#thisrecordchangedmylife

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

SCOTT YOUNG Austin, USA www.scottyoung.us ‡ IG: @psychofeeling

Record: Slowdive “Souvlaki” ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community I've been making and publishing zines with the goal of providing a community supported venue for artistic expression for the last twelve years. In the last few years I've tried to coordinate events and exhibits that help visual art and artists to have an interesting outlet in the punk scene. I played in the bands GAG and TransFX until a few months ago when I quit to go to India. Currently I'm working on a sitcom series that showcases paintings. When was the first time that you heard this record? When I was thirteen, so about 15 years ago. Wow! that seems so far away. But also just like yesterday. How did you discover it? My cousins showed it to me. They were always showing me cool music growing up. That's why I eded up moving to Olympia. That's were they lived and that's where the music was (and is happening). Why did it change your life? It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. It has really stood the test of time for me. I like it more today than the first time I heard it. I've always been drawn to sad music, and it is really hard to execute it in a way that isn't annoying (this record does just that). While on tour with GAG for the last four years we would listen to this album a lot. Jeff, the drummer, has some of the works tattooed on him. It was especially life changing for me driving through the south west. Like in Arizona and New Mexico. In the desert during an alright drive and the sun is just about to come up. One of the best music experiences of my life.

Original cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

ALEX MICALLEF Indiana, USA www.secretcat.tumblr.com

Record: Devo “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community I currently sing and play bass in a sort of noise rock band called Moth Slasher, I regularly do a lot of illustrations for band merchandise, and I occasionally book shows at a cafe/venue/art gallery in town I work at called PG. I have been playing music with people in various bands since 2009 and did vocals for a short-lived hardcore band called Chuckleheads last year. When was the first time that you heard this record? I heard it sometime in 2003 when I was a freshman in high school. How did you discover it? I don't remember because I have the memory of a leaky old former boxer. I used to read Spin magazine a lot back then and I probably found it that way, I guess... Why did it change your life? Well, growing up as a socially inadequate nerd it left quite an impact on me hearing music being created by other total nerds other than Weird Al (and I really really love Weird Al). I grew up interested in punk music and video games in a very small rural town surrounded by extremely conservative yokels, where being a non-male interested in said things is apparently incredibly subversive and gets you picked on a lot. Devo's whole perspective on the theory of devolution really struck a relatable chord with me as a young guy in the environment I was in. Their music is both funny and catchy and I quickly became obsessed with this record. Say what you want I've been Sexy Mark Mothersbaugh for Halloween/Halloween weekend regularly since 2011. Original Cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

MIGUEL ALÉN "MÄIK" Granada, Spain www.behance.net/soyelmaik ‡ www.elrapto.es ‡ IG: soyelmaik ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community I play in LA URSS + CARNE, We start a new label LA CORPORACION in order to edit our own records in a 100% DIY ethic. Also the other members of LC book shows all over Spain, I´m actually more interested in Art books and zines, two years ago I opened with a friend EL RAPTO, a screen print & design studio which quickly became a productive art space in my city. Now I release a lot of Art publishing for me or another people interest in do things together with us. I'm working there as designer, tattooing and no sleeping. When was the first time that you heard this record? Actually I was in the recording playing bass so I heard it pretty soon. How did you discover it? We started to practice influenced by all those 1980´s spanish punk and another foreign punk bands, probably in this record our sound wasn’t 100% original but we were in the beginning of the history, was the #1 release of brewery records. Why did it change your life? I didn’t choose that record because I thought that is the best record ever, just because was the first release of my band that I liked, we were living together and after that record we started to do shows and tours in Europe and America..     Say what you want Has been 10 years since that recording a we are still touring and now self editing our records so probably one of the best thing I've done in my life was joined LA URSS, probably we will release more copies of that record soon I hope to have the chance to screen print the LP covers and assemble then in EL RAPTO. diy or die.

Original Cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

MANUEL DONADA Nomadic. Im homeless and I don't belong anywhere www.mdonada.com ‡ www.thehobohawk.com  ‡ www.oscuraplata.com  Record: Enrique y Ana “las Aventuras de Enrique y Ana” ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community I will try and keep this short. Since I was a young teenager I have been trying hard to do everything the way I want to. In every aspect of my life. I quit school at a very young age and had very clear what I wanted to do: TO DRAW. So, I suppose that was my first contact with the DIY scene and the punk/hardcore philosophy. I can handle it on my own. I started having a distro and booking shows under the name of Capuleto Twins with a very good friend of mine from Madrid. We did that for a while but it wasnt really worth it. The “Scene” (argh!) was still too small and only macho hardcore crap ruled the city. Madrid is kind of rough sometimes. We ended up really dissapointed with the so called “hardcore family”. Everything was a lie so I just set my own path and so he did. That really brought us together til today, tho. I have done tons of zines, set up shows, design record covers/posters/ etc for other people, released records and played in several bands such as (Stay Gold Ponyboy, The Mushitcians and Grabba Grabba Tape). I also started a record label called Gssh! Gssh! Records in 2000. Then I quit because I was broke. I also opened a record store but people were not buying shit so I shut it down because my debts where getting really scary. After that I opened a gallery focused on comic and illustration called Watdafac and that didnt work either. Oh! I try to run a publishing house now called “(Thee Order ov) The Hobohawk”. I guess I have been losing money my entire life but I'm happy with what I have done. I have enjoyed every single minute of everything. Good or bad. When was the first time that you heard this record? I was probably around 3 or 4 years old...   How did you discover it? My older sisters and I went to see the movie and since we liked it a lot our parents bought the record. Why did it change your life? I remember playing the record and dancing like crazy around the living room,  jumping off the couch with my sisters while singing along and all that. That was my first contact with pogo dance style and acting wild while listening to music. The “punk” in me was born that same exact day so I think I owe Enrique and Ana this tribute. Now was the moment for it. It’s my way of saying “thank you”. They were the first who introduce me into the Madness, the Agitation, the Prostest and eternal Revolt.  Original Cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

LAURA PALLMALL Los Angeles, USA nothinglefttolearn.tumblr.com

Record: Koro “S/T” ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community I was in a band called Blotter and used to book shows and draw for a lot of bands and flyers. I have a diy zine series called “Nothing Left to Learn” which I use to put out all kinds of zines, including comics and DIY resource zines (e.g., books of fonts and textures) that I hope people will use to make their own artwork. The idea is to do all kinds of written and visual work you see in regular media (sports journalism, movie reviews, comics, poetry, etc.) within a DIY framework. When was the first time that you heard this record? Shortly after the official Sorry State reissue, T think in 2006. How did you discover it? Looking up punk blogs on the internet--up until 2010 or 2011 all my exposure to punk music came from the internet, I didn't have any punk friends till then, haha. Why did it change your life? We started to become in punks and those There are a few punk records that i like more and were more instrumental in my falling in love with punk (Bad Brains LP, The Dicks first EP) or are more meaningful to my experience of contemporary punk (Career Suicide “Attempted Suicide,” Wiccans “Skullduggery” LP, all Culo records) but this one holds a special place for me. I think like most people the first records I heard were like Black Flag and Minor Threat and Bad Brains and The Dicks and The Ramones and all that stuff, and this record was one of the first records beyond that first influence that I got obsessed with and really pushed me deeper into it to a point of no return. Say what you want This was one of those records that I sat down with and listened to on repeat holding the insert in my hand, trying to learn all the lyrics even though it's so fast that you can barely hear any of the words. There's a line in “Dear Sirs” that always stuck with me: “tv, soldier, nothing left to learn.” It's sarcastic but in a really brutal and smart and cutting way and it's probably my favorite punk lyric ever. I named my zine series/label ʻNothing Left to Learnʼ after that line. It means something different to me than it means in the song and has kind of taken on a life of its own and become a mantra for me. In my experience when I read I'm not being taught something, I'm being made aware of what I already know or believe; when I write or draw I'm not writing or drawing what I know, I'm writing or drawing in order to discover what I know...so to me, “Nothing Left to Learn” is the epitome of DIY. This idea that everyone is already complete and capable of anything and it's a matter of being hungry and open and taking the world in order to unlock all that you can do. Original Cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

NICO EL FRACASO Venezuela living in Barcelona, Spain nicoelfracaso.tumblr.com ‡ instagram.com/nicoelfracaso

Record: The Partisans “Police Story” ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community. I was playing in Fracaso from Venezuela and Demonios Salvajes from Barcelona. I'm a part of the crew organizing Barcelona Bike Wars. I use to draw for punk bands and anarchist projects and I'm involved also in the self edition world with couple of fanzines and small edition label. When was the first time that you heard this record? 2005 or 2006

How did you discover it? Some friend of mine borrowed me a copy of first punk and disorderly album. Why did it change your life? I'm not sure if this record particularly has changed my life in some way. Life is a complex thing and I think that in each period of your life you have some special “sound track”. But for sure this record is one of my favorite records since I was a teenager. First time I´ve heard it I´ve just fell in love with the anger and one of the best intros of punk songs ever (Police story, which is the first song I´ve ever played on guitar in a band in my life). Even now I listen to this record at least once a week and it turns me crazy like the first time.

Original cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

ÁNGEL HERRERA Spanish living in Copenhagen, Denmark angel--herrera.tumblr.com

Record: Eskorbuto “Los Demenciales Chicos Acelerados” ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community. I helped organizing shows for a lot of Spanish punk, garage or weird bands. Also cultural projects for people involved in the underground scene and I design a ton of record covers, posters and merch for my bands and other DIY punk bands. I played (and sometimes sang) in Mano de Mono, Sierra Leona and Juanita y los Feos. Currently I play the bass in Peluquería Canina and sing and play the bass in Las Venas. I was in charge (among others) of editing “Matado por la Muerte” compilations, something like “Killed By Death”, but in Spanish. I am also one of the founders of the “Cheap Collective“ in Copenhagen. When was the first time that you heard this record? When I was 15 back in 1991/92 How did you discover it? I knew Eskorbuto before knowing this album, their “Ya nos quedan más cojones”  was something like a popular song to sing when you were drunk. In the gang there was this Basque friend and one of the times he went to Euskadi, I gave him three blank tapes so his cousin, the “older” could fill them with music. Back in the days, this was one of the only ways to get music, back then this was internet. So he came back from Euskadi with 3 cassettes plenty of “Parabellum”, “Kortatu”, “La Polla Records”, “Zer Bizio?”, “Distorsion”, “MCD” ... and in one of the tapes there were 4 or 5 songs from "Los demenciales chicos acelerados”. That was something different from what I was used to listen to, it was different, it was something else. Why did it change your life? I was 15, a kid living in the suburbs, the newly built outskirts of Madrid, spending the whole day in the streets and Eskorbuto blew our minds. They were putting words to our feelings. It was not pretty, it was pretty sad and fucked up but it was how we felt, completely isolated and mostly full of hate. At one point, Eskorbuto divided the gang, something like “either you are on the Eskorbuto side or with the others”. Even today, I can understand that positioning. We were with Eskorbuto till its logical conclusion, tragic endings included. Musically and in my opinion, “Los demenciales chicos acelerados” is the most original Spanish punk album ever done. 20 songs on a double LP where the mix of music and lyrics becomes almost like a conceptual proposal. I was completely blown away with Juarma’s bass lines, something that later would mark my life forever… until today. My true passion for the HONEST music is because them, you know, after Eskorbuto I learnt to aprreciatte all "the real" from Johnny Cash to Devo.

Original cover:

[whythisrecordchangedmylife-blog]

ANDREA LUKIC Serbian living in Vancouver, Cánada lukicandrea.tumblr.com

Record: The Raincoats “Self Titled” ♫ _

Describe your involvement with the DIY community. Nü Sensae, C.C.R. (Cowboy City Rockers), Hick, Pink Eye, Exhausted Monologues. When was the first time that you heard this record? I first heard this record Christmas day when I was 13 years old. How did you discover it? I spent a lot of time at the library, I had read about this record a lot researching the Slits and other punk bands. Why did it change your life? I wanted to hear punk music so bad because I had read about it. This was right before downloading music was a thing, so I would read a lot about bands before ever getting the chance to hear them. Id see the pictures of the people and the descriptions and thought punk music had to be insane and I had to hear it. Somehow after the Sex Pistols this was the CD I stumbled upon, and I made my best friend buy it for me from a used record store for Christmas. I was totally surprised that it wasn't extreme or insane. Then I got to their cover of “Lola” and I didn't know it was a cover at the time and it melted my mind. Girl loves boy who is girl, girl is a boy. It was less confusing than it was right. I kept listening to the album. As I grew up and fell in love I listened to “Black and White” and as I got scared at night walking alone I listened to “Off Duty Trip”, when I worked in a supermarket I listened to “Fairytale In the Supermarket”, I listened to “the Void” all the time, and every single time I've been heart broken I have listened to every song on this record especially “No Lookin”.  This record was the first time I heard a very private voice in public, more specifically an unravelling woman. It made me want to make music and it confirmed to me that spikes and chains are just fashion.

Original Cover: