Synthpunk
Encyclopedia
Synthpunk is a music genre
combining elements of electronic music
and punk rock
. The term was coined by Damian Ramsey
in 1999 as an attempt to retroactively identify a small sub-genre of punk music from 1977 to 1984 that involved musicians playing synthesizers in place of electric guitars
.
in 1975 and the first demo session by The Screamers
with Pat Garrett on 7 July 1977 are candidates for the first synthpunk recording. The Screamers were referred to as "techno-punk" in an article in the Los Angeles Times
in 1978, but this did not become established as a genre name. Recent use of the term techno-punk usually refers to music sequencer dance
or techno
that has punk fashion
or performance influences, rather than synthpunk's identification as punk rock
being played live on synthesizer keyboards. In popular culture, the word "techno" itself has become independently imbued with its own music genre and alternative subculture meanings, which are not linked to the same roots of punk rock, but are instead rooted in electronic music
and disco
. Prior to the techno music genre, use of the word "techno-" was usually as prefix modifier to simple words (techno-lighting, techno-furnished) in order to suggesting heavy involvement or embracing use of technology. For this reason, "techno-punk" used in the Los Angeles Times 1978 article can not logically mean what most post-techno music usage of the word "techno-punk" refers to, thus "synthpunk" has a distinct purpose in describing this pre-techno keyboard-playing, punk music, as well as those later influenced specifically by it. It also ties in well with the genre name "synthpop
", another pre-techno genre, where pop music
influences are the central instead of punk. Several of the original synthpunk artists of the late 1970s would later record synthpop in the 1980s.
The term "synthpunk" (without hyphenation) is first documented as Damian Ramsey
's web domain name
hosting record for the Synthysteria! web pages that he authored in 1999 at http://www.synthpunk.org.
The web pages document his selected focus on the American synthpunk groups Nervous Gender
, The Units
, The Screamers
, Tone Set, Our Daughters Wedding, and Voice Farm
under one curatorial umbrella. The site gathered text and images of discographies, flyers, interviews, anecdotes, and listed sources from research Damian conducted between 1999 and 2005. The sources Damian sites (articles, interviews, event lists, anecdotes) are from his personal contact with many members of the original bands, implying some acceptance of the term with these original musicians. Some later (post-2004) print media uses the genre word to describe most any band who were combining a vaguely punk style with synthesizer use, where guitars are not largely replaced by synths (for instance, The Stranglers). More appropriately, "synthpunk" is used describe Suicide
and Devo
, who were not originally covered on the web site (because they were so well documented on the web already), but were described as synthpunk later in print media and generally included at the core of the genre on the Synthpunk Yahoo! Group.
The term is used in retroactive reference to these early bands, such as when Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post
describes late early 1980s Devo, "...the band's sci-fi synthpunk is revealed as the missing link between the Ramones
and Depeche Mode
."
But the term is increasingly used in print media for loosely describing new bands that have a punk guitar sound with a synthesizer sound added to the mix, such as Le Tigre
,
or The Epoxies
,
Blowoff/Bob Mould
,
Ima Robot
,
or Full Minute of Mercury, as well as a description of re-discovered and re-released artists such as Futurisk
from the original pre-midi period of the late 1970's thru early 1980's.
roots, the use of synthesizers was controversial within the punk scene even though the punk music culture collectively embraced an anti-establishment political stance. It was very rare, particularly in America, for punk musicians to use synthesizers or keyboards at all to make punk music, let alone replacing the guitars with them. While the rejection of using guitars was an extension of the logic of punk music's anti-establishment
politics, synthpunk bands went farther than many fans were willing to extend that principle, and synthesizer-based punk rock groups had small following as a whole. It is probably due to this issue that the identification of a synthesizer-based, sub-genre of punk rock took so many years to become identified as a collective genre.
Synthesizers playing the role of lead and rhythm guitars meant that much of the technique of synthesis relied on making full, harmonic lead timbres, similar to the synthesizer lead roles in some 1970's progressive rock
and jazz fusion
genres.
As yet, there is no information on the technique of synthpunk musicians aside from an article in Keyboard Magazine
from 1982 in which the Units are interviewed.
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
combining elements of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and 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...
. The term was coined by Damian Ramsey
Damian Ramsey
Damian Ramsey was a musician, poet, composer and musicologist who invented the music genre word "synthpunk" in 1999 in order to retroactively describe synthesizer-based punk bands from 1977-1984...
in 1999 as an attempt to retroactively identify a small sub-genre of punk music from 1977 to 1984 that involved musicians playing synthesizers in place of electric guitars
Electric Guitars
Electric Guitars were formed early in 1980 by Neil Davenport and Richard Hall who were both studying English at Bristol University. The band soon increased to a five-man line-up, with Andy Saunders , Matt Salt and Dick Truscott , they also later added two backing singers: Sara and Wendy...
.
History
A rehearsal tape by SuicideSuicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
in 1975 and the first demo session by The Screamers
The Screamers
The Screamers were a punk rock group active in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1970s. The Screamers were pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk," and can also be classified as art punk....
with Pat Garrett on 7 July 1977 are candidates for the first synthpunk recording. The Screamers were referred to as "techno-punk" in an article in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
in 1978, but this did not become established as a genre name. Recent use of the term techno-punk usually refers to music sequencer dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
or techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
that has punk fashion
Punk fashion
Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including...
or performance influences, rather than synthpunk's identification as 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...
being played live on synthesizer keyboards. In popular culture, the word "techno" itself has become independently imbued with its own music genre and alternative subculture meanings, which are not linked to the same roots of punk rock, but are instead rooted in electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. Prior to the techno music genre, use of the word "techno-" was usually as prefix modifier to simple words (techno-lighting, techno-furnished) in order to suggesting heavy involvement or embracing use of technology. For this reason, "techno-punk" used in the Los Angeles Times 1978 article can not logically mean what most post-techno music usage of the word "techno-punk" refers to, thus "synthpunk" has a distinct purpose in describing this pre-techno keyboard-playing, punk music, as well as those later influenced specifically by it. It also ties in well with the genre name "synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
", another pre-techno genre, where pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
influences are the central instead of punk. Several of the original synthpunk artists of the late 1970s would later record synthpop in the 1980s.
The term "synthpunk" (without hyphenation) is first documented as Damian Ramsey
Damian Ramsey
Damian Ramsey was a musician, poet, composer and musicologist who invented the music genre word "synthpunk" in 1999 in order to retroactively describe synthesizer-based punk bands from 1977-1984...
's web domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
hosting record for the Synthysteria! web pages that he authored in 1999 at http://www.synthpunk.org.
The web pages document his selected focus on the American synthpunk groups Nervous Gender
Nervous Gender
Nervous Gender is a punk band founded in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa.Their use of heavily distorted keyboards and synthesizers made them, along with The Screamers, one of the original innovators of what is today called...
, The Units
The Units
The Units are a defunct, early electronic music/punk rock/New Wave/synthpunk band founded in San Francisco in 1978 and active until 1984.One of America's first electronic New Wave bands, they are widely cited as pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk." The Units were notable for their use of...
, The Screamers
The Screamers
The Screamers were a punk rock group active in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1970s. The Screamers were pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk," and can also be classified as art punk....
, Tone Set, Our Daughters Wedding, and Voice Farm
Voice Farm
Voice Farm is a music and video collective based in San Francisco known for their outrageous live shows and videos. Vocalist Charly Brown and sound designer Myke Reilly form the core of the group. Voice Farm's musical style has evolved from their influential early 80's synth-pop sound into what...
under one curatorial umbrella. The site gathered text and images of discographies, flyers, interviews, anecdotes, and listed sources from research Damian conducted between 1999 and 2005. The sources Damian sites (articles, interviews, event lists, anecdotes) are from his personal contact with many members of the original bands, implying some acceptance of the term with these original musicians. Some later (post-2004) print media uses the genre word to describe most any band who were combining a vaguely punk style with synthesizer use, where guitars are not largely replaced by synths (for instance, The Stranglers). More appropriately, "synthpunk" is used describe Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
and Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, who were not originally covered on the web site (because they were so well documented on the web already), but were described as synthpunk later in print media and generally included at the core of the genre on the Synthpunk Yahoo! Group.
The term is used in retroactive reference to these early bands, such as when Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
describes late early 1980s Devo, "...the band's sci-fi synthpunk is revealed as the missing link between the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
and Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
."
But the term is increasingly used in print media for loosely describing new bands that have a punk guitar sound with a synthesizer sound added to the mix, such as Le Tigre
Le Tigre
Le Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
,
or The Epoxies
The Epoxies
The Epoxies were an American New Wave band from Portland, Oregon formed in 2000. Heavily influenced by punk rock and New Wave the band jokingly described themselves as robot garage rock. Members included FM Static on synthesizers, guitarist Viz Spectrum, leading lady Roxy Epoxy, bassist Shock...
,
Blowoff/Bob Mould
Bob Mould
Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...
,
Ima Robot
Ima Robot
-Band history:Ima Robot formed in the late 1990s, after vocalist Alex Ebert's band The Lucky 13's broke up, and became successful in the early 2000s after signing with Virgin Records. The band's other original members were Timmy "the Terror" Anderson, Oligee, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, and the prolific...
,
or Full Minute of Mercury, as well as a description of re-discovered and re-released artists such as Futurisk
Futurisk
FUTURISK was an electronic synthpunk group based out of Lighthouse Point that recorded and performed live in the late 1970s and early 1980s in South Florida, and are believed to be the first electropop/synthpunk band in the American South....
from the original pre-midi period of the late 1970's thru early 1980's.
Characteristics
Due to the predominant use of guitars in punk's rock musicRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
roots, the use of synthesizers was controversial within the punk scene even though the punk music culture collectively embraced an anti-establishment political stance. It was very rare, particularly in America, for punk musicians to use synthesizers or keyboards at all to make punk music, let alone replacing the guitars with them. While the rejection of using guitars was an extension of the logic of punk music's anti-establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
politics, synthpunk bands went farther than many fans were willing to extend that principle, and synthesizer-based punk rock groups had small following as a whole. It is probably due to this issue that the identification of a synthesizer-based, sub-genre of punk rock took so many years to become identified as a collective genre.
Synthesizers playing the role of lead and rhythm guitars meant that much of the technique of synthesis relied on making full, harmonic lead timbres, similar to the synthesizer lead roles in some 1970's progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
genres.
As yet, there is no information on the technique of synthpunk musicians aside from an article in Keyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, including those not strictly pertaining to the...
from 1982 in which the Units are interviewed.