DIY punk is an important, self-sufficient way of producing music. The usual channels for distribution and production, which use middlemen between labels and retailers in order to heavily publicise music, have historically been reluctant to take on bands such as Minor Threat, Bad Religion and other mainstays of the genre. Punk music has always been viewed as a niche market, and the majority of bands making it are not considered to be lucrative enough for a label to take them up. As a result, many bands have to record and distribute music themselves. With any luck collectives are set up, allowing punk music to reach a wider audience over time.
You could bet on the presence of a DIY punk scene anywhere in the world. Singapore has one, as does Sao Paolo, in Brazil. In fact, Japan has had thousands of punk records released by DIY bands, with the Philippines having an old punk scene as well. Eastern Europe has an exhaustive list of punk bands, some of which were formed before the fall of communism. So it shouldn’t surprise you to know that Scotland has a very active DIY scene too.
We spoke to a couple of Scotland’s most active DIY labels – Black Lake Records and Struggletown Records – to get an inside view of a thriving, creative scene.
“Working hard to share the music, message and aesthetic that we are part of is more important than any monetary, social or status gain.”
“The biggest advantage to everyone is the community”, says Steven Hill of Struggletown Records, a Glasgow-based record label which puts on gigs and turns out music, amongst a host of other things. “It seems that almost all the members of the worldwide DIY punk scene share a similar ethos, one where working hard to share the music, message and aesthetic that we are part of is more important than any monetary, social or status gain”. DIY Punk is universal in attitude as well as in a geographical sense.
The DIY punk scene is different from others, in a way that’s worth shouting about. Ewan Camerson from Aberdeen-based label Black Lake is doing just that, saying that the presence of a community like this is “empowering”. This kind of enthusiasm is what sets DIY Punk apart from other music scenes, and it’s exciting and reassuring to see people running labels who do it for the satisfaction and the music itself above financial gain.
“It puts the power in your hands and means you’re in full control of everything to do with your own band. You can book your own shows, make your own releases, go on tours that you’ve organised yourself etc. It adds a really beautiful feeling of satisfaction to everything you do with a band or label. You can just do it all on your own. It’s awesome!”, Ewan gratifyingly declares.
There are a whole host of aspects to consider with organising releases and distributing them, which many have had to learn themselves. Steven Hill’s Struggletown Records runs an online store: “Everything is shipped out of my spare room. We rely on other labels and distros to grab a few copies and sell them in their own stores, we’ve had releases over in Japan, Europe and North America through this route.”
It’s not easy to sell records to people who may not have even heard of the artist, but Steven has some advice. “One of the best ways we’ve found to distribute physical releases is to take a box of records to shows. People are much more likely to pick something up in person if you can explain what’s so great about it and compare it to some bands they already love.”
Social media is an important aspect to publicising bands and DIY labels are all over them. It’s a necessary evil for many, but for people who run businesses out of their own home, using websites and forums is actually really useful. Having said that, the general consensus is that all these followers, blog posters and general listeners need to get more involved if they really want to help the Punk DIY scene.
Steven has some specific suggestions for punk DIY fans. “The best thing they can do is support the bands, labels and releases by buying copies of physical releases, downloading digital releases (paid or free) and sharing them with friends. Wear the t-shirts of the bands you like. Talk about it to anyone who might be into it. Bring friends to shows, put on shows! Give bands a place to stay, blog about them, post them on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/anywhere and just stay involved.”
“It might just be something people do to counteract the terrible weather.”
Ewan’s opinion on using websites such as Bandcamp to distribute music isn’t as optimistic: “I just hope people don’t become dependent on digital downloads and ‘pay what you want’ Bandcamp albums and are still interested in buying physical products. The recent resurgence in vinyl sales would suggest that probably won’t happen, but it’s always a mild worry!”
Ewan and Steven have touched on what makes any self-sufficient punk scene important, and what people need to do to get involved. As a final question, we asked what makes Scotland’s punk scene special – what sets it apart from the rest of the UK and how it’s different?
Steven thinks the reason is that “there are a very high percentage of bands from Scotland, perhaps more so than some cities in England. This might be due to the rich history of Glasgow bands that inspire people to start their own, or it might just be something people do to counteract the terrible weather.” On the other hand, Steven has noticed something interesting about the nature of the local punk community. “I feel that with recent trends within Facebook and other social media, the UK is kind of becoming it’s own giant scene, rather than a Scottish/English/Welsh divide.”
Ewan is looking forward to the future: “The Scottish DIY punk scene is an interesting one, as it’s recently had a revival in interest across the board, and seems to be gelling together better than before due to a better amount of connection and communication with like minded individuals. When you’ve got packed out shows for bands you thought you would never see in Glasgow, you know things are going well.” It’s not always going to be an easy job, and he acknowledges this fact.“It’s definitely very frustrating at times, but if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”
The current situation is concluded perfectly by Steven, who says: “DIY is what it is, doing it yourself – so really the essence of the whole thing is on each person to do something – get out to a show, start a band, write a zine, put on a gig etc – it sounds corny but the more people acting on their own will impact the scene as a whole.”
“A lot of these people play in bands and put out music too, so they’re working hard for the music that they produce,” Steven adds. He calls out Punk Rock Rammy, Hawkchild DIY, Choices Made Events, Kashif Saghar, Partywound Promotions, Make That A Take Records, Black Lake Records, The Final Comedown and This Is Our Battlefield.
There are a huge number of reasons why you should get involved with and appreciate your local DIY scene. Scotland’s punk community seems to be thriving thanks to labels such as Struggletown and Black Lake, but there’s a whole host of other labels, promoters and bands that have had a huge hand in creating it. The quality of music being produced is an incentive in itself, and that’s reason enough to go to shows and buy music, then write, and just never shut up about it.
SAM KANAL
Black Lake Records : http://blacklakerecords.net/
Struggletown Records: http://struggletown.co.uk/