Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #197
One of the reasons America's economy has been expanding continuously for several years without significant inflation is because companies have consistantly increased productivity without raising their costs. Of course, what this really means is replacing experienced and skilled workers who demand a higher wage with lower skilled, lower paid workers and computers. A very good illustration of this is what happens to me every time I go to the auto parts store. It used to be that a place like a local hardware or auto parts store had at least one or two old guys who had seen it all and knew just the answer or solution to your problem. These days, the experienced guys are all gone and you usually find some young kids and a computer. Sue me if you want, but I'm still driving a 1971 pickup truck. Keeping this old tank on the road means fixing it myself. Here is a typical experience at a local auto parts store: "I need a throttle cable for a 1971 GMC 4x4 pickup with a 350 and an automatic transmission." The clerk replies, "Sorry, our computers don't go back that far." I drop the old throttle cable on the counter, "Here's the old throttle cable, why don't you see if the cables for a later year are the same or similar." "Sorry sir, our computers don't go back that far." Frustration builds, "OK, I'm not asking you to look in your computer, I'm asking you to look on the shelf at some GM pickup throttle cables and see if any of them are close to what I've got here." The clerk stares incomprehensibly, "Sorry but our computers don't go back to 1971." At which point my pride in keeping a classic piece of Detroit steel on the road is duly injured. "There was once a day when the guy at the auto parts store would know what a '71 GMC throttle cable looked like and could pull it off the shelf without the help of a computer, not everyone wants to drive a late model mini-van you know." The clerk looked confused, then remembered the stock answer. "You might try the dealership or a junkyard."

This sort of thing happens to me all the time these days. Experience and skill are replaced by a computer and a human drone to operate it. Here in Minnesota we have full employment, but there is little thought given to how much any of these jobs pay. Every business is trying to increase profits and cutting labor costs seems the easiest target. So, out go experienced humans and in come computers and dumb kids earning six bucks an hour to run them. Yes, we have plenty of jobs, a labor shortage in fact, but when most of those jobs are low skilled and low pay, only the rich benefit and society suffers.

I hate to admit that I'm wrong sometimes, but my opinion about computers and the internet is slowly changing from con to pro. I always have had an Orwellian suspicion of technology and computers as an instrument of social contro. However, the more experience I have with the Internet and modern technology, I'm starting to realize its potential to create a more democratic global culture. Just the fact that I'm now more in touch with punk kids in Israel, Malaysia, Sweden, Japan, etc. every day by computer shows how this technology is connecting people at the grass roots. However, as I've said before, punk music is one of the most international forms of culture on earth today. Bands tour the world. Records from far flung places are distributed through a global distribution network. People from widely disparate cultures can hook up with a place to stay and some quick friends in any major city on earth just by the way they are dressed and the music they like. Luk Haas continues to send in scene reports from the four corners of the earth, next month Madagascar and Tierra Del Fuego's emerging punk scenes!

As for the internet, my record label gets better response from my website than I ever did from any fanzine ads, except maybe the ad in MRR, which has run every month since 1994. I have decided to add MP3 files to my website in the future, even though on principle I oppose MP3 as another industry gimcrack and uphold the supremacy of vinyl and analog recording. Sometimes I think I'm being pressured into buying the industry's latests schemes in order to "remain competitive" or "keep up with changing technology." If I spend a lot of money adding MP3 files to my website, that will be that much less money I'm going to spend advertising in zines. However, the potential to reach people in far away countries where I am currently selling NO vinyl by providing my music for free seems to me the most DIY thing to do. If kids can log on to my website in Indonesia and hear music by bands who have not yet sold one record in Indonesia, aren't I making the music and ideas available in the most DIY manner? People keep telling me that MP3 is going to put record stores and record labels out of business. I don't buy that for a minute. You can check back in ten years and hold me to that. I guarantee I will be sellign vinyl punk records every day, both retail and mail order, in ten years time.

Speaking of retail, Minneapolis volunteer-run punk record store Extreme Noise is still going strong after over five years of slinging sides. We've been open long enough now that a lot of the records we stocked when we opened are now high priced collector's items! Ironically, we took our inspiration from the now defunct Epicenter of SF. Reading what little I have about the demise of Epicenter, I can see many of the same factors at work at Extreme Noise. In fact, there are certain syptoms relative to all collective or co-operative activity. Certainly a collective sounds great at first and a lot of people show up who want to get involved and contribute. However, when it comes to actual hard work and sacrifice, it will only be a few people who really get the job done. Typically, these people bust their ass for a few years and then either burn out or decide that if they are going to work this hard they should probably be getting paid to do it and start their own business. Believe me, I see things going on at Extreme Noise all the time that boggle my mind and I say to myself, "If this was MY store I would never have bought those records" and so on. I remember after a summer of booking shows in a cumbersome collective at The Studio Of The Stars, I decided that I would be better off booking gigs on my own and starting the Bombshelter.

As a young idealist, I talked a lot about worker's co-operatives and collectives in an anarchistic society. While I still feel there is some potential for this sort of organization, the bottom line is most of the time it boils down to just a few people doing all the work and the rest just "social loafing." Self interest always seems to be more of a motivating factor than collective interest and this explains why entrepeneurs are succesful every time in ventures where collectives and co-operatives fail or reach a point of zero growth.

On the flip side is this: At Extreme Noise, the whole is bigger than the parts. One of our strongest points is the diversity of our collective. We have a guy who is crazy about emo, some SxEx kids, a pop-punk guy, me bearing the torch for fast thrash and 80's hardcore, a metalhead, etc. Each person is an expert in their own area and can guide our buying and ordering to have the best selection. This diversity and specialization is what makes a store like ours succeed. We have a niche market which we totally dominate in the Upper Midwest. Only Ear Wax in Madison offers a similar selection. Otherwise, this is the only place you would find such a diverse and affordable selection of punk music for 100's of miles. Because we are a specialty store, MP3 or chain stores with discount CDs, etc. are not going to put us out of business.

What we have cannot be bought at any mall or be generated by a market focus group because it comes from the scene, by and for the kids. A record store, especially one like ours, is also a clearing house for information, a reserve of musical knowledge and a place to check things out before you buy them. The internet can never offer these things the same way a real record store can. The point here: collectives can be cumbersome and can fail, but they still offer one of the best ways for a like minded group of people to achieve a goal. The internet offers some great opportunities for distributing punk music but it will never replace a real cool record store.

Please note, Extreme Noise is moving to a new location. As of October 1, 1999 we will be back on Lake Street at Grand Avenue South. The new location is the same size as our current store but a great deal cheaper. We hope that the money we will save on rent will help to build up our stock and make us an even better store than we are now.

Rumor Control Department: Code 13 has not broken up. We are taking some time off after our tour of Europe. Our guitar player is travelling so we haven't been able to play any gigs lately. When he returns, look for a new 7" this winter and a tour of the Pacific next year. That said:

Code 13 is looking for people to help us tour in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. Also, possibly the Phillipines and Hawaii sometime early in 2000. If you can help, contact me c/o Havoc Records, PO Box 8585, Minneapolis, MN 55408, United States of America.

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

Previous | All articles in this category | Next