Skate punk became defined as a subculture through it’s implied resistance to the perceived mainstream of white middle class suburbia in which it maintains its position as an “outcast”. A subculture can be defined as a “formation of people whose appearance and actions deviate and differ from the normative values of their environment and particularly from the dominant culture of adults and parents” (Butz, 2012, p15). This definition is particularly intended for youth subcultures, and skate punk, being very much in its
infancy in the early 1980s and promulgated by mostly teens and people in their early 20s, appealed to this description accurately. What is intriguing is that this youth subculture has continued on into adulthood. This discussion section portrays how the negotiation and perpetuation of notions of authenticity further explain reasons for this occurrence and also addresses the future implications of the skate punk subculture.
The examination of the two music videos, both made in the mid 1980s (1984 and 1987) are an authentic representation of a subculture (skate punk) as portrayed and signified by the band Suicidal Tendencies. Their authenticity is reinforced by their longevity as they still tour and perform today, and it is
important to address whether they continue to express and manifest themselves through skate punk ideology.
There is a propensity of subcultures to become commercially absorbed into mainstream ideology as examined by Adorno and Frith, making them less viable as an impassioned social and political voice. I believe that Suicidal Tendencies are in an even stronger position to live an authentic subculture due to their success as a skate punk entity, which has elevated them to a position of complete self sufficiency, the height of D.I.Y. achievement. Having established Suicidal Records and continuing to tour on his own terms, the leader and vocalist of the band, Mike Muir, is the most enduring member as displayed throughout this thesis.
In 2012, Suicidal Tendencies released a “redux” of “Possessed to Skate”, filmed by Luke Sorensen in a derelict abandoned house filled with graffiti and young people enjoying the music, slam dancing whilst the skateboarders skated in the drained pool. This displayed that even though Suicidal Tendencies have been identified as a “cross over thrash metal band” amongst other things, 26 years after their original “Possessed to Skate” video came out, they are still perpetuating the same skate punk subcultural traits of
appropriating urban decay or suburban landscapes and using them for their own purposes. They are still acting “suicidal”, embarking in risk taking activity that was a definitive part of the skate punk subculture, they are still wearing the same fashion of bandanas, pendletons and shirts with their logo
and artwork on them, and they are still expressing the same theme as an “outcast of society”.
There are other skate punk bands and identities that continue to record music and tour, maintaining the D.I.Y. ethos, such as Black Flag, T.S.O.L, The Descendents, Reagans Youth, Duane Peters and Steve Caballero. Many of these bands come from the Southern Californian area, which was the origin of this strong subculture. As Ensminger describes in his book A Visual Vitriol – The Street Art and Subcultures of the Punk and Hardcore Generation, (2011, p109)
“…the dynamism and collusion between youth, punk and hardcore, and skateboarding may be seen as genuinely empowering: the kids were not bound by generic community attitudes and consumer trends but became producers themselves. They transformed the sense of local landscape, and their relationship to commodities, media, sports, and entertainment by forming a micro-economy, even micro-society, of their own…”
Many of those involved in this “micro-society” have perpetuated successful lives from their participation in this subculture. Southern California is still a hub of skate punks doing what they love and earning a living from it. This would be an interesting area of further study, garnering how skate punks from the early 1980s have continued to support their lifestyle and their families from a method that was considered rebellious, alternative and certainly a nonconformist method of work. The work/leisure dichotomy is well challenged in this context as these subcultural members continue to live the sociopolitical beliefs and lifestyle they wished to pursue when they were younger. This can be related to the purported meaning of authenticity, in which “high levels of self-awareness, self-direction and self-reflection” (Buchanan, 2010, p33) are pursued and worked towards, and as displayed by Mike Muir and his musical “project”, Suicidal Tendencies, are also achieved.
In this sense, this subculture is colluding with notions of neo-liberalism, the very political entity it fought against, however, skate punk is also corresponding with dominant forms of society and utlising them in a way that promotes their own agenda. As Adams explains in his paper, “The reflexive self and culture: a critique” (2003, p223), the individual is no longer painting by numbers, so to speak, she is creating her own work of art. Potentially then, spheres of autonomy and control are supposedly opening up for the individual. We can increasingly determine the nature of our identity through conscious choices. Giddens refers to this process as ‘the reflexive project of the self’” (1991: 52–5).
There is still more self autonomy when you are in control of your own domain, even though it is considered precarious labour. In a world of deindustrialisation, precarious labour is becoming increasingly common. It would be intriguing to conduct further research in regards to precarious labour in the culture industries, focusing upon those that are a part of skate punk subculture. Chivers Yochim’s term “corresponding cultures” focuses upon how subcultures negotiate the way in which they “are always moving in relationship with dominant conceptions of youth, current norms of identity, and contemporary appeals to youth.” (2010, p23)
Suicidal Tendencies used dominant constructs of society when they needed them, for example, a major record label, but this was done in such a way that they would only sign a contract on their own terms and conditions giving them continued artistic control over what they were producing. Suicidal Tendencies did not conform by changing their name or their sociopolitical subject matter, and still to this day produce records that are often perceived as having controversial, non-conformist subject matter, choosing to be self autonomous in their decision making. The lyrics have always been about thinking for yourself and continue to be so.
The perpetuation of the Frankfurt scholars argument as expressed by musicologist, Simon Frith, of how the transformation of art into a commodity sapped imagination and withered hope (1981, p268) is an interesting issue regarding the subculture of skate punk and how it continues to negotiate commercialisation. I would argue that skate punk is still on the outer, having not been completely adapted into a mainstream way of life. The skate punk bands I mentioned continue to hold a strong sociopolitical agenda that they have not compromised. None of those listed bands have ever gained infamous popularity like Blink 182 or Green Day who were described very early on in their careers as skate punk, but now, with their large commercial success, are described as the large commercialised entity of rock or punk rock. This is also an issue that is worthy of further investigation and analysis.
REFERENCES
Adams, M. (2003) “The Reflexive Self and Culture: a Critique”, British
Journal of Sociology, (Accessed 20 September 2013)
Buchanan, I. (2010) Oxford Dictionary of Critical Theory, Oxford University
Press: Oxford
Butz K. (2012) Grinding California: Culture and Corporeality in American
Skate punk, Transaction Publishers: New Jersey
Chivers Yochim, E. A. (2009) Skate Life- Reimagining white masculinity,
University of Michigan Press: Michigan
Ensminger, David. (2010) A Visual Vitriol – The Street Art and Subcultures of
the Punk and Hardcore Generation, University Press of
Mississippi/Jackson:USA
Frith, S (1981) Sound Effects: youth, leisure and the politics of rock n roll,
Pantheon Books: New York
Giddens, A (1991) Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late
Modern Age, Stanford University Press: California
[This is an excerpt from my Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) Honours Thesis, submitted to the University of Wollongong Arts Faculty in 2013. I am publishing excerpts from this thesis in multiple posts. The thesis aimed to explore the youth subculture of skate punk, how its expression perpetuated authenticity through the aesthetic form of the music video, and how this was reflexive of society at a deeper social level].
[copyright 2023]