April 2010 Editorial

Welcome to the Green Issue

Every year when April rolls around all the print magazines out there put out what they call the “Green Issue”. So like all of them we too have decided to put out a green issue of our own. Being good to the earth is something we all are cool with.

Recycling should be a normal part of your regular routine. Think about it, when you throw a party and after everyone has emptied the contents of all the bottles and cans of their favorite party liquid of choice, recycling all of the empties for the cash they represent just helps to offset the cost in a small way of the next party. This reminds us of a funny night out when a bunch of the staffers were at a house party where the drinking got pretty heavy and the chaos ensued. In the midst of this was one of the party goers that had green on his mind. It was like watching a transient that crashed the party, this guy was trolling the party collecting all the bottles and cans on the DL and loading up a trash bag in the kitchen. After watching this guy in action for a while, one of our staffers started to figure out that this guy was not necessarily collecting all the bottles and cans to be green, he was doing it for the green. Over the course of the night he had a couple of trash bags filled up and had them staged by the back door so he could get them out in hopes that no one would really figure out what he was doing. While he was out on the hunt for more empties we took his loot and hid it. Needless to say when he came back and saw his loot was gone he started to trip out, wondering if he had moved the bags and forgot where he put them -After all he was continuously drinking the warm swill at the bottom of many of the empties.

About five minutes had passed and he was now pretty agitated that he thought someone moved in on his score. Since our crew was partying’ where the living room met the kitchen we were the first people he asked, “Hey did you guys see someone take out the trash, they did a shitty job and made a mess”. We then said back to him, “Yea, we knew the guy was doing something wrong when he took these two big bags and put them in broom closet”. He then rushed over to the closet to see the bags he worked so hard to collect were in there. The laughing from our corner was pretty loud and he knew we had everything to do with the relocated loot. In the end things were cool, and all was forgiven once we replaced his warm swill with a fresh cold one. Through the laughing he said that he was just trying to be a responsible world citizen and recycling. In the end, we figured that the unauthorized recycler ended up doing the party’s host a favor by cleaning up a good chunk of what would have been left for him one he woke up in the morning.

Anyhow, getting back to celebrating this “Green Issue” of the magazine. The more we got to thinking about this whole green thing we came to these conclusions. Why is it that the easiest way try to gain nobility in this society is to proclaim, “I’ve gone green!” Why is it that the Green Issues of print magazines are bigger than the normal issues? If you “truly” wanted to have a green issue, wouldn’t that mean that you would have NO issue that month? With that said, we challenge every one to not buy or pick up any print magazine in the month of April and truly celebrate the Green issue. If a magazine wants to really “go green” and have a Green Issue, then they should put their entire issue online so that there are no natural resources used and our landfills can take a breather. Like the guy who was collecting bottles and cans at a party to put some money in his pockets and not really knowing he was being green, on the opposite side you have magazines that put out a big fat Green Issue because to them it is all about the “green” ad dollars it represents to them and to hell with the earth.

Let’s see how many magazines step up and NOT put out an issue in April to prove they have gone green -Don’t hold your breath.

March 2010 Editorial

The Sex Pistols are often looked back upon as being a cheesy, music industry product with no value to hard core fans of music. Still though it's hard to think of any record  that is more emotionally charging than "Never Mind The Bollocks" and really no record for that matter grabs people's attention the same way as the Pistols one and only proper studio album. If somehow "Bollocks" was played over the intercom at a mall in any suburban town in North America a few things could be guaranteed. . . First off old ladies would be trying to get their shopping done as quickly as possible, mothers would complain about their kids hearing such frighteningly offensive music, and at least one thirteen year old kid would make it a mission to own the album as soon as he could get his hands on it.

While most of what Johnny Rotten said in the Pistols' lyrics seemed to be negative just for the sake of being negative there are a few really clever lines that somehow give the band some substance that most people surely overlook. The lyric that stands out the most comes from "God Save the Queen" where Rotten snarls, "We are the flowers in the dustbin." That lyric alone in fact changes the entire tone and outlook of the record. In essence it makes a distinction between people and their surroundings- for those who are not familiar with the term a dustbin is a British term for a trash barrel and Rotten is stating that he is part of something that has potential to be valuable and even beautiful despite being discarded, overlooked, and surrounded by doom and gloom.

Anger, unrest, and even destruction all have their place in our world and when these things are used in a meaningful and well directed manner they can be powerful and even positive. If something exists only to make people's lives miserable than it should be destroyed and anytime that their is injustice in the world there should be rebellion. All too often though unfocused people direct their anger, rebellion, and destruction in all of the wrong directions. This is perhaps because it's often much easier to challenge the meek than the structures that exist to maintain power in a negative way.

Everyone in the world has walked into a trashed public restroom at some point in their lives. It's a gross, frustrating, and defeating feeling, because under normal circumstances most of us don't use a public restroom unless there's no other choice. It's a classic example of misdirected destruction- the people that suffer because of this sort of behavior are the normal and innocent people who have to use a gross bathroom and the guy on the bottom of the company food chain who has to clean up the mess. It's never a company C.E.O. who has to clean up shit off the floor at McDonald's- it's always the new guy who is working for minimum wage for a company that doesn't care about him.

When we aimlessly destroy things it gives people an excuse to use more authority and legitimizes the structures that any person with a right mind would never want to deal with in their day to day lives. It's self defeating and gives our enemies more power. On the other hand positive rebellion distinguishes us from our enemies and the negativity that we are too often surrounded by. If we really don't want to deal with cops and other authority figures being on our backs all of the time, perhaps the best way to make even a small step in that direction is to act in a positive way that shows that extreme forms of authority are not necessary. Maybe it's time for more people to make the distinction between the flowers and the dustbins they too often get thrown into.

 

-Ditch-
Asst. Editor

 

 

February 2010 Editorial

As participants of the Punk scene and other forms of alternative culture we are part of tradition of cultural dissent. While Punk Rock itself only came to be in the mid 1970's many of the ideals and values that are common within our subculture go back much further than the scene that we are involved in. Punk Rock is often a reality based expression of the discontent that average people face in their day to day life and part of the backlash that Punk has faced since is inception is the result of our refusal to leave the less desirable aspects of modern day life out of the vocabulary of our artistic expressions. Anger, rebellion, struggle, and discontent are part of real life so we feel that they should be a part of our art. In truth though these values of relentless realism can be found in many other forms of art, music, and literature. And like Punk Rock nearly all of these individuals and movements that have depicted an angry realism have had been confronted by the ugly face of censorship and backlash from establishments and popular culture. In the age where literature was still a popular medium of art and entertainment, often the most controversial artists were writers who rocked the boat with such realism. Some of these writers included the Beats who included Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and also J.D. Salinger who did not subscribe to any artistic movement but managed to change the world of literature single handed.

This week author, J.D. Salinger passed away after spending many years avoiding the public eye. While Salinger's personal life was documented as being conflicted at best, few could deny the impact that he had on American culture and literary culture as a whole. He was best known as the author of The Catcher In the Rye, a semi autobiographical novel that followed the exploits of a young and angry narrator named Holden Caulfield. Caulfield, like many of us, had a strong distaste for the shallow nature of most of the people that he interacted with. Despite his cynicism and jaded world view at a young age, at the core Cualfield proved to be a caring person who wanted nothing more than to improve the world in small and very personal way. This can best be seen in the passage that the book gets its namesake from:

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."

The first time that I read Catcher it felt as if I was reading my own personal journals. Salinger in his own unique and brilliant way captured and exposed the thought process of young men in their late teenage years. Everything from the unexplained anger that goes on in the mind of young men to the tenderness, insecurities and vulnerability of the male spirit is there in a bare and multi- dimensioned view. Caulfield constantly seeks to find a balance in the contradiction of man, which is that we often simultaneously seek the freedom of isolation and the warmth of human contact.

Because of Salinger's gritty and realistic view of the condition of young men, Catcher was constantly threatened by those who sought to censor the novel. Like any truly important piece of art the book threatened people's perceptions and made them uncomfortable. Parents, religious leaders, and politicians made sure that Catcher was banned in schools and libraries all over the country for not only its language but for the content which accurately showed a young man who had contempt for authority and an interest in sex.

Like anything else that is important enough to get the attention of censors, The Catcher In The Rye eventually had a big enough impact so that it transcended the feeble world views of those who sought to ban it. Today it is often required reading in high schools but it still gets a bad rap from some ultra establishment types. In the sense that it upset people for its realism, Catcher fits in perfectly with our philosophies here at Big Wheel. We are constantly seeking art that makes people think and sheds light on ideas that are easily overlook by the status quota. We hope that when the next J.D. Salinger comes around or the next Bob Dylan, Johnny Rotten or Allen Ginsberg comes around that we will be amongst the first people to give them a helping hand when they inevitably are met with reactionary disdain from the establishment.

In another passage from the book, Caulfield addresses being expelled from school, stating:
 "What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I've left schools and places I didn't even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse."

So with that we say farewell to J.D. Salinger and hope that when he left this world that he felt the good bye.

 

-Ditch-
Asst. Editor

 

 

Year End 2009 Editorial

As opposed to many who tend to write year end articles as a preemptive recap of the year, sometimes missing out on a whole month of events that have yet to happen, I have decided to discuss 2009 in its entirety.

Here were are, sitting on the doorstep of 2010 with all the baggage that we brought with us from 2009 and years past. It's not necessarily a bad thing, its part of us, much like the records we add to our music collection each year.

We can look through it and be reminded of the different phases we went through in life and also recall some of the albums that helped shape what we listen to now.

If nothing else, I can say that I'm happy that 2009 is finally just a memory. The year started with the inauguration of a new president, for better or worse depending on your views it was definitely a product of the nations desire for something different in their lives. Fed up with the economy and the day to day hassles that everyone is facing it seemed easier to go in a totally different direction. For some, the change that has occurred is welcome, for others it is like watching the fall of Rome. Regardless, it feels like a wedge has been stuck between the nation for eight years and still continues to fester.

Personally, 2009 has made a big impact on who I am as a person and the path that I see myself traveling in 2010. The summertime in all its glory and freedom allowed me to extensively travel the United States with a group of people, half of whom are my closest friends, and other half who would become the extension of that same group. To relive all the experiences of the summer in this article would be a lengthy task, but in short it has given me an alternative to what I thought the rest of my life might look like.

Strangely enough, I welcomed 2010 very similar to the way that I did in 2009. Conflict. However, I can look at this in two different ways. I Can say that each year it is started with conflict, or I can say that I welcomed 2009 the same way I bid it farewell. I choose the latter. Choose for yourself, how do you want 2010 to shape up for you?

Last year I wrote about how many of us reflect upon ourselves at the end of each year. Though reflection can be helpful in setting goals for oneself, it can also be harmful if you choose to wallow in your failures of the year. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start over. The greatest thing that man has is the ability to do, is to be resilient, if we allow ourselves to be.

In 2009 we saw tremendous growth here at Big Wheel Magazine. Our viewership continued a steady increase and our staff nearly doubled in size. Just a few of the stats that we recorded from 2009 were that our staff wrote over 200 show reviews, listed over 1100 shows, reviewed over 90 records, published over 7200 photos and gave away 180 concert tickets. We are extremely proud of our staff and feel that we have assembled a group of some of the finest people that have dedicated themselves to this mission. Of course we look at these numbers and are proud of them, but start to think of what we can do better this year to continue to grow. Please grade us... and you did.

Just added: We just added the results above of how you felt we did in 2009. Perhaps amongst our staff we still feel we can do better and then on the other hand we are very proud of what we were able to accomplish this past year. As a team we are committed to continuing to push the envelope and do even better in 2010 -We can not rest of the accomplishments of 2009, that was last year and it is now time for us to work on our 2010 grade. If you like what we do, here is a easy way to show your support by adding one of the easy to use banners to your MySpace or website that can be found HERE.

So as you start to come alive from your alcohol and food induced comas of the holidays, take account of your life and see what you can do better this year, even if that means drinking twice as much next new years eve.

Best wishes of health and success to you all!


-Matt C.-
Editor in Chief

 

 

January 2010 Editorial

This afternoon I was playing Super Mario Brothers on my Nintendo DS while a helicopter was hovering around my neighborhood. A voice came from the helicopter and said something about how we should be on the lookout for a male suspect who was attempting to escape an arrest. At first I was mostly taken aback by the fact that police helicopters have speakers loud enough so that I could hear what they were saying in my apartment over the sound of the propellers. Of course it also made me a bit uneasy that there was some suspected criminal using my neighborhood as his hide out, but really I was more interested in Mario.

Some time passed by and I wanted to go out to the store to get an energy drink and just to get out of the apartment. However when I thought about it I didn't really feel like going out while there were most likely a ton of cops out and about in my neighborhood. It may seem strange to some readers but the police actually intimidate me much more than most of the people they chase around. My dogs were barking at the helicopter and I calmed them down and then went back to playing Mario for no other reasons than the fact that I didn't want to go outside while the cops were there and I had already checked my email earlier in the day.

It was the first day of a new year and a new decade and I was in my living room playing video games. The night before had actually been even more boring. You can say whatever you will about how "only boring people get bored" and in this case you may be right, at least this week. My reaction to the whole incident with the police helicopter was pretty indicative of how I have looked at a lot of things for the past decade. Fucked up things have been going on all over the world and sometimes actually hitting quite close to home, but since I don't really know how to react to them I often just sort of ignore them. It's not that I'm apathetic or dispassionate- I have very strong opinions about most issues and can actually be a pretty emotional person. Still in the face of insanity or disaster I am often unnaturally unfazed. Once my jacket set fire while I was wearing it and my friend, Erock put it out because I was just standing there calmly, trying to remember how to execute the "stop, drop, and roll" technique of extinguishing a fire (a less abridged version of this story may come up in a future column).

Like I said the last decade has been full of all sorts of disasters, but for better or worse we have all survived them. This is the time of year where people reflect on all that they have done and come up with New Year's Resolutions. Whether it's losing weight, quitting smoking, working harder, or taking on some new hobby, people feel that with a new year coming that they should change their lives in a positive way. Of course there's nothing wrong with attempts at self improvement and self evaluation or even creating New Year's Resolutions, but it's also important to remember that we have all seen a lot of chaos and disaster in the past few years and somehow we are all still here- and to say even more, most of us aren't in a position where we are being chased by talking police helicopters. Humans are equipped for resilience and that is really probably what we should be most thankful for when we examine our lives and the past year and decade. Whether we deal with problems by staying inside and playing Mario or by doing something more constructive we have all managed to make it to 2010. Kudos!

Now let's raise our proverbial glasses to a better future and let's hope that we all have a blast for the next decade. The world is waiting outside and as long as there's not cops patrolling your neighborhood, every moment that we live is an opportunity to make life more meaningful and enjoyable.

 

-Ditch-
Asst. Editor

 

 

December 2009 Editorial

Occasionally here at Big Wheel we get inquiries about why we don't have any negative reviews on our site. Some people argue that in order to be a balanced media outlet you have to cover things that you don't like as often as the things that you do like. If this is indeed the case than it's safe to say that we have never set out to be "balanced." There is plenty of music out there that we all hate, but when it comes down to it we're not here to write about what we don't like.

We're here to support bands that we think deserve to be heard and to help nourish an underground scene in the best way that we know how. (Of course you are more than welcome to start your own publication to do it "your best way")

In the past I have written for publications where I totally ripped apart bands to prove a point. In my mind I was doing everyone a favor by calling out bands that I thought were wasting people's time and taking up space that could be used for bands with more substance or talent in their music. However when I joined Big Wheel I agreed right off the bat that I would commit to writing only positive reviews. It was a vibe that had existed long before I joined Big Wheel's staff and the more I thought about it, the more I respected this decision. With so much negativity going around it was kind of refreshing to deal with a group of people that only wanted to be positive and helpful to bands.

While it sounds like a cliche it's true that we should all be working for common goals. The Punk scene and other underground music scenes are all based on the idea that we can exist without the help of mainstream society and create things for ourselves. With this in mind if someone is trying to contribute in a positive way to their scene how is it our place to put them down? And if they have ulterior or negative motives why would we want to give them enough attention to slag them off? All too often bands that are into negative bullshit end up thriving because so many people are willing to feed their need to cause an outrage. So we say fuck them and let them just fade away. They don't need us and we don't need them.

Even though we are committed to dwelling on positivity over negativity that's not to say that we make it a point to lie or even sugar coat the truth. On the contrary I have never written anything that I truly don't believe for Big Wheel. When it comes down to it if a band doesn't blow us away sometimes we find ourselves just sticking to the bare facts and allowing people to form their own opinions.

With all of that out of the way we hope that everyone's holiday season is shaping up nicely for them. Sometimes unfortunately the holidays can be pretty difficult for people for all sorts of different reasons like missing loved ones, dealing with financial problems, or even just feeling lonely. It can get to be a pretty stressful and hectic time of the year, but in between preparing for holidays and getting in touch with our loved ones we will continue to cover the music that we love and to lend our support to the scene that we are proud to be a part of.

Unfortunately this month we are saying goodbye to a band that we have always respected. Bad Reaction will be playing their last show on December 12. This adds to an ever growing list of bands here in Southern California that have recently broken up. Bad Reaction usually went hand in hand with Tipper's Gore, who also broke up this year and now we are going to have to get used to not having either band around. Bad Reaction always had a musical integrity that was practically unmatched by any other band who they played with and the guys in the band always went out of their way to be friendly. We will be sad to see them go and wish everyone in the band all the best.

As I sometimes do I have compiled a list. This one is holiday themed.

Best Punk Rock Christmas Songs:
1. Ramones- Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
2. Crucial Youth- Xmas Time for the Skins
3. The Showcase Showdown- Merry Christmas I Fucked Your Snowman
4. The Pogues- Fairy Tale of New York
5. SSD- Jolly Old St. Nicholas
6. Descendents- Christmas Vacation
7. The 4- Skins- Merry Christmas Everybody
8. The Dickies- Silent Night
9. The Ravers- Punk Rock Christmas
10. Poison Idea- Santa Claus Is Back In Town

 

-Ditch-
Asst. Editor

 

 

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