What makes something “punk?”
It’s a serious question. What makes something punk? What’s the definition of “punk?”
I recently thought about this question based on a Facebook friend’s post: “You’ll never convince me that Blink-182 is punk.”
I tried to convince her, based on the style of music that Blink used to play, but it did no good. I deduced that it was only because she had a very specific definition of punk. She was a bit older than me, so she remembered the 1980s punk scene. And her definition (seemingly) is: the 1980s, mohawked, anti-establishment, living off beer and cigarettes, fighting-the-system types. Think Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols, who died of a drug overdose when he was 21.
The past few weeks I’ve been reading a self-authored book about the band NOFX, a punk rock band that formed in the early 1980s in Los Angeles. I’m about halfway through the book, and most of the chapters so far are stories of the band doing incredibly stupid things, somehow never being arrested for long periods or overdosing from drug use. They played fast punk music, and while they lived off beer and drugs, they weren’t the mohawked, anti-establishment, fighting-the-system types. They were just a bunch of immature kids playing music and trying to survive.
Were they punk? Did they fit the definition? The lead singer went off and formed his own record label. I think it’s safe to say he’s a millionaire. That doesn’t sound punk, does it?
And then there are other examples I think of, like Greg Graffin from the very famous punk rock band Bad Religion. He has a Ph.D. in anthropology and is a lecturer at Cornell. Is that punk?
Dexter Holland from The Offspring has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and is a multi-rated aircraft pilot. Is that punk?
A friend of mine recently went out on a date with a new suitor and she wanted to wear a skirt and motorcycle jacket. She’s also a retired federal prosecutor. Is that punk?
Of course there will never be an agreed-upon definition for what “punk” actually is, and I’m confident that most people will say that whatever punk camp they’re in is at least one definition of punk.
At my first thought, I determined there were two definitions: music and lifestyle. Sure, Sid Vicious was punk. But so is Greg Graffin.
The one commonality, at least that I see, is that “punk” is more of a vibe/lifestyle than anything else. It’s about individuality, going against the grain and not trying to be another “casualty of conformity” (to quote the quasi-punk band Sum 41).
Like me, for example. I run a marketing team for a nonprofit, volunteer at a local arts center, am a father of two kids, and I don’t do drugs nor engage in anti-establishment behavior. But I’m also the solo artist behind a punk rock music project called Everything Sideways, and I think 99 out of 100 people who listened to it would agree that it qualifies as punk music. I wear metal band t-shirts to my office. I play in another heavy metal band. I ride a motorcycle. I’ve gone to my fair share of protests. Am I punk?
Sure, why not.
Of course, in the end, it doesn’t really matter if I fit a definition or not. And maybe that’s the definition of punk: be you, whatever it is.
