Date: 11th January 2020
Location: Bibliotèque l'Alcazar - Auditorium, Marseille (France)
Price: free entry
Hola amigos! Today, I’ll talk about punk/punk hc! No, don’t be so sad! I know that it’s not brutal-grind-death-power-violence-and-so-on, but you must really read this! ‘Cause “classic” punk is just as important as metal… or even more :P
I’M KIDDING! (No, I’m not hahahah)
Let’s try to be serious now!
Last month, I’ve had the chance to take part in a really interesting event: a punk “conference”, in Marseille, France. How’s that fucking possible? Punk? Conference? I still remember when I read “Costretti a Sanguinare”, an Italian book on the history of the punk scene, written by Marco Philopat [WHOAAA, nice quote, girl! This book, titled after "We Must Bleed" by The Germs, is very good! - Flavio]. In one particular chapter, the author talked about all the mess created by the fact that a few sociologists held a conference in order to talk about punk. On that occasion, a punk guy went there, cut himself and asked the sociologists to analyse his blood.
But this is different, this time the conference is held by those who were (and are) part of the punk scene. They lived it, they felt it and they were involved in it. But it still remains the fact that a lot of people are sceptical, ‘cause they think that you shouldn’t do things like that such as go to conferences or fucking meetings to talk about something that should be so spontaneous and out-of-line. But, as we know, in the punk movement, there are far too many inconsistencies, and I think that people, sometimes, should learn to shut the fuck up instead of criticizing everything! In this case we’re talking about something great not only for the stories told, that are a milestone of the punk heritage, but also for the fact that in this technological era (I’m quoting a band, let’s see if you guess it!), it’s a marvellous way to meet face-to-face and to talk and share ideas, thoughts. And this is something that we are losing nowadays, ‘cause we’re living behind a screen. That’s the antithesis of punk, isn’t it?
So, after this prelude, I’ll now talk about the conference, ‘cause I had the chance to interview one person that was there that day! He played and plays an active role in the south France’s punk scene; he organised many concerts and wrote in several fanzines!
During the conference, a lot of people spoke. Some of them were younger and some of them were older, and they pointed out, the difficulties they faced, the bad opinions that bourgeois people had (as they said, they live in Marseille, not Paris for example, and in the ‘80s, the situation was way different than nowadays), because being punk in a city like Marseille at that time wasn't easy at all! But, at the same time, they were also surprised by all those people that liked punk music and went to gigs!
They talked about the best places where they have seen the concerts, music stores and all the initiatives they created. How in general the south of France was seen by the rest of France, especially Paris (there must be a reason if it is called Ile-de-France eheh, I’m kidding!).
I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the conference, especially the mise-en-scène: in fact, during the breaks, when there weren't any speakers talking, they put on music, videos of the old gigs and at some point there was even a guy who started playing the saxophone (if you don't like the idea, I suggest you to listen to the X-Ray Spex!).
I was so impressed by this conference, which is part of a bigger project: "Punk is not dead. Une histoire de la scène punk en France, (1976-2016)", set up by CNRS (CESR, THALIM) and ANR. The Marseille conference was the thirtieth one.
As they say in the flyer (yes, I’m reading it in French, summing it up and translating it from French into English… I must really love Timpani allo Spiedo ‘zine!) [hehehe! - Flavio], in Marseille the punk scene first appeared in 1978. Punk played a crucial role in Marseille thanks to the fact that there was a dynamism in the working-class neighbourhood, thanks to the importance of social aspects of life and thanks to all the bands that were born in that moment. Since that moment, punk gained importance not only from a musical point of view (there were punk, rock and reggae bands), but also for all the collectives and fanzines, that tried to create an identity, separated from rhe Paris one. I personally love Marseille’s punk bands, such as the Warrior Kids! In one song, they call Marseille “ville morte” ("dead city" in French), but in my opinion Marseille is full of life and energy, and they proved it to the world by the punk scene!
The old band of Momo, who is in the middle
of this pic.
Now it’s time for you, brutal people, to read this interview!
I’ve interviewed Stephane, known as Momo by his friends! As I said before, he was and is an active part of the south of France’s punk scene!
Let’s start NOW!
Hi Momo and thank you! First of all, when did you start organising concerts in Marseille?
I’ve started organising concerts in September 1989. The first band that played was The Hard-Ons from Australia. I played with my old band during the first part of the gig.
What motivated you to organise concerts?
The fact that I really wanted to see the bands that played in other cities of France, but not in Marseille. But also, the fact that I really wanted to see bands such as DOA or Agnostic Front, etc.
What was the situation at that time? Was Marseille really a dead city (cit. Warrior Kids)?
Hahahahaha no, it wasn’t, but there weren’t many people and there weren’t many things to do, comparing it to other cities such as Bordeaux. But when there was a gig, it was full of people. Many bands played in Marseille and we’re still talking about that!
What kind of relationship did Marseille have with the other cities in France and abroad?
So, talking about the other cities of the world, it was more complicated. There wasn’t Internet. We had to send letters in order to have more information. When they got back to us, the concert had already taken place hahahaha!
The situation was different with the other cities of France, we had many contacts, travelled a lot to see concerts in Lyon, Toulouse, Paris. We had many friends everywhere.
Which gigs have you organised in Marseille?
As I said before, DOA, Agnostic Front, Suicidal Tendencies, Madball, Millencolin, 25 Ta Life, Hepcat etc etc, and a few thrash and psycho bands, like The Meteors, Carcass, Nuclear Blast. The good thing was that, together with other friends who liked other kind of music, we tried to “shake” the punk scene! We did liked many different genres of music [what a good music for my ears! - Marta], and I still do!
What do you think of the punk scene in general?
There are good and bad things as it is in all the music scenes. It also depends on the different periods of time. To me, the punk scene must be an independent scene, even if it’s not the case anymore. There are still independent ‘zines and bands, fortunately. Thanks to the punk scene, I’ve had the chance to see the world through a different perspective. I am really into punk.
Do you have any photos of fanzines, flyers of hc gigs?
I don’t have any fanzine photos, but I have a few photo montages of my concerts.
THANK YOU!
THE MOMO'S GIG FLYERS:
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