All language subtitles for Punk the Capital Building a Sound Movement (2019)

[Electric guitar distortion]

['Stumped' by minor
threat plays]

[Calm electric bass plays]

Ij'j'

J“ the way it goes I

ij'j'

j“ each way it goes I

j“ where did we go? I

j“ why did we go? I

j“ why did we go? I

j“ where did we go? I

I how did we go? I

j“ why did we go? I

j“ the way it goes I

people said you cannot
do this here.

This is a radical kind of music
and it can't happen in D.C.

We've got to stop talking and
start walking.

There always were creative
people here,

in the middle of hostile or
inhospitable surroundings.

Their value system is radically
different from that of most Americans.

[Cymbal crash]

So how could punk thrive in
D.C. and

still matter to people
around the world?

And the answer is:

Because D.C. was so hard to
have a punk scene in.

And once it took root, it grew in
ways we could have never imagined.

[Guitar thrumming]

The D.C. scene, it wasn't
New York.

It was small.

It's not like something you
could just go to and be there.

It's like we had to make it,
every step of the line.

[Guitar thrumming continues]

I was called the
first punk in D.C.

Because I was the first person to
cut off my hair and wear a dog collar.

If that's all it takes, well you
know so

fashion-wise I guess I was.

But I also just really
embraced the community

and I encouraged people
to go to each other's shows

and be there because it
was so exciting to me.

It was thrilling.

[Electric guitar plays]

['Creep skin' by
afrika corps plays]

J' I've got creep skin thin
as a pin yeah I

j' cheap skin j“

another project.

Just like at the
same time, '76-'77

everybody's going,
I'm going to form a band.

That was the beginning of the
diy thing anyway

so it was encouraged to
make your own records.

Punk, diy, New York was just
starting out to do records.

This is neat.

J' I've got creep skin I

I was thinking back to an
issue of flipside

and they were talking
about a D.C. family tree.

[Singing continues]

It started with 1979 and
bad brains.

[Raucous music plays]

['How low can a punk get'
by bad brains plays]

And I was like, there were
so many bands before that

going back to the
mid-seventies in the D.C. scene.

So I thought uh, I'm going write
a letter.

Send it to flipside.

I start off.

Dear flipside,

the D.C. punk scene began
as far back as 1975-76

with bands such as overkill,
the look, the slickee boys.

In the following two years,
bands of power and energy

played the D.C. circuit as well
as frequent out of town dates.

['Manganese Android puppies'
by the slickee boys plays]

There was a group of people who

wanted something more primitive,

more raw,

more...

More you know...

More from the garage.

[Female voice singing]

And the keg had the
first punk scene in D.C.

Even though it was basically
a heavy-metal dump,

next to a strip bar.

[Crowd cheering]

[Intense drums play]

The first show I ever saw
at the keg was

overkill playing some
stinky night

I forget, Monday, Tuesday...

That would be “punk night“.

J'wooj'

['human ways' by overkill plays]

[Guitar solo]

We dared to suck.

In other words,

we weren't afraid to be horrible

in our eagerness,
to be something or another.

Because what was happening is

people were demanding

that the clubs let them play
more of their original music

rather than covers.

And it was being allowed
to some extent.

['Joke's on you' by razz plays]

[Applause]

Thank you.

Like '76, '77, I would
see people in the audience

in places like the keg and it
developed they had bands.

I remember we met people
from the bad brains.

They were on the scene towards
the tail end of our thing there.

[Rock music plays]

You should be well aware of this
everyone:

That no matter what that's
being created in your backyard,

the fact of the matter is...

[Pounding on table]

That it's created in your
back yard and it's important

because if it's not the greatest
at least it's certainly a beginning.

I'm going to tell you something
everyone,

these people, the slickee boys
you know,

they pioneered the first punk
rock scene in Washington D.C.

Hello, how are you?

How did the band get started?

I wanted to play some wild
music back in 1976

so I asked my friends,
Marshall especially here

because he plays lead guitar.

I just started getting people
who were interested

in our type of music together.

[Guitar grinds]

[Crowd cheers]

100% guaranteed

even buyer's remorse,
you can bring it back.

Thanks a lot.

When Kim asked me to
join the band,

I said “I don't have to
wear stage clothes?“

and he said “no...

And I just said, “I'm in.

I'm so in“, I said “I can
sing like guy songs?

I'm in.

Thanks for joining me tonight.

I have Marshall Keith from the
slickee boys.

Hello.

And me and Marshall are going
to talk about

some D.C. stuff within the show.

Put a bullett through the
juke box

this was kind of our first song
that sounded punk.

Okay, let's see if this sounds
punk.

J“ but when I hear the j'

j' jukebox play that funky
disco sound I

j“ my mind goes blank I

j' because I don't boogie down I

J“ blast it I

j“ blow it with a nuke j'

j' gonna make my stand I

j' on the am band I

j' makes me I

j“ wanna puke j'

j' the number one gizmo
is standing there I

[p. Ragan] There's something
about D.C.

Rolling up the streets at 6 pm

because it's a government place

and not encouraging too much
individuality

for people that are so extremely
individual

like Martha and Kim.

And every time there was a place
that would sort of form a scene,

it would be quickly shut down.

Back in the day, we used
to have to like beg for a gig

and Howard, our bass player, he
talked to this place called shalimar

into putting on a punk show
with slickee boys and white boy

for two nights.

[Chuckling]

It was going to Friday and
Saturday.

[Electric guitar]

Everyday pressures and
frustrations tend to build up.

Jim Kowalski like millions of
other Americans has found

a way to vent
those frustrations.

[Bellowing yell]

The lead singer looked like
he was just like a banker.

But anyway, it was him and
his son and

and his son played lead guitar
and he sang.

If D.C. seems like a town that
punk shouldn't happen in,

then maybe that's exactly
where it should happen.

And it did make us want to
scream

and play really loud, driving
fast music.

[Rousing music plays]

I was shocked

when I saw, oh my god,
they put their own record out.

And on the back you can see
it's like a D.C. house

it made me thing that you
could put out a record.

It just had never occurred to me
until that moment.

It's such a weird record
but I loved it.

Mr. Ott gets up there
with his green wig

that he made out of a
toilet seat cover.

And the owner was just
going crazy.

And of course we never did
do the second night.

I have the flyer for it.

The second night didn't happen.

[Raucous music plays]

And nobody was really getting
covered by any of the newspapers,

the slickee boys, nobody
was really getting covered.

And it felt like something has
to happen here.

Because at that point,
radio was kind of it.

To try to get in the mindset
that there was nothing else,

zero.

There was no other way to listen
to anything.

It's so impossible to comprehend
that these days.

[Bell toll]

Good morning, this is xyra
with revolt into style

and it is 3 o'clock am.

You're listening to wgtb fm,
90.1...

So it wasn't just the music.

It was the attitude, the
lifestyle,

the creative freedom.

And I think people became
excited by that

because people used to show up

and sit behind me and I didn't
even know they were there.

The security was so lax here
at that time.

People would just come in?

They'd come in and sit down and
I'd turn around

and there's these 15 year old
kids who snuck out

of their parents' house.

- They'd show up.
- That's awesome.

And they later formed bands.

[Fast snare drum]

In case president Carter
is listening,

if you have any questions on
rock 'n' roll please call me up.

I'll answer them as best I can.

I do have a few advisors here
with me...

We're talking about Georgetown

and this was a catholic
university.

[Soft guitar riff]

It's like you're in the heart of
the beast and

you're entertaining thoughts of
anarchy and revolution.

And unfortunately, the powers
that be didn't like that.

So they took it off.

[Guitar riff ends]

[Crowd cheering]

Thank you. Thank you very much
Washington.

[Cheering continues]

[Speaker interference]

In the early scene, in D.C.

Most of these people
were incredibly sweet,

highly intelligent,

and they were music fans,

they were all collector geeks.

All of us were collector geeks.

[Staccato guitar riff]

There were several good record
stores.

But the one that we loved
above all others was

yesterday and today records,
run by our friend skip groff.

J' mister president...
Mister Carter j'

j' I think that I oughta... j“

I tell you what's going on
underground j'

and he ran a local record label
called limp records.

And a big common denominator
with all these people like

Kim Kane and a lot of these
other people in these other bands,

they all worked at yesterday
and today.

They all had stuff to do at
yesterday and today.

And skip was very important to
all these bands that

became minor threat, that became
fugazi later on.

[Guitar and drums fade out]

It's been a launching pad for local
bands such as the slickee boys

and alternative rock star
Henry rollins.

J' yeah I

j“ and we're all friends I

j” after with you j'

j” tonight we have at you j'

j“ and now we know
it's all true I

I mean especially skip.

He was inviting to all the
bands who came to visit.

There weren't that many people
that were encouraging

to the D.C. punk scene.

So by 1978, I had moved out of
D.C. to New York.

This was the reason I wanted to
go to New York to write stuff like this.

[Uplifting saxophone plays]

To me, D.C. was just such an
empty pit of misery.

Such a small community, I didn't
see anything good coming of it.

I said “you have to get out of
here.“

all of you must go.

['Grumpus theme'
by chumps plays]

[Guitar tuning]

[Crowd cheering]

The bad brains,

when we saw them in '79,

they reinvented the wheel
in front of us.

We had rock records.

We'd seen led zeppelin, Ted nugent,
Van halen, we'd seen all that stuff.

And then you see the bad brains
and you're like: “Oh,

what was that they just did?“

[whimsical music plays]

Western civilization has been
built upon certain principles of

beauty, perfection,
and excellence.

In art, Rembrandt, Picasso.

In music, bach, Beethoven,

[sudden punk rock music]

What you are witnessing here
is a genuine social phenomenon

called “punk new wave
rock 'n' roll“.

Good evening.

You're listening to radio cpr,
your community station

here in Washington D.C.

My guests tonight are
Darryl jenifer and sid mccray,

founding members of the greatest
hardcore band of all time,

the bad brains.

On bass guitar to my left,
Darryl jenifer

on guitar, Dr. No.

On drums, Earl Hudson.

My name's hr.

We love all that goes with
our D.C. music

and our go-go, funk, jazz
and all that.

But “winky“ mccray here,

happened to stumble over some
sex pistols

and some dead boys

and you know it was a blessing
that we even looked at that

and heard that music
and thought:

Man you know what, we're
going to make some shit like that.

I hadn't seen anything like
that.

It was different, the music
was powerful

I just turned my brothers on
to what I had seen

and they took it from there.

[Yelling] Are you ready?

I can't hear you!

[Cheering]

I can't hear you!

So when I interviewed hr
in 1987,

he spoke about getting the
sex pistols record

and listening to it and he's
just like “holy shit“

like what the hell is this?

And all of a sudden realizing
that this was his path.

What a weird thing to listen
to some music and

realize that this is your path.

There's no plan you know

it's not like ok we're going to
go be this black rock group, no.

So the only preconception of
this that I can tell you is that

when we listened to the ramones
and the damned,

we said we'll they're jumping,
we're gonna jump too.

But we've got to be able
to jump higher, quicker...

It's nothing like we sat back
and said...

The only thing we sat back
and said:

“If the ramones think they're
playing fast, watch this!“

J' I didn't mean to rip off I

j' I thought it was a get off I

j” in mine j'

[intense guitar plays]

J' I tried to make
the scene off I

j“ the plan was doomed
to set off I

j' on time I

j“ the time that I was wastin' j'

j' I spent on only chasin'
in the pits j'

j'and now I paid the price I

if you live in a town like this and
there's so many people coming

so many people going,

you better hold on tight.

If you wanna feel like you're
a part of anything.

You realize that... when we
first heard about punk rock,

we were hearing
the English bands and then

there was some New York stuff

and there was Los Angeles bands.

But then to realize that to
have a band like the bad brains

being such a center of
a musical scene,

people that were here were like:

“Wow, we finally got
something of our own.“

[rock music plays]

J” a child is influenced j'

j' by the make believe j'

I to take advantage of
this truth j'

j' is cold hearted sin I

I so I say to the youth
right now j'

I don't sway to the unjust j'

j' no matter what they say I

j” never give in, never give in j”

j” hey, what can it be j”

j” on the big white screen? J”

j” hey, how can you see j”

j” you're living in a movie? J”

[cheering]

A hundred miles an hour,
and like

they made the ramones
look like they were asleep.

You know, it's not that they were
just a punk band imitating punk.

They were like insane.

A lot of people looked at that
and said like:

What we've been doing is
kind of derivative and

it's kind of namby pamby
and kind of flabby,

you know, this is where
it should go.

My man.

- What's going on there?
- Not a whole lot.

- Isn't this beautiful?
- It's crazy...

Isn't it nice, good to
see you my friend.

We did some investigating into
positive thinking philosophies:

Think and grow rich,
the power to say no.

And in that literature,
there was a formula called pma,

positive mental attitude.

And it meant, whatever the mind
can conceive and believe

the mind can achieve.

And it would explain to us,
point by point,

the dos and the don'ts of
a successful corporation.

Everyone desires to be rich
and most people believe

riches to consist only in material
things that money can buy.

Now here is a list of the 12
things which constitute real riches:

Number one, a positive
mental attitude.

Observe that it heads the list.

[Speaker hum]

We came out trying to do a
“thinking man's punk“ in a way.

What it is, is it's actually
looking for some substance

to put in their music
other than “shake your booty“.

And hr you know, pma
was a good thing,

positive mental attitude,

that was big on us, that would
keep us cool in the hood.

Napoleon hill wrote it,
and the bad brains delivered it.

And as a young punk rocker,

I would not intentionally
look for a book that

tells me to be a better me.

They just did it without
me knowing.

Their positive outlook gave punk
rock traction to go forward fast.

I mean is that still working
for you, pma?

Yes sir it is, it sure is.

- Me too.
- It sure is.

[Punk rock music]

J” hey! I've got my pma j”

j” hey! I've got my pma.. J”

Ian and I met in high school.

He was the curly haired
skateboarding guy

and I liked skateboarding
also but

I was much more into
making bombs,

I just always loved
blowing things up.

[Pom]

There was a little clutch of
kids and I went over

to see what was going on and

there was this one kid
digging a hole in the ground

and putting something
in the ground.

And I was like...

Like what the fuck is it?

And they said “oh it's a bomb“

and there was a huge explosion.

[Pom]

Of course the administration
came out

and then Jeff was digging
another one in

and I rememberjust thinking,
that's an interesting kid.

I still have a book on one of
those shelves,

a book I was writing of all the
ways to make bombs and bazookas

and things like that.

[Gentle drum beat]

Ian and I bonded over Jimmy
Hendrix,

[soft bass strums]

And we both had sting ray bikes.

We'd jump our bikes on these
crappy little ramps we built.

And then one year you drop
the bike and

you get a skateboard.

Ah the skateboarding
definitely predates everything.

And I grew up basically
a block away from the keg.

That's where I first learned
to skateboard

in front of there.

I didn't realize the
significance of the place.

I just remember drunk people,
loudness.

I mean I was 12, 13.

Ian mackaye,

Alec mackaye,

Bert quieroz,

people we knew became musicians.

Ian was always playing a piano.

I remember that from
when we were very little kids.

Here in this bathroom is
our high school picture.

In the upper right corner
there's Ian and I

looking as tough as possible.

We were all Wilson kids
and we were like:

“We should form a band.“

the first band we did was with
Mark Sullivan but

he went off to college

so we had to replace him and

there was this discussion about
like “maybe we should ask nathan“

cause he was like
the coolest looking punk.

And I was like: “Are you
interested in singing for the band?“

and he was like “sure...

That was the teen idles.

J” I don't care what
people say j”

j” I drink milk every day j”

j” I drink milk j”

j” I drink milk j”

j” I don't care what people say j”

j” I drink milk every day j”

j” don't drink lemonade j”

the teen idles were about like

this is a great time in
our lives.

Let's have fun, let's not
deaden ourselves

you know with drugs and alcohol.

Let's just put on your
sneakers and be a kid.

That's the part that
really appealed to me.

Any of you all people
work for the government?

My dad's state department

my father works for the post.

My father works for the e.E.O.C.

I.r.s.

[Laughing]

Your dad works for the I.R.S.?

So you people all work for
the government?

Our dads do.

I've only been to D.C. once.

D.C. is the most powerful
city in the world

but D.C. was not known as a
strong music town.

I mean there was a good
bluegrass scene.

[Bluegrass music plays]

And within the black community
there was this fantastic go-go scene.

There were scenes other
than ours that predated us and

that were known nationally.

[Upbeat drum beats plays]

Everybody told us that if
you want to make it

you've got to move to New York
or Los Angeles.

But we thought that was
bullshit.

When you're working in isolation

sometimes you come up with
the best stuff.

[Drums continue]

By 1979, the scene started to
fizzle.

Wgtb went off the air.

Clubs either closed down
or changed booking policies.

All we had left was
a broken down townhouse

in the Adams Morgan section
of D.C.,

madams organ.

J'oh! Ahj'

j” you tell me what to say j”

j” and when to say it j”

j” you tell me what to do j”

j” and how to do it j”

j” and if I ask you why j”

j” you'll arrest me j”

j”and if I call you liar j”

j” you'll detest me j”

j” you control what I'll be j”

j” on sundays j”

we are sitting in what was
the living room of

231818th St.,
northwest, Washington D.C.

When I discovered it, it was
madams organ, the art collective.

An artist friend of mine heard
that I moved to Adams Morgan

and he said “oh este, darling,
I'm so glad that you moved to

the madams organ area.“

and as soon as I heard it I just
cracked up

so when we were looking for
a name I said,

I've got a name for you,
this is a perfect name for us.

Adams Morgan, madams organ.

I don't know, it started out
kind of like

a women's think tank with
boyfriends and then

and then it took off from there.

I started programming punk
rock shows there and

that was the end of the
art gallery

and I feel a little bad
about that.

So if any of the artists
who had run madams organ

ever see this then there is a
bit of an apology owed I think.

[Wild rock music with horn
section]

[Soft bass plays]

Madams organ really defined a
lot of what the D.C. scene became

in later years

though most people would
have no idea.

The first time I went to D.C.,

we got invited to madams organ.

I just remember it being so hot,
and sweaty, and so packed.

And when I'm talking about
packed, I'm talking about 80 people,

or whatever, probably the entire
D.C. scene at the time.

This was 1979.

And you were playing in someone's
emptied out front room, right.

-Ah don't need no flashing
lights. -No flashy light shows.

We're not the clash.

Punk rock was an opportunity
to do that,

to be in a room with people.
Making something together.

[Guitar distortion]

J” smoke those butts j”

j” think yer cool j”

j” say you like the taste
who you trying to fool? J”

j“ nic fit, nic fit,
nic fit, nic fit j“

[punk music plays]

J” now yer hooked
you can't quit j”

j” without a drag
yer gonna break j”

j“ nic fit, nic fit,
nic fit, nic fit j“

j” one, two. One, two,
three four j”

[speaker feedback]

Cpr, 97.5

with Eddie “the machete“ here in
the studio.

It's interesting because this
was actually a youth movement,

a movement of young people.

And I was wondering, what was
the impetus

for starting a group
at the time?

There was a sound that came
out that

seemed to nicely fit with our
mood

and the razz and the
slickee boys introduced an

idea of making music attainable.

And then having a space like
madams organ

was another example of what

could happen if you just
do it yourself.

It was just
incredibly empowering.

At that age, 14.

It never occurred to me that it
was unusual that

there would be this kind
of squat house

in Adams Morgan run
by these weird hippies.

But it was a great space for
experimental performance

if you want to call it that

because that is part of what was
going on

and for any kind of music
to be happening

without critics, I mean you
weren't worried about the door.

And there was no financial
transaction that

the whole event was
predicated on.

J” america's youth, the future
don't matter j”

j” been given everything on
a silver platter j”

j” america's youth, teenage
frustration j”

j” they can't seem to cope j”

j” with life's complications j”

j” america's youth! The re-run
generation j”

j” Star Trek and Lucy.
Their only education j”

j” america's youth,
Woodstock lives on.. J”

it was at times pretty messed up

because it never closed,
it was open 24 hours a day

and people come in and go
out, come in and go out.

But they did have a lot of
brothers and sisters

who had been around
from the 60s,

from Woodstock days and they
would tell us about things

that had happened to them when
they were growing up and what not.

It was a place where you wanted
to play punk rock.

Yeah there was that freedom.

You didn't have to worry about
putting a dent in the wall

or anything.

And I remember thinking,
growing up,

that you get out of high school,

you get a job, and then
there's just a line to death.

[Laughing]

And it was like, you really
want to have a point in your life

when you can jump out of your
day to day boring existence

or depressingness or whatever.

[H. Rollins] You realized,
these are my people.

What a bunch of weirdos.

And then you go [snaps]

“Aha, I'm a weird person.“

madams organ was a house
full of people like that.

And that was so impactful, to
finally have a place I belonged.

And the bad brains actually
lived in the house for a while

and practiced in the basement
and songs like “banned in D.C.“

were written right there in
the basement.

And when I was putting up
the posters

it wasn't like “oh, I'm going to hang
these things and see what happens.“

it was just like the right time
and it was going to be a big thing

that was going to blossom right
in front of our eyes.

J” your world is doomed with our
own interrogation j”

j” just another Nazi scheme j”

j” the big take over j”

j” the big take over j”

j” yeah j”

[muffled music]

You're no longer a spectator.

Music becomes a real
part of your life.

And you watch this chapter of
music history get written.

Nobody knew what was
going to happen.

Remember the time the guy
came in with the uzi?

There was times you'd wonder if you
were going to live through the evening.

There would just be weird things
happening.

I didn't understand why a
motorcycle gang would be there.

I didn't understand why a woman
who appeared

to be a witch was
living in the basement.

And there were huge amounts
of pot smoke in the place.

I mean you would definitely
get a contact high.

So on one hand, we're 17 and

we're oblivious to all sorts of
things but I still remember

being horrified at some of these
hippies or yippies

they'd have their babies
on their shoulders

two or three feet from the pa
monitor, blaring.

And, that's not good for their
ears.

J” I used to work as a waitron j”

j” in the lounge
of the hiltron j”

j” now I work for my senatron j”

j” and I live in arlingtron j”

j” I live in arlingtron j”

[punk music plays]

It's interesting what happened,

the women left madams organ

and then it was pretty much men.

And a couple of the members got
very involved with the yippies

and got involved in the
legalization of marijuana.

[Music in reverse plays]

Beautiful, man!

We're winding down from the
Vietnam war

and yippies had the balls to
like give out a bunch ofjoints,

get everybody high, let's listen
to some good music

and give the authorities
the fucking finger.

At the time it started
to be this

idea that it's important to be
as clear headed as possible

and I think a lot of us got that
because at madams organ,

there were so many burnouts

from the counterculture of the
60s and 70s.

We were really influenced by that
counterculture and existed in that lineage

but we didn't want to be
burnouts.

[Rhythmic clapping and
soft trumpet]

[I. Mackaye] But it wasn't
really hippies that punks hated.

It was this sort of
inertia of the 70s.

But I actually grew up as
a student of the youth culture

in which people
let their freak flag fly.

But to be a freak in 1979,
you cut your hair off

and then you become the enemy.

[Rhythmic clapping and
soft trumpet continues]

I think we gave the hippies
a lot of trouble because

they were older and they
didn't really understand us.

But to be fair to them,

they did give these
bands the space to play.

And there were all these old
hippies saying:

“Ha, ha, teen idles,
isn't that cute.“

[muffled guitar plays]

I think dialectic is a better
word than confluence.

They did not come together
in a stream entirely.

It was a collision but it
was a conversation.

It wasn't like the yippies
were reaching out to the punks.

It's the punks, that reached
out to the yippies for guidance,

I'm not looking for a yippie guy to
give me anything about anything.

I got no wisdom from any of
those people and in fact

the people that lived at
madams organ,

to a certain degree,
scared me just a little.

We were being called “suburban
white punks“

and we were called capitalists

when all the shows we
were doing...

Fuck it I'm going to go get
my book

and I'll show you.

[Away from microphone]
Three of the teen idles

were natives,

we all lived in the city and
we all went to public schools.

Our first show at
madams organ we made $45

but then like all these
other shows

we were just doing benefits.

We were getting no money.

[Punk music plays]

It was a very politicized
time for youth

and this was even pre-Reagan

but there was definitely a left-
wing sensibility to the scene.

Madams organ was a
good venue for us

as far as being the kind of space
where we could be ourselves.

[Speaker feedback]

We were in the punk
tradition of social protest

but we were also kind of dadaistic
and non-sensical at times too.

This song is about how
irritating it is

to do your laundry under
late capitalism.

It's called speed wash.

[Crowd cheering]

[Rock music plays]

With the exception of David
byers, they were all members of

the young socialist alliance.

So they had a strong
socialist agenda.

These are teenagers, right.

[Rock music continues]

So not only was I
the only white guy

but I alsojoined a band that actually
had a genuine political agenda.

I was 14, I had no
political agenda.

I just wanted to meet girls
and play guitar.

This is fantastic.

[Intense guitar plays]

D.C. was a predominantly black
city but madams organ

was primarily white.

The interesting part about it is that there
wasn't really a lot of racial division,

white, black...

I really will say that there was
a breakdown,

a breaking away of all
those kinds of barriers.

For them to say that things can
be different

had a special meaning

right there in the capital of
the us.

[Intense punk music plays]

J” daddy was drained today j”

j” the stitched up his faults
then sent him away j”

j” lying all clean in a new
suit and tie j”

j” he was boxed in the back
going along for the ride j”

j” along for the ride j”

[Unintelligible punk lyrics]

[Intense punk music continues]

[Unintelligible punk lyrics]

So the enzymes are not only
part of the madams organ story

but almost completely
undermentioned,

unmentioned chapter

in that there is no enzymes record,
no compilation album they're on,

there is nothing.

[Crowd chanting 'enzymes']

So this is something
apparently I wrote

about some early really cool
getting together of the local scene.

I wrote it and signed it, I
don't remember it but I'll read it.

It says “February 13, 1980,
local punk new-wave meeting.

This was called by hr.
Of the bad brains

in some connection with yippies
from madams organ.

This was about the recent rash
of bannings of local punk bands

from D.C. space and of course
their exclusion from every other club.“

bad brains did get banned
in a lot of clubs.

And they still didn't let us in
there

so from now on, boycott!

Nobody goes in there.

“Plans: Number 1:

Hold concerts at madams organ
until its lease runs out

and all money to go to renting
a larger more permanent club.“

hey that's pretty hip.

So we started doing benefits to
raise money for the new space

and I remember hr
especially was like:

“Don't worry, we're going to
find a new place.“

at some point we were like -
“what's going on with that space?“

he's like “it's not
going to happen.“

“what about the money we raised?“
And he's like “oh yeah, it's gone.“

we were told it was spent on
somebody's rent.

[Thudding rock music with
experimental electronic sounds]

[I. Mackaye] And that photo:
“Punk rock killed me“...

It might have been their decision
to get involved with punk rock that

did the space in

but it's pretty much the only thing
that madams organ is known for.

We wouldn't be talking about it
if it wasn't for punk rock.

[A. Mackaye] We got used to the idea
that we could go to places and see music

without somebody giving us a
hard time about it

and then we required it.

[Thudding rock continues]

['Speedwash' by
the enzymes plays]

[H. Rollins] As soon as you left
madams organ or any club you went into,

you came out looking punk rock,

fairly often,

there's a drunken marine,

cops didn't like you,
student jocks didn't like you,

like it's the university rowing
team who wanna

beat some punk rockers up.

I would get on the bus everyday
after school

and from the old lady in the
front to the biggest guy

in the back of the bus
would laugh at me,

potentially throw stuff at me,

and maybe kick my ass.
[Chuckles]

[Raucous music plays]

We're outnumbered, we're
disliked.

All we have is our allegiance,
this music,

and when you have alliances
like that,

that stuff's forever.

Georgetown punks...

[Guitar tuning]

It's worth considering that
teen idles'

first tour was
to the west coast.

That group of kids
from Los Angeles,

they were doing what they
called the crawl -

which later on became
slamdancing.

And they jumped off the stage
which I had never seen.

They brought it back from
California, slam dancing but

the thing is that D.C. became
more famous for it,

they did it with all
that fast music from California.

There was this rabid love for
it in D.C.

We saw this powerfully
aggressive thing,

and maybe a little
too aggressive

but we were sort
of enchanted by it.

[Guitar bangs and echoes]

Black market baby, teen idles
and bad brains

were pretty much what was left
of a once flourishing punk scene.

Then the teen idles broke up.

This is the amazing part.

We had $600 bucks saved up
and we wanted to put out a record.

[Guitar strum]

Skip groff felt that
they should record.

And remember these were D.C.
boys.

I don't know how often they came
into Virginia across the river

but Ian told me we were saying to
ourselves in the car as we came over

“we don't know if there's going
to be a 7-11

nearby, maybe we better
stop and get some provisions.“

it was just a new frontier, and it
was certainly a new frontier for me.

I told them: “Turn it up!
Play like you want to play.“

[sizzle]

['Fleeting fury'
by the teen idles plays]

[Hard, fast music]

I was a novice
to the studio scene.

I did not know that studios
tended to split people up,

put them in their
own little booths,

put headphones on them,
and tell them to turn down.

But I felt that going
unrestricted was the way to go

and I've always kept that as my
philosophy.

So here are tapes:

Scream, deadline,
slickee boys...

When the teen idles ep was recorded
and they wanted to put it out on limp,

I said I'm not doing any more
limp stuff

and so I said why don't you
start your own label and

that's when they came up with
the concept of dischord.

[Whistling]

It was founded technically by
the four members of the teen idles

but geordie was already losing
interest

in being in a band so he was
kind of out of it

and Ian and I were fast friends
so we just took it over ourselves.

I'd much rather make it while
we're not trying to make it,

than uh...

Not make while we're
trying to make it.

[Phone ringing]

That's a good one.

[Laughing]

All sorts of things were being
tried out and

they were peaking and going
down, peaking and going down and

nobody knew what would
stick to the wall.

J” no more beatlemania j”

[intense discordant music]

['No more beatlemania' by
half Japanese plays]

There was a lot of adventurous
stuff happening

and you know, you'd run into a
band like half Japanese and

be like: “What the hell
is this?“

if you start with the premise
that the energy is the thing

then that guitar or this piano,
they're just there

for you to focus your energy on.

If you didn't know how to play
the instrument,

you did something with it.

Half Japanese is
a perfect example.

J” she took my heart and
and threw it in the lake j”

j” my baby learned how
to face rake j”

[chaotic rock music plays]

J” I used to have fun but
now I don't j”

well here I am with the
fabulous, cuddly, David fair.

What do you have to say David?

[Laughs]

I ain't got nothing to say.

How does it feel to be so
famous these days?

Oh it feels super.

What kind of message are
you trying to say?

Love songs and monster songs.

Which do you like better, love
songs or monster songs?

Love songs.

[Balloon pops]

The spirit then was that we're going
to work together to create a scene

because we started out without
a scene and then the bars

and the clubs said “oh,

something's happening here
something

that's not garbage music.“

one thing that's extremely important
was that when the 9:30 club opened

which was in 1980,

they very quickly had all those
all ages shows there, right.

All of a sudden, all those kids
that came to madams organ,

they had somewhere to play.

But that never would have
happened so easily

if it hadn't been
for madams organ.

That's what showed that there
was an audience for that music.

Letting minors in,

that was a great thing
about 9:30.

And that's what the whole
“x“s on the hands thing is,

that means I don't drink, I'm
straight,

you know, like when a bartender
sees your hand.

That's where it originated from.

That's really, really important.

[Speaker whine]

[Distorted electric
guitar plays]

The original punk bands,

we all kind of nudged each
other, “aren't they cute?“

but you could see certain bands,

they were progressively
getting better and better,

and you knew they were
going to be good.

It seemed to me at the time
like a bubble gum version

of punk rock

so I thought like “Teenie
boppers“, “Teenie punks“.

But it wasn't meant to be like I
hate these people,

it was more like, what do ya got
next"

kids?

And sure enough,
they sure showed me.

[Punk music plays]

J” hey Ronnie j”

j”heyj”

j” hey Ronnie j”

j”heyj”

j” hey Ronnie j”

j”heyj”

j” hey Ronnie j”

Ronald Reagan was in office.

Things was really just
going to hell.

So when the so-called
“hardcore" scene started,

people just blew up.

They just blew up.

It was just time for some
real outrage to lead this thing.

Ronald Reagan, you're so fucked
up it makes me puke.

[Guitar riffs]

In the fall of 1980

we saw this magazine
article and the writer said

there's this new style of music
called hardcore.

Then he referenced
black flag, circle jerks,

doa, dead Kennedys,
bad brains and stuff like that.

He said, I'm going to
characterize this as hardcore

because they've got this fresh
new attitude

and they've got a more straightforward
musical approach in a way, right.

And the main focus within the
hardcore scene

was let's get out there
and get people thinking.

So wow, this is serious, we are
serious about changing the world,

maybe only a few people
at a time right?

[Crowd chanting “DC hardcore“]

Punk rock at the time had become
really associated with sid vicious,

the New York scene and this sort
of self-destructive junkie culture.

[Crowd chanting continues]

So we said we were
“hardcore punk rock“,

meaning that we didn't need to
like look tough or

to have this sort of self-destructive
nihilistic kind of thing.

We were more committed. It
wasn't a dress up thing,

we actually were going
to live it.

[Reversed music plays]

[Intense guitar and drums]

J” what are we doing here? J”

j” why did we come at all? J”

j” did we think we'd
find the truth? J”

j” an answer to this mystery j”

j” all the signs say beware j”

j” but now I really don't care j”

j” I've come too far to go back j”

a lot of ideas all came together
and broke free from

what could have been just a
real stupid kind of

forward momentum of just rock
'n' roll

and no time for that.

[Rock music plays]

Hr comes up to me and goes
“Henry, you're a singer“

and I said “I'm not a singer,
hr“.

He's like “tonight, you're a singer
and you're singing with the bad brains.“

and he dragged me up on stage.

In the same way Ian wanted
to be in charge of the next band,

Henry formed his own
band called soa,

there's always been a friendly
rivalry

between the two of them
that continues to this day.

When the teen idles broke up,
Henry's whole attention span

had to go somewhere else.

Henry is like a shark,
he just keeps moving,

he doesn't look behind, he's
always looking

at the next project.

[Guitar with distortion]

They were like fourteen, I'm 18.

I'm like, “ok I'm your singer“

and they're like “hmmm.“

and I said “do you guys talk?“

they were like “eh..."
And like we barely spoke.

So it was a set that was between
9 and 11 minutes in duration.

Most of it: “Are you ready?“
“Yeah, are you ready?“

[mic feedback] Test. Test. Test.

Test. Test. Test.

Soa was a very hard band
but they never play

cause every time they play
there's like a riot.

We were the bands who said like
“fuck it, we're going harder.“

cause every time someone laughs
at us we said: “Fine laugh now cause

we're going to make it harder
for you to laugh at us later.“

“Teenie punks, stupid kids“ and
we were very tired of hearing it.

I mean if they don't want to
take us seriously then

we're going to make it harder
for them to take us at all.

J” some guy's got your money j”

j” there's two things
you can do j”

j” you can always give it up j”

j” but what does
that leave you? J”

j” some guy's got you
cornered j”

j” he thinks he's
got you licked j”

j” if you don't
do something soon j”

j” your ass is
gonna get kicked j”

[Raucous punk music plays]

Well bad brains played in my
mom's basement

and then soa practiced there

then my mom said, “that's it“.

[Intense electric guitar plays]

Meanwhile we were writing all
these new songs

and they were pretty cool too.

And that was going to be our
next 45.

And then I joined black flag,

and I went away.

[Guitar feedback]

He was able to join
his favorite band

and we were so much younger.
It was obvious...

We were not a national act, I was
going into the 11th grade you know.

And we weren't going to
be a national act.

[Feedback continues]

Black flag came and played and
said they needed a lead vocafisl

would Henry be into it?

I just said: “Go up there, be
yourself, ain't nothing to it but to do it“

and that's just what he did

and he took all his clothes off
and there was sweat pouring down.

['The man won't annoy ya'
by bad brains plays]

[Reggae music]

The bad brains split
for New York

and they kinda became
not our band anymore.

They spent way more time
in NY than in D.C. as a band

and obviously had
a huge influence

on bands in New York.

There's a slew of bands that you know
are there because of the bad brains.

Punk rockers who grew up here
and then went to New York

would say: “It's so provincial
and New York is so much cooler“

and of course if you grow up in
D.C. you have a chip on your shoulder.

So I think the bad brains
decision to move to New York

was like throwing salt
in the wound for us.

And I remember when they
moved I was just gutted.

['Pay to cum'
by bad brains plays]

[Energetic music plays]

[Distant siren]

Bad brains

slickee boys

tru-fax and the insaniacs

these are people who were
encouraging us.

These are people who
were craftsmen.

They knew how to play
their instruments but they

also knew that these are kids

who know what they want to do,

let's help them do it.

[Band tuning up]

[Crowd murmuring]

And when the bad brains had
left,

I think that maybe minor threat
filled that vacuum to a degree.

It was the right thing for the
right time.

[Guitar drones]

That is the dischord house which
is where we moved

a year after high school.

We were obsessed with Coca-Cola.

And this is where dischord
had its headquarters and

that was our band minor threat
practicing in the basement.

Jeff was a total hard worker.

He spent hours drumming every
day and

he had high goals for himself.

Ian was similar in that he saw

early on in his life,
production and progress.

[Intense guitar and drums play]

The pa could suck and it would
be amazing.

Here they come again, no way
they're going to be as good,

they were always better.

That's the band.

They're going to be huge.

You can sing along
to every lyric.

You remember every melody.

Finally we have our Beatles.

['Screaming at a wall'
by minor threat plays]

[Intense guitar and drums]

J”you built that wall up
around you j”

j” and now you can't see out j”

you know we heard it we
were like, holy fuck!

That's really turning it up a
notch.

And people were like “whoa",

this is fucking crazy, right?

To the people that
hated punk rock,

it became even more offensive.

['It follows'
by minor threat plays]

J” it followed me j”

- hello?
- Hello.

I think your program
is terrible,

the language used on the
records, it's just really atrocious.

You can talk gutter talk or you can
talk like a person that's educated.

Well we're talking angry so we
use angry words and

we're not singing about
getting laid or

getting stoned all night long
or any of that.

Well I think if you cleaned up your
act you'd have a lot more following.

Maybe we don't want the
following.

We're not bending for you, we're
bending for ourselves only.

And obviously we're succeeding.

You're succeeding in being
repulsive.

That's in your eyes.

Whose mother was that?

Not my mom, I'll tell you that.

['In my eyes'
by minor threat plays]

J” what the fuck
have you done? J”

j” it's in my eyes j”

[punk music plays]

J” it's in my eyes j”

j” it's in my eyes j”

j” and it doesn't look
that way to me j”

This building, the
Washington coliseum

is where the Beatles played their
first live concert in the United States,

February 11th, 1964.

[Crowd cheering]

They played 12 songs and it took
them one hour to do it.

And for minor threat, 12 songs
would be...

13 minutes.

So that shows you how things
have progressed

from 1964 to 1980.

[Beep]

[Punk music plays]

It was the equivalent of sprinting
for your whole half an hourset

to try and play some of the minor
threat stuff now, 30 years later,

I would probably play for about a
minute and then I would collapse.

[Music continues]

This is where you really see the
influence of bad brains.

You can listen to the sex
pistols, as cool as they are,

you can track that back to
Chuck Berry.

Whereas when you hear the
minor threat stuff,

there's a lot in there that's
not predictable.

It's not just a rumble and it's
not just a roar.

It's packed in so hard.

J” stand up j”

j” stand up j”

j” stand up j”

j” and be counted j”

[beep]

[Crowd cheering]

It's mainly about the emotion,
the rawness, the speed.

It was a drama that was
an audio drama.

Then you add in the audiences
who,

for our shows,
couldn't have been more into it.

They knew every word and they
were in it.

So I used to say that a lot of
what we did when we played was

more like a church setting than
a show.

[Low music plays in reverse]

When we got together as a band,
it was understood

that I was going to leave the
next September to go to college.

So the idea with the band was
that it was going to essentially what,

a 9 month band.

When Lyle left, of course we
broke up cause

that's just the way,

we just don't replace members.

[Reversed music continues]

It's just multiplying.

Now we have our own office.

We sent out 400 records today.

['Total mash' by scream plays]

Here's a label that basically
comes out of one of the bands,

the teen idles, and then it
starts to try to help every band.

It didn't matter if it was to put
out a government issue record

or what was the next project,
it was to keep it going.

['6 o'clock news' by red c
plays] J” sex and violence j”

j” I like to watch j”

j” destructive earthquakes j”

j” catastrophic shocks j”

when they started sending us
checks,

I called Ian up and I said:

“We don't have an agreement for
you to give us checks

it's supposed to go into
your company.“

John said that it was never
the plan. And Ian said “no, no,

we're doing ok now, you can cash
the checks... we're fine.“

we said one thing we wanted to
do was to put out a sampler

with all the bands.

We had 4,000 copies printed up
and we sold out in one week.

They called us “Georgetown
punks“, a put-down,

“Teenie punks“,

“muscleheads“, another put-down.

So Ian comes up with “flex your
head“.

Like if you're gonna be a
musclehead,

then flex this muscle,

that's where that whole phrase
comes from.

Think, use your head.

That's classic Ian,
channeling twain.

These records were not promotional
items, that's for fucking sure.

We were documenting music that
was important to us.

That was the idea.

And actually that, for me is
still the idea to this day.

Jello biafra of the
dead Kennedys

once remarked that one of the
things that used to distinguish the

DC punk scene was that we were
pretty insistent on documentation.

The bands would just go and
record all the songs we knew,

and also on archiving,
people saved stuff.

Ian got into that and thankfully
guys like Kim Kane, same thing.

Here you go, early 80s,
this one's just early 1980.

You see in this room a lot of
first wave punk rock bands,

UK subs, pure hell, pil,

gun club, buzzcocks, the fall.

And I've met many of these
people, members of these bands and

I've asked them, like “do you
have any tapes?

Where's the this, the that,
the flyers?“

and you'd figure they would
have had just boxes of the stuff.

But it's amazing to find out
they have nothing...

Like nothing.

['My rules' by void plays]

[Heavy punk music plays]

J” everywhere I go I see
their rules j”

j” they're on the streets
and in the schools j”

j” authority says one
thing for sure j”

j” life can't be without
structures j”

j” I'm not at the hand
of their tools j”

j” I'm going to live
by my rules j”

j” why should I listen
to those fools? J”

j” I'm going to live
by my rules j”

[s. Groff] Punk has always been much
more identifiable with a city or an area.

The kids were very proud of
their roots

and you get a lot more of the
information and the perspective of

how their roots were shaped
and how their music was formed.

The DC flag, I can remember a time
when nobody knew what it looked like

then DC punks started replacing

those three stars with “x“s.

Now you see it as a hardcore
symbol.

We got really DC centric

and when you'd travel you'd put
your DC flag somewhere obvious.

When I was playing around with
some of the first ads,

I realized that DC happened to
be in the middle of hardcore.

Of course then years later,
you just can't get away from it.

I mean, every review, you know,
har“do“core

I think for better or for worse,

DC will forever kind of be
associated with like hardcore.

[Crowd chanting “DC hardcore“.]

At first bands like soa and
minor threat would open

for bands like the slickee boys.

But once the hardcore thing
started really going,

there were enough hardcore bands

and there was enough of
an audience

that if you put 3 hardcore bands
or 5 or 8 hardcore bands

together on a bill

you could get a crowd.

So we didn't need to play
along with the

earlier generation bands like
tru-fax or the nurses.

J” she's not playing my heart j”

and we're seeing, kind of like

“we're like the new kids,
fuck you guys.

Fuck you older guys.“

which, to be fair there probably
was some of that attitude.

J” she's known for looking like
winter j”

j” empty eyes under
sodium lights j”

j” taking ideas from old newspapers
dressing in black and white j”

but before there were bands like
minor threat,

sure as hell we were punks.

['I don't wanna hear it'
by minor threat plays]

J” I don't wanna hear it j”

j” I don't wanna hear it j”

j” because I know that
none of it's true j”

j” I don't wanna hear it j”

I started feeling kind of out,
you know...

Some of the hardcore was
getting so hardcore

that it wasn't my sound and
I started to feel like ok,

it's the old guy in the back of
the room with the long hair.

J” yes we all know it's true.. J”

you know in the early days
we were actually

ostracized and banned from some
clubs because we were a punk band

but compared to nowadays
we weren't.

J” if it was once,
now it's here to stay j”

they were just everybody's band

because they were punk and they
were rock and

they were new wave and they
were everything.

They were surf and they were
rockabilly.

They were you just like...

You know, they were a rock band.

Slickee boys were singing about
cars and girls

and a lot of times we got criticized
for not having enough angst

because we didn't have angst, we
were having fun.

I mean what's angst about being
on stage

with like your best friends and
playing loud fast rock 'n' roll?

But the younger guys had points
they were trying to get across,

and I think their message was
positive,

but it was a little
more serious.

[Electric guitar plays]

That's what punk really is.

It's a music that's not a
product.

It's a music that you're doing
for the hell of it, for your friends

and if they like it,
that's good enough.

I had stopped fretting
over having

moved away from New York just as
the New York punk scene

was really starting to
like surface.

Because something that I helped
contribute to the creation of,

the fact that it's still important
to people around the world,

to me is a lot more satisfying

than just going to New York
and being in bands and you

make it or you don't make it.

['Heart on'
by the slickee boys plays]

As the punk scenes grew
around the world

an entire separate world
was being created.

“Putting D.C. on the map“ was a
slogan that I came up with

in an ironic way but it
ended up being kind of true

I think we did play a part in helping
to make a name for DC musically.

[Electronic hum]

I think people were jealous of the
DC scene because it was together.

People really felt you know: “We're
going to change things all together.“

and a lot of those people really
took that with them for a long time and

kept it with them
in their hearts.

That strength from the DC punk
scene really reverberated

into other scenes

and certain bands who got really
huge referenced the

DC hardcore scene as a core
reason why they even existed.

They rebuilt the entire
DC punk scene,

from the bands to the audience,
from the records to the fanzines.

It was an incredible fact and

everybody that was laughing
then became very serious.

[Punk rock music plays]

After the 81 dead Kennedys tour,

I was more impressed with
what was going on in DC than

anywhere else.

I think I probably had time to
listen to minor threat's demo by then

and I think I got a government
issue one and might have gotten

an soa tape too. I'm not sure.

There was none of the New York
pretentiousness

and wanting to be liked by idiot
critics or package

yourself in some way that will
make you seem unique

and brilliant and all that.

Even as feisty as
the people were,

there was a warmth and love and

just like a spirit of this is positive
energy, we really like what we're doing.

[Electric guitar riffs]

[Guitar distortion]

- Did you ever see minor threat?
- No.

Where you been?

Steve albini had this kind of
end piece in some magazine

and he wrote the 10 greatest
guitar players of all time,

and he put me in it.

But I started to think
“what is going on here?“

hr said to me:
“You asked a question

and people want you to answer it
now, people want to know more.“

like you started this straight edge
thing, like they want to know more.

And Ian says to me, you know, “would
you maybe consider coming back to DC?“

and it took me 20 seconds to go
“0k!“

after the hiatus, we seriously
went out to tour the country.

That's when I figured out that
this was something

a little bigger
than just a local band.

[Guitar riffing]

[Fast drumming]

The words “straight edge“,
where did you get that from?

When the teen idles broke up,

Jeff and I drove all around

and we got into this thing
where we were

always like “straight“ whatever.

We were going to use it as a name
of a band but since we went with

minor threat we just said
we'll just use that for a song.

You know the idea was you know,
obviously, straight edge,

like you have the edge over
someone else if you're sober.

Ian had started this movement
called the “straight edge movement“

and he was a clean shaven,
Coca-Cola drinking type dude.

He ain't nothing like he used to
be, let me tell you,

he had a mob that used
to follow him around

and his brother here

would be the only one who
would talk with me

cause I couldn't talk to him
after about 3 or 4 months,

he became an overnight...

It's just me and him.

Professional.

[Fast music plays]

I remember when seventeen
magazine did a thing about straight edge.

But straight edge
really was just

the kind of the glossy magazine
cover of the whole thing.

[Drums and bass play]

It was really just about
doing it for yourself

and taking responsibility for
what you were doing.

[Speaker whine and feedback]

Straight edge, so many people
have just said like:

God, “that song, more than any
of the others,

people always said that really gave me an idea
of how I want to live“ and stuff like that.

All these kids considered like
the epitome of straight edge,

they hung out with all these other
kids who weren't exactly straight edge.

I mean I drank back then, it wasn't
like a big huge issue or division.

Well that makes sense, you don't
need to mess yourself up

so this is probably a
decent pursuit.

Cause you'd go to other towns
that had kinda

picked up on the DC straight
edge thing

and they would give you shit as
soon as you pulled out a beer.

Ian was just speaking from
really his own heart

and it became bigger
than himself,

and it wasn't his intention.

['Straight edge'
by minor threat plays]

J” I've got the straight edge j”

one of the things about our
culture is that people were dflven

in this notion that a form of
rebellion

was in self-destruction.

But it seems really clear to me
that that is not rebellious,

it's not revolutionary,

because it doesn't do anything to the
state except get rid of their problems.

[Crowd cheering]

[L. Preslar] One of the things
that became evident

was that Ian was on a mission.

Why don't you people get
a hold of your shit...

And I didn't feel like I had any
real choice in the matter.

[I. Mackaye] That's only because
I am most outspoken.

I think everyone has something
to say but I'm

the only one who
will say anything.

And a lot of people don't have
anything to say except

“fuck society“ and bullshit like
that.

[L. Preslar] And I once got into
a big argument

with Jeff Nelson because

Jeff told me “it wasn't fun any
more to be in the band“

[suspenseful guitar plays]

And I said to him,
“it's not supposed to be fun...

I mean we can have fun

but this is supposed
to be about making something,

we're doing something here.“

[j. Nelson] We had a song called
“out of step with the world“

and I brought up to Ian that I
wanted to add an “I" so it would say,

“I don't smoke, I don't drink, I
don't fuck“

which would have had a much
different sound to it,

in other words, not a directive.

Ian was not happy with
that at all

and he was so mad he kicked a
hole in the door.

The hole is still here
to this day.

So we would definitely butt
heads over stuff like that.

['Out of step'
by minor threat plays]

[Punk rock music plays]

This is the drawing I did for
minor threat's “out of step“ ep.

Someone just emailed me
this amazing tattoo

somebody got of this and this
on their feet.

Somebody did this and it's totally
about minor threat for their child.

It's the iPhone cover.

This is Chuck d and flava flav
of public enemy.

Ian was teasing me because one
of the first tattoos I ever got were

the black flag bars and
out of step.

And out of step didn't have anything
to do with the straight edge stuff,

it had to do with, when I'm 98
years old,

I'm still going to be out of
step with everybody else.

[Hard, fast rock]

J” I can't keep up,
I can't keep up j”

j” I can't keep up j”

j” out of step with the world j”

bands looked at it and said
well ok:

“What can we do that's different
than minor threat

or bad brains?“

and of course it can't go on
forever.

J” I wake up and I
see you everyday j”

[aggressive music plays]

J” never hear a thing I say j”

j” I come to you with
all my problems j”

j” you don't care,
you won't be bothered j”

j” who are you and
why am I here? J”

j” who are you and
why am I here? J”

[Intense musical buildup]

[J.nelson] In DC, void
represented a high water Mark

of cacophony, chaos, rage
and anger.

[D. Zientara] At some point you
just can't outdo it,

when the movement is too
solid so that you

can't do any more in it

and that's what happened.

[Fast drumming]

[Crowd chatter]

The DC scene was nothing like
when I was a youngster

going to madams organ.

All of a sudden the scene goes
from like 40 people to

400, to 800 to 1200

because here comes the suburbs.

And with it comes cool bands,
cool people,

in comes the jock,
and maybe he becomes a fan

but all of a sudden, you're like
“are you really into this or

are you showing up because this
was covered in the Washington post?“

[intense guitar riff]

[A. Mackaye] Then there
were these TV shows

that interjected these
punk rock tragedies.

[D. Ferrando] The worst
portrayals of punk rock ever.

[A. Mackaye] And people
watched those shows and

and they absorbed that as fact.

[I. Mackaye] Then suddenly
at the gigs we

had people who were like punks

behaving like what the television
had purported punks to act like.

[Rock music]

J” I wanna see you choke j”

[a. Bonafede] There was anger
with earlier punk rock too

but it also was just really fun.

And to me hardcore attracted
this huge contingent of varying

types of angry people, people
who had these very negafive

views of minorities and of women

and you got this white
supremacist thing.

[Music plays in reverse]

[C. Connolly] And then I became
totally disinterested because

I was not interested in being
involved in something

that was actually violent.

[I. Mackaye] People were like
“this is weird.“

there was so much violence,
there were all these skinhead kids,

very macho.

I think we felt like time to
recreate, let's do something else.

[J. Nelson] There always are new
people coming into the scene,

as it should be and that's
not going to stop.

And I don't think it's fair
to say that when

minor threat broke up,
things fell apart

but by 1983 there were a lot of
people in this DC scene that were

really ready for something else.

So this is a really fun poster.

This turned out to be minor
threat's last show.

And what's really great is that
they spelled our name wrong.

[Amplifier feedback]

[A. Mackaye] It's a defining
thing about our scene,

that bands just break up

and do it again in some
other form.

Accepting and embracing the idea
of destroying to create again,

people felt like
they should do that.

They were ok with the idea of
dismantling it and making something new.

And when you do that you feel like
you are really making quality work.

J” slow down j”

j” slow down j”

j” down j”

[bass guitar plays]

I've thought of that so many
times,

wondering why more people don't
keep on keeping on until they've

run out of things that won't
work for then they're bound to find

the thing that will work.

[Upbeat rock music plays]

[A. Mackaye] These bands that
were here were so mighty,

there was such an amazing
energy.

There was so much going on.

What's next?

There seemed to be
this little pause.

[M. Hampton] I remember about
two dozen people in my living room

talking about the nature of
music and hardcore and

talking about what we
should do next, collectively.

I remember people becoming
more socially aware,

politics, and animal rights,
things like that.

I don't think I would hang out
with people that don't understand

the social implications of punk
rock.

Do you know what I mean?

You start out with straight edge

and then the next natural step
is vegetarianism.

You start off with a clean head
and everything else falls into place.

Everything else makes sense.

[H. Rollins] And that's always
been my version

of the DC punk rocker:

Is like, vegan, smart, voting,
at the protest march.

And the DC scene always
had that.

[Driving rock music plays]

[C. Haskett] Something cool
persisted which didn't persist in a lot

of other places.

DC kind of dodged a bullet

and punk transformed
into something affirmative.

I mean look at some of the
bands that come out of it.

Look at rites of spring,

that's one of the best bands
that's ever existed.

[Driving rock music continues]

[A. Mackaye] Pma...

I think that's what the thing
really was.

It's people trying to
rouse each other,

saying like “whatever you
were doing, do that some more.

Get back into it. Do it harder.

Whatever way is next.

Don't stop now.“

j” I want to talk, j”

['nudes'
by rites of spring plays]

J” like I'm talking to myself j”

j” I wanna reach j”

j” yeah I could be someone else j”

j” and when a touch j”

j” when a touch
becomes too much j”

j” you know j”

j” I could be someone else j”

j " and I... j"

j” yeah I know enough not
to hope to know j”

j” but it's so hard j”

j” cause the night can
fill my eyes j”

j” and you give me some
distance j”

j” I can get so hard to find j”

j” and when a word, when
a word cuts in too close j”

j” I can always get so hard
to find j”

j”andlj”

j” I know enough
not to hope to know j”

ij'j'

J” so clear j”

j” to have not been
clear at all j”

j”igotsofarj”

j” to have come against a wall j”

j” the first, the final,
no middle j”

j” well it seems so real to me j”

j” to each his own illusions j”

j” if I could only believe j”

j” we'll do it in a cabin j”

j” we'll do it in a car j”

j” we'll do it on the freeway j”

j” cause you're taking
me too far j”

j” knocking down guardrails j”

j” the speed of sound j”

j” knocking down guardrails j”

j” pow pow j”