A distinctive element of new musicology from the period of Romanticism included the notion of authenticity. This is prevalent within the generation of punk music. Rising up through the counter-culture movement of the 1960s, the notion of authenticity in relation to music was the understanding that being influenced and bound by the principles of a capitalist society (such as rising from the working class and then signing with a major record company) made you inauthentic to your musical representation (Barker, 2007). The understanding of rock music as compared to pop music parallels the ideology of skate punk: “Pop implies a very different set of values to rock. Pop makes no bones about being mainstream. It accepts and embraces the requirement to be instantly pleasing and to make a pretty picture of itself. Rock on the other hand, has liked to think it was somehow more profound, non-conformist, self-directed and intelligent“ (Hill, 1986, p8).
However, all forms of music are subject to issues of commodification in the way it is packaged, sold and marketed, it is the way in which the artist deals with this commodification that contributes to their authenticity. The skate punk music of Suicidal Tendencies focuses upon standing up for what they believe in as individuals. The music videos of Suicidal Tendencies mirror the explanation by Marshall Berman in his book The Politics of Authenticity, in which he expresses that “The search for authenticity, nearly everywhere we find it in modern times, is bound up with a radical rejection of things as they are…the desire for authenticity has emerged in modern society as one of the most politically explosive of human impulses.” (1970, pxix) This is very obvious in “Institutionalized”, which explicitly rejects the power and dominance of mainstream institutions (“I went to your schools/ I went to your churches/ I went to your institutional learning facilities”) which aim to control the minds of the youth and then blame them if they are not conforming with hegemonic societal norms, for example, if they are dressing differently, listening to skate punk music, and enjoying skateboarding and slam dancing as portrayed in the video.
I would argue that one of the main ways in which Suicidal Tendencies displayed their authenticity was through their apparent lack of interest in what people thought of their music. This was discussed and expressed in countless interviews with the band and reflects the theoretical understanding of Giddens reflexive self. “No longer bound to fixed, culturally given identity positions, modern subjects, perhaps for the first time, face the burden and the liberation of constructing their own identities – we have to choice but to choose how to be and how to act” (Giddens, 1991, p75). The definition as outlined in the Context section of this thesis, aligns the understanding of authenticity as being characterised by high levels of self-awareness, self-direction and self-reflection.
That is to say someone, whose life may be considered authentic is always fully aware of both what they are doing and why they are doing it. (Buchanan, 2010) The music videos of “Institutionalized” and “Possessed to Skate” uphold similar themes and values. Both are displaying an adult/youth binary that is reflective of mainstream/alternative understandings of American society. There was a distinct message being delivered, live the life you want, be self directive, challenge hegemonic norms as entrenched in the
suburban middle class society of Southern California. Appropriate the representations you do not like and change them. Seen in this sense, authenticity can be known as a product and not as an inherent quality.
Authentic meaning was also created in the subculture of skate punk through the Do It Yourself (D.I.Y) ethos. As defined in the Context section of this thesis, the meaning of authenticity “…derived from the Greek, autos, or “self” and hentes, or “prepared”, implies something done by one’s own hand and thus a reliable guarantee of quality”, (Jay, 2006, p17).
The D.I.Y ethos had always been an integral part of the punk movement and this was no different in Southern California where the Do-It-Yourself attitude/ethos of punk, in which rented VFW halls, Xeroxed gig flyers, and cheap tape decks could create a whole underground musical community.” (Ensminger, 2010, p107) Once again, this displays the self-directive authenticity that was exemplified by Suicidal Tendencies. They started playing for fun in the backyard of the house that Mike Muir lived in with his brother. Suicidal Tendencies would charge people to come and watch them play and named these gatherings “rent parties”, as the money raised contributed to their rent payment. Muir described how these parties were supported by the “local population [who] …had the hand-drawn shirts…” (Fo, 1987, p58), the gigs were advertised by means of home- made flyers, even when they began to tour (in cities throughout the United States, other than their own as they could not get a permit) they did it independently, practically starving to make ends meet on the road. They did it their way and never compromised.
The notion of authenticity as presented by Adorno, Frith and Grossberg is mainly concerned with abstaining from mass commercialisation. Suicidal Tendencies worked correspondingly with the music industry (they admitted they needed major label support to make any money (Fo, 1987, p61)) to maintain control of how the band was marketed and the image they portrayed. In his interview with Thrasher magazine in 1987, Muir expressed how major record labels wanted them to change their name and their look. Muir would not acquiesce to these demands, but eventually found a major subsidiary label (Caroline records which was owned by Virgin) that worked out a deal for one record with total artistic freedom, meaning they got to record where they wanted to, pick out the artist for the cover artwork with full conceptual control, and design their advertising (Fo, 1987, p61).
Their videos, whilst filmed by an upcoming filmmaker, Fishman, were total directives of the band. Mike Muir featured as the protagonist in both of the videos. The band and rebellious youths in “Possessed to Skate” turned the house into their own skate park by themselves. The featured skaters were Muir’s friends, some were a part of the Dogtown scene such as “[Steve] Caballero, Natas Kaupas, Eric Dressen, Jesse Martinez and a bunch more” (Fo, 1987, 62). In “Institutionalized”, the repeated lyrics claimed “I’ll figure it out myself/”. It is the interference of the parents and other adult societal institutions that attempt to stop this process and as a result, rebellion ensues. Muir displays how figuring it out himself empowers him to stand up against the conformist elements of society that he does not believe in.
REFERENCES
Barker, Hugh and Taylor, Yuval. Faking it: the Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music. W.W.Norton and Co., New York, 2007.
Berman, M. (1970) The Politics of Authenticity: Radical Individualism and the Emergence of Modern Society, Atheneum: New York
Buchanan, I. (2010) Oxford Dictionary of Critical Theory, Oxford University Press: Oxford
Ensminger, David. (2010) A Visual Vitriol – The Street Art and Subcultures of
the Punk and Hardcore Generation, University Press of
Mississippi/Jackson:USA
Fo. M (1987) “Mike Muir”, Thrasher, May 1987, pp 56-63 (Accessed 20 September 2013)
Giddens, A (1991) Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Stanford University Press: California
Jay, M. (2006) “Taking On the Stigma of Inauthenticity: Adorno’s Critique of Genuineness”, New German Critique, No. 97 Adorno and Ethics (Winter 2006), pp. 15-30, (Accessed 12 March 2013, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27669153)
[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].
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