In the 80’s, a DIY movement spread rapidly throughout the punk scene, and became the biggest example and tool of punk rock’s survival and individuality at the time. Today, the DIY scene in punk is still clearly alive, even in the explosion of punk bands signing to major labels (which is not by any means a bad thing). With a lot of research and a little coffee (okay so I lied…a whole damned crate of coffee), I have compiled in this article a bit of information on the current status of punk rock in developing nations, with a touch of history mixed within.
South America
South America has a notorious history of brutal dictators, political oppression, worker abuse, and a slew of other problems. Such problems naturally progressed into a rather strong anarchist and worker’s solidarity movement. When punk rock came to town, it immediately became friends with both the solidarity and anarchists movements, so naturally the music has strong ties to the politics there. The specific type of punk is as diverse in South America as it is in the States. Pop-punk is not quite as prevalent there however, and for a large part is completely nonexistent. Brazil is the home of the largest punk scene in South America, which once again makes sense due to the fact that Brazil has the largest population of any country on the continent. Though the old school punk bands didn’t tour much in South America, their influence is easily recognized in a good portion of the punk that comes from the area. Not only does punk exist well in South America, hardcore and emo have smaller, but still thriving scenes. Just about all punk, emo, or hardcore from the area is done DIY. Brazil's hardcore scene continues today, with bands like Ulster, Armagedom and RDP still around. The economic and political situation in the country, as I understand, is at a low point right now, with foreign debt and its companion, austerity, at a high. It sucks to know that such a situation will probably produce some great hardcore. Unlike most of the rest of the world, South America did not have a huge starting surge in punk in the 70’s. In fact, punk in south America was almost completely nonexistent until the late 80’s. (Stuart Schrader, Brazilian Punk).
Africa and the Middle East
The scenes in Middle Eastern and African nations are either nearly invisible, or dead. In the 80’s, some African nations had thriving scenes, but since then many of them have failed and died. Thanks to an international record label called Tian An Men 89 Records (which will be discussed briefly later), whatever bands that remain in the area are beginning to have an outlet with which to record and distribute their music both at home and abroad. An exception to the near-death experiences of punk in Africa, South Africa has a semi-successful scene that has many of the same qualities of the scenes in South America (strong political ties, heavy DIY influence, visible influence from older punk bands) and even have a website ([url]welcome.to/sapunk[/url]). The website does not give nearly all the bands in South Africa, but provides a small list to cruise through. In the Middle East, there are very small scenes scattered across the region, the largest residing in Iran, Israel, and Iraq. Tian An Men 89 Records also provides an outlet for this region, giving the small bands with no other outlets a way to distribute their music. Due to the US occupation and other events going on in Iraq, it is feasible to predict a huge turnout in the punk movement there in protest to what is going on. In any case, the Israel is the most recognized Middle Eastern scene. Israel's scene has been around since 1977, but Useless I.D. was one of the first Israeli bands to do some serious recording. Useless I.D. are also the most popular Israeli band to-date, although Nikmaat Olalim and Chaos Rabak could boast popularity in the street punk scene, only Useless I.D. have made the crossover to be recognized in America by the average American kid, most Americans that like them have NO Idea they are from Israel though.
Asia
Hardly a region of developing nations, Asia has the largest punk scene of any of the other regions listed in this article. The scene is so large, in fact, that some Japanese punk bands are starting to break into the U.S. markets. Even more shocking is that these bands are being met with moderate success. Japan is the big time place for Asian punk. Recently, China has also had a great surge in punk. China has had much exposure to American music in the past, but until the 1990’s was only really exposed to metal and classic rock. When the record companies started accepting more and more alternative music (starting with grunge), the Chinese punk scene began to grow. Today, the scene is very much alive, even rivaling the scene in Japan.
Tian An Men 89 Records
Tian An Men 89 Records is an international DIY record company that hopes to spread the message of solidarity and peace through music throughout the world. Started by Luk Hass, the record label is based in Strasbourg, France. The label is completely nonprofit and consumes much of Haas’ time. Tian An Men 89 does not even seek to gain much money at all; all records produced are produced only in vinyl and only 500 copies are ever made. Haas has said that he will not make CD’s, but does not object to a Tian An Men 89 compilation done in CD format, or using CDs when turntables no longer exist. The following quote is taken from the website:
“Tian An Men 89 Records was created in 1993 in the purpose of releasing punk music from parts of the world where, due to financial reasons, civil wars, or lack of record factories, there is no possibility for the bands to release their music on vinyl…
Tian An Men 89 believes individual positive actions and international solidarity can make a change towards a fairer and more beautiful world.”
Closing Remarks
To close, the punk scene internationally is touch and go. There are nearly dead scenes in the Middle East (with the notable exception of Israel) and northern Africa, to the powerful scenes in China and Japan. In between are the scenes in places like South America and South Africa. The size and “shape” of the punk scene is as diverse as the people who live it.
“The businessmen and pundits of the world can talk all they want about international trade and the free flow of ideas, but we're smart enough to know that's bull****. The pure rage of buzzsaw guitars transcends international boundaries in a way no commodity ever will.” (Brazilian Punk, by Stuart Schrader)
Please Note: If you have information that I have not written down, please share it in the comments. Punk is a global scene, and it would benefit all punks to hear what punks in other countries have to say. If you want information on specific bands, check out internationalpunk.com and/or get some issues of Maximum Rocknroll magazine (I think that’s the correct title). Thanks.
I would also like to thank the members of UG for information on this topic. Special thanks to Whyvern (for middle east information and the motivation to do this column) and Runefan88 (for support and all-around information). Information for the Brazil/South American scene history taken from Stuart Schrader’s article at speedstaterecords.com.
Lucky
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... Most of them are mine...
