More Than Music

Documenting the 1990s underground

[morethanmusicbook]

Mailorder, land-lines, stolen calling cards...

"It’s amazing to remember this all happened only with the U.S. postal service and land-line phones—aided by the ubiquitous 'stolen calling card!'" —Molly Neuman, Bratmobile/Frumpies

[Spitboy tour photo, uncredited]

[morethanmusicbook]

Where Wookies Fear to Tred: 90s HC's Weird Fetish

"Whereas subgenres and 'subscenes' would become further specialized in the last years of the decade and throughout the 2000s, in the early to mid-1990s, there were centripetal forces providing most participants with a toolbox of shared experiences and reference points. Many, in fact, came from outside the punk scene, coopted into the vocabulary and imagery of liner notes, fanzines, patches and ephemera.

If you were 'a 90s hardcore kid,' chances were you were also familiar with certain texts—books and films like Watership Down, Winnie the Pooh, Star Wars, Swing Kids, Dune, The Lord of the Rings, and the poems of Shel Silverstein. These became the fodder for the memes of the pre-Internet generation.

In the squeaky-clean straightedge pockets this sometimes translated into unabashed collectorism. Having a limited-edition 'X' Swatch might win you some social cache, but using an Empire Strikes Back lunchbox as a purse? Now that was a real coup.

Ultimately, people of any generation are a product of their culture. It might be premature to say that there was a shallower set of references 'back then,' just as it may be dismissive to say 'indoor kids' have always gravitated to the same things. It's not 'weird' that people should like these stories and traditions. What is 'weird'--if by weird we mean curious and not very well examined--is that these texts should have been incorporated into one particular chapter of a two-decade-old subculture without precedent or a repetition in the years to come." - Mike McKee, More Than Music

[morethanmusicbook]

Was the Scene Just On-Stage? - Ian MacKaye

[Photo: Chrissy Piper]

"Women were fucking hugely important in the DC punk scene. The problem is, people’s view, when they look through their DC hardcore periscope, all they can see is the bands. The bands were not the scene. The music is the currency of a scene. The scene was actually the daily-do: the gathering, the thinking, the sharing, the shows, the work. The bands and the stage, sure, but what’s going on out front, what people were talking about on the curb, what people were doing when they were putting out fanzines, putting out records. Women were central to all of this. It has driven me crazy, because I think it coalesced with the ‘90s, riot grrrl, feminist era. I understand why people had that perception, but I think people have become really focused on this idea that no girls were allowed and then Bikini Kill came along and straightened us all out, which I would say is a pretty simplistic read on what actually occurred. It’s too much of a simple narrative of, 'Here’s the storyline.'"   - Ian MacKaye, Fugazi/Dischord Records

Learn more at www.morethanmusicbook.com

[morethanmusicbook]

Limited Edition Zines - Sneak Peak at "More Than Music"

Want a sneak peak of "More Than Music"?

Two  limited-edition zines are now available, each drawing on a different chapter of what will be the final book.

More Than Music vol. 1: FESTS 

Part oral history, part essay, this installment explores the role of festivals in defining a new expression of punk identity while "centralizing" a confederated, pre-Internet culture. From people throwing hamburgers at Earth Crisis to you making out with that guy in the Oi Polloi shirt behind the merch table, this is the too-hot-for-HeartattaCk stuff!

"I remember walking through the parking lot and seeing license plates from all over the country...a feeling of knowing a secret. It's empowering to know that you could send out this beacon and people would come from great distances to be a part of it." - Steve Wade (Neil House)

"Fests were always a logistical nightmare. 'Who's playing now? Where? Why is Scott Beibin on stage playing a trumpet?'" - Charles Maggio (Rorschach)

"I couldn't believe that somehow this 'It' band, Earth Crisis, had written an entire set based on palm-muting the E chord." - Dan Yemin (Lifetime)

32 pages, black and white. $6 US, $8 worldwide.

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More Than Music vol. 2: BORN AGAIN$T

Through interviews and oral history, shares the story of the influential band and its place within  this chapter of punk and hardcore culture. Includes photography (some never before published!) from Chrissy Piper ("The Unheard Music") and Christine Boarts Larson ("Slug 'n Lettuce").

"When we'd travel, we'd say we were from New Jersey. Even though some of us lived in New York, we just thought it was so stupid, what it meant to say 'N-Y-H-C, number one!'" - Adam Nathanson (Born Against)

"Born Against could use that medium and yet keep it totally real... it was cool that they could do that with this genre that seemed a bit washed up. Their San Francisco show was the first time I feel like I got it." - Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker)

"At one point [Sam and Adam] asked me if I would like to move in, but I would have to share a room with their rabbit... It remains one of the most fitful nights of sleep I've ever had." - Joe Martin (Citizen's Arrest)

32 pages, black and white. $6 US, $8 worldwide.

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To order copies, please order via Paypal to:  [email protected]

* Be sure to include your mailing address and how many of each zine you would like. *

These zines were published originally for the This is Not a Step festival in Berkeley, California, earlier this year. Proceeds (after costs) will still go towards the family of Sarah Kirsch, the Pacific Center for Growth and the San Francisco Trans March.

[thisisnotastep-blog]

This Is Not A Step: Celebrating 20 years of More Than Music June 28/29/30 at 924 Gilman St. Berkeley, CA A weekend of Politics, Music and Community. Benefiting Sarah Kirsch’s loved ones and non profit organizations dedicated to creating a safer world for transgender people. Featuring: Big Crux The Body Los Crudos The Exquisites Hysterics Iron Lung Neon Piss No Statik Punch Permanent Ruin Replica Retox Subservient Fuck Sourpatch Street Eaters Talk Is Poison Fred Thomas more bands/speakers/workshops/lineup/ticket info to be announced contact us at [email protected]

[sitback-nyc]

why is ohio in california…?

[thisisnotastep-blog]

This festival is a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the More Than Music Fest which originally was in Ohio. This fest takes place in the SF Bay Area — Berkeley — and so Ohio (“the heart of it all” — representing More Than Music Fest here) is placed in the spot of the 20th anniversary Fest. Ya dig?

[morethanmusicbook]

More Than Music: 90s DIY Hardcore

More Than Music is a book work-in-progress documenting a portion of the 1990s punk/hardcore/indie underground in the United States.

Follow along for updates, excerpts and news (but bear with me, it's still in the works).

Want to get in touch:

[email protected] 

While still underway, the book includes interviews, commentary and artwork from:

1.6 Band, 400 Years, ABC No Rio, Angel Hair, Antioch Arrow, Blatz, Born Against, Bratmobile, Citizen's Arrest, Chicks Up Front Posse, Christie Front Drive, Constatine Sankathi, Los Crudos, Current, Drop Dead, Ebullition Records, Econochrist, Fuel, Frail, Fugazi, Go!, Groundwork, HeartattaCk zine, Heroin, Hoover, Indian Summer, Ink & Dagger, Intermission zine, J Church, Jawbreaker, Lifetime, Lookout Records, The Make-Up, Man is the Bastard, Ordination of Aaron, Policy of 3, Positron zine, Rorschach, Simba zine, Spitboy, Struggle, Swing Kids, Team Dresch, Torches to Rome, Trenchmouth, Unbroken, Universal Order of Armageddon, The VSS, Young Pioneers, ... your friends' bands, your old zine from high school, and dozens more.