Capitals of Punk: Paris, DC, and the Circulation of Urban Counternarratives
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2017 Capitals of Punk: Paris, DC, and the Circulation of Urban Counternarratives Tyler William Sonnichsen University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Human Geography Commons, and the Other Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Sonnichsen, Tyler William, "Capitals of Punk: Paris, DC, and the Circulation of Urban Counternarratives. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2017. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4426 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Tyler William Sonnichsen entitled "Capitals of Punk: Paris, DC, and the Circulation of Urban Counternarratives." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geography. Derek H. Alderman, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Micheline Van Riemsdijk, Leslie C. Gay, Thomas Bell Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Capitals of Punk: Paris, DC, and the Circulation of Urban Counternarratives A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Tyler William Sonnichsen May 2017 Acknowledgements I've never been known as a man of few words. Here we go: First, I must extend my deepest appreciation to my doctoral committee for all their help in my time at the University of Tennessee. Thank you to my adviser Derek Alderman, whose exceptional standards as mentor, researcher, writer, and navigator of academia will always be what I'll aspire to in my own career. Thank you to Micheline Van Riemsdijk, whose sharp editing skills and qualitative wisdom have made me a better researcher and writer. Thanks as well to Tom Bell, whose enthusiasm for my research equaled mine for his. I doubt this dissertation would exist as it is had it not been for his work in musical geography. And last but not least, thank you to Les Gay for admitting me into your full ethnomusicology seminar my first week at UTK and for serving as my external committee member. I'm grateful for you and all of my colleagues over in musicology. Speaking of which, respect and gratitude are due to many colleagues I came up with through the UT Geography program. Too many names belong here to list, but you know who you are. I cannot wait to see everything great that you accomplish (and in many cases, already have). Outside of academics, I seriously appreciate how well the city of Knoxville has treated me since I moved here in 2013. Thank you to Sarah for her deep and unconditional support through everything these past few years, as well as the cast of other brilliant characters I have gotten to know throughout the region. I genuinely feel bad for those who have not been fortunate to experience what the Southeast has been accomplishing in comedy, music, and other arts. I must acknowledge the disparate contributions that various characters have made to this dissertation, no matter how far back or tangential their impact. Though name everyone would be impossible, I'll mention a few key players in the interest of mapping it out. Though his name ii appears throughout this dissertation, I must say thank you to Philippe Roizès for being a great informant and fact-checker throughout my research process. Thank you as well to Philippe Beer- Gabel for being a good point person and friend in Paris over the years. Thank you to Mathieu, Natasha, and the rest of Kimmo for welcoming me on my first visit to Paris, as well as to Ryan in DC for connecting me with them. Going back even further, I am grateful that my high school friend Jon lent me cash to buy a beaten-up copy of Minor Threat's Complete Discography CD, as well as the anonymous record trader at the Madison Arts Barn who sold it to me with the endorsement that “it's fuckin' awesome.” Going back even further, thank you to long-gone Music for a Song in Westbrook, CT for selling me my first Ramones CD, and thank you to Merle's Record Rack in Guilford, CT for selling me my first Rancid CD (as well as to the kind soul who sold it back to them so teenage me could afford it). Of course, I would be nothing if not for the support of my family. To Brittany, thank you for being a great sister and best friend. I can only hope to make you half as proud as you've made me. To Mom and Dad, thank you both for decades of love and support. I decided to leave DC and follow this path because you both supported my decision, and I'm grateful for that every day. Finally, this is dedicated to everyone who has worked hard to give Washington, DC such a unique and amazing local culture, and with the deepest respect to those fighting to maintain it. It needs to be said. iii Abstract In the history of underground music in the punk era, few cities’ scenes have garnered as much respect and influence as Washington, DC. Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Scream, Rites of Spring, Fugazi, and a deep catalog of other regional groups have accrued legendary status among fans of hardcore and have become subjects of popular books and documentaries. However, few accounts have investigated DC’s underground influence on other urban landscapes outside of the United States. This dissertation focuses on that relationship between DC and another iconic Western capital with a largely unheralded hardcore punk history, Paris. Using qualitative, ethnographic methods, this dissertation unpacks the dynamics and underlying geographic currents of this exchange. Based on primary sources like personal interviews and secondary sources like fanzines, correspondence, and recordings, the details of this unique slice of Franco-American cultural circulation are uncovered. Informants discuss their role within the circulation of music and ideas through alternative networks, and Parisians express impressions of Washington, DC as affected by that city’s subcultural diffusion. In the process, prevailing urban counter-narratives are unveiled and lessons discerned on the life cycle of profoundly changing urban landscapes. This dissertation ultimately proposes a circulation model through which to understand the movement of music as well as that music’s omnipresent role in collective sense of place. By understanding how and why punk circulated between Washington DC and Paris, geographers and other social scientists can understand the greater circulation of culture, public memory of urban landscapes, and these cities’ respective roles in global change. iv “Banned in DC with a thousand more places to go; Gonna swim across the Atlantic ‘cause that’s the only place I can go!” Bad Brains, 1982 v Table of Contents Prologue: A Tale of Two (DIY) Shows in Two Cities ................................................................... 1 Introduction: Welcome to the Show ............................................................................................... 9 PART I: GEOGRAPHY, CIRCULATION, AND PUNK LANDSCAPES ................................ 17 Chapter 1: Underground Landscapes as Counternarratives ...................................................... 18 Underground Scenes and ‘the Mainstream’ .......................................................................... 22 Circulation and the Urban Punk Landscape .......................................................................... 26 Chapter 2: Primary Sources, Ethnography and Reflexivity ...................................................... 29 Social Media and Qualitative Geography .............................................................................. 39 Flyering .................................................................................................................................. 43 Email Interviews .................................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 3: DC and Paris, Capitals of Punk ............................................................................... 48 Why DC? ............................................................................................................................... 50 Why Paris? ............................................................................................................................. 53 Why DC and Paris? ............................................................................................................... 57 Chapter 4: Punk and Musical Geography ................................................................................ 61 Punk and Social Theory ......................................................................................................... 66 Punk and Musical Geography ................................................................................................ 71 Music and Socially Constructed Space and Place