The guest speaker’s introduction to punk rock was a fascinating thing in his early life. It all started in his childhood when he was taken by his uncle and aunt to a show. From there, Rich was inspired to make zines, which included band reviews and lyrics. Those zines are very similar to our Instagram posts in showing our loved ones and followers highlighting the aspects of a musician’s career or latest works. When Rich first saw his first punk rock show in Connecticut, he met with a lot of people through his zines and eventually wanted to form a band with them. This was an interesting event, as he noted that the event was predominantly male rather than women, as most of them were photographers.

       Rich’s main intention in pursuing punk rock was mainly due to its uniqueness. At the time, punk rock was a relatively new genre of music and didn’t have much popularity during that time. He appreciated how punk rock broke conventional music norms and embraced a do-it-yourself approach. The lyrics often tackled social issues and personal struggles that gave it a depth that many other genres lacked, especially with asylum seekers crossing through the southern border when he performed in one of the southern states. What sparked me the most about Rich was his involvement in other art disciplines, like graffiti, when he moved to Brooklyn, Revs, and other musicians, where he found a vibrant community of artists and a new source of inspiration. 

       After hearing about his punk rock career, I felt inspired to research more about it. Punk rock pushed back against many expectations of what music should be like during its time. Eventually, it became so popular that those expectations no longer apply. When looking at the album covers that were passed throughout the class, I grew interested in the album cover designs and the old CDs that were encased in them. It made me wonder about the accessibility of these albums during the 20th century, especially when music applications weren’t available to purchase music. The gifts left by Rich of the old-fashioned stickers and pins were precious, and something that added something special to my music collection.

When Rich Stremmes songs were playing, I enjoyed them. I liked the beats and I thought they were great songs. I did not like how he was speaking to us in a zoom call, since not only did it make it difficult to see what he actually looked like, but I think it’s more challenging to listen to someone and for the speaker to catch their audience’s attention through it. I liked the art on the vinyl disks he sent for us to look at, it was like graffiti art with a lot going on and it looked like they had deep meanings. I also think it was nice he gave us some freebies, especially the pins. He talked a lot about zines, which are small pieces of paper that are reproduced and shared to the public to spread a message, and how he used them to spread punk-rock related messages. One story he shared that shocked me was when his friend didn’t allow someone to enter a concert after they traveled there for six hours. He told him that if the guy killed someone then his friend is responsible for it, and later they found out he actually killed someone. Other than that, I would definitely prefer if he talked to our class in person, as I think it would make it a lot more interesting.

I think it was really cool to listen to Rich talk about the old punk rock scene. Rock and Metal is my favorite genre of music to listen to, and it was nice to hear about a culture that is considered its origin. I liked how he seemed to have strong opinions on different topics of punk rock, and I thought that his stories were interesting.

 

I also think that his story about turning away certain types of people from shows was interesting to say the least. I don’t necessarily agree with his viewpoint, since it is impossible to tell what a person will do if you tell them no, but I did find it cool to hear his thought process. I think it is a very similar thought process to the one that other fans of the genre have.

 

I thought the art on his zines were pretty cool, and they felt very authentic. You could tell the art was more about spreading a message rather than on the quality of the drawings, but it made the zines into a really interesting piece of artwork.

 

It was also nice listening to Rich’s stories about his rock experience, and they reminded me of one of my relatives who also was very into rock around the same time Rich was. I think that made his stories more enjoyable to listen too, since I was able to draw parallels to previous things I’ve been told.

I gained a great deal from our zoom call with Richard Stremme. For one, I acquired a great admiration for the punk rockers of the 1970s. They were highly ambitious and made immense financial sacrifices for their musical passion. In order to market their music, they had to create their own zines, reach out to bands and utilize artistry. They were true hustlers. This history rebutted my perception that the punk rockers were lazy. I thought many of them raged against the machine and the establishment because they didn’t want to work. Isn’t it common knowledge that they just wanted to scream at the top of their lungs? However, Rich’s description sold me on the idea that punk rockers were thoughtful people whose work and motivations were as legitimate as any other group of musicians. In addition, in the words of Rich, they engaged in a “labor of love,” as they always had to invest more money into financing their projects and almost never broke even. Breaking even was a fantastic accomplishment. They pursued art purely for its own sake in the same fashion as Robert Mapplethorpe. I think the message of punk art, described by Rich as raw individual expression, was influenced by its artists’ pure dedication to their work as opposed to money. Since they didn’t need to satisfy commercial interests, their art could be an outlet for the fullest expression of their individual selves. Additionally, since many of the early punk rock artists were not beholden to record labels, their message was not regulated from the top-down. They could be as anti-establishment and boundary-breaking as they wished. Thus, there is some truth to the idea that in art, there is purity in poverty. One who is not influenced by money and simply wants to produce art for an artistic purpose will likely create more authentic art. They will create art which is not reflective of market desires, but of their internal monologue. This is an oversimplification to some degree, as one can have multiple motivations and find a way to produce art which is both marketable and artistically fulfilling. However, one who does rely on the market will always be inhibited in their creative output to some extent-as they will be moved by its forces-even if such influence is subconscious. There are a couple of points to be made about three things which were raised during the zoom call. The first relates to the anti-racist thread of punk rock and the album called “Ashamed to be White.” Anti-racism has defined the cultural zeitgeist in recent years. The Black Lives Matter movement, as a social movement, was supported by a majority of Americans. Additionally, the capitalist establishment-meaning large corporations-were also heavily supportive of BLM. Furthermore, today, MLK is a figure who is revered by both sides of the political aisle. However, during the 1970s, racial egalitarianism was the subject of a polarized culture war. Those who critiqued their own whiteness-a notion which still raises eyebrows today-were regarded as extremist radicals. I may not agree with the idea that white people should feel guilt over racial injustices. I suspect Kimberly Drew would agree. The greatest degree of responsibility lies at the hand of systems of discrimination rather than individuals. Nevertheless, I sympathize with what the punk rock artists did. At the time, white pride was an unvoiced but highly influential idea that shaped racist power structures. In discussing whiteness in a critical way, the punk rockers questioned the assumptions of white superiority, which were often left unquestioned. Although white people shouldn’t feel a sense of shame in their identity, this genre of anti-racist punk art expressed deeper reservations about the harmful exclusion at the heart of “whiteness.” Egalitarian racial dialogue is a critical issue and we should all be grateful to punk rockers for pushing the envelope towards equality and away from hierarchy. A second point concerns the straight edge movement in punk rock. This was a movement to abstain from drugs, alcohol and promiscuous sex, which were perceived as excesses of punk rock. These behaviors had become so ingrained in punk rock culture that to be contrarian meant to be as abstinent as a Mormon. I think the same kind of reaction to the excesses of the punk rock lifestyle were paralleled in new age movements during the same time which were seeking meaning in spirituality. Just as punk rock was countercultural, eastern religions were perceived as distinct from Christian American culture. Today, arguably the No-Fap movement and the popularity of a “trad” lifestyle on social media platforms represent a reactionary response to greater openness to sexuality and pornography. Even so, these latter movements come from a place of close mindedness and are heavily influenced by the far-right. That is a potential reason why these contemporary trends do not inspire art like straight edge did. Straight edge, new age, vegetarianism and other searches for purity were part of a pursuit of an altruistic ethic and represented an attempt to open one’s mind to new ways of thought. On the other hand, the tendencies of intolerance and closing oneself off from the world seem to animate the contemporary pietistic movements more than openness. To become a traditionalist is not to explore something new, but to tap into a nostalgic, imagined ideal of restriction. Art must be creative and therefore must explore new ideas. That requires an openness, which is why great art was inspired by straight edge but has not been sparked by contemporary puritanical movements. A third point to make is regarding the neo-Nazis. Rich said he was opposed to punk rockers kicking anyone out of their audience because of their potential for violence in reaction to their exclusion. I would argue that tolerating neo-Nazis or other extreme figures emboldens and strengthens them. If they exist unhampered within one’s art audience, they can spread and grow. It is up to an artist to regulate their audience and to exclude hateful people-so that they don’t possess the influence necessary to cause significant harm. Otherwise, one’s message can be co-opted to support horrific causes. Although there is the possibility that people who are excluded will do harm as a result of their rejection, one could argue that it is not the exclusion but the hateful ideology which causes harm. The consequences of allowing such an ideology to grow within one’s artistic community are far worse than those of exclusion because fringe groups can do far more harm with social inclusion than without it. When it comes to something like deplatforming, one sees that figures who are silenced and banned from social media forums lose a significant degree of their audience. Although those people are pushed into echo chambers where they are only surrounded by people who share their extreme views, they are not able to spread their message to a wider audience when they are ostracized in this manner. An artist should not abdicate control over their message when their message is being used for tremendous harm. That is the limit to allowing one’s audience the right to interpret one’s art. The playwright for “The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits” echoed the same sentiment in our Q&A. In hearing from Richard, I can no longer state with confidence that punk rock artists are anarchist hooligans. On the contrary, they are as thoughtful as they are brash.

I had a fun time listening to Rich’s experience as a musician in the punk rock scene in New York. I love listening to a range of music genres, and punk rock is usually one I stray away from. Therefore, because I am so unaccustomed to it, I enjoyed learning about the genre, listening to the music, and I was able to put myself into the punk rock era of the eighties and nineties. Listening to Rich’s experience helped shine light on a rather misunderstood genre. 

I was particularly amused by the amount of effort it took not only to produce the music, but to distribute it and raise awareness. By doing this, spreading punk rock music created a subculture/aesthetic in the era solely through the music. For example, the band would gain attendance at performances simply by spreading flyers through a community, a much more difficult way than modern day, where accessing a community of consumers can be done so quickly via the internet. Rich also introduced the concept of “zines”, which were magazines that he personally made which focused on the punk rock genre. This showed that a successful musician combines art and business. Also, as a record collector, I loved being able to physically see the records — a direct time capsule from Rich’s band. These records were also distributed, at such a low price, to bring awareness to punk rock music. This also shows how different gaining a music platform was, as less people could listen to the music anywhere at any time from the internet. 

Finally, I found Rich’s personal stories about being in a punk rock band quite amusing. For example, he shared that punk rock concerts were often chaotic, bold, and loud, which broke societal norms through music. People were letting everything out and could confide in the music. Thus, Rich helped enlighten to me that punk rock was not only a genre, but a movement. 

 

When I found out that a guest speaker was going to talk to us, I was interested to know what aspect of art they will be discussing. The options, however, did not really appeal to me: DIY, punk rock, graffiti, tattoos, or poetry. The class settled on punk rock and I was willing to listen to what the guest speaker had to say.

The guest speaker, Rich Stremme, presented some highlights of his creative background and took us through a trip down memory lane. Stremme mentioned that his interest in punk rock started young at the age of eleven. He did not know much about this kind of music before because his musical background consisted of whatever was played on the radio. Stremme started writing a zine called Socially Unaccepted in middle school, and discovered the similar roots between reggae music and punk rock. Eventually, he formed his own band, Brutally Familiar, and went around touring on a national level. His anecdote about a show in El Paso, Texas where kids were border hopping to see his band perform shocked me. It put into perspective the recognition that I did not know punk rock artists received. This incident was the inspiration behind his band’s album Ashamed to be White. Stremme pointed out that punk rock is predominantly a male genre, and the few females that engaged with it were most likely photographers or in the background of crowds. I was not too surprised by this statement.

Rich Stremme dabbled with different artistic mediums, and his work with Revs inspired him to graffiti his story in New York City train tunnels. Ian Mackaye said that “punk rock is free space”, and Stremme added on to that idea by saying “if you did it first, you did it best.” Punk rock, especially in America, was different from traditional British punk because artists were considered “dangerous” if they dressed like average looking people and blended in. It was cool to see some actual 7 inch records and get a “vintage” pin and sticker, but by the end of the presentation, I was not persuaded to listen to punk rock music on my own time. Stremme emphasized that punk rock is not meant to exclude anyone, but it is one of those things where you either like it or you don’t. The natural divide happens because of how different the genre is from what is considered traditional.

Having Rich Stemme speak to our class and share his insights on the realities of the artistic world was both enlightening and humbling. I am so grateful that an individual such as himself who has accomplished so much and left such a creative impact on this world, would take the time to speak to us, answer our questions, share his work, and even create a slideshow presentation for us! What resonated with me the most was how driven Stemme has always been from such a young age. Even as a child, he went above and beyond to connect with punk artists, doing what others weren’t willing to do in order to build relationships with aspiring artists who would later influence his own craft. He did this at a time when social media was nonexistent, thus, making communication so much more difficult. We, on the other hand, live in an era where every resource is readily available to us, yet many of us lack the drive to fully embrace these opportunities and put in the necessary work. Stremme’s journey, therefore, inspired me to seize the opportunities laid in front of me, refusing to let fear or uncertainty define me or hinder my potential, as it is clear that fear did not hold Stremme back. In fact it was a driving force behind his success, only propelling his career further. He was fearless, constantly exploring new artistic realms and following his curiosity wherever it led him. Despite losing money along the way, he remained a free spirit, not guided or blinded by materialism, but rather pushed by his deep passion for art to continue pursuing his passion. His commitment to his craft continues to inspire younger generations, as he refuses to let the punk rock movement fade into history. Stremme pushes the boundaries of what is traditionally accepted and in doing so, challenges societal norms on all fronts, musical and moral. Punk rock is not simply a genre, it is a way of life, a bold expression of one’s beliefs without fear of judgment. It is a free space, allowing anyone and everyone to carve out what they want, without being confined by societal standards and limitations. It is truly a liberating philosophy that may be difficult to imagine, but embracing it could unlock a sense of freedom that allows us to soar, just as Stemme’s vision has driven him throughout his own artistic journey.

Rich Stemme, a member of the group Brutally Familiar introduced us to his experience in punk rock. He began his journey by creating zines in school, which were small magazines that spread his messages of punk rock and soon created his first demo tape. Stemme explained that to him, punk rock was more about spreading a message than wealth, which was proven by his 7 inch record. He claimed that although each sold for 3 to 4 dollars, they took approximately 5 dollars to create. When I held this record, it seemed very well done. I liked the artwork and packaging of the record, revealing that it must’ve taken a lot of effort to create.
Throughout his journey, Stemme met popular artists and played with popular bands, which I thought was interesting and amazing. Another fascinating fact that he told us was the difference between punk rock bands in Britain and America. In Britain, punk rock is like a culture, the artists dress up a certain way and are expected to act a certain way. In America, artists dress and act normally, they just create songs in the punk rock genre. Overall, though his experience was interesting and entertaining, I thought his music of hardcore punk genre had too much distortion, making it hard to enjoy.

Although punk rock isn’t my favorite genre of music, Rich Stremme really made me appreciate its history and how it contributes to music today. I especially found it interesting when he brought up the contrast between British punk rock and US punk rock. He mentioned that British punk originated as a platform for working-class expression and a strike against the government, while American punk leaned towards edgy themes. He mentioned the two punk worlds often clashed and did not appreciate each other’s music. It was typical for British punk bands to have outrageous lyrics and most of them were considered working-class misfits. Another thing I found cool was the 7-inch records. The ones we got to see had very interesting covers and I think they were so shocking because it was unusual to see something like that nowadays. The zines were also fascinating which were magazines that would spread messages of punk rock. They weren’t a way to seek profit but rather a way of self-expression and identity. This reminded me of the modern zines we have now which just consists of social media. It was intriguing to hear about his experience in El Paso because it really showed me how widespread punk rock was. The fact that punk rock was able to connect people all over the world was so impressive. I also really appreciated the cute pins we got at the end as well as the stickers!!