When I was a young white girl growing up in country coastal Australia, I didn't pay much attention to other people's experiences of being Australian. I didnt' have to - despite being the daughter of immigrants, they were white immigrants - German and English. My skin colour made me passable. Plus, despite growing in multicultural Melbourne's west, by the time I was 11 I was in the very white coastal town of Torquay.
Even now, fondly remembering the heady punk and thrash days of my late teens and early 20's, I don't recall racism, just the mosh pit, the smell of stale beer and arm pits and the ache of bruised body parts in the morning.
For Australian band the Hard Ons, who started in Sydney in the 80's, the experience was different - and difference. Raymond Ahn, who I always thought was a spunk, came over from Korea with his family when he was 11. Peter “Blackie” Black's family was Croatian, and Keish Da Silva was Sri Lankan. You know, I can't remember race seeing them live back then. They were just high energy awesomeness and I thought Raymond Ahn was hot a.f.
But this documentary explores their Australianness as one of the most influential punk bands at the time, both here and Europe, but also their experience of racism in 80's Australia. It's a great documentary if you love a biopic. The doco is called The Most Australian band Ever and you can watch it on Vimeo.
By the late '80's, thankfully, the violence and racism gave way just to everyone having a fucking good time in the mosh pit, which is probably when I was seeing them every single time they came to Melbourne or Geelong. They were rad on stage - an absolute blast.
They're kinda melodic punk I suppose - they were definitely hard core and super high octane energy, but also kinda garage due to their low fi DIY aesthetic, and maybe a little hard rock and metal too due to their hard core guitar.
When they toured Europe, they didn't drink like a lot of the other Aussie bands, and apparently always had the energy to just keep playing. In thongs, or flip flops if you're foreign. THey were definitely Aussies, no doubt about it, and weren't trying to be anything but.
They were super punk as well because of their 'don't give a fuck' attitude. They just loved playing music. Their lyrics were obnoxious and juvenile and even the name of their band, The Hard Ons, meant they were never going to be completely mainstream. Every loved them. A lot.
Raymond Ahn also did the album art, which is pretty cartoonish as was the style of a lot of album posters at the time. I used to have one of their posters on my wall.
Album art via here
A lot of their album art and song lyrics were pretty controversial. I remember thinking, like everyoe else, that it was super funny at the time. I mean, now they'd be cancelled I reckon, but back then it was just hilarious. They just didn't take themselves, or any one, seriously. It was just that piss take Australian humour.
And if you hadn't heard of them, maybe you've heard of Black Flag - I mean, they played with Henry Rollins in 1992 which was apparently epic.
I haven't kept in the loop much about them since the early '90's - you kinda grow out of high energy music like that. Punk, thrash, hardcore, metal, the mosh pit - I had a good few years of awesome memories and all the amazing bands we saw back then, but then other music takes over and you go in different directions. They kept playing over the years, dedicated to the music, and still do. There's been some controversy with Keish Da Silva kicked out of the band for sexual misconduct but I don't know much about that.
With Love,
Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here
I lived in a small town during the Soviet era and never saw anyone with dark skin there. When a mulatto girl (her father was Cuban) came to our school, all the kids looked at her as if she were a miracle. No one would have thought of insulting her. I remember we were raised to respect all nations of the Earth.
That's a lovely way to grow up. I never remembered racism either but then I wasn't subject to it and just because I didn't see it didn't mean it didn't exist.
You've been curated by @plantpoweronhive! Delegations welcome!