Music

Writing in The World is Sound, Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness (1991) Joachin-Ernst Berendt notes that Nada Brahma is often ‘understood as the primal creative word, source of the world and sacred knowledge…It is one with man’s inner consciousness’ . He concludes, ‘Nada Brahma means [therefore] sound is god. Or, vice versa...God is sound’ . A Sanskrit term that goes back thousands of years to the oldest of the four sacred Vedic scriptures – the Rig-Veda – Nada Brahma is a term used to encapsulate the power of sound in religious texts in our interpretation of the world around us, and is argued by many to be the cosmic sound associated with both the creation and sustenance of the universe. The sonic in this context, therefore, has a spiritual embodiment; a temporal ‘body’ that is loaded with divine meaning. 

Within this paper, I wish to explore the idea of Nada Brahma within the rather unusual context of the American-based straightedge punk subgenre termed as ‘Krishnacore’. Here, punk musicians and writers fused together the transcendental nature of the oral, with the characteristics of Western punk music, amalgamating the Indian-based, Vedic spirituality of the Hare Krishna movement with the fast, ‘aggressive’ musical stylistics of punk rock. As such, lyrical subject matter became infused with prayer, and the punk rock stage became a podium for preaching Krishna Consciousness. Subsequently, instead of Vedic scripture being expressed within the traditional form of Indian devotional song – such as ‘bhajan’ or ‘kirtan’ – the talk of saranagati (surrender), of reincarnation, and even sacred mantras, were now espoused within a punk rock aesthetic.

I will briefly trace the path of Krishnacore from its roots in American straightedge, looking specifically at the ways in which many of the core principals of the Hare Krishna movement also lent themselves towards a synchronicity with a subculture such as straightedge. Afterword, through an analysis of lyrical content and musical stylistic, I will explore the complex relationship between Nada Brahma and the apparent transcendence of the divine beyond cultural and musical boundaries: looking to find the expression of an Indian theology within a non-traditional setting such as punk rock. In conclusion, I wish to highlight the way in which the sonic/oral tradition of the Vedas has fed through to modern times, providing an extraordinary and remarkable basis of expression in an American subculture such as straightedge punk rock.

Born from my anarcho-punk Call for Papers, and inspired by Alastair Gordon, of 'Endless Grinning Skulls' and 'Geriatric Unit' fame, the Punk Scholar Network had its inaugural meeting in November 2012, where a number of punk scholars met at De Montfort University in Leicester and kickstarted a global effort to bring together the diverse academic (and other) strands of punk writing. We have our first symposium proper on Friday 19th April at the University of Reading: an event held in association with the Subcultures Network, the University of Reading, London College of Communication and Tyne Metropolitan College.

20 years since legendary anarcho-punk group Crass released their highly challenging LP Yes Sir, I Will, this symposium will explore the impact and long-lasting legacy of Crass and anarcho-punk. Crass are widely perceived as ‘reluctant leaders’ of the anarcho-punk scene; an ironic title for self-proclaimed anarchists, of course. The central question, for this study day, is: were Crass and anarcho-punk scene significantly effective politically or, alternatively, was the anarcho-punk scene surreptitiously more about clothes, music, image and ‘symbolic rebellion’ (to use Adorno’s term)?

An idea inspired by the ‘punk rock’ fiction of Robert Dellar, Ted Curtis, Stewart Home and Martin Millar; by the DiY-trodden path of fanzine culture, immortalized by the likes of Sniffin’ Glue and the incorrigible One Way Ticket to Cubesville; by the revolutionary antics of Guy Debord, Attila the Stockbroker and Chaotic Dischord; and finally, by the punch-ups and shenanigans at numerous ‘academic’ ‘punk’ conferences across the globe. This is a volume based upon a punk rock adventure that will delve into the very bowels of punk and the diaspora of subculture: for this is an adventure entitled Tales from the Punk Side.

Developing curriculums and pedagogical approaches to the teaching of Punk music is a poorly investigated area within Music in Higher Education. The growing capability for institutions to develop programmes in these popular music areas have led to an appropriation of traditional teaching methods in some areas and innovative groundbreaking processes in others. The aim of this edited volume is to capture the contemporary thinking and doing of teaching practitioners around the world exploring their practice as punk pedagogues.

The very idea of any kind of pedagogical approach towards punk, at first glance, appears paradoxical, nonsensical and just plain imprudent. If, on 6th November 1975 – the date of the Sex Pistols’ first gig at Saint Martin’s School of Art – John Lydon was told that in years to come punk would be taught in classrooms he most probably would have laughed in your face, reacting to the comment with a profanity not suitable for students’ ears. But does he have a point? Does ‘punk rock’ really have a place in lecture-halls? Is it complex and colourful enough for the classrooms? Should we really be ‘enshrining’ the music in academia, in the same way in which we’ve already done with the music of Mozart, Schubert and Mahler? Yet the Beatles are taught on the AQA A-Level syllabus, and the Gallagher brothers are transcribed within the Edexcel A-Level Music Anthology. Will ‘punk’ be on an A-Level syllabus next, taught to youngsters as they sit behind a desk, timetabled to attend pogo-ing and spitting lessons and workshops on how to upset old ladies at bus stops: a kind of armchair DiY culture gone wrong? This talk will investigate the ambiguities around punk pedagogy: how do we address punk in the lecture theatre or classroom? How do we teach such a culture that is apparently (and inherently) so anti-establishment that punk itself may not wish to be discussed by academics and students alike? Looking at the many issues involved with teaching such a complex and exciting scene, these questions will be raised, explored and perhaps even answered. And the title, about housework, fighting and page 3? It is a quote from The Subhumans’ ‘From the Cradle to the Grave’: indicative listening in preparation for the presentation.

The Punk Scholars Network’s first Annual Post-Graduate Symposium provides a national and international forum for postgraduates currently working/researching in the area of punk to meet, network and exchange ideas in an informal and colloquial environment.
The First Annual PSN Postgraduate Symposium will be held at the University of Leicester on Thursday 30th October 2014, and we invite both postgraduate and graduate students to submit proposals.

An eclectic collection of academic articles, personal recollections, short stories, artwork, poetry and more. An anthology of work about Punk written by the survivors and by those who want the world to see not just the writings of those who were in the bands, but by those who were the supporters of the punk movement.

As noted in Flex! U.S. Hardcore Discography, Excel were ‘fast powerful skate core with strong speed metal influence; still firmly in the hardcore camp regarding vocals and production.’ It concludes, ‘if you’re into Suicidal Tendencies in their phase between hardcore and metal you’re going to like this a lot.’ Formed in 1983 by Dan Clements and Adam Siegel, Excel harked from a West Coast punk/hardcore scene built on eclecticism and experimentation, with a list of bands including The Germs, Flipper, Circle Jerks and the Dead Kennedys, to highlight such a diversity. (Cont.)