Punk rock seemed to make sense. I was listening to The Clash and I really loved their social messages and they have a great history of fighting racism.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I came into this whole business by going to see Rock Against Racism gigs with the Clash.
I listened a little to punk when I was younger, but it was straight edge punk. It was nothing like what is going on now, like poppy punk.
To me, rockabilly music paralleled punk's energy and feeling, but the players were much better.
Rip Rig + Panic that I joined, they were really influenced by jazz and blues and punk. So I think what happened from punk, which was kind of DIY, was that it created a kind of creative place that was kind of without limits, in a way.
Punk rock really came out of N.Y. as a philosophy before the groups were ever recorded. I had a kind-of intellectual interest in the idea of creating a new scene that could be a grassroots thing.
I never thought of punk rock as the absolute act of rebellion for the sake of rebellion. There's a lot of that in there, but for me I think punk rock was always about questioning things and making decisions for yourself, which is a great message to pass on to your kids.
Punk was more based on social change than on music, so it didn't bother me too much. It wasn't really a musical threat.
After the Ramones, it was more about new wave for me than punk.
I was always into punk, ever since I was 13, but I was into other stuff, too - like, well, the Spice Girls. I really liked Scary Spice.
Hip-hop and R&B is mostly what I listen to. I don't have a connection with punk rock - I just never had that experience.