An Upcoming Lecture from A Long-Time Punk Legend
By Leyli Izadpanah, Staff Writer
Punk rock has a rich history; from its emergence in the mid 1970s to its often aggressive (and sometimes even poppy?) life in the music scene today, punk continues to be one of the most innovative, influential, and nonconformist genres of rock music.
Professor of Engineering and Media Technologies and punk musician, Russell Harper, has been making music in the punk scene for over 40 years, bringing all his experience (savory or otherwise) to his upcoming faculty lecture, on Wednesday, March 12, set to detail the history of punk rock, focusing specifically on the scene here in Knoxville. Not only will he be performing his speech, he will also be performing a set with his band, the Knoxville Freaks.
FACULTY LECTURE SERIES
Wednesday, March 12, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
The History of Punk
The Clayton Performing Arts Center
Harper was first introduced to punk music with the popularization of bands like the Sex Pistols and the Bitters on the news and television in the mid ‘70s.
“They were just raising hell everywhere,” he recalls. “And so my little brother and I just had curiosity driving us insane. So we used our allowance and bought their album. It was like, whoa, OK, there’s some teenage angst.”
But, as he points out, listening to the album and seeing the music live were two very different things. Harper first encountered live punk music when he moved into the Fort Sanders neighborhood and stumbled across a bar on the strip called the Pickle U Pub; inside was Bundulee’s, a hole in the wall with a stage, where he discovered a punk band covering the Sex Pistols and Generation X. The next time he went back, he found bands playing original punk rock, one in particular being his friend John Sewell’s band called The Squad.
He describes essentially falling in love with punk music during this time, recalling the levels of DIY and rebellion that had never been seen before.
“I saw the Squad at Bundulee’s and I was like, oh my god, this is way better than a cover band, and I just kept going back to all these amazing local punk bands and just do it yourself spirit,” he recalls.
Harper also was influenced by some of his punk idols including, but not limited to, “the godfather of punk”, Iggy pop, and the poet and punk rock icon, Patti Smith, the latter of which had started out writing poetry and later began making music. Harper took Smith’s artistic path as direct inspiration, starting out with poetry readings and posting his own poetry around town wherever he could.
All the while, he frequently watched punk bands perform on the strip, and, whether through chance or punk destiny, his friend, John Sewell, knocked on Harper’s door and said “I’m starting a new band, and you’re the singer.” They then discovered Vic and Bill’s, a local punk rock deli, and put on many local shows there with their band Teenage Love13.
They played their first show in November of 1984, and their band quickly became a Knoxville staple in the punk scene, which was rapidly growing at the time. They made themselves known by opening for many essential punk bands including the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, the Descendants, Suicidal Tendencies, and many more.
When talking to Harper about performing with these punk rock legends, he describes being ecstatic to have the opportunity to join them.
“We’d have bands coming in from all over the country and local folks opening up for them and it was a magic thing,” he says.
Describing a show he got to do with, in Harper’s words, “a very badass band,” the Minute Men, he says, “Some of my idols are coming up to me and going, thank you so much for the show. I’m like, yeah man!”
Harper has now been in five bands, with his current, the Knoxville Freaks, consisting of five of his good friends he met in the punk scene. His first band Teenage Love13 was what kicked off his punk journey. He then started a band called Neo-Wizard with the guitar player from his previous band after they broke up, but that band didn’t last very long. He then kept going to see his friend’s blues/rockabilly band called the Black Velvet Dogs, and they asked him to join them and start a new shock rock band called Evil Twin. Harper describes the process of being in both bands.
“It started out as the Black Velvet Dogs and their Evil Twin,” Harper says. “So we do the Dog set with really cool old blues and rock, like just cool, obscure, old stuff and go back out in the van or a dressing room and put on weird clothes and makeup and come back out as Evil Twin.”
When asked about the differences between Punk and other rock genres, Harper stated that punk has a unique “do it yourself” factor that other genres lack, as well as a very rebellious energy. He described the genre as inherently political in the sense that punks rebel against almost every aspect of society by challenging societal norms, tearing down oppressive systems, and pushing for freedom.
Harper believes that being non conformist is an important aspect of punk, but says that people that believe punk has to look a certain way are mistaken. Oftentimes people attribute the punk look to having colorful spiky hair and edgy black clothes, but that’s not always the case.
“It’s whatever look you want it to be, I mean that’s the beauty of the genre is that it’s so individual. I mean of course we have jackass[es] going, well, you gotta conform to me to be nonconformist, which is the stupidest thing in the world,” he says, adding that bands/fans who gatekeep the genre are a problem.
“That you’re not punk enough type stuff is silly as hell because the only person to tell you how punk you are, or how punk you’re not is yourself,” Harper says.
Harper’s lecture will cover the in-depth history of the Knoxville punk scene and will include his personal experiences as a musician during the golden age of punk. He has many crazy stories to tell, from getting arrested on stage to accidentally getting into a car chase with the police. If that’s not enough, there will be a live performance from punks that lived through the genre’s most integral period.
Coming to the lecture March 12 will guarantee an experience of a raw, unapologetic, energy packed performance and learning more about what it means to be punk.
As punks would say: Show up, let loose, and feel the rush that only punk music can generate. Get your ass to the show, it’s gonna be electric.
