Weekend Guide: 11.12.2021

🏠 a punkhouse in the deep south 🏠

Step out of your comfort zone, and into A Punkhouse in the Deep South.

Walk with me, folks.

I always felt out of place when I entered a punkhouse. Even the bands gear I was lugging (amps, guitars, etc) wasn’t enough to ingratiate me to the tenants and house show-goers. While I feel like I sometimes embody a punk spirit (probably not) I do not look punk.

For the most part I am a pretty clean guy. I look like a nerd and I really don’t like clutter. Punkhouses are filled with bikes, stick and poke tattoos, dirty dishes, and the ultimate turn off… rats.

Sure, I have played some shows for punkhouse faithful up and down the East Coast - they were always a blast. But the idea of living in one never crossed my mind.

looks like a punkhouse

So, why pick up a book about punkhouses? To that rhetorical I push back with - why not?! Expand your mind Brothers and Sisters✌️.

great shirt, guitar is less cool

A Punkhouse in the Deep South: The Oral History of 309 tells the story of a shared house passed on from punk to punk for over thirty years. A DIY utopia.

smoking ciggs and listening to records

Vegans, Freegans, Poets, Punkers, Feminists — all are welcome in the punkhouse. Everyone lives in harmony at the punkhouse. Maybe we could all learn a little something from the folks in the punkhouse.

Told in personal interviews, “Punkhouse in the Deep South” is the collective story of a punk community in an unlikely town and region - Pensacola, Florida - a hub of radical counterculture that drew artists and musicians from throughout the conservative South and earned national renown.

Was there anything extraordinary about this punkhouse? In my opinion, probably not. It is a classic fish out of water scenario. The fact that this place survived in a hotbed of racism and misogyny for so long is reason enough to commit its oral history to the archives. Rock it, man! I know you will.

screaming punks

I listened to some of the bands mentioned in this book. They are bad. But I don’t think that it really matters. Most music is bad. Have some fun with it. Find your people. Move to a punk house. Or, just read about one.

Oral histories are a fun and fast break from the traditional narrative form. This book is 154 pages. Short. Just like a hardcore song. It reads fast, and will undoubtedly transport you.

sheena is a punk reader

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Since you’ve made it this far, you may be interested in watching an old band of mine play in one of these punkhouses. Come with me on a journey. The year is 2010, the place is Fuck Mountain, a punkhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

*Bonus*

Cough Cool live at The Beach House in Pittsburgh, PA. In true punk fashion, this show was shut down by the police.

Thanks for sticking around. I hope to see you next week. As always, if you enjoy reading about new and exciting books I would appreciate you sharing this out with your network. Peace and love!