Punks Listen – Raising funds for the Red Cross Ukraine Refugee appeal.

Punks Listen – Raising funds for the Red Cross Ukraine Refugee appeal.

PUNKS LISTEN is the third in a series of ‘benefit books’ from the Hope Collective, Dublin’s punk/Do-It-Yourself group.

It is designed to raise funds for the Red Cross Ukraine Refugee appeal.

Inspired by the punk community, in 2017 the Hope Collective released a book to raise money for the Syrian refugees. Thanks to the people who wrote for the book, and the people who bought it, they were able to present €5,000 to the Red Cross Syrian Refugee appeal.

This was followed up in 2020 by a book to assist the NHS workers and patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. Again, thanks to the writers and the buyers, they were able to donate €10,000 to the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 appeal.

The new book is a collection of pieces of writing from musicians, writers, actors and music fans. They were asked to write about a record (or a gig) that was significant to them.

The book includes over 200 contributions from people including:

Amanda Palmer

Suggs (Madness)

Roddy Doyle (The Commitments)

Mike Scott (The Waterboys)

Gaye Black (The Adverts)

Henry Rollins

Andy Cairns (Therapy?)

Mike Watt (Minutemen)

Josephine Wiggs (The Breeders)

Kevin Godley (10cc)

Tim Burgess (The Charlatans)

Manda Rin (Bis)

Michael Murphy says:

“It’s been a really difficult and stressful few years for just about everybody. Sometimes we felt like it was all too much. What could people like us do to make a difference? What could we do to help the Ukrainian refugees?

We did a small thing – we contacted some of our favourite authors, musicians and music people. They did something that really mattered to us – they took time and wrote really moving pieces about their favourite records and gigs. When you put all of them together it’s a really meaningful collection. It proves that you can find help in surprising places when you reach out.”

Price: £15/€16

Available from: www.hopecollectiveireland.com

Punk The Capital – A Documentary

Punk The Capital – A Documentary
Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement
A documentary tracing the birth of punk rock in Washington D.C. (1976-1983)
Featuring Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Void, Rites of Spring, and more, with interviews
from Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, H.R., Jello Biafra, Joe Keithley, and many others
Premiering exclusively in Theaters and on Virtual Cinema nationwide beginning May 14th
DVD / Blu-ray to be released for National Record Store Day on June 8th via Passion River

When punk rock erupted in Washington DC, it was a mighty convergence of powerful music, friendships, and clear minds. This film is the first to explore the incredible challenges that this subculture faced when it took root in the Nation’s Capital in the late 1970’s.
Punk the Capital situates DC punk within the larger narratives of rock n’ roll, working as a powerful multi-layered story for both fans and non-fans of punk rock. Featuring musicians such as Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, and Jello Biafra, this film dives deep into the ideas and sounds from this transformative music scene which continues to be influential culturally and politically around the world.
Created by James June Schneider (Co-Director, Editor), Paul Bishow (Co-Director), and Sam Lavine (Associate Producer, Co-Editor), Punk the Capital is Punk the Capital has been on the road since its World Premiere weekend in Washington D.C. held simultaneously at the American Film Institute and the Hirshhorn Museum (Sound Scene festival). The filmmakers took the film around the USA and Europe to festivals, cinematheques, cinemas, galleries and community spaces. It has been selected for festivals including In-Edit (Barcelona and Brazil) BAFICI, Leeds International Film Festival, and Sound Unseen.
Each screening has been an event, with at least one of the filmmakers present and for the majority of dates, there has been a special guest (Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, Cynthia Connolly, HR of Bad Brains and many others.) The goal of the team was to reach 100 consecutive in-person events. They made it to 50 before the pandemic began.
Schneider states:
“We were touring the film like a band would until the pandemic hit. Now as things open back up, we’re glad to kick off the theatrical release for a variety of reasons. Some of the cinemas where Punk the Capital will be showing, I screened my films back in 1997 when filmmaker Martha Colburn and I hit the road together. I’ve been thinking about them as we piece this together. Before we release the film on DVD/Blu-ray we wanted to undertake a big push with a theatrical release, part virtual, part in person, that I hope will do its part in getting some of these struggling indie cinemas some much-needed support. And we also are looking forward to sharing the film in these times since it’s an optimistic film essentially about building something new and constructive despite the odds.
The final version of our film that we’re releasing now is just the intense tip of the iceberg – our first cut was 7 hours long. In the end, we wound up focusing on the untold and improbable story of punk rock’s beginnings in Washington DC, that happened concurrently with cities across the western world. We took a lot of our extra material that otherwise might never have been seen and edited it together to make short films that will be in the bonus section on the DVD (and Blu-ray). One of the shorts focuses on the band Scream and their family connections to DC’s 1960’s legendary garage band scene.
As we roll the film out, we’ve been blown away by the positive response not just from fans of punk and DC punk who see and hear a lot of unseen material. We’ve also heard from a lot of people even up to 90 years old who don’t really like punk but who nonetheless love the film. We’re glad to see that Punk the Capital works on a lot of levels and are hoping that it will reach a broad audience since the DIY ideas highlighted in the film about the DC punk scene go well beyond the music.”