How did you become involved in the Punk Scholars Network? I have been involved in research and writing about punk since I went to art college as a mature student in 1990. I had been actively involved in punk scenes in the south of England for around thirteen years at that point and redundancy from my warehouse job pushed me back into education. With the encouragement of my tutors I began looking more critically at ‘punk’, particularly its evolving history. I started working as a Research Associate in 1996 in the Graphic Design department at the University of Portsmouth, then got a job at London College of Printing and started to develop my research interests there alongside teaching Undergraduate and Postgraduate Graphic Design. I undertook a PhD focussed on punk graphic design and the evolution of a number of punk and post-punk sub-genres across the United Kingdom, Hitsville UK: Punk and Graphic Design in the Faraway Towns, 1976-84, which I completed in 2007. That was followed by several exhibitions, including one at Leeds University in 2011 which led directly to the establishment of the journal Punk & Post-Punk in 2012, for which I became Associate Editor. A book on punk graphics, The Art of Punk, followed and I started to make more connections to other academics studying punk from a wide variety of perspectives and subject specialisms. I had been friends with Mike Dines in our shared home town of Portsmouth for several years and he let me know about the inaugural meeting of the Punk Scholars Network in Leicester. That event introduced me to other experts in the wider field while also giving me a chance to catch up with some I already knew well including Mike and my friend and fellow artist/designer Paul Harvey. It seemed obvious to many of us that we had an opportunity to really develop our shared interests and to work together to establish a recognised field of study.
Why do you feel it's important that a network for those involved in the study of punk/punks exists? Punk is a fascinating – and evolving – subject that I believe strongly merits greater attention, particularly to unpack and critique some of the stereotypes and myths that have grown up around it over the past 40 years. The study of punk also sits in a rather odd place somewhere between accepted or ‘official’ academia and popular culture, particularly a form of popular culture that centres closely on notions of authenticity and identity. As punk scholars we sometimes walk a tightrope between accusations of selling out an ‘authentic’ punk scene – or even worse, the infiltration of punk communities by unaligned and distant ‘academics’ – and the academic institutions themselves that sometimes look down on our field as simplistic, irrelevant or not worthy of serious study. The Punk Scholars Network allows us to build a community of practice and research that offers support, critical scrutiny, academic expertise and a real sense of camaraderie and encouragement.
Tell us a bit about your own (punk) research? My written work tends to focus on punk history and particularly on the visual and graphic elements of punk – record covers, flyers, posters, fanzines and other visual ephemera that gives punk an identity. I’m not just interested in the form or the content, but in the means of production and the tools utilised in the creation of physical objects – the whole process from conception to realisation. I’ve written a lot about punk graphics, punk in the wider regions of the UK, punk humour and comedy and punk’s use of irony, satire and transgression. I’m also a graphic designer and I have been closely involved in creating the visual identity and most of the graphic material for the Punk Scholars Network along with books, record covers, posters, flyers, t-shirts and badges for a range of independent labels, bands, authors and publishers. I have also curated exhibitions of punk graphics and supported my colleagues across the PSN in sourcing and developing visual work. Five years ago I took on the lead editor role for Punk & Post-Punk and along with my co-editors Matt, Pete and Mike I have developed that journal as a vehicle for research closely linked to the work of the PSN. I have also been heavily involved in establishing the PSN/Intellect Books Global Punk book series and supporting colleagues with funding bids and wider network activity.
What is your connection to punk/background in punk? I was intrigued by the notion of ‘punk’ when I first read about it in my Mum and Dad’s newspapers (the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and News of the World) around the summer of 1976. I was fourteen then and the fact my parents and grandparents found it so shocking was very appealing to a rebellious teenager. From early 1977 I started buying records and managed to get away from home to go to gigs around a year later, often to my Mum’s huge disappointment (and anger). I began playing bass and guitar (very badly and entirely self-taught) and played in a couple of teenage bands in my home town Tunbridge Wells before moving to Portsmouth in 1980 and becoming heavily involved in the local punk scene. I played in a couple of local bands and worked as a roadie (for touring groups ranging from The Damned, The Stranglers and The Clash to Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Bauhaus, David Essex, Elaine Paige, Shakin’ Stevens, Dr Hook and The Nolans), a DJ, a sound and lighting engineer and in a record shop for several years – at one point working just for records for several months as the manager couldn’t afford to pay me! I formed post-punk/hardcore band Watch You Drown in 1987 with two brothers, Paul and Kev Luce, whose younger brother Martin was a YTS trainee in the record shop. I went to art college in 1990 after being made redundant from a forklift truck driving job and was introduced to ‘academic’ writing about punk that seemed quite distant and unrelated to my own experience and that of many of my friends. That set me on the journey to try to contribute to something better, and I’m so pleased to be a part of the Punk Scholars Network thirty years later. I continue to play guitar and sing with Watch You Drown and I’m still an avid record collector and gig-goer.
Russ Bestley is a designer and writer, specialising in graphic design, punk and humour. His publications include A Different Kind of Tension: Post-Punk Graphic Design in the UK, 1976-1990 (MUP, forthcoming), Action Time Vision: Punk & Post-Punk 7” Record Sleeves (Unit Editions, 2016), The Art of Punk (Omnibus, 2012), Visual Research (AVA 2004, 2011, 2015, forthcoming) and Up Against the Wall (AVA, 2002). Find out more on our About PSN page and www.hitsvilleuk.com