Punk Diaspora

Remarkably long breaks

It’s been quite a while since the last post, and there’s still so many bands and artists to cover. I’m sorry for the immense delay – it was just after 18 months of pushing to bring this project together with funding, and traveling, logistics and meeting so many new people, I really needed to take…

Bhanuj Kappal, Journalist-Mumbai

“Everybody has a great album in them. Everybody has a great song in them. Anybody can make music. It’s not the preserves of the elites or people who make great solos. “ Bhanuj Kappal, Music Journalist Bhanuj had to put up with all my selfie taking during my two weeks in Mumbai. He graciously accepted…

Punk on Toast, Mumbai

“People would say – man – what the fuck is this? And we would say, man – this is interesting. This is some kind of expression. They don’t have that fake image. That’s the beauty of it.” Kaka, Punk on Toast These guys are some of the most low key, hilarious and yet surprisingly political dudes I…

Lightyears Explode, Mumbai

“There’s two bits about punk, right. There’s like that bit that’s relatable and there’s that bit where it’s just like, you look at people and they’re really cool, like they have like this bigger than life personality.” Saurabh Roy, The Lightyears Explode I somehow managed to make it to the cafe on time during rush…

Rishu Singh, Ennui.Bomb, Mumbai

“Punk rock…can mean anything to anyone…and fuck you, I’m punk rock. I don’t need your opinion to tell me what is punk rock.” Rishu Singh, Ennu.bomb Rishu Singh is a legend. He is the beloved owner and founder of Ennui.Bomb, which is simultaneously a record label and a promotions/events production company based in Mumbai. Rishu…

I <3 Los Angeles

The things I learned about my practice in LA. I need to be: Be prepared to connect offline – When I landed in LA I only had 2 confirmed meetings for the roughly 15 days I was in the city. Trying to introduce my work or this project online to artists was brutal – I got…

Thee Commons and Yanga, Los Angeles

“Punk is being yourself without worrying about the consequences of being yourself, and being true, and that’s what we’re doing, that’s what we do in this music.” Tony Martin, Yanga An LA Weekly article led me to the psychedelic punk/cumbia sound of Thee Commons. David Pechaco, the lead singer and one of the guitar players,…

John Gaudry, Headline Records – LA

“I think you have different types of levels of sensibility, you know, and what you can absorb in pain…and there’s some people, you know, they just need a little thing and it’s going to be fine…but you have some people that need a lot of pain, just to put their feelings and depression and all…

Adrian Tenney – Badlands, Los Angeles

“I did definitely feel like for the most part very taken care of by that [punk] community, mostly when touring. I was really blown away by the hospitality of the people in that community. Giving you food, giving you a place to sleep, always doing their best to make sure you get paid. It’s a…

Daryl Gussin – Razorcake, Los Angeles

“…DIY punk can’t be fully captured, understood, or expressed by men. Diversity will only make us a better punk publication. Please help us out: razorcake.org/contact“ Razorcake.org Daryl is the Managing Editor of Razorcake, the non-profit fanzine that is now in its 15th year. It’s kinda amazing to see how a passion project by a few core…

Elliot Lefko – Goldenvoice, Los Angeles

“…they didn’t really care, they’d sleep on the floor, they would play for whatever money, their tickets were cheap, and the music was really good.” Elliot Lefko, describing the punk bands he first started working with. Elliot Lefko has booked some legendary bands. He booked the first Toronto shows for Nirvana, SNFU, and the Nil’s to…

Sri & Jayson from Doctors & Engineers, Los Angeles

“I will do this in whatever way I want, in whatever percentage that I want, of like, you know whatever you think is South Asian versus whatever you think is American, because on any given day we are floating in those percentages between our worlds.” Sri, Doctors & Engineers Like all good quasi millennials – I…