Erika Ransom

12/21/2000

Maximum RocknRoll

"I pity all the posers who dropped out of hardcore instead of sticking around to 2000."

Interview with Felix Havoc

By Erika Ransom

What projects are you currently working with?

As always running Havoc Records, I've got two new 7"s out, Tear It Up and Kaaos. I'm doing a 7" soon by Vitamin X and driving them on their US tour. Hopefully I'll be doing more releases with Nine Shocks Terror and DS 13 in the future. I'm also working at Extreme Noise Records every Sunday. I'm a DJ on KFAI doing a weekly punk show "Radio Riot." My focus lately has been on music history, I'm compiling a Discography of Minnesota Punk and Hardcore and hope to start work soon on a discography book about international hardcore 80-85.

Why the end of Code 13? Do you see yourself in another band anytime soon? Code 13 might yet play a few gigs a year. Basically none of the other members shared my commitment to the Hardcore lifestyle. They weren't willing to dedicate the time it takes to practice, record and tour any longer. Shane has a kid and a tattoo shop to run. Mitch isn't too into playing music anymore, more into playing pool. Trevor is actually playing in a new band with members of Misery, Destroy and Murderers but more of a greaser garage type band. I'm not to fired up to start another band, besides vocalists are a dime a dozen. What you need for a good band is a hot shot guitarist and a really tight drummer. There's very little chance of finding anyone who's even close to my age who would want to play the kind of music I'm into who could operate at the level I'd like to. At least in this town. All the motivated, get up and go types already have a band.

Over the last 20 years or so, you’ve pretty much run the gamut of the punk scene---you’ve been in bands that toured all over the world, written extensively for fanzines, run a record label, and worked in record stores and other punk collectives. What projects have been the most satisfying for you? Any terrible times that made you want to throw in the punk rock towel?

Not quite 20 years. Closer to 17. Remember too, that I was just a face in the crowd until the late 80s too. The most satisfying is running the label and working in the record store. Just the excitement of a really great record that you want everybody to hear. The ability to use punk music as a medium to communicate with people from all over the world and spread ideas. I think I'm pretty close to 100,000 7"s if you add up all the releases. That's thousands of kids who have heard a record I had a hand in. Maybe some of those records changed peoples lives the way Minor Threat and Conflict's records changed mine. Maybe they were just background music at a party, either way I feel like I'm contributing something back to the scene that's given so much to me.

The worst experience was running the Bombshelter. That's not to say I didn't enjoy those gigs and have good bands play. However, the constant tension between the cops and the kids, having to be sort of a cop/parent figure myself, drove me nuts. I got so sick of breaking up fights and mopping up puke. Booking gigs is the most thankless job in the scene. You have to deal with so much bullshit from the ankle-biter kids, back-stabbers who accuse you of ripping off the scene, bands with rock star complexes and of course the cops and the City Machine. After the Gauze show I figured I'd gone as far as I could with the Bombshelter and closed it down. Now I only do gigs for bands on my label, and then only when I have too.

What was your favorite tour while in a band?

I'd have to say the 2000 Code 13 tour of the Pacific, as it was the most adventurous and exotic.

How was being in Destroy! different than Code 13?

The music scene was different then, not as well organized. The DIY movement wasn't as well established in the late 80s and early 90s not to mention that the number of people involved in punk was smaller in the pre 94 period. We were playing music that was popular with only a few people. That fast, grinding sound didn't really catch on until later. We played so many shows where everyone just stood and stared with their hands in their pockets. I think they wanted Screeching Weasel or Fugazi. Now I see so many kids wearing Destroy patches and stuff. Damn, if half those kids had come out to support us. We would go 6-9 months without playing a gig. I was a different person in those days, younger and wilder. I was living the chaos. I was drunk, rowdy, doing drugs, chasing women. That shit is fun for a while when you're like 21 but if I'd kept up with that lifestyle I'd be dead by now.

This summer you set up a US tour for the Swedish hardcore band DS-13, who are on your label. You did everything from ordering T-shirts to driving the van. Do you plan on setting up more tours for other bands soon? Is this something you really like doing? It seems like it would be a lot of work, but fun, and a big help to bands from abroad.

I had a great time with DS 13. Their tour went so well. I feel like an old pro at touring now, doing one every year or two since 1990. Yes its a lot of hard work but also fun. Its all about planning, preparation, and teamwork. There are some great people involved in hardcore right now who make touring so much easier and enjoyable than it was ten years ago. I'll probably be driving Vitamin X on tour this spring. I'd really like to get Skitsystem to tour the USA again. And DS 13, please come back to the USA!

You’ve written quite a bit about the business of punk, about how to stay DIY while not losing all of your money in the process. On the other end of the spectrum, as the punk scene has grown over the years, do you think that the larger punk labels, distributors, ‘zines and bands have taken on aspects of "business as usual"?

Of course, for instance I'm grappling with the whole issue of credit card orders over the Internet. If you'd asked me 10 or 15 years ago if credit cards were punk I'd put you in your place with a tirade about the corporate system. But now credit cards are so integral to modern life that I get criticized for not taking credit card orders on the net. My label has grown, but trust me I'm not cashing in. I still work a day job in order to have the freedom to do what I want with music. Last time I sat and figured it out the label was pretty much a break even proposition. In fact if I didn't run the label out of my house (I live in a converted commercial building) I think overhead would've put me under a long time ago. Keep in mind the profit margin on 7"s is super low. I make some money off the t shirts but use that money to subsidize the cost of the 7"s. I'm proud of having the lowest 7" price in the scene. My 5 7"s for 10$ ppd. deal is quite the bargain, especially compared to the price of CD's. After I pay for the records, shipping, zine ads, office supplies and the people who help me there is very little loot left, and all of that goes into the next project every time. That's not to say there isn't big money to be made off punk, those CD only labels that sell pop punk and ska to the masses are making a fortune. But that ain't where I'm at or what I wanna be. I'm in this for the music not the money. I think a lot of labels grow too big too fast, lose touch with their roots, then fail when their big sellers break up or go out of style. I've been at it since 92 and I've seen a lot of labels and fads come and go since then. I might not be the brightest star on the horizon but I'm here to stay. I try to stay close to the music which is what I love and not get consumed with the business side.

Talking about labels, how do you decide what bands to release on Havoc Records?

Mostly the bands I've worked with are bands I saw and made an impression on me. A few are bands I heard other records by and just had to work with. Several of my releases have been re-issues of early 80's Finnish hardcore, a sound I really like. I try to meet and communicate with members of band after I've decided I like their music. I live in fear of releasing a record by a band that turn out to be a bunch of assholes. I get a lot of demo tapes in the mail and to tell the truth I haven't put out a record by a band that just mailed in a tape yet. I look for people who are committed to the music and the medium. That tends to come across in the music.

I hear so many horror stories about small labels getting screwed, and not getting paid. How do you distribute your records?

I have the benefit of being pretty established. There are a few DIY distros which are closest to my outlook musically and ethically who move the most records for me, Ebullition, Sound Idea and Blackened. I use some other distros as well but lately Ebullition is totally dominant. Kent is the greatest. I do a lot of trading as well. I'm constantly writing to small labels and distros trading 5 or 10 records, that’s the most direct way of getting music from all over distributed. I really enjoy the networking and communication of trading records. As for making sure you get paid, the best way to get paid for a record is to put out a new one. Nobody gets the new release until they pay for the last one you sent them. Don't quit your day job, a punk label should be a passion and a hobby not a get rich quick scam.

On a completely unrelated note, you’ve mentioned you have something on the order of four handguns, one shotgun and six rifles. What is up with the guns?

Make that six handguns. Politically I think my views on this subject are well known. I feel that we should be well armed to prevent the erosion of our rights or to combat our well armed political enemies on the radical right. I also enjoy shooting and collecting guns. Also, I live in a neighborhood where a gun is more of a necessity than a luxury.

How’s the state of the Minneapolis scene right now? I keep hearing so many good things about it, and you really made me wish the Profits had played there on tour!

We have a pretty good scene right now. By the time this is published there should be a new compilation LP of Minneapolis Punk out called When Hell Freezes Over. Lots of good bands like Misery, Callused, Scorned, Pontious Pilate, Fallen Graces, Onward to Mayhem etc. There is also a good hardcore scene here especially Real Enemy and Holding On two great bands. We have Extreme Noise, a punk record collective going now since 1994. There is a punk bar here, the Triple Rock, owned by Erik of Dillenger Four. All ages venues are spotty, but we always seem to find somewhere for bands to play. I really hope this town gets the all ages punk club it deserves, the final missing link.

Back to the past…I can’t imagine living without ever hearing Minor Threat. The ‘80s in DC was the spawning grounds for US hardcore. You were a teenager going to shows back then and involved with Positive Force DC. What was the scene like? Much different from the hardcore scene of today? What was Positive Force doing that was different at the time?

Now here's something I like to talk about that nobody ever brings up. DC had one of the greatest scenes in the early 80's, home of hardcore and straight edge! I was a small part of that scene and due to my young age missed some crucial events prior to 83. The scene was wild, some really fascinating people were involved in hardcore back then. From very intellectual art student, grad school types to total fuck up street trash. I guess that hasn't changed much, but to a kid like me it was wild. There were people whose parents were senators and ambassadors and stuff hanging out with like Junkies and bums and small time crooks. I was one of the founding members of Positive Force. We were inspired by the BYO and what we thought was Positive Force in Reno. We started out as sort of a street protest/direct action group combined with volunteerist sort of activism.

After the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal India we staged a "die-in" at Union Carbide's corporate offices. We all dressed up as like ghouls and barged into their office building. We set off all these smoke bombs and dumped out all this green Jell-O then dropped on the floor gagging and writhing like we were dying. All these cops showed up and we threw Jell-O at them too. We organized protests outside these conventions where weapons manufacturers would try to sell their products to third world dictators. We would pelt their limos with rotten fruit and such until the cops ran us off. We raised so much hell in DC. This was around the time of the No Business As Usual and Stop the City protests, processors of the sort of action you have against the WTO and such today. We were all about spray paint and slingshots and stuff but also did a lot of work with the CCNV and other homeless groups. A lot of us volunteered at the CCNV homeless shelter and at local soup kitchens.

I think later the focus shifted more towards benefit shows and more educational activities. I think positive force is still very engaged, just less of a shit kicking protest organization. In the long run, the boring stuff like working in the homeless shelter probably made a bigger difference and was more "revolutionary" than smashing up the recruiting office after the Beefeater, Scream, Absence of Malice show in Dupont Circle. But that smashing shit up in the streets shit was pretty fucking cool.

Those fourth of July Rock Against Reagan shows were the shit. And the Punk Percussion Protests outside the South African embassy, punk activism in the streets, totally original and inspiring.

I did a zine back then called Seizure, I interviewed bands of the day like the Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, Black Flag, Reagan Youth, etc. I helped out with gigs Positive Force put on and sometimes helped out Gordon of WDC period on his gigs, working the door, passing out flyers and such. I was really into passing out fliers. I worked in a copy shop so I was the flier hook up.

The bands in DC were some of the best, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Faith, Void, Scream, Government Issue, Black Market Baby, Iron Cross, SOA, Double O, Marginal Man, Rites of Spring, Teen Idles, etc etc. That scene totally went to shit around 85 due to so many of the original scenesters going into alternative rock crap like Fugazi and such and the skinhead violence. In 86-88 I was in a hardcore band Death and Taxes. We were around for like two or three years and played maybe two or three parties and never any real gigs. The scene was so dead, if you didn't fit into what the music establishment there had decided was cool you were not gonna play.

They had decided hardcore was over, but it wasn't over for us.

I got in trouble with the law in 88 and lammed out of town. By then hardcore was pretty much dead in DC. Good Clean Fun, No Justice, anyone, bring it back! HarDCore pride!

You've been involved with Anarchist Youth Federation in Minneapolis, and before that with anarchist groups in DC. Are you still a card carrying Anarchist? And how does this fit into your political views today?

Yes I'm still an anarchist. My views are more cynical and less idealistic today than when I was a young activist. I identify most closely with the class struggle anarchists of the early 20th century. Especially the IWW. Being now a working class Midwesterner I really identify with the down to earth class politics of the IWW. I don't really give a fuck for all the highfalutin theory and praxis and dialectic stuff, I just know injustice and oppression when I see it and it's got to go.

Lately my form of activism has been pretty mainstream. I'm working with the neighborhood housing committee on housing issues. I'm in construction in my day job so this is a good fit for me. The neighborhood I live in is very poor and there is a real shortage of affordable housing. We have programs to build new housing on vacant lots, renovate boarded houses and help low income people buy homes. It can get lame as I have to deal sometimes with the city government (I try to leave that to other people) and its strange as I'm this young punk guy working with a bunch of women in their 50's most of whom are old 60's activists. Still, I feel like I'm helping to make a difference in this blighted, oppressed area. Its inspiring to see new houses being built and boarded houses that would've been torn down renovated and know you were a part of it. I'm getting to the point where anarchism is more about building things than smashing things up. Not that there aren't a lot of things that need smashing!

The "political" arm of punk and hardcore has generated enough songs, slogans, patches, ‘zines, and stickers about America's bankrupt social and political systems to fill up Fenway Park. For all this artistic angst and effort, do you think there is much real effort being put into social change by the punk scene? Or is that not the point? Is calling the consumer dream on its bullshit, on the individual level, enough?

At its heart counter culture is about rejection of the status quo and the middle class consumer ideal. The fact that there is a youth culture of rebellion alone is encouraging. However, I've noticed that the consumerism of the mainstream youth culture has really infected the punk scene in the last decade. The emphasis on fashion and consumer products, having the right "look" for the right genre, punk, skin, skater, emo etc. really mirrors mainstream youth culture. I think few punks have the discipline or willingness to sacrifice that is necessary to effect concrete political change. It's more counter culture and life style oriented than any sort of organized polemical force. I don't necessarily think that's all bad. I do have to laugh at the kids who think wearing patches and drinking 40's is somehow going to topple the system.

At best punk is a counter culture which might change the outlook and lifestyles of its members far beyond the years they spend in the punk scene. I would hope that many people leave the scene with a distrust of authority and a greater sense of individual freedom and social consciousness than the average consumer. If some work to affect greater political change or into social activism that's great.

You've worked with several punk collectives over the years, and I've been involved in a few myself. You mentioned a phenomenon that I saw as well, that it usually comes down to a few people doing most of the work and holding the project together. Any advice for people starting a collective, or working in one now, to avoid a path to collective self-destruction?

I don't want to discourage people from working in collectives, but it usually boils down to one or two people doing all the work, who eventually burn out taking the project with them. Extreme Noise is a very successful punk collective with a lot of dedicated people, but in the end I think it's a handful of motivated people to make sure every thing stays on track. I worked in a few gig collectives that were so ponderous I just decided to quit and start my own one man gig collective. That got me so burnt out on booking shows I was hostile to live music for years.

Advice, keep yourself focused and try to delegate as much as you can. Don't take on more than you can handle, keep in sight of your focus. Don't start out as a gig collective and then start doing a zine, printing t shirts and distributing tapes too. Better to be the best at one or two things than half-assed at several.

Keep your group lean and mean and work with people you like and get along with. I've seen a lot of collectives destroyed by infighting and internal political disagreements. A lot of these political collectives start out with lofty aims but get more and more inward looking. The Big Boys had that song the "Big Picture" something like "your view of life, is like looking backwards through a telescope" There is a tendency to focus on smaller and smaller issues inside the group and lose sight of that big picture. The local Anarchist groups and Anti Racist Action were very good examples. Started with big aims but degenerated into a bunch of people sitting around slaggin’ each other for their views and life styles. Like radical vegans who wouldn't work with punks in leather jackets and boots.

Speaking of collectives, what is going on with the PE Collective? I was thrilled to see the new issue, and the great photo of PE members interviewing Aus-Rotten in a hot tub.

I'm not sure how big a collective it is today compared to the past, but they plan to continue publishing the magazine and of course doing records through Blackened. That's a whole nother interview for those guys, I'm just a contributing columnist.

You once wrote that, "The way I see it Punk/Hardcore peaked around 1984. And lets face it, punk has lost most of its anger, its power, its vitality, and its political stance." The early ‘90s most definitely dealt a horrible blow to punk, as pop punk was taking over, and so many bands ran to the major labels. Do think there has been a resurgence of energy and purpose in the punk/hardcore scene in the last few years? How do you view the punk scene of 2000?

As we all have seen, true DIY/Hardcore punk is back and better than ever. As I predicted back in the early 90's punk weathered the big pop-punk trend of the 90's and is back underground where it belongs. The scene now is better organized than ever before. The bands and labels today are the best since the early 80's. I still totally look to the early 80's for inspiration but today’s scene is far superior in a lot of ways. The energy is back, I can feel it at gigs, hardcore is not young anymore but it is as exciting and inspiring as its ever gonna get. I pity all the posers who dropped out of hardcore instead of sticking around to 2000 so they could see DS 13, Gordon Solie Motherfuckers, Lifes Halt, Nine Shocks Terror, What Happens Next, Tear It Up, No Justice and all the great bands we have today. I was really down on the scene for a while in the mid 90's and mainly looking back to the 80's. Now we have a lot to look forward to. A lot of people further up the ladder are mystified, at the distributor level they are losing all this money and they think punk is dead since they don't ship 500,000 Offspring CD's. Well punk is alive and well at its DIY roots, its time for everybody who gives a fuck to jump in and make the change, the next decade could be the best yet for hardcore!

You are the only punk I know with a BA in Russian studies, so I wanted to ask you this. Any thoughts on what the UN has dubbed "The Great Transition Depression" now going on in Russia? Throughout the ‘90s, Yeltsin and Clinton worked to recast Russia into the U.S. unfettered capitalist mold. While the economy went into chaos, and a few Russians became extremely wealthy, millions of Russians lost their jobs and savings. About 75% of Russia's population now lives in poverty, wages have dropped to about $60 a month, and life expectancy has dropped to about 65. The Cold War was all the rage, but no one seems to be talking about the tens of millions of people in Russia who's lives have been decimated largely due to U.S. foreign economic policy. Any thoughts?

Well, I haven't been to Russia since 1991 and when I was in school I studied the 1914-1945 period so I'm not a real expert on post cold war Russia. It's a fucked up place for sure as they have the worst elements of Capitalism, Communism and Criminal Syndicalism (rule by Mafia). I was in Russia when the hard-liners tried to oust the reformers in August of 1991. I was on the barricades and there was a feeling that Russia was moving forward and leaving the old fucked up system behind for something better. Young people felt that was worth fighting for and the coup failed due to lack of popular support. In retrospect the people got a really raw deal as their oppressors merely switched titles and outfits. The old Communist aparatchiks are now the business men and mafia. The problem with places like Russia, Romania and now Serbia is that they have incomplete revolutions. A few figureheads are removed but the bureaucracy and the elite remain in power. I don't want to sound like an apologist for terror but I think sometimes you need to clean house. You know, throw the bastards out and start over. Unfortunately, most revolutions, viewed historically, merely exchange the old boss for a new boss.

A few quick last questions: What do you do outside of punk?

I work full time remodeling old houses in South Minneapolis. Work on housing issues with the neighborhood organization. Read a lot of history, collect records, hang out with Eileen and the dog Max. I'm also kind of into Art Deco architecture, old motorcycles (I've got a 67 Triumph) and old trucks (I drive a '71 GMC 4x4 and I've also got a '51 Dodge M37 4x4).

Best band you saw live this year?

DS 13, From Ashes Rise

Best new record you've heard?

Gordon Solie Motherfuckers, DS 13, From Ashes Rise

Future projects in the works?

Lots of 7" releases on Havoc, a tour for Vitamin X from Holland. My main projects now are more discography and music history stuff. I hope to publish a critical discography of international hardcore from the crucial 80-84 period in the next few years. I'd like to go to grad school and get a degree for studying early 80's hardcore. Anyone in academia with any pointers should drop me a line.

Anything else you want to say?

Check out Erika's band, the Profits, great roots street level punk rock with well thought out political lyrics.

Thanks!