Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #241
OK, somehow my column last month got garbled. I was talking about how Plastic Bomb had called out some US and European labels for releasing dodgy right wing and neo nazi stuff and adding some clarification on the dodgy status of two bands in particular Youth Defense League and Best Defense. Somehow, after some sentences got chopped it made it look like Plastic Bomb was releasing dodgy skinhead music not Haunted Town and Vulture Rock. I hope no one, especially not our friends at Plastic Bomb thought I was off my rocker.

Your band can play in Canada legit! I haven’t tried this yet, but Minneapolis band Season of Fire has done two Canadian tours following these general guidelines. First check out this stuff online: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/exempt-1.html#artists

Here’s the part you gotta pay attention to:

<blockquote>
Performing Artists
Foreign artists and their essential supporting staff coming to Canada to perform do not need a permit if they are only performing in Canada for a limited period of time and will not be performing in a bar or restaurant. Artists working in Canada in this category may not enter into an employment relationship with the Canadian group that has contracted for their services. Artists must also not perform for the production of a movie, television or radio broadcast.
</blockquote>

OK, so as far as anyone I know has interpreted this, you can legally play in Canada as long as you don’t play at a bar. Since most all ages shows are in halls or whatever you should be set. What you need to do is have who ever booked your shows fax some sort of proof of the show and it’s all ages status to the border crossing and let them know that you are expecting a this band from the USA and when they are coming. You will have to “declare” your merch for customs and pay a tax on it, so you might want to bring only what it necessary (since you pay tax on everything, wheter you are going to sell it or not) and maybe set some aside as “promotional” that you are “giving away” rather than selling. Or you could mail some of your merch ahead. I’ve heard some pretty gnarly stories last few years about US bands trying to cross the border to play and having the border agents check the web and find they were playing illegally then fining and detaining them. I’d like to hear more feedback from people about their experienced using this to play in Canada. Not also, it says “foreign” so you could also book European or Japanese bands that were doing US tours, BUT you gotta make sure you got your shit straight when you cross back into the USA with those cats.

Every few months in my mailbox shows up a CD-R on the “no charge no profit” label. Releases so far include Plastick CD, Jesus and the Gospelfuckers demo, Peely-a comp of late 70s John Peel punk radio broadcasts and a Brazillian Hardcore comp with ACXO, Colera, RDP, Conutuores De Cadaver, Innocentes and Olho Seco. OK, I have no idea who is doing this label, but it’s a pretty rad idea. I imagine this person is a fan/enthusiast who wants to share this music with the world. I can picture them sitting around burning CD Rs and printing covers on a home computer printer and then giving them away to people they think would appreciate them. As old punk and hardcore material becomes more obscure and collectible the CDR, mix tape and MP3 archive become more and more vital in making that music accessible to non collectors. I find myself making elaborate mix tapes like “Hail To Sweden vol 1-3” and I fully endorse the “Killed By Hardcore” bootleg/reissue series as a means of preserving/passing on our hardcore heritage. I wish more people had the gumption of No Charge, No Profit records and did up such comps. Related are some local comps such as the Killed By Maine cassette, Orlando Didn’t Always Suck CD-R, the crucial Lousiana Punk Rock 1978-1982 and the five volume Minnesota Punk/New Wave Singles collection. These are obviously not big money making releases but attempts by those who love the music to make it available to any one interested “it was cheap, it was easy, go and do it”

A lot of people in the DIY scene have been burned by distros, bands, labels and kids in South East Asia. I know a lot of people no longer bother to take orders, or respond to people who write from SE Asia any more. I have been to SE Asia and met some really nice, dedicated DIY hardcore/punk kids in Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. But I have also been ripped off quite a few times by scam artists and chislers from this area. A few things to think about. The scene in this area is still developing. There is a group out front who share our DIY ethics and are tuned into the punk scene in the rest of the world. Then there are grifters who don’t give a fuck and just want to get some free records from some suckers. A bright spot is a new DIY punk collective record store in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia called Basement Records (BASEMENT RECORDS STORE/SB-16, SUB BASEMENT /BANGUNAN CAHAYA/SURIA/JALAN SILANG /KUALA LUMPUR/MALAYSIA/email : basementrecordstore@yahoo.com) One of the guys who started this store is Shammir of Life on the Edge records and distro and he’s working on a scene report for Malaysia which will show people some of the positive things going on in Malaysia and also point out some of the shady creeps who you shouldn’t waste your time trading records with. I’ve had some discussions with Shammir and some things I’d like to point out. SE Asia is very poor and the dollar exchanges poorly against local currency. Kids have little money to buy imported records so trading is the only economical way to get stuff. This can work out great for both parties if all goes well. But a lot of kids get in over their head, or are just scam artists. I would recommend asking around about someone before you do a trade, or have them send their goods first before you send yours. Some ace distro/labels I can recommend are life on the edge records (email : dnc_collective@yahoo.com),
cactus distro, and karatecore records. Beyond that, watch your back. And I would strongly advise against anyone taking an order from anywhere in SE Asia placed with a credit card. Look out for Shammir’s upcoming scene report. There are some good bands and labels coming out of Malaysia especially, as well as Indonesia and elsewhere, and the scene in that part of the world is only going to grow. Hopefully the ethics will get stronger and the rip offs will be run out of town. However, before we start casting stones, look at how long Lost and Found has been able to operate with impunity.

A few people have commented lately that the crust core scene in the US is at a low ebb. That’s not to say there aren’t some good crust bands, but for the most part the torch of crusty hardcore has been passed to Europe and somewhat Japan. When I talk about crust core, I mean bands that play crust influence HARDCORE in the tradition of State of Fear, Health Hazard, Accion Mutante, Doom, Extreme Noise Terror, and Disrupt. I hear a lot of people who look crusty talking about bands like This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Guts Pie Earshot, Against Me and such. OK, those bands are interesting. But they are far too eclectic to be crust core and their popularity obscures the sheer brutality of true crust core under layers of musical progression. So forget about your fiddle, ueklele and keyboards and check out the two bands who are going to save American Crust Core: Consume and Resolve. Both these bands have ex members of critical Crust bands of the 90’s, State of Fear, Decrepit, Destestation etc. If you are on the fence about this style of music at all pick up the Consume 7” and the Consume/Resolve split ep. You will be out smashing the system and lobbing 40’s full of diesel fuel at the cops in minutes. A word of advice to the crust scene. Don’t go down the road that hardcore went into resulting in emo and indie rock. Skip the flute lessons and string section and go back to the roots, Discharge, Amebix, Extmreme Noise Terror, Doom and Nausea. Put the rage and brutality back in the music.

Publication Date:
January 1, 1984

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