“Punk Revolution” by John Malkin. (Contributed by Rowman & Littlefield)
SANTA CRUZ — In terms of cultural significance, few musical genres of the late 20th century have left as wide a legacy as punk rock. Although many would immediately think of his sound and fashion, the themes explored in his music extend much further, from his views on power, capitalism, war, gender, race, cultural excess and much more.
Simply put, there are many components to punk rock, and for 25 years, Santa Cruz journalist John Malkin has interviewed hundreds of figures associated with the punk movement, who have discussed the myriad ways that punk has been shaped by, and itself shaped, activism . These discussions are collected in Malkin’s new book, Punk Revolution, which will be released on June 15.
A local activist since moving to Santa Cruz in 1989, Malkin has given more than 250 interviews on KZSC and Free Radio Santa Cruz and in the pages of the Sentinel, Good Times, Z Magazine, Punk Planet and more. Many of the interviews are with punk musicians Malkin has loved since he was a teenager.
“I became interested in activism and politics and I was noticing all the things in the world that I thought I needed to pay attention to, and here was this music that was singing about it and it was emotional and it was authentic and it talked about the wars that the U.S. was in and talking about about poverty, we’re talking about police brutality,” he said. “The music was high energy and had a new meaning. Some of it was directly related to activism and wanting to make the world a better place, so I was really drawn to that.”
Derived from the sounds of psychedelic garage bands of the mid-1960s and the chaotic energy of Detroit groups such as the Stooges and the MC5, punk rock exploded in the late 1970s through the rise of British groups such as The Clash and the Sex Pistols and New York bands like the Ramones and Television.
“Punk rock, when it was born into the world, had a lot of different things and a lot of different sounds and ideas,” Malkin said. “It was very diverse and like any explosion of art and creativity, it was contained and labeled and then it had to sound and look a certain way, but when it exploded it was about authenticity, about really personal music and, for a lot of punk rock people, it was about ending that period of stadium rock and needing a huge record label and a huge touring engine. Punk rock was about doing it yourself, and DIY culture really came out of punk rock and really moved into all different areas of activism and creativity around the world.”
After realizing that he had interviewed hundreds of figures within the punk movement, Malkin decided to bring them together in a book that was more than 20 years in the works. After working to find a publisher, as well as incorporating interviews conducted since the beginning of the project, the original book came out at around 900 pages, but was cut down to 350.
“No one wanted to publish this (at 900 pages) and I don’t blame them,” he said. “People are reading less, and people don’t often read books the size of War and Peace.”
The interviews, focusing on the intersection of punk and spirituality, will be compiled into another 350-page book called “Punk Spirit.” Meanwhile, “Punk Revolution” explores the interplay of punk and activism, including its critiques of capitalism and militarism, secret concerts performed in East Berlin where anti-authoritarianism was grounds for imprisonment, punk’s response to the two Iraq wars, punk in the era of Donald Trump and the Representation of Indigenous, Feminist, Latino, and LGBTQ+ Communities in Punk.
“I tried to really explore punk rock as a revolutionary force, and I think any revolutionary movement benefits from looking at what worked and what didn’t work and how well the people involved were able to move forward into a more peaceful culture.” he said. “There are a lot of moments in punk rock that we can talk about.”
Among the people Malkin interviewed for the book were Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, CJ Ramone of the Ramones, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Clem Burke of Blondie, Mike Ness of Social Distortion, Ian McKay of Minor Threat and Fugazi and members of Bad Religion, X and Gang of Four.
Malkin also interviewed people outside the punk movement such as philosopher Noam Chomsky, performance artist Laurie Anderson and William Gibson, author of sci-fi books such as “Neuromancer,” “Count Zero” and “Mona Lisa Overdrive,” who he said was a major influence. by the proto-punk band The Velvet Underground and named one of his novels All Tomorrow’s Parties after one of their songs.
“Every interview I do, I kind of fall in love with the person and I really start to explore their ideas and I like to learn more about them,” he said.
Some of the notable interviews include Belinda Carlyle of the Go-Go’s, who talks about facing accusations that she sold out after getting big, director and graphic novel writer James Spooner, who talks about punk and race, and Masha Alyokhina of Pussy Riot, who shared details of being jailed after being accused of hooliganism following a 2012 performance at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.
“There are places where if you’re singing about anti-authoritarianism, if you’re challenging the authorities where you’re at, that can be really problematic,” Malkin said. “To do this in Russia was brave and the women of Pussy Riot went to jail and it was like a Gulag-style prison. It was really bad, so being able to talk to her about it was really powerful for me.
Malkin also spoke with John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, of the Sex Pistols. The former frontman of the band responsible for Anarchy in the UK and the Queen Elizabeth II-critic God Save the Queen, Lydon has in recent years drawn scorn in punk circles for his defense of Trump and Brexit, something that came out in his interview with Malkin.
“Here’s this guy who was singing about anarchy and making it known, and when I talked to him, he told me he was joking about it and he really didn’t think anarchism was a good path,” Malkin said. “It was completely fascinating to talk to him and hear how his ideas were so different from what we all thought they were over the years.”
Whether Lydon was serious in his support for anarchy or not, Malkin said it was an influential idea.
“It inspired hundreds of bands to explore anarchism and sing about it and then act on it,” he said, citing Food Not Bombs as an example of an organization that sets out to feed the hungry instead of waiting for the government to do it.
This level of dichotomy is a central component of The Punk Revolution, and Malkin hopes that readers will be able to see different sides of punk that they didn’t know existed.
“I think it will broaden the minds of people who read the book,” he said. “I try not to force answers, but to expand the questions so that people who read it will discover a lot.”
Punk Revolution, published by Rowman & Littlefield, will be released on June 15 and is available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the publisher’s website at Rowman.com. Malkin will promote the book with events at East Berlin’s Zionskirche and London’s West Hampstead Art Club in July, the latter alongside Gang of Four’s John King. He’ll also have two local events this month: 2 p.m. June 17 at Bad Animal, 1011 Cedar St.; and 6 p.m. June 27 at SubRosa Community Space, 703 Pacific Ave.