“(Punk) is a statement of self-rule, of ultimate independence, of do-it-yourself.” — Malcolm McLaren
D-I-Y. Do It Yourself. It’s been a punk credo since the movement’s inception, as vital an element as agitprop and anarchy, two-minute-and-out songs, and snarled vocals and three-chord guitar riffs played at full speed and volume.
For some punk rockers, it’s still a way of life — often out of necessity. To bring the music and the message to the people while overcoming logistical nightmares like few venues, no distribution, little promotion, negative cultural stereotypes, and avoiding the corrupting hand of the music industry? That’s DIY.
“It’s one of the holy trinity of punk rock,” said Cristina Fuentes, 22, lead singer for the local outfit, Choke Their Rivers With Our Dead. “DIY, an ethical subculture, and music. And you can’t have one without the others.”
All three elements — along with Fuentes’ band and nine others, too — will be on display during Punk Wars “04 at Tremont this Saturday. And just as Fuentes will tell you that her band owes its very musical existence to DIY, Punk Wars “04 owes its existence to the do-it-yourself attitude of Sean Lykins, who put together last year’s first sold-out effort and organized and also promoted this year’s.
“The reason Punk Wars went so well (last year)” Fuentes said, “is because Sean went out and put a thousand-something fliers out, which I’ve never heard of a kid doing in Charlotte. And that is why everyone knew about it. He is the promotion king!”
He’s also a guitarist in the band Hate the Living, who will share the stage with Raleigh’s Between the Buried and Me, Savannah’s Circle Takes the Square, Blacksburg’s (VA) Shadows and the Silence, Louisville’s Kodan Armada, Greensboro’s Crimson Spectre, Rock Hill’s The Residence, and Fuentes’ fellow locals in My So-Called Band and Minority Party.
Lykins, 31, is a native Charlottean, who, upon his return from a five-year sojourn in punk-happy Southern California (where he did a stint in the seminal Orange County hardcore unit, D.I.), noticed that the punk scene here had virtually disappeared. And that was motivation enough for a little DIY — because self-sufficiency doesn’t mean working and playing in a vacuum.
“I saw how kids react out there (in Southern California) and they love the music,” said Lykins. “But you don’t see that here in Charlotte very often, people helping out people with just the basic things. I know it’s the time-honored do-it-yourself thing, but just to see those kids who really love the bands and love coming to shows? It was inspiring, to them and me.”
That camaraderie and community spirit has been missing locally for a while, and both Lykins and Fuentes speculated that it’s because the punk scene — with few venues and little organized sense of community — has split into several factions and lost sight of the bigger picture.
Fuentes said that while she is not anti-straight-edge, she sees a disturbing isolationism emanating from those local punks who categorize themselves that way. It’s a tendency that’s plagued the no-drink/no-drugs/ no-promiscuity group and its relations with the rest of the punk movement.
“The general straight-edge community consists of an upper-middle class boys’ club kind of thing,” Fuentes said. “When you bring in people that aren’t from a lower- middle class standing, or don’t understand that, and have no clue what DIY really is, they’re the ones that assist (record) labels because they’ll see, “Oh, this is actually marketable because these kids are going to buy it.’ They’re the ones who made (the punk movement) a lot more fashion oriented.”
With that and the other basic tenets of punk in mind — an ethical subculture, for one — Lykins has made sure that Punk Wars isn’t just a one-dimensional event. Rock the Vote, Gay Rights advocates and other groups will be on hand to pass out literature and “hopefully inspire the kids to get involved,” Lykins said.
A more tangible benefit for all the bands is playing in front of big crowds, a rare event for most of them.
“Some of these bands will never play in front of 500, 600 people again,” Lykins said. “They go to Texas on a Tuesday and play in front of four people for no money and then drive back home. This gives them the opportunity to play with bigger bands, and that gives them exposure. That’s why we mix it up a bit.”
It also gives them a decent payday, something many of the bands rarely see. Lykins doesn’t expect to earn a cent, and the bands last year got $300-$400 paydays — a virtual bonanza for some of them.
“We get paid anywhere from $30 to $200 a night,” Fuentes said. “This year (the show) is the last day of our tour, so we know that if we go to Miami and come back and have absolutely no money, we’ll at least end up probably even. It’s a fucking savior.”
It’s also an opportunity to show that DIY is alive and well.
“If I don’t do this, who will?” Lykins said. “I got help from other bands and kids, and a dream of mine came true, becoming a guitarist in D.I. So I know that if you stick with it long enough, and your drive is there, good things are going to come your way.”
Lykins hopes Punk Wars ’04 does the same thing for the Charlotte music scene. But he knows it’s an uphill battle.
“You’ve got everybody buying records from Best Buy, and the Mom and Pop records stores are closing down,” he said. “People get that strip-mall attitude about almost everything, including music: “If it’s not on the radio, then it’s not good.’ That’s what we’re up against.”
This article appears in Jan 7-13, 2004.
