On Sunday Nov. 20th the Peruvian underground movement suffered a big loss. Outsider artist Leonardo “Bacteria” was found dead at his home. He was known for such acts as MDA, Insumisión, and Pestaña. He was also known around town for running a small label, Ya Estas Ya Producciones, and his wild antics for which he was loved and hated. He partied so hard at one point that one afternoon he was woken up on the front lawn of a random home somewhere… completely naked.
One of his first projects was a noisecore act called MDA.
He was truly making “noise not real music” and was always at the vanguard. Although he was a big fan of hardcore punk, he was never satisfied playing it in its traditional styles.
His second main project was Insumisión. He had a guy in the band whose job was to break stuff on stage. One of the guitarists was from Dios Hastio.
Insumisión – “Suicidio en Masa”:
0:20 He samples Daniel F. from Leusemia from a famous live recording.
0:37 Los Crudos
Insumisión live:
Later on he started an electro-pop band called Pestaña which achieved some success and was able to tour South America and play in Argentina. He helped launch Adrivainilla’s musical career with this band.
EAT THE RICH! It’s a MARCH OF THE (economic) UNDEAD!!
We have been scrambling and scrounging a living for an eternity and now we are HUNGRY FOR RESOURCES!
We are a unified group of people who are 99% dead! At our last eternal meeting we decided to organize with the living to gain greater access to resources our movement needs to succeed!
Our undead army will be dancing, chanting, and trick-or-treating our way through One of San Francisco’s wealthiest neighborhoods looking for the sustenance we crave….JOIN US!!!!
Monday, October 31st HALLOWEEN The corner of Jackson & Scott in San Francisco Meet at 6:30 to share choreography March/Dance/Shamble at 7 sharp
In addition to the fun and festivities, we will be asking the members of the 1% to join us in the cause of widespread social justice, using their bodies as well as their wealth.
**This is intended as a family-friendly event: consider costumes and behavior that are appropriate for children trick-or-treating around us.**
Alta Plaza Park is accessible via the MUNI 3, 24, and 22 lines. We will be meeting at the Jackson and Scott entrance to share dance moves, chant sheets, and do last-minute undead makeup.
October 30th, 2011 by MRR Web Coordinator Comments : No Comments » Categories : News
Brazil’s punk scene lost one of its most talented, charismatic and all around good guys on Tuesday, September 27. Edson “Redson” Pozzi, singer and guitar player in local legends Cólera, died at 49 years old of internal bleeding caused by an ulcer.
Well liked by practically everyone who knew him personally and admired by most who didn’t, Redson was, since the early ’80s, one of the most original and influential voices in Brazilian punk. While most tried to look mean or reproduce the usual political discourse of the time, he adopted a more positive stance since the beginning, bringing to the table subjects such as ecology, pacifism and so on.
Starting in 1979, Cólera was one of the first punk bands in Brazil. Formed by Redson and his brother Pierre on drums, they were soon (1980) joined by Val on bass, forming the classic line-up that would record their best material. After almost 20 years out of the band, Val would return in the late 2000′s which gave young kids a chance to see the classic trio live.
In 1987 the trio spent about six months in Europe and became the first Brazilian punk band ever to tour abroad. Two decades later, people in Europe who saw them live back in the day would still ask me about them and sing Cólera songs to me in the original Portuguese.
Of all the classic Brazilian punk bands from the early ’80s, Cólera was the only one that never turned its back on punk or DIY ethics. While their contemporaries tried (some succeeded) to make it big by turning metal or new wave, they kept pretty much the same formula all along: energetic, melodic hardcore punk with extremely catchy choruses.
For this reason they were idolized by generations of punks all over the country who would endure live shows that could last up to three hours, always singing along to the whole thing, over 30 years after they began. Some months ago I booked Cólera on a festival and asked Redson to play a shorter set. He refused to play less than an hour and 20 minutes, “because the kids won’t let us leave.” I thought he was making it up. Turned out it was true, and they played for an hour and 45 minutes and every song was sung along by most of the kids. Almost 30 years after their “prime,” that’s how popular they were.
I can’t think of a single person in the scene who didn’t feel personally affected by Redson’s death. From gutter punks to youth crew kids, everybody loved him and looked up to him. It’s weird to imagine São Paulo without the man who wrote so many of the city’s informal anthems.
By now we know you’ve heard about Occupy Wall Street, and maybe you’ve been thinking, “We should do that here too!” Well, folks, your time has come. Occupy Together is a website dedicated to solidarity “occupations” nationwide and worldwide. Check in to find the actions in your area, and if you don’t see it on there then, by golly, get your friends together and start one up yourselves! Go to www.occupytogether.org and get involved…
Dylan Williams passed away on September 10, 2011 from complications due to cancer. He was 41 years old. Dylan was a cartoonist, a comics historian, co-owner of the Portland-based DVD/bookstore The Bad Apple, and founder of Sparkplug Comic Books publishing.
Sparkplug introduced a new style of business into comics culture; one that managed to meld comics purism with punk ethics and provided a home for developing young artists and old weirdos alike. Dylan’s consistent focus, and the catalyst for starting a publishing company in the first place, was to put out work that he loved and felt deserved a wider audience. Publishing based on sentiment rather than on perceived market demand may not be seen as the best business model, but Sparkplug was successful by consistently being a community presence and by releasing some of the most interesting books in independent comics. Dylan cared about the work foremost and truly wanted what was best for the artists he published. To gain some insight into the profound effect that Dylan had on others, one only has to turn to the dozens of personal tributes posted in every corner of the internet since his death: Austin English, Zak Sally, Olga Volozova, Aron Nels Steinke, Sophie Yanow,Landry Walker, Gabby Schulz, Comics Journal, Comics Reporter…
Dylan was a person who was surrounded by love and his goodness was acknowledged and celebrated while he was here. He leaves behind his wife, Emily, his family, and many friends. I feel lucky to have known him and will miss him.
At the time of this writing, it appears as though Sparkplug will continue to operate. Please support them by buying comics: www.sparkplugcomics.com
“The thing is, if people are going to exclude you then fuck them. Do it your way. And if you are ever in the position to exclude others, try not to. Encouraging people is like the greatest feeling in the world. It gets rid of all that selfish shit that just ends up hurting everyone. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m a bitter old asshole but I feel like I fight it at every turn.”
—Dylan Williams (from an interview on Jason Miles’ Profanity Hill website)
Sometimes people come into our lives with the force, elegance, and nimbleness of water. Musician, photographer, and patient advocate Kathy Johnston invoked those traits. “Kathy was such a huge part of our lives. We already miss her intensely,” band mate and friend Trish Herrera is quick to testify.
My own heart filled with crows when I heard that she passed away barely beyond midnight on Sept. 4th, 2011, due to a longtime bout with leukemia, which stirred an outpouring of sympathy on punkwomen.wordpress.com, where Tracy Richardson noted, “Kathy was a talented musician, animal lover, friend and humanitarian. I am one of the many who will miss her. She helped me be a better person.”
The Mydolls in 2009 (L-R): Kathy Johnston, Trish Herrera, Linda Younger and Dianna Ray (photo by David Ensminger)
A bit estranged after returning to Houston after my stint in Oregon a few years ago, I soon encountered the Mydolls. Fortunately, they opened their arms and welcomed me. I began snapping photos of the band, documenting their lore and ephemera, curating their archives, and evening substituting on drums for original member George Reyes when he was stuck out-of-town. Bass player Dianna Ray and guitarist and singer Trish Herrera became vital “informants” for a series of articles I penned examining women, Hispanics, and gays and lesbians in the punk and hardcore scene. These texts later formed the backbone of my book Visual Vitriol.
The band was already legendary in my mind, ever since hearing them in the mid-1980s on the Cottage Cheese From the Lips of Death compilation. Being their companion only increased my awe as they helped me organize gigs benefiting victims of heart disease and cancer and led efforts to popularize, promote, and teach at Girl’s Rock Camp Houston. Kathy Johnston, the iconic fifth Mydoll married to Dianna Ray, was a heartfelt, diligent presence during all these activities, bringing her wit and honesty to the forefront.
“In the 1990s, we had a couple of short-lived bands. Women with Instruments (WWI) and Black Dresses with Kathy. WWI was a crazy fun band with an euphonium player!” Herrera recalls with glee. “Black Dresses was more of a folk-oriented type musical endeavor, and we wrote wonderful songs, helped raise money for animal rights activist groups, and played out a few times, but never really got it off the ground. It was then we discovered how talented Kathy was at guitar, who led most of the creative power behind the Black Dresses combo. The late 1990s brought Mydolls back together to perform occasionally, and we asked Kathy to join us.”
This past summer, Johnston joined my band No Love Less, featuring half of the Mydolls, at Sugar Hill Studios, where she acted as a dependable, acute ear as we re-cut songs for our first EP. She teased me about the homemade smoothie I kept at my side, which she thought might be chock-full of calories. Such easygoing humor was a distinct trait.
“There are models for the person who you would easily welcome into your trust,” tells Bob Weber, drummer for Really Red and Anarchitex. “It was obvious at the first moment that I met her, many years ago, that Kathy was loving and honest and tender and vibrant. I was merely lucky to have known her due to my long time friendship with Dianna, and honored to be present at the ceremony of their partnership. I am not a poet, so what should I say except ‘I loved her.’”
Singer Mary Manning has not forgotten the tenderness that Johnston provided guests at her home as well, “Kathy was the consummate care giver–always concerned about the comfort of her friends. When I used to stay with her and Dianna, she always took care that the bed was made — with the cleanest sheets, lots of pillows, plenty of blankets — and always a stuffed animal, just in case you needed it!”
On stage, when I played with the Mydolls, Johnston would effortlessly pound her percussive bells alongside me as I tried to mimic Reyes’ Latin and tribal-infused drum wizardy. More so, her guitar work, nuanced and willowy, made the Mydolls’ tunes richer and more deeply woven. “She and I had a private language when we played, and it made the experience so earthy and grounded having her there. In Kathy’s honor, Mydolls is gonna record “Don’t Fucking Die.” With fierce love forever, Kathy. Fuck Cancer! Oh Cancer UP YOURS!” angrily remonstrates Herrera.
Determined to play live music even in her days of sickness this past scorching summer, Johnston became an emblem of punk fortitude and perseverance, resilience and passion. The Houston community will miss her deeply and fondly. In those chords forever buzzing, others will come forth to build a new nation, in which no lovers, anywhere, should be at the mercy of unjust laws.
Johnston and Ray married in 2005 and lived without bounds; others are not so lucky. Her memory will keep generations focused, and keep the beat pulsing to a revolution worth dancing to. As Keri Knott recounts, Johnston’s “energy stretched across the room” when she met her. Now, that energy stretches forth, tirelessly, connecting the spheres, as Walt Whitman once wrote, ‘Till the bridge you will need, be form’d – till the ductile anchor hold.”
September 13th, 2011 by MRR Web Coordinator Comments : 2 Comments » Categories : News
In March 2010, Bruce Roehrs passed away leaving an irreplaceable void in the lives of his family, friends and the punk world. Though he is gone, his immense contributions will never be forgotten. What ever Bruce meant to you, please raise your glass to him this weekend, his birthday weekend. Posted here are pages from Bruce’s memorial issue, MRR #324. SYFATB
August 26th, 2011 by Mariam Comments : 2 Comments » Categories : News
Our old friend Bob Suren, who you may remember from Sound Idea distro/record store, sent us this link to download a 3-hour-long special of all Florida punk DJ’ed by him, Pete Watson, and Shane Hinton on Tampa, Florida’s WMNF. They even made themselves an advert for it on YouTube!
UK anarcho-punk legends ANTISECT, Virginian crusters APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT, David Ensminger on his book Visual Vitriol, the Bay Area's NEGATIVE STANDARDS, the OMEGAS frm Montreal, Canada, Ireland's ONLY FUMES AND CORPSES, South Africa’s first punk band POWERAGE, the Bay Area's NO STATIK, Japan's ZYANOSE, YOUR PEST BAND and SKIZOPHRENIA, EUTANASIA and Rock Subterraneo in Peru, and Greek scene report. Cover by Guillem el Muro.
Buy issue #349 here — use drop-down to choose your location:
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On Sunday Nov. 20th the Peruvian underground movement suffered a big loss. Outsider artist Leonardo “Bacteria” was found dead at his home. He was known for such acts as MDA, Insumisión, and Pestaña. He was also known around town for running a small label, Ya Estas Ya Producciones, and his wild antics for which he was loved and hated. He partied so hard at one point that one afternoon he was woken up on the front lawn of a random home somewhere… completely naked.
