Q&A: American Hardcore Author Steven Blush
By Justin Hoenke Nov 4, 2010Last month, Feral House published an extensively updated and expanded second edition of Steven Blush's American Hardcore: A Tribal History, considered the definitive book on the subject by fans (see also the excellent 2006 documentary). To promote it, Blush did a mini book tour of New England libraries. LJ reviewer Justin Hoenke talked with the New York City-based author about the revision process, plus what public libraries can take from the DIY mentality.—Heather McCormack
What compelled you to write American Hardcore in the first place? And why did you find the need to update the book so extensively?
I didn't play in a band, but I participated in the early 1980s hardcore scene. I promoted many all-ages concerts with bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Dead Kennedys. Half these bands crashed on my couch. Suffice it to say it was a crazy time!
Flash-forward to the late 1990s—hardcore was starting to get name-dropped, and much of what I heard seemed wrong. Then there was a history of rock 'n' roll series on PBS that jumped from The Clash and The Sex Pistols straight to Nirvana, as if hardcore had never happened. I couldn't tell if that was because they didn't know of it or if it was just too ugly to be treated as a viable form.
When I started the book in 1995, there was little info on the subject. Aside from my memories and record and fanzine collections, all I had to go on was 100 or so sit-down interviews, plus the dusty old boxes of archives of the interviewees and others. The original hardcore scene was a lost subculture, and similar to archaeology, I had to arrange all these rare artifacts into a narrative. Through the success of the book and the American Hardcore documentary, as well as through all the information and networking I've done on the Internet, I've learned so much more and have even reached new conclusions. I had one last chance to get the story right. To me, the American Hardcore book is anthropology and American studies disguised as a rock history.
What do you hope to get out of touring libraries? Why did you choose them as a venue for promotion?
Part of the book's initial success in 2001 was taking it to the heartland on an extensive six-week national tour of independent book and record stores. I knew Portland, ME, teen librarian Michael Whittaker from his former life as a publicist at Black Flag's SST Records, so when he suggested a DIY punk-style tour of public libraries, I was sold. Also, I come preaching an important message of DIY self-empowerment, and libraries are ideal forums to help mold young minds. Plus, everyone pays lip service to "doing it for the kids"-I guess you can say I'm putting my money where my mouth is!
What was your motivation for adding the chapter "Destroying Babylon"?
Hardcore in some ways served as a replacement for organized religion-all its participants of varying degrees agnostic or atheist. Everyone believed so passionately in the power of hardcore, and its radical new ideals took on a sort of evangelical belief. A Minor Threat song inspired the straight edge movement, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags records led to punk acceptance for mutant faiths like Rasta and Krishna. So I felt this was an important subject to explore in my definition of American Hardcore as much more than just a music scene or genre, but as a self-sufficient subculture. The chapter, in a very different form, was attempted for the first edition but got edited out. So I tried it once again with new perspectives and a half-dozen more interviews.
How did you compile the extensive discography? Did a lot of it start with your collection or was putting it together a collaborative experience with other members of the hardcore community?
The discography was like a book in itself, with untold hours poured into it. My vast collection only accounted for maybe five percent of the total. So it was a communal effort with others who still believed in the importance of hardcore history. I recall amassing scraps of papers with discography info I'd scribbled off friends' collections, like sitting at Sal Canzonieri's kitchen table and writing as fast as possible off his tapes and vinyl. For this second edition, with the aid of the Internet and the follow-up research of Deanna M. Lehman, the section is now 40 percent expanded and stands on its own as a definitive document.
How did you go about compiling all this material? Also, how did you come up with the ideas for the different sections? Did the interviews or the format come first?
The research was a long and methodical process. When you consider thebook's two editions, plus the film, over 15 years, but in truth an entire lifetime. As for your question, I wrote and researched for a year before the interviews, which either confirmed my beliefs or set me off on new tangents. In other words, the format came first, but in some occasions the interviews swung the format in new unforeseen directions. In some instances, my text weaves around the quotes, but in most I posit my theory and let the subjects hash it out among themselves.
Another important aspect of the book is how the artwork on every page serves as editorial, enhancing and/or emphasizing the correlating type on each page.
Hardcore was overlooked by the music industry, so its practitioners forged their own path. Likewise, I see a lot of librarians taking matters into their own hands and developing a pretty rabid fan base. What can modern libraries learn from the hardcore movement?
Hardcore's DIY mentality is something modern libraries could take cues from. The scene preached making your own opportunities and thinking outside of the box. So don't sit around and wait for the inevitable budget cuts, branch out with dynamic new ways to raise funds or create awareness. Be as self-sufficient as possible, roll with the changes, and remain true to your ideals. The rabid fan base you describe comes from a few pioneering spirits making a difference with unconventional approaches and an "each one teach one" ethic.
Does the spirit of DIY live on after the closing of seminal clubs like CBGBs? How? Where?
The immediacy of the information age destroys all notions of subculture, so there can never be another scene like what took place at CBGB or in the hardcore days. I don't know if that's good or bad or just different. So I'm not sure where the spirit of DIY lives on. I'd prefer to say that DIY is a great ethos to live by. Don't look to others, and you won't be disappointed; do what you love, and do it yourself!
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