Punk
A pep talk with Ian MacKaye on the eve of the US elections
How to handle anything, from Brexit to Trump — Words of advice from the punk pioneer in case the worst should happen: Get offline and have real conversations. Stop trying to blow one another up.
Written by: Andrea Kurland
The psychedelic punk creating a safe-haven for artists
Acid Priest — When photographer Lee Kirby stumbled across a vagabond in designer clothes, he found himself opening a pandora’s box that would change his life. But for Lee Trosclair, renegade-turned-muse, the story is just beginning. In a world that undervalues art, he’s kickstarting a cultural revolution from an unlikely place.
Written by: Cian Traynor
The South African skate punks sparking a cultural revolution
A Soweto (Re-) Uprising — South Africa is still reeling from decades of divisive rule. Students are protesting against colonialist remnants of the past and communities still exist within borders. But in Soweto, the township-turned-city that first triggered the fight for civil rights, a new counter-culture is burning. It’s raw. It’s punk. It doesn’t give a fuck. And it’s writing its own history.
Written by: Nas Hoosen
What it's like to tour Brexit Britain as a non-white musician
Battling anxiety in the face of ignorance — After being racially abused in the street, Vanessa Govinden had a frightening realisation: her band Little Fists was about to tour post-Brexit UK for the first time, exposing to her a nation fraught with rising xenophobia. This is the story of how she overcame the panic.
Written by: Vanessa Govinden
The countercultural manifesto of rasta punk Don Letts
'The minute you want what the Man is offering, you’re fucked.' — To celebrate 10 years of Huck, we're digging through the archives to unearth our favourite stories. For Huck 22: The Counterculture Issue, the 'visual terrorist' who introduced reggae to punk revealed why great things happen when worlds collide.
Written by: Cian Traynor
Rock, racism and rebel music: 1970s Britain through a photographer's lens
Punk not prejudice — In the 1970s racism was rife in the UK, prejudice permeated the fabric of many British towns and cities. But groups like Rock Against Racism fought back; organising protests, gigs and celebrations to pull communities together, putting themselves in serious danger in the process.
Written by: Max Gayler
The punk counsellor using his DIY ethic to promote mental health and wellbeing
Stability through punk — Peer counsellor and punk Craig Lewis suffered three decades of unnecessary medication and abuse at the hands of the psychiatric system. Today, he offers young punks struggling with mental health challenges an alternative path to recovery.
Written by: Alex King
Transcending the cruel rhythms of life in Edmonton, Canada
Music-making in the “northern shitty oil-city” — Dave Ehrenreich’s documentary ‘Rhythm of Cruelty’ follows the Canadian band of the same name, duo and romantic partners Brandi Strauss and Ian Rowley. Ehrenreich shows how Strauss and Rowley are attempting to revise the negative stereotypes which they say are associated with Edmonton by following their dream of touring their experimental punk band.
Written by: Christopher Sanders
Myanmar’s punk pacifists are healing their divided country
Punk Buddha — Punk’s pacifist roots have endured around the world, from anti-war protestors to Riot Grrrls. Now that history is continuing in Myanmar, a country divided by religious conflict, where a group of altruistic rebels are refusing to give into fear of ‘the other’.
Written by: Adam White
The Firestarters: meet the photographers who captured punk
Style that still burns brightly — As Punk London’s year-long celebration takes over the Photographers’ Gallery with an exhibition of punk portraits, photographers Derek Ridger and Anita Corbin share the stories behind their iconic images.
Written by: Jack Richardson
