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We Owe You Nothing
The main thread that runs through We Owe You Nothing, a collection of 25 sharp interviews from the bi-monthly magazine Punk Planet, is that there can be joy in political cynicism, contrarian thought and professional activism — but achieving that sense of fulfillment in the gritty punk world requires a considerable amount of work. For anybody who’s already yawning at the concept, the book is more than another cold seminar on radical politics and musical purity. It’s rich with interesting, bitter and insightful people; characters mulling honest life choices and internal contradictions in a world where "paying the rent" is a constant concern. When someone like former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra bitches about being squeezed between both ends of the punk scene (commercial vs. home-grown), it’s worth a chuckle, but it also shows how tough it can be to walk the line. "Contrary to the punk fundamentalist ayatollahs who plague the underground … I don’t believe in cutting communications with my friends if they get mixed up with multinationals or blunder into success," Biafra told Punk Planet contributor David Grad in a 1997 interview included in the collection.
Punk Planet, whose main struggle is against the idea that "punk" has a particular orthodoxy, spends much energy on quiet counter-attacks against the kinds of bullies that Biafra loathes. Many of the subjects in We Owe You Nothing would consider themselves refugees from an underground where philosophically rigid, anti-commercial zines such as Maximum Rock n Roll (MRR) stand as hard-headed tastemakers. "All the people who are in charge of your punk media, who are giving out all these ideologies, have too much invested in not letting you see the outside world," said Outpunk and Queercorps founder Matt Wobensmith, a former MRR staffer who stopped releasing records in 1998. He continued: "It’s just like a monoculture; just like society at large. They want to cut you off. They want to take away your roots. They want to give you a false identity and a false reality. They don’t want you to see the outside world." Wobensmith’s interview appears in “Nothing Left Inside,” the last chapter of We Owe You Nothing (the book’s title comes from a line in the Fugazi song "Merchandise"). The decision by editor and zine founder Daniel Sinker to close the book with a taste of disaffection is important, because at times the rest of We Owe You Nothing reads like an underground Tony Robbins program. It’s 25 steps for figuring out what seems so easy: Do what you want, be creative, think about who you’re affecting, and don’t compromise your dreams. Without a sense of ongoing conflict, the interviews would simply add up to vignettes about surviving as a so-called freak. (Not that there’s anything wrong with it.) And what an obsessive lifestyle that can be: Consider record producer Steve Albini’s every unconventional artistic decision; Shelter guitarist Porcell’s Krishna devotion; and the fearlessness of activist groups such as Voices In The Wilderness, which illegally delivers medicine and donated items to Iraq. The 25 interviews are labeled as Punk Planet’s "best," but that’s not necessarily because the interviewers — although highly capable and knowledgeable — do a great job. It’s because the subjects are compelled to act in ways that "average" people aren’t. So where’s the fun, the joy? It’s all about perspective, and cutting through each interviewee’s work-encrusted exterior. One of the best conversations is between graphic artist Frank Kozik and John Brady, a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. Brady seems a little disappointed by Kozik, whose eye-popping, cartoon-inspired work is motivated more by rock ‘n’ roll hedonism than politics. Brady: "So in other words, the whole co-optation debate that has taken place in underground and punk music doesn’t bother you." Kozik: "I have no sympathy for weird punk victim people who blame the system for keeping them down. I dropped out of high school and I’ve been able to make a decent living doing exactly what I want my whole life. If I can do it, anybody can. That whole victim mentality is just one big cop-out. When’s the last time the system kept you down? When’s the last time organized religion stopped you from doing what you want to do? Yeah, if you get fucking high and go skate in somebody’s bank lobby, of course they’re going to shut you down." It’s possible that any of rap music’s more outspoken theorists — Chuck D, Ice-T, KRS-One — would share Kozik’s criticism of artists who can’t escape the victim role. Those three MCs in particular see old-school-style fun and economic empowerment as part of their mission. Unfortunately, We Owe You Nothing fails to dabble in hip-hop. The general flavor of the interview with Chicago-based Hispanic punk band Los Crudos is the only thing that comes close. In some cases, the subjects get a little defensive about the severity of their ideas, proving art and activism often fail to account for all angles of human nature. Take Ruckus Society’s Program Director Han Shan, one of the key activist talking-heads during the Seattle and Washington, D.C., protests against world financial institutions: "We have to let people know that what we’re proposing is not some austere, horrible future where everyone has to live in the cold and eat tofu. We’re not just a bunch of angry idiots that want to smash and destroy everything." Of course, Shan was preaching to the converted when he made that statement, but the message would have to ring true even for the most guarded reader. And that’s the strength of We Owe You Nothing and Punk Planet in general — it’s a classic case of show, don’t tell.
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