Skate punk
Encyclopedia
Skate punk is a sub genre of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, originally a derivative of the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 scene, that is named after its popularity among skateboarders and association with skateboarding culture. Skate punk most commonly describes the sound of melodic hardcore bands from the 1990s with an aggressive sound, and similar sounding modern bands. Skate videos have traditionally featured this aggressive style of punk rock to parallel the feel of skateboarding. This played a big part in the coining of the term "skate punk". However, some bands who are commonly referred to as skate punk do not embrace the label because they do not necessarily associate with skateboarding despite what the label would imply. Skate punk has gained popularity all around the world, including the Nardcore
Nardcore
Nardcore is a hardcore punk movement that came out of Southern California in the early 1980s, originating in Silver Strand Beach, Oxnard and Port Hueneme. Early bands in the Nardcore scene included Agression, Dr. Know, False Confession, Ill Repute, Habeas Corpus, RKL, Stalag 13 and Scared Straight...

 punk scene out of Oxnard, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Musical style

The musical style of skate punk combines the intensity of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 and thrashcore
Thrashcore
Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...

 with more melodic songwriting. However, the earliest skate punk bands had a more raw sound which generally became more melodic over time. Skate punk is often more technical than other forms of punk, commonly featuring lead guitar riffs, solos, and vocal harmonies. The drum beats are often extremely fast, borrowing from the hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 and thrashcore
Thrashcore
Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...

 tradition. There is a considerable amount of overlap between the sound of skate punk and other forms of punk, so many bands classified as skate punk also fit into genres such as pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...

, melodic hardcore
Melodic hardcore
Melodic hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on vocal melody. The genre is commonly defined with fast hardcore drum beats, complex guitar riffs and melodic singing with occasional screaming and shouting.-History:...

, and thrashcore
Thrashcore
Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...

. Members of skate punk bands are often skateboarders themselves. Some bands occasionally focus on or at least reference skateboarding culture in their lyrics, in addition to other lyrical themes common to punk.

History

Skate punk started in mid-1980s California, where skateboarding was growing in popularity and was considered a form of rebellion. Bands that influenced the genre include Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...

, JFA
JFA (band)
JFA is a hardcore punk band formed in 1981, with roots in Arizona and in Southern California skateboard culture. The original members include Brian Brannon , Don "dred" Pendleton , Michael Cornelius , and Mike "Bam-Bam" Sversvold . Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls also played bass for a while...

, Agent Orange
Agent Orange (band)
Agent Orange is an American punk rock band formed in Orange County, California in 1979. The band is one of the first to mix punk rock with surf music. They first gained attention with their song "Bloodstains" which they released on their own 7" E.P. An early demo of the song was presented to...

, Minor Threat
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980 and disbanded in 1983. The band was relatively short-lived, but had a strong influence on the hardcore punk music scene, both stylistically and in establishing a "do it yourself" ethic for music distribution and...

 and Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...

. The Big Boys from Texas and JFA
JFA (band)
JFA is a hardcore punk band formed in 1981, with roots in Arizona and in Southern California skateboard culture. The original members include Brian Brannon , Don "dred" Pendleton , Michael Cornelius , and Mike "Bam-Bam" Sversvold . Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls also played bass for a while...

 from Arizona are widely considered to be the first skate punk bands. Both bands were made up entirely of skateboarders and played loud and fast music designed to match the intensity of skateboarding. Bands such as RKL
Rich Kids on LSD
Rich Kids on LSD was a Californian hardcore punk band formed in 1982 in Montecito, California, a suburb of Santa Barbara. They were associated with the "Nardcore" scene that evolved out of nearby Oxnard. Their music expanded over the years from West Coast hardcore to a mix of hardcore with rock...

, NOFX
NOFX
NOFX is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California .The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after. In 1991 El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up...

, Stalag 13, Hogan's Heroes and Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies is a U.S. crossover thrash band founded in 1981 in Venice, Los Angeles, California by Mike Muir, its leader and only permanent member. The band is sometimes credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash"...

 were also among the first wave of skate punk bands, with the latter band also paving the way for skate punk bands to play funk metal
Funk metal
Funk metal is a subgenre of funk rock that fuses elements of heavy metal and funk. Allmusic has claimed that "funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Mordred and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger...

.

The 1990s saw a rise in the popularity of skate punk as it evolved to be more melodic. During this time skate punk bands experienced a fair amount of commercial success and were featured in events such as the Warped tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...

.

Notable Record labels

  • Hopeless Records
    Hopeless Records
    Hopeless Records is an independent record label located in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. The label was started in 1993 by Louis Posen and financed by a group of private investors. Hopeless's artists are generally considered punk rock, pop punk, post-hardcore, or alternative rock, but some...

  • Fearless Records
    Fearless Records
    Fearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk moments captured in the Fearless Flush Sampler and Punk Bites releases, as well as additional releases by...

  • Mystic Records
    Mystic Records
    Mystic Records is a record label and music production company that was based in Hollywood CA one block south of Hollywood and Vine and later moved to Oceanside, California...

  • DC-Jam Records
    DC-Jam Records
    DC-Jam Records is an american record label founded in 2006 by President Darron Hemann that focuses primarily on the genres of Punk Rock, Ska, and Experimental music. The company was established in 2006, though their first official release didn't happen until early 2008...

  • Geykido Comet Records
    Geykido Comet Records
    Geykido Comet Records began as a small and humble bedroom operation in 1998 seeing the first release in January 1999: Intro5pect 7-inch EP "Education"....

  • Bells On Records
  • Alternative Tentacles
    Alternative Tentacles
    Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...

  • Fat Wreck Chords
    Fat Wreck Chords
    Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....

  • Epitaph Records
    Epitaph Records
    Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...

  • Nitro Records
    Nitro Records
    Nitro Records is an independent record label created and owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel . They started the label in 1994. The label is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notably AFI...

  • BrokenBoard Records
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK