Henry Rollins.

[hmxhenry]

Just came across this quote of his, and thought it was worth passing along:

“If you hate your parents, the man or the establishment, don’t show them up by getting wasted and wrapping your car around a tree. If you really want to rebel against your parents, outearn them, outlive them, and know more than they do.”

I may not enjoy every single thing that he has done, but few people in punk / hardcore have been as prolific, multi disciplined and (most importantly) as willing to evolve as Rollins. There's not many people that could approach the punk ethos, a genre historically bent on nihilism and self destruction, with the same kind of positive attitude seen in the quote above.

He's pretty much the poster boy for the accessibility of underground music, in that he got to join his favorite band in the world. No hoops to jump through, no elaborate contest to find a new front man for Black Flag, no pedestals. And for him to grow from there into someone articulate and expressive enough to juggle the outright rage of Black Flag and the Rollins Band with spoken word, poetry, and tour journals is simply astounding. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more even tempered elder statesman to represent punk rock at this point in time.

[Runesmith]

“If you hate your parents, the man or the establishment, don’t show them up by getting wasted and wrapping your car around a tree. If you really want to rebel against your parents, outearn them, outlive them, and know more than they do.”

This is so going on my Facebook profile.

Uh, I mean...if I had a Facebook account.

[AxlVanHagar]

I may not enjoy every single thing that he has done, but few people in punk / hardcore have been as prolific, multi disciplined and (most importantly) as willing to evolve as Rollins. There's not many people that could approach the punk ethos, a genre historically bent on nihilism and self destruction, with the same kind of positive attitude seen in the quote above.

.

Agreed 100% Henry. Rollins is freaking awesome, one of the few people in music whose interviews and spoken word outshine the music side.

[Oggih]

Recently saw his stand up/spoken word thingy when he was here in Sweden and it was fantastic. ...and he liked my Devo-shirt!:D

[cherokeesam]

God bless Henry Rollins.



.....Does that mean we can expect Black Flag DLC anytime soon, Henry? :)

[thedaniel]

God bless Henry Rollins.



.....Does that mean we can expect Black Flag DLC anytime soon, Henry? :)

You have an awesome thought pattern.

I think this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_3g4QPojMc) whole interview provides so many awesome Henry moments.

[Onslaught_fei]

I love his standup comedy. He gots the great bit about his first job working in a lab with mice.

[Soror_YZBL]

This is so going on my Facebook profile.

Uh, I mean...if I had a Facebook account.

I do. And I did. :) It's brilliant, and applies not only to kids, but all of the grownup kids I know.

[Nuff_Said]

I will never forget the first time i watched Jonny Mneumonic (sp?) and fell in love with Rollins. And shortly after saw a live Black Flag performance and never looked back.

[Cubecubed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vgQalXaIxs

on a related note,this gave me nightmares when i was younger.

[Nuff_Said]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vgQalXaIxs

on a related note,this gave me nightmares when i was younger.

great track, but can't top this one. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OHTxs0JkQk&feature=related)

[WhiffleBallTony]

He came through my town recently doing spoken word. For some reason, I was stupid enough to not go. I really regret it :(

[JukeBoxHero]

I haven't checked out his work but that is a brilliant quote, I love it. :)

[rockfresh126]

I pretty much hate Henry Rollins (Black Flag was ok at best). He just reminds me so much of all these Hair Metalists you always hear on VH1 talking all the time about how great they were and how awesome their genre was, when in reality they didn't mean jack squat.

[Oscar-Rio]

I pretty much hate Henry Rollins. He just reminds me so much of all these Hair Metalists you always hear on VH1 talking all the time about how great they were and how awesome their genre was, when in reality they didn't mean jack squat.

really? Comparing one of best examples of the Punk attitude to the clowns in Hair Metal bands, arguably one of the furthest genres from Punk, is a pretty absurd comparison.

[Soror_YZBL]

I pretty much hate Henry Rollins (Black Flag was ok at best). He just reminds me so much of all these Hair Metalists you always hear on VH1 talking all the time about how great they were and how awesome their genre was, when in reality they didn't mean jack squat.

Apparently you've never actually *listened* to Henry Rollins, so your point is moo. Like a cow's point.

[Lolicat]

WWHRD

I like some of the stuff Rollins has done, and appreciate most of it because at least he's doing something he believes. Sometimes, only sometimes, he does begin to sound just a little like a nagging old woman though.

[King_Nuthin]

I don't agree 100% with rockfresh, especially that BF/punk rock are irrelevant or the comparison to hair metal, but Hank does have a tendency to pop up in just about every scene documentary coming off incredibly self absorbed and important and occasionally a bit hypocritical when condemning the violence towards the end of the 80s hardcore scene.

I like what he has to say in general, as HMXHenry's post reminds me.

[Oscar-Rio]

Hank does have a tendency to pop up in just about every scene documentary coming off incredibly self absorbed and important and occasionally a bit hypocritical when condemning the violence towards the end of the 80s hardcore scene.


i'm just going to assume you meant Henry.

He was there in the middle of it all, so why shouldn't he be featured in the docs?

[King_Nuthin]

i'm just going to assume you meant Henry.

He was there in the middle of it all, so why shouldn't he be featured in the docs?
I'm talking about the way he presents himself, he has the tendency to project himself as bigger than the scene at times and he frequently condemns violence while boasting about cracking a few heads of his own in the next breath.

[Oscar-Rio]

I'm talking about the way he presents himself, he has the tendency to project himself as bigger than the scene at times and he frequently condemns violence while boasting about cracking a few heads of his own in the next breath.

That's who Henry Rollins is though. I wouldn't expect him to be any other way.

[hmxhenry]

I pretty much hate Henry Rollins (Black Flag was ok at best). He just reminds me so much of all these Hair Metalists you always hear on VH1 talking all the time about how great they were and how awesome their genre was, when in reality they didn't mean jack squat.


I'm talking about the way he presents himself, he has the tendency to project himself as bigger than the scene at times and he frequently condemns violence while boasting about cracking a few heads of his own in the next breath.

Weird, I've never gotten this vibe from him. I've always thought that he was very self deprecating and super aware of the fact that he was in awe of his friends / heroes like HR, Ian Mackaye, Greg Ginn, etc. And from his days in SOA, to Black Flag to Rollins Band, I think it's safe to say that he's always been a very aggressive guy. He's mellowed out a bit in recent years, but even with the angle on clean living he's never quite ventured into pacifism. Maybe I'm missing something?

He's always a highlight in scene documentaries for me, mostly because he's so enthusiastic. I don't think I've ever seen him talk about how great he was or how great his contribution to Black Flag was though. He's still a huge Black Flag booster though, and I think he has every right to be. He was a fan before he was in the band, and he never completely shook that hero worship.

So when he talks about Black Flag setting the standard for hard working independent bands, SST rewriting the rules on DIY record labels, and being in a band that were literally trailblazing punk tour circuits across the US I don't think it's self congratulatory back patting as much as it is a recollection of the facts from the perspective of a super fan.

I love this quote from his book Get In the Van (which is absolutely required punk / hardcore reading, IMO): "This is who I am. I am a guy who used to work at an ice cream store in Washington D.C. I am of average intelligence. There's nothing special about me. If I can get this far, I would be very surprised if you couldn't get at least twice as far."

[sonicnerd23]

But Henry, isn't he a liar? :D

In all honesty, it's a cool quote.

[King_Nuthin]

Weird, I've never gotten this vibe from him. I've always thought that he was very self deprecating and super aware of the fact that he was in awe of his friends / heroes like HR, Ian Mackaye, Greg Ginn, etc. And from his days in SOA, to Black Flag to Rollins Band, I think it's safe to say that he's always been a very aggressive guy. He's mellowed out a bit in recent years, but even with the angle on clean living he's never quite ventured into pacifism. Maybe I'm missing something?
Maybe its just perspective, because I guess I can see how it can be interpreted that way. For someone who got involved at the tail end of the west coast scene listening to him talk like DC was the center of the universe and bad mouthing the west coast scene at times may come off a different way.

I understand why he gets a lot of camera time in the scene docs, he's well spoken, intelligent and still relevant with a lot of fans. But I usually find myself wishing he'd get off the screen and we'd see more of the guys that didn't become cultural icons after the scene faded.

[hmxhenry]

Maybe its just perspective, because I guess I can see how it can be interpreted that way. For someone who got involved at the tail end of the west coast scene listening to him talk like DC was the center of the universe and bad mouthing the west coast scene at times may come off a different way.

I can definitely see how that would change your perception of the man. Not trying to defend him or anything, but looking at his relationship with DC vs. LA it's not hard to see why he favored one over the other.

DC got him into hardcore, made him a ton of friends, introduced him to the Bad Brains, got his first record pressed by Dischord, and offered a much more nurturing and accepting scene.

Then he quit his job, moved to LA almost penniless, slept on the floor of the offices of SST, got beat by the cops, had mobs shut down their shows on a regular basis, lived there during the tension of the King riots, got hooked on drugs, had his apartment robbed and saw his best friend shot in the head.

So I can see why he'd have some decidedly... hostile feelings towards LA.


I understand why he gets a lot of camera time in the scene docs, he's well spoken, intelligent and still relevant with a lot of fans. But I usually find myself wishing he'd get off the screen and we'd see more of the guys that didn't become cultural icons after the scene faded.

Yeah, Rollins definitely gets a lot of time. He's a larger than life character, and he's super outspoken. I'd love to see a documentary along the lines of American Hardcore that focuses solely on the supporting players in the scene. Vic Bondi (or Articles of Faith) was one of my favorite parts of American Hardcore, if only for the fact that he's one of those madmen you don't usually get to see talk.

[King_Nuthin]

Yeah, it just kind of diminishes it when he relegates the late days of the scene to a bunch of dumb jocks. I do think it was also a time frame thing, because he was in LA for the end and in DC for the beginning. Its not as if DC in the mid 80s was heaven and free of violence.

Ultimately every scene I've ever been around has kind of been taken over by people into it for their own reasons and flamed out spectacularly.

[hmxhenry]

Ultimately every scene I've ever been around has kind of been taken over by people into it for their own reasons and flamed out spectacularly.

Yeah, and taking into account the generally self destructive nature of hardcore in general it's no surprise that this is, unfortunately, par for the course. It's why I expect all my favorite bands to break up within 3 years, and why most of my favorite releases are from bands that put out a 7" and then completely imploded. That urgency and intensity really comes across in the music, but it's ultimately a ticking time bomb.

With Rollins it's definitely a reflection of that time and place. Being in DC at that time and being in LA at that time and seeing the entire first generation of hardcore from the fan and band perspective and being one of the few people still invested and coherent enough to discuss it... that definitely puts him in a unique position to comment on the scene.

I get what you're saying though. He's definitely part of that "hardcore is dead" camp that always comes off as pining for the Salad Days. There's some bit he wrote where he talks about how mellow music is now, and nothing is intense any more and he closes it out by saying "I'm not a snob either, I just can't forget what I know". And all I can think of is the kids out there sweating in vans to destroy a set in the basement of some VFW in the middle of nowhere just because, and it seems like punk is doing just fine to me.

[cdestey]

scenes, lol

[hmxhenry]

scenes, lol

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the term "scene" but for lack of a better word...

Clique? Social group? Tribe? Sub culture? Pick whichever one you find least offensive to designate a small group of people with similar interests in music, style, social beliefs, etc.

[gusano311]

i was just amazed every time i have seen rollins live in whatever he was doing at the time(spoken word,rollins band) it was always so brutally honest and awesome.

[King_Nuthin]

scenes, lol
What word do you suggest, all of Henry's alternatives seem to imply its more about the social belonging than the music. I've been going to shows since I was 12 but never really felt like I was in any kind of clique/tribe/social group. It was always just my local scene, whatever city that happened to be in at the time. Nobody would ever accuse me of dressing like a punk that's for sure.

[cdestey]

What word do you suggest, all of Henry's alternatives seem to imply its more about the social belonging than the music. I've been going to shows since I was 12 but never really felt like I was in any kind of clique/tribe/social group. It was always just my local scene, whatever city that happened to be in at the time. Nobody would ever accuse me of dressing like a punk that's for sure.

That's weird, I thought I typed out an explanation, but my browser must have taken a dump on me. Let's see if I can recreate it:


The word "scene" as of late just has negative connotations for me, all I can think of is douche bag hardcore guys in basketball jerseys talking about unity and straight-edge while administering 5 on 1 beat downs of anyone they don't like. See: FSU, Rick Ta Life, anyone with an Earth Crisis tattoo.

[King_Nuthin]

Well yeah, all that is lame. I always thought of those guys as "crews". And obviously nobody likes them outside their crew.

I know scene is used negatively either to call someone a "scenester" or to describe the mass-market version of "emo". But I'm just using it as short hand for "music scene".

[hmxhenry]

The word "scene" as of late just has negative connotations for me, all I can think of is douche bag hardcore guys in basketball jerseys talking about unity and straight-edge while administering 5 on 1 beat downs of anyone they don't like. See: FSU, Rick Ta Life, anyone with an Earth Crisis tattoo.

Yeah, again, I think that all depends on your frame of reference. Boston has a tremendous "hardcore support network" (if, we're avoiding the "s word")... lots of amazing bands, labels, zines, photographers, promoters, venues, etc. Shows definitely feel different in different cities, and I think that's part of what makes regional music so great. That something can have a "New York sound" or a band can give off a heavy "Seattle influence".

But yeah, it's been ages since I've seen a "jersey clad Earth Crisis strewn tattoo'd beat down". Maybe in the mid to late 90's, but things have relaxed a lot. There's those people in every social group, of course, but there's always more beneath the surface.

[cdestey]

But back to what you said, I agree that a lot of the time, Henry speaks in sweeping generalizations about what happened to hardcore in the late 80s. I remember him saying that hardcore was what happened when the "hell yeah! guys" got guitars, obviously meaning jocks, frat boys, etc. A little disrespectful to the few guys from that era that actually had talent and something to say, but he was there, I wasn't, so I'll just take it with a grain of salt.

The guy's really funny and he travels all over the world seeing stuff that most of us will never get a chance to. He has great stories and does a fine job telling them.

[King_Nuthin]

But yeah, it's been ages since I've seen a "jersey clad Earth Crisis strewn tattoo'd beat down". Maybe in the mid to late 90's, but things have relaxed a lot. There's those people in every social group, of course, but there's always more beneath the surface.
That's precisely when I moved from Boston. 1998. I saw a few of them but since I stuck to the punk shows for the most part it was rare. Some of my bike riding buddies would drag me out to a hardcore show now and again, I think 10-Yard Fight bought a bunch of BMX bikes right before they released their album and we ran into them and we went to their show at the Middle East and were able to drink peacefully in the back without incident. Score one for tolerance in Cambridge.

[cdestey]

But yeah, it's been ages since I've seen a "jersey clad Earth Crisis strewn tattoo'd beat down". Maybe in the mid to late 90's, but things have relaxed a lot. There's those people in every social group, of course, but there's always more beneath the surface.

Really? I'd refer you to the Boston Beatdown DVDs released in the early to mid 2000's.

And it's not just the violence, it's the abject stupidity of some of these people (again, Rick Ta Life). Watch the NYHC Documentary (http://www.amazon.com/N-Y-H-C-Documentary-Frank-Pavich/dp/B00118SUIO/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1206728676&sr=8-1) for some of the funniest idiots ever captured on film. But yeah, that was 90s stuff.

But again, this clearly isn't what the thread's about, or what you guys were referring to, so I'll just leave it at that.

[hmxhenry]

Really? I'd refer you to the Boston Beatdown DVDs released in the early to mid 2000's.

No, you're right. It exists and it is ridiculous. I've seen them and I've met some of those guys and I've been to some of those shows. But it's one small part of the larger picture, and unfortunately it's one of the most often sensationalized pictures of hardcore. A few bad apples will always ruin the bunch. Yeah, some of them are in bands and some of them go to shows, but there are far more constructive and intelligent people involved with hardcore and they're the ones that make it worth sticking around for.


That's precisely when I moved from Boston. 1998. I saw a few of them but since I stuck to the punk shows for the most part it was rare. Some of my bike riding buddies would drag me out to a hardcore show now and again, I think 10-Yard Fight bought a bunch of BMX bikes right before they released their album and we ran into them and we went to their show at the Middle East and were able to drink peacefully in the back without incident. Score one for tolerance in Cambridge.

Awesome! I remember being blown away when I watched the TYF documentary that came out right after they broke up and the guys in Blood For Blood were singing their praises. If the most negative, destructive and angry beer swilling bands out there can get along with one of the most positive, constructive straight edge bands then things can't be all bad! Again, mileage may vary depending on location, but I think that this is the general tone in hardcore now. There's not a lot of bands that go around knocking drinks out of peoples hands any more.

[instantdeath999]

That's a fantastic quote.

[MrFruitLord]

If I ever have rebellious kids that love Black Flag...

[hmxhenry]

If I ever have rebellious kids that love Black Flag...

There's a reason early copies of Black Flag's Damaged lp bore a sticker reading "As a parent...I found it an anti-parent record (http://www.painkillerrecords.com/cc/bidhc2/061008-antiparent.jpg)"!

[NormanCoxwell]

^I enjoy Black Flag. Doesnt really make me rebellious. I guess it does somewhat. It helps release frustration. Good music to drum with, punk rock is, when one is upset. Its much better than kicking in a door or getting drunk and making a hole in the wall with a hammer (and just for the case, Im not refering to either of my sisters, they're not bad... just made some mistakes, in these hypothetical possible situations)

Its a sophisticated and well delivered line but the lesson has come swiftly and easily to (hopefully) most people already, at least I. Such a philosophy is basic but powerful. I came up with one like it when my sister had her second DUI and a second when she had to go to court over DUI and crashing into a stone wall. That car was supposed to be mine. Oh well.

Either way at least the man is intelligent if not to the point of understanding the power of media. One can make philosophy but it takes a lucky man to be able to do anything with it. Good for him.