Notes From the Pop Underground: Part I
I have a fascination with underground artists, counter-culture, and sub-cultures.
Go here for Notes From the Pop Underground: Part II - Micheal Peppe
It started with a book I read in the early 90's that I bought from a NYC street vendor. It's called "Notes From the Pop Underground" by Peter Belsito and has been out-of-print for a long time. I lost my original book, but recently found a used copy on Amazon.com. This book inspired me so much that I think in some ways it helped shape my personality. I was always naturally rebellious, but was constantly told it was a bad thing. After reading this, I felt proud of that trait.
In the early 80's there were some notable artists doing some original, cutting edge work, but weren't well-known at the time. Some are famous today (Jim Jarmusch, Keith Haring, Jello Biafra), but when the book was written they were still considered underground. Here are brief descriptions of the first five of the ten interviewees:
Survival Research Laboratories
SRL consists of three machinists and what they do is a little hard to describe. They seem to be a by-product of the punk movement, but instead of playing music, they put on shows--not quite performance art--but something like it. They build machines with materials that come from junkyards, old factories, and fuel that they create themselves. SRL actually figured out how to make rocket fuel and explosives--which they say is easy to do. They found instructions and information in military manuals and from the company that makes the motors for space shuttles. Then they used the info to "remanufacture" machines. SRL's shows have a hard-core, violent, destructive theme to them and some of the machines look downright scary.
"If the government needs to be dealt with in a violent way, if there comes a time when that's demanded, we'll be perfectly prepared to do it." --Mark Pauline
Diamanda Galas was Goth before it became fashionable. If Stevie Nicks is the good, white witch, Diamanda is her dark opposite. The Greek singer alludes
to being half-vampire, half-witch, and has a strong penchant for drama. When asked about her fascination with vampires, she replied, "God, if I know. What's their fascination with me? I mean, they've haunted me for years." I don't like her music (her voice reminds me of Cher), but I'd go see one of her shows. It's hard to define her style of music. Some would call it Jazz or Blues. Some say it's Progressive or Punk. I'd say it's a combination of all of the above with a touch of Opera. She goes all out when it comes to portraying an occultish image. In fact, I wouldn't want to run into her in a dark alley. Galas has maintained a cult following since the 80's; and ever since Anne Rice inspired the Goth sub-culture, she's become the object of fascination for a whole new generation. Besides singing about doom, gloom, death, and despair; she also tends to be very political and philosophical. She's definitely an original though.
"Some guy from the Living Theatre said, 'You're work is really, uh...the only place you could tour that shit is in mental institutions. They can't leave, they're on Thorazine, they'd probably get a hell of a kick out of it. Not only that, you might wanna stay there for awhile.'...I said 'Fuck you' and started doing it." -- Diamanda Galas
I've been a fan of The Church, and The Almighty "Bob", since the 90's; and thanks to the Internet, they've gained a new flock of followers to keep it going. If you had asked Reverend Ivan Stang in the late 70's if the Church would last this long, he probably would have laughed. What's fascinating to me is how the idea was even conceived, and what's even more fascinating is that the idea was put into action. Sometimes it's described as an anti-cult cult. I think it's easiest to describe it as a massive group of people all playing a part in a parody on religion. They pretend to take it seriously, but everyone is in on the joke. Like Survival Research Laboratories, it was probably inspired by Punk. The Church has a long, interesting, and humorous history that began with the Sacred P.O. Box and just took off from there. If you want to know about its history, you'll have to read about it yourself, because there would be too much to type. The Church still puts on the occasional Devival (opposite of Revival) at theatres or festivals.
J.R. "Bob" Dobbs is the Church's founder (this is part of the joke). He was alive once, and only made one public appearance at a San Francisco theater in 1984. Unfortunately, that same night he was shot by the Unknown Assassin on stage, and rumour has it the Church did it because they needed a martyr. So Bob is basically the Jesus of the CotS. Despite the entertainment and humor factors, there is a message in all of it, which directly (or not so directly) criticizes organized religion. On an early Devival Crusade flyer, it says, "You'll Pay to Know What You Really Think!" To fully understand the CotS, you have to know the slang, terms, and style of it (which tends to be VERY surreal).
"Get in on the grand floor of a lucrative new cult while the rates are still low." --Church of the Subgenius
This is one of my favorite interviews. Robert Anton Wilson is the author of many science fiction fantasy novels, beginning with the Illuminatus! trilogy in 
1975. The books were based on his fascination with the Bavarian Illuminati (conspiracy theory about a New World Order) and Futurism (the attempt to forecast future technology and its effects on social behavior). In the 60's he did a lot of drugs and hung out with William Burroughs and Timothy Leary (if he was friends with those guys, he was definitely doing drugs!) In the early 70's, he was an associate editor for Playboy magazine. He also belonged to several occult groups in order to study them--their rituals, brainwashing techniques, etc.
"I used to be an anarchist and a nihilist, but I had to drop out of that because the anarchists and nihilists had too many rules." --Robert Anton Wilson
"There have been damned few human beings; the human being is something that is evolving and about to happen, but has not happened yet." --Robert Anton Wilson
This is the guy who made the indie film "Coffee & Cigarettes." A lot of people didn't like the film, because it was too slow, but that's his style. Once you come to expect this from his films, you appreciate them more. They are usually shot in black-and-white. Conversations between characters are often mundane and trivial. Landscapes are gritty and industrial (yet strangely beautiful). Scenes are purposely drawn out and slow. This wasn't one of Belsito's best interviews. He asked a lot of boring, technical questions about production. I would have preferred if he had tapped into Jarmusch's right-brain more and asked about what inspires him.
I liked Jarmusch's film "Stranger Than Paradise," which is discussed in the interview. That was one of his first movies, and it was good. It also has a great ending. My favorite scene is after the three protagonists leave their northeast home in the middle of a blizzard to vacation in Florida. The problem is it's still Winter in Florida, but they pretend not to notice. In one shot, they are standing in front of a cheerful, sunny Welcome to Florida billboard. They all have sunglasses on, but you can tell it's cold and they're wearing winter jackets. Later, we see them driving the car with the convertible top down. I loved that subtle, humorous touch to the film.
