THE LATEST EDITION of the Minor Compositions podcast features an interview with punk historian and author Ian Glasper, whose latest book Silence is No Reaction – a four-decade history of the band Subhumans – has just been published.

As well as discussing that new publication, the conversation ranges over “broader issues of ‘punk historiography’ and documenting more marginal musical, artistic, and political milieus”.

E12 – The Subhumans & Punk Historiography with Ian Glasper

For this episode we talk with Ian Glasper about his book Silence Is No Reaction: Forty Years of Subhumans. In the conversation we cover broader issues of ‘punk historiography’ and documenting more marginal musical, artistic, and political milieus that one is a part of (rather than falling on or relying about existing dominant narratives). Ian has ben writing about punk since starting his first zine in 1986, switching to writing books in the early 2000s as he grew increasingly frustrated that existing histories of punk tended to focus on the best known and most visible artists, completely neglecting the much wider and vibrant array of bands and musics.

Bio: Ian Glasper is the author of numerous books on the history of punk including Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980-1984 (2004), The Day The Country Died: A History Of Anarcho Punk 1980 – 1984 (2006), Trapped In A Scene: UK Hardcore 1985 – 1989 (2009), and Armed With Anger: How UK Punk Survived The Nineties (2012).

Opening / outro music: The Subhumans, “All Gone Dark” (intro) and “From the Cradle to the Grave” (outro)

Minor Compositions

Minor Compositions Podcast Episode 12: The Subhumans & Punk Historiography with Ian Glasper
https://fireflyfrequencies.org/podcasts/minor-compositions?episode_id=56228613

In 2016, the publishing wing of Minor Compositions produced a collection of writings on different aspects of the experience of the original anarcho-punk wave: Matt Worley and Mike Dines (eds.), The Aesthetic of Our Anger: Anarcho-Punk, Politics, Music – 1979-1984, Minor Compositions: Colchester / New York / Port Watson. ISBN 978-1-57027-318-6 [ Free eBook download | Print copy available to buy from Minor Compositions ]