2008 Pop Conference Bios/AbstractsTobias CarrollTobias Carroll has written about books, music, and their overlap for
Paper Thin Walls,
Time Out Chicago,
eMusic and the
Portland Mercury. His fiction has appeared in
THE2NDHAND print and online, Featherproof Books' "Light Reading" series, and
3:AM Magazine.
Panel(s):Vote MusicSaturday, April 12, 2008, 2:00 - 3:45
Abstract:"
''I've Got A Name'': AK Press, Radical Politics, and Music"
This presentation will examine the anarchist publishing house AK Press in the context of the 1990s underground music scene (specifically, punk and folk), analyzing their influence on other labels, publishers, bands of the time, and political philosophies. When radical music loses its ability to be striking, at what point does radical theory step in? Does exposure to unorthodox ideologies in the context of rock music leave any lasting effect on those who hear it? In assembling this presentation, I will speak with AK Press personnel as well as related musicians, publishers, label heads, and writers; I will also research the reception accorded specific albums and books at the time of their release as well as their subsequent influence.
This presentation will use the case of AK Press to show an exceptional example of music evolving into formal political beliefs, and those beliefs and ideals in turn informing a wide array of musicians. I will show how a workers' collective with roots in the Scottish punk scene of the 1980s left, and continues to leave, an impact on the world of folk and punk through its forays into audio, from albums by Utah Phillips and The Ex to spoken-word recordings from Howard Zinn and others. AK Press allows us to witness the interplay of different media; to hear and see political ideology cast across multiple artistic disciplines.
