harder to come by in Providence than I had initially anticipated, so my first step was to identify a little more clearly what exactly I'm looking at. Myspace, surprisingly, and Lots of Noise, less surprisingly, was somewhat helpful.

As I said in my topic proposal, this scene is not very active on the internet, and with certain bands, this is a very purposeful decision. I'm lucky to have a good friend from Philadelphia in the band Snowstorm on tour right now. They'll be in Providence on March 1st, and are playing a show at a space in this area with a few local bands. Looking it up on the internet, while I was unable to find the location, I was able to find a few other bands that will be playing, and start off in the Providence scene from there. Unsurprisingly, many of the bands listed do not have Myspace pages, and the pages that do exist could be described as using the webspace in a less informative way. Black Pus, for example, is a Providence based performer and the drummer of Lightening Bolt. His pages seems to function mainly for access to a few tracks, announcing a few shows (but not always addresses), and posting art, both visual and written. The blog, which is updated quite frequently, consists of several strange, fictinal stories with characters with names like "Yabo". There are also links to a youtube clip of a performance, Black Pus (Brian Chippendale) with his characteristic mask utilizing his drums as well as electronic equipment. (I intend to find out more about the equipment these bands use.) The environment looks familiar, people standing around watching, sometimes moving around to it but mostly restrained to nodding their heads to the beat. I'm curious to see what the show on March 1st will be like in this sense.

*Quick note on a reference I made in the first paragraph: Lots of Noise is a blog on Providence local music (mostly punk, metal, noise, related stuff) with show listings by date as well. The Black Pus show on March 1st is notably listed as address ????????? and contact "ask a friend."

The last Lightening Bolt show I went to was in South Philadelphia, in a warehouse, and as usual for this band I had found out about the show from friends (and heard it was a secret location, which really seems to just mean it's not posted online). It was very crowded and very dark, and people did not stand still whatsoever during Lightening Bolt's set. I remember people climbing up to the rafters on the ceiling so they could be right above the band, sometimes dropping into the crowd. Of course, there was no stage (same deal in the youtube clip on MySpace for Black Pus) and the crowd was around the band, almost on top of the drummer. Being near the front, it took some serious physical effort not to fall onto the drumset. This didn't do anything to hinder the energy of the performance, of course. If anything, it intensified it. People were quite literally on top of each other as well, and at one point one of the kids close to Brian Chippendale got a drumstick cracked right on the forehead. He had a pretty good size welt, but kept right on headbanging, very much in the spirit of the show. With energy like that, it seems nothing can disrupt it.

In looking through related bands in the Providence area, the genre names stuck out to me as a point of interest. This scene does not, like many others, have a very specific style of music. I'm focusing on instrumental/electronic noise shows in warehouses; this is very specific. However, on myspace the genres of what are, in my opinion, very closely related bands, are called d-beat, drum and bass, experimental, big beat, psychedelic, grind, and a few others. Black Pus, for example, is listed as Big Beat. Snowstorm is listed as d-beat, drum and bass. Bellows, another band playing the March 1st show, is simply listed as "Other." A look through the bands listed under "Top Friends" on some of these pages revealed connections to other bands of different genres, ranging from metal to electronic and beyond. More detail on that later.

These are my first reflections/questions!

Men Making a Scene

Sara Cohen, in this article on the rock scene in Liverpool, examines the role of gender within what she identifies as a "male culture." In doing this, she looks at the place of the female members of this scene and how they affect it, as well as the masculinity itself, and how it relates to traditional gender roles. While, on the one hand, she attributes some of the roots of gender relations in the Liverpool scene to the working-class backing of most of the people forming it, and the clear cut cultural and professional lines drawn between genders there. She describes the style of the three bands around which she's framed this article (Space, Cast, Lightening Seeds) as "an image of spontaneous, heterosexual lads-off-the-street" (26). On the other hand, the kind of male culture put forth by these bands, as outlined later in the article, is somewhat distanced from the traditional role. The use of the scene as a place for emotional and artistic expression unacceptable elsewhere creates an image of a "vulnerable" male. Women are not only usually somewhat unwelcome to get deeply involved, and taken less than seriously when taking roles as musicians; they are seen as the emotional threat as well: the seductress, a source of hurt and distress. The idea that this has almost entirely flipped from a traditional idea of music, usually thought of as generally feminine, is a very interesting idea. It gives a context for men to be quite protective and even possessive of their own musical territory.

Discussion question
Are there parallels between the desire within an underground scene to keep out the mainstream and/or outsiders and the desire to keep female members from taking too much of a role, altering the scene and its culture? Why do you think there is such a disconnect, as Cohen points out in this article, between how males express their attitudes toward females in music/lyrics, and how they actually behave in the social setting of the scene (and elsewhere)?

Ethnography Topic

For my topic, I have decided on the d-beat/drum&bass scene in Providence, centering around such venues as Firehouse 13, AS220, and warehouse spaces on the west end. I chose this topic because of the accessibility with it being local, so I can incorporate as much first-hand experience as possible. Also, I was involved with a related scene in Philadelphia, and I'm interested in how these similar scenes around this specific genre connect with each other through word of mouth and personal contact/travel (an idea discussed in the Music Scenes chapter on goth). The genre has a strong tendency to resist much of the web-based networking, and makes a point of it through gestures such as the band Lightening Bolt's "secret location" shows, that are quite accessible only if you have some personal connection to the local scene based around it. Interestingly, this effort to keep it off the internet is something happening in nation-wide tours of a somewhat well-known band. I intend to explore the various forms of communication regularly used by this community, and the origins of more centralized activity, such as the booking of shows, publication of flyers, etc. I also intend to explore the visual arts communities, often around public art that are so closely linked to this culture.

I will be attending as many shows as I can find (already have a few in mind) and trying to feel out the scene while making more personal contacts in the area. If needed, I may try to interview people in Philadelphia, and possibly use as a main example the veins of communication between the cities of Providence and Philadelphia, as well as New York.

"Music in Diaspora" Slobin

Slobin's "Music in Diaspora: The View from Euro-America" explores the complexity of observing diaspora cultures within the superculture. In considering this idea, it's crucial to understand that while there are consistencies within diasporic cultures, there are also powerful differences, that could sometimes be characterized as strong, even divisive disagreements within the communities. Slobin also discusses the idea of "taste" as an important identifying factor, and the tiniest changes variations that are easily recognized by those within that community.

One important conclusion in this reading: feeling ethnically/culturally linked to "someplace else" while being fully incorporated into the dominant culture of where one actually lives is a confusing, complicated, and very rich experience. There are a lot of interactions here that are important to delve into when studying the subject, and the individual as a factor cannot be left out. Slobin discusses affinity as one "powerful form of interculture," highlighting an interesting aspect of the diasporic subculture, that one is not necessarily drawn to a specific style of music because of past experiences with music. Rather, the attraction can be more related to the other past experiences of the individual, then reflected in the music.

The interaction between diasporic subculture and the superculture is one of Slobin's main points here. He discusses the logistical powers of the dominant culture, sometimes accepting, sometimes resisting. However, he draws similarities, through their intent on "integration," between artists who have been accepted largely and those who remain somewhat under the radar. His conclusion makes me think about the difficult choices those living in a melting-pot -type culture must often make about identity.

Discussion question:
Slobin gives Seceda as an example, identifying as both Cuban-American and African American. How do you think the idea of the diasporic subculture will continue to evolve as our cultures, ethnicities, and races become increasingly integrated? How deeply can a diasporic subculture be accepted into the dominant superculture (which is also becoming increasingly mixed), while still being considered a subculture?