Under Da Black Flag is the official zine of Pyrate Punx. It opens with a thoughtful editorial about how social media is harming local scenes. There are scene reports from many Pyrate chapters. These are super useful to musicians and punks because they list all the venues the chapter can book shows at. There are some band interviews and an article about how to change your own oil. It's pretty sad how many obituaries are in this zine but it's a nice tribute. Also I bought a full page ad in this issue. It's an interview I will publish here soon. For information about ordering copies email: [email protected]

Spawn Atomic are a California based horror-punk band who have been playing since late 2007. They are working on a new album called "Bad Batteries" which will be on the Giant Girlfriend label this year. This song totally rocks! I wanna do a sci-fi punk video soon and this is right what I am into. Follow these guys on Twitter at @S@SpawnAtomicpawnAtomic

The Comp is actually "Name Your Price" so if you're really cool you'll give them a couple bucks. You can also listen to the Comp for free without downloading it. Comp's are great because you get to hear the best tracks from a lot of bands you never heard of before. Back in the day Hot Topic used to sell Comps for few bucks, it's was a learning experience for me. The songs on this comp are fast and raw and I'm into it.

Ever since I was in middle school Full Moon movies have been a treat. They're cheaply made but so much more creative then the typical Hollywood product. The sex comedy isn't my favorite sub-genre but this movie was a big exception! You take two of my favorite things in life and make 'em fight each other and how could it go wrong? Where I think this horror sex comedy succeeds when others have failed is that it only has one bimbo character. In the past Full Moon seemed to think slutty airheads were the fan boy fantasy. This movie has tough smart women and I prefer that. Really top notch acting from the whole cast. Director Alex Nicolaou did a great in that regard and the movie was shot professionally as well. Plenty of tits and gore and that makes this movie a masterpiece in my book. Wish there would have been a Videozone though.

I read a fascinating column about post-punk in the newest issue of MMR and contacted the author to tell him how much I enjoyed it. He told me had a zine so I paypal'd it up and now here it is!! It's big in size, I think this is what's called digest size? My hats off to Sam Lefebvre for pulling off a zine this size! It's a cut and paste aesthetic which is what I always prefer. Collages through out of vintage photographs which is kinda weird but cool. I wish I could write half as smart about punk as this guy! Damn!! Really unique and fun to read reviews plus outside of the box interviews that are a great change of pace from the standard stuff. One band makes a list of fave songs and I youtubed them and they were all good and new to me. The article I most enjoyed compared punk the apocalypse. The newest issue comes with a record so if you spin pick that one up for sure! Order his zine here:
http://degenerateephemera.blogspot.com/

It was time for Boise Pyrate Punx 2nd Annual Landlocked Festival, a two day concert with camping. I had attended the first event and had the time of my life plus featured it on my public access TV show. I wanted to go again but my friends flaked so if I was going it was by myself. This got me in a “boo hoo I got no friends” stinky mood. However on the drive there I started to feel real cool. “I’m going to the Woodstock of my generation” I thought. The location was about twenty minutes east of Boise in the flat middle of nowhere. I paid my five bucks (cheap!) and drove down a bumpy road to some trees where I set up my tent. FREEZEOUT HILL kicked off the show with a lot of heart. I videotaped most of their set as they are always grateful of seeing their performances on youtube. POSITION HIGH was kind enough to give me a shout out while they were on stage. I had a sudden realization of how awesome and culturally significant this festival was. On Facebook everybody was bitching about how lame the MTV music video awards were and meanwhile one of the most exciting shows of my life was happening right in front me. I tried to figure out a way of explaining how much fun live music and being part of a music community was. I decided to make a documentary featuring interviews with the bands about the Landlocked experience and the nature of punk in general. A truly magical moment happened when the band VILE DISPLAY OF HUMANITY incited moshing and tore it up while the sun set on the horizon. My super bro Jimmy Sinn’s band A THOUSAND EFFIGIES played on a lit stage under the stars. I shot multiple angles for a upcoming music video. They played a melodic pop punk style that keep the rock in punk rock. LITTLE MISS AND THE NO NAMES closed day one with the biggest mosh pit of the festival. Two people won green patches after winning a drinking game. The party went all night with everybody getting wasted around bonfires. At the start of day two Jimmy offered me sunscreen but I thought I was so tough I didn’t need any. The sun kicked my ass though and I needed to take a nap and missed three bands. My earlier “no friends” worries were pretty stupid because everyone was really friendly. In punk, everyone (except total douche bags) is welcome and important. Many people knew me thru my zine, TV show and youtube account. The pyrates sold hot dogs, beer and soda (Cactus Cooler!) for a dollar a piece. A stand out of day two for me was JUICY KARKASS, a punk/rap act. It’s half x-rated party rap half intelligent thought provoking lyrics about the punk scene. Never seen anything like it and enjoyed it a lot. PUKE N RALLY, DREADFUL CHILDREN, and SEXY LEXY closed out the festival. Over 200 people attended and 24 bands played. Can’t wait for next year! You can check out my documentary by searching “Landlocked” and “punk” at youtube.

I really like how they got the vocals to match up with the video. It only cost them 23.50$ to make.

Sometime I wonder about my mental competency. Why is everything I enjoy doing either very hard to make money at or it's socially unacceptable to want to get paid for your time and resources spent? In this article I'm addressing punk rock and everything that goes with it. Let me start with some examples.

I know a live concert promoter. He works hard putting on a weekly punk show. In my eyes this is an awesome undertaking, as it creates opportunities for bands to get gigs and is a great resource for the community to have a place to hang out, meet up and have some fun. But from many people I hear disparaging remarks. Stuff like "He only does it for the beer. You see him standing over there sipping his free beer?". Is it so wrong that after all the challenges of promoting a weekly show he gets compensated with a few lousy cans of PBR?

A zine is a small self published magazine and an old school punk tradition. I had a great time publishing one until suddenly everybody thought they should be given out free. I wonder if these people realize the amount of work and cash that goes into publishing a zine? Sure, a person could sell ads but is shaking down small businesses more punk then punk rockers coughing up a buck to keep this tradition alive?

I feel a culture should have it's own economy if it's going be healthy and thrive. Is punk rock a charity? I've heard some sentiment of "we have to keep it alive for the kids". Punk has a lot of merit and good can come from it but I don't see it as some kind of daycare or Ronald McDonald house.

I speak from experience when I say that hobbies are fun but when you start making money with your hobby is when things really get fun! I got interested in punk rock after watching "The Great Rock And Roll Swindle". A lot of the film is fictional but Sex Pistol manager Malcolm McLaren spells out how he made a lot of money in punk. Looked like fun and I wanted a part of it. If you like something, anything, support it financially so it continues a thing. Save the free stuff for the hippies. If making money at punk is wrong, I don't want to be right!