JANELLE MONAE, R.E.M., THE WHO, PATTI SMITH, NIN, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, MITSKI + More Donate Setlists To Nick Hornby and Dave Eggers Fundraiser

THE WHO, R.E.M., NINE INCH NAILS, PATTI SMITH, JANELLE MONAE, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, WILCO, MITSKI, RUSH & MORE AUCTION OFF SETLISTS FOR NICK HORNBY, DAVE EGGERS & MICHAEL CHABON’S SETLISTS FOR YOUNG VOICES Proceeds will benefit youth writing and activism centers: London’s Ministry of Stories & The International Congress of Youth Voices’ Summer gathering in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Starting tonight, 100+ setlists from renowned musicians will go to auction online to benefit international youth writing and activism centers and organizations on behalf of Setlists For Young Voices. Setlists For Young Voices is a new initiative developed and launched by Nick Hornby (novelist, screenwriter, co-founder ofMinistry of Stories, a London-based youth writing center), with the help of Dave Eggers (novelist, co-founder of San Francisco youth writing center 826 Valencia), and Michael Chabon (novelist, screenwriter). The auction’s proceeds will benefit both Ministry of Stories and The International Congress of Youth Voices, which will bring international teen writers and activists together in San Juan, Puerto Rico this Summer. The auction begins tonight at 7 pm PT / 10 pm ET, and will end in ten days on May 2nd. Auction and all setlists can be found here: www.youthwriting.org/bid Notable setlists include two from R.E.M.’s first major tour in 1989 and signed by all four original members, five hand-written setlists by Patti Smith, Death Cab For Cutie’s setlist from the 15th anniversary of Transatlanticism where they played the album in its entirety in Chicago, three setlists from Rush’s 2013 Clockwork Angelstour (the band’s penultimate tour), a Peter Townsend-signed setlist from The Who, a setlist from My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James (who is helping launch a Young Authors Greenhouse in his hometown of Louisville, KY), a Coachella 2019setlist from Janelle Monae, and many more from the likes of Wilco, Sigur Ros, Steely Dan, Dixie Chicks, Nine Inch Nails, Mitski, Rush, Jim James, Toro Y Moi, Maxwell, The Pretenders, Shakey Graves, Better Oblivion Community Center and more. Setlists For Young Voices is the brainchild of novelist, screenwriter, and music lover Nick Hornby. “One of my friends used to stand at the front of the show so he could read the setlist and call out the name of the next song. It really used to annoy the band,” Hornby says. “So this is a way to satisfy your music-geek side without aggravating your favorite musicians.” Hornby called on fellow novelists Dave Eggers and Michael Chabon to partner with him, and Setlists for Young Voices was born. “We’re hoping to raise about $50,000,” says Eggers. “That will have a powerful impact on more than 150 student writers at the Ministry of Stories and writing centers worldwide.” #setlistsforyoungvoices www.youthwriting.org/bid

JANELLE MONAE, R.E.M., THE WHO, PATTI SMITH, NIN, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, MITSKI + More Donate Setlists To Nick Hornby and Dave Eggers Fundraiser

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JAPANESE BREAKFAST'S MICHELLE ZAUNER SIGNS BOOK DEAL FOR MEMOIR WITH KNOPF

JAPANESE BREAKFAST'S MICHELLE ZAUNER 

SIGNS BOOK DEAL FOR MEMOIR WITH KNOPF 

Photo Credit: Joyce Jude (download hi-res)

Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner has signed a book deal for her memoir, Crying in H Mart, with Knopf. Crying in H Mart is Zauner's story about growing up Korean-American, losing her mother too young, searching for identity in a hybrid culture, and finding a passion for her ancestry and Korean cooking as a way to heal and return to her roots in the wake of loss. Her writing has previously appeared in The New Yorker and Glamour Magazine.

The North American rights for the book were acquired by Robin Desser at Knopf, at auction, by Brettne Bloom at The Book Group. Jenny Meyer is handling UK and translation rights.  

Zauner's band Japanese Breakfast, has announced tour dates that include sold out shows at Chicago's Thalia Hall and Boston's Royale, a stop at Austin TX's SXSW, Atlanta GA's Shaky Knees, Arcosanti's FORM, and Calgary's Sled Island festivals, and a tour in Asia. All dates below.

Additionally, the Zauner-directed music video for "Boyish" from Japanese Breakfast's 2017 Soft Sounds from Another Planet is an official selection of SXSW's Film Festival.

TOUR DATES:

3/12 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *SOLD OUT*

3/15-17 - Austin, TX @ SXSW

4/1 - Boston, MA @ Royale

4/3 - Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace

4/4 - Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall

4/6 - Boston, MA @ Royale *SOLD OUT*

4/7 - Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall

5/2 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa

5/3 - Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall

5/4 - Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival

5/5 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle

5/6 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern

5/10 - Arcosanti, AZ @ FORM

5/13 - Singapore @ Esplande Recital Studio

5/15 - Jakarta, Indonesia @ Rossi Music

5/16 - Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Thailand @ Rockademy

5/18 - Makati, Manila @ The Rest Is Noise

5/22 - Tokyo, Japan @ WWW X

5/27 - Seoul, South Korea @ Hongdae Muv Hall

6/19 - Calgary, AB @ Sled Island

8/23 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom

japanesebreakfast.rocks | facebook.com/japanesebreakfast

Twitter @jbrekkie | Instagram @jbrekkie

JAPANESE BREAKFAST'S MICHELLE ZAUNER SIGNS BOOK DEAL FOR MEMOIR WITH KNOPF

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Butthole Surfers “What Does Regret Mean?” Book Signing in Austin March 22 w/ Band Members in Attendance

Butthole Surfers “What Does Regret Mean?” 
Book Signing in Austin, TX on March 22



Band Members Paul Leary, King Coffey, Jeff Pinkus and Author Aaron Tanner in Attendance at Waterloo Records

Book Out March 8, Read About it via Rolling Stone

Includes Flexi Disc of Unreleased Music

Pre-order Here

“We’re all history buffs. We drink coffee. We like tables. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Cherner oval dining table. And the book wasn’t our idea.” - Gibby Haynes

Paul Leary, King Coffey, Jeff Pinkus and Aaron Tanner, author and designer of the 304 page visual history Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean?, will be on hand to sign the book at Waterloo Records in Austin, TX on March 22nd! More info here.

Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? 
A Public Book Signing With
Paul Leary, King Coffey, Jeff Pinkus, and Aaron Tanner
Waterloo Record, Austin, TX, March 22
7-9pm, Free, All Ages

The fully authorized visual history book, Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? by author Aaron Tanner and published by Melodic Virtue, follows the Butthole Surfers from their early days in San Antonio to their reunion. This limited-run coffee table book tells the story of the Butthole Surfers through never-before-seen photos, artwork, and other memorabilia and from the viewpoint of their contemporaries. Pre-order the book here.

One of the most depraved acts from the American underground, the Butthole Surfers were formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, TX in 1981. Along with King Coffey, Teresa Nervosa, and Jeff Pinkus, their disturbing albums and chaotic live shows have featured everything from psychedelia and noise rock to country and electronica.



Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? features an introduction by Mickey Melchiondo (Ween) and exclusive interviews from Rob Zombie, Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction), Steven Drozd (The Flaming Lips), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age), Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich (Pavement), Neko Case, Dale Crover (Melvins), Eric Wilson (Sublime), Henry Rollins, Daniel Johnston, Cris Kirkwood and Derrick Bostrom (Meat Puppets), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), Berserker Blothar and Balsac The Jaws of Death (GWAR), David Yow (Jesus Lizard), and many more!

This book also contains a flexi disc of the unreleased track, "Locust Abortion Technician Medley" (originally intended as the B-side for the proposed "Human Cannonball" 7" single).


Limited-run of 1500
9" X 9" casebound, 304 pages
PUBLISHED: March 8, 2019
AUTHOR: Aaron Tanner
ISBN: 978-0-578-41625-0

LINK: https://www.melodicvirtue.com/collections/butthole-surfers

About the author: Aaron Tanner has been creating memorable design work for well-known acts for over 15 years. His diverse client roster includes Ween, PIXIES, Explosions in the Sky, Face to Face, and pet celebs Lil BUB and Doug The Pug. A musician and life-long fan of music and the arts, Tanner’s design work has won numerous national awards and has been recognized by several prestigious international design publications. He also volunteers at universities to help mentor future designers.

Butthole Surfers “What Does Regret Mean?” Book Signing in Austin March 22 w/ Band Members in Attendance

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Danny Goldberg book about Kurt Cobain to be released

DANNY GOLDBERG'S NIRVANA BOOK,

SERVING THE SERVANT: REMEMBERING KURT COBAIN,

TO BE RELEASED APRIL 2

 

"Insightful, passionate and clear-eyed, Danny Goldberg's account of his personal and professional relationship with Kurt Cobain is required reading for not only Nirvana enthusiasts, but anyone interested in how the corporate music industry engaged with the punk rock underground of the early 1990s. While providing an intimate view of the support system the band had from a world their scene was historically at odds with, Goldberg shares what is essentially the story of two men, a generation apart, who became unexpected friends through a mutual appreciation of feminism, LGBT rights, and a dedication to the activist power of music. It is a contemplative requiem to losing someone you love

who immeasurably touched the entire planet with a singular magic."

-Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth

 

On the 25th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death comes a new perspective on one of the most compelling icons of our time. With candor, honesty and empathy, Danny Goldberg, one of Nirvana's managers from 1990 to 1994, shares his memories of his brief but momentous time with Kurt and the band in SERVING THE SERVANT: Remembering Kurt Cobain (Ecco; On sale April 2, 2019; $28.99, 304 pages; ISBN 978-0-06-286150-4). The result is a fresh and frank portrait of an icon unlike any that has come before.

 

When Goldberg agreed to take on Nirvana, he had no idea that Cobain would become a pop-culture icon with a legacy arguably at the level of that of John Lennon, Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley. Goldberg worked with Kurt from 1990 to 1994, the most impactful period of Kurt's life.

 

This key time saw the stratospheric success of Nevermind, which turned Nirvana into the most successful rock band in the world and made punk and grunge household terms; Kurt's meeting and marriage to the brilliant but mercurial Courtney Love and their relationship that became a lightning rod for critics; the birth of their daughter, Frances Bean; and, finally, Kurt's public struggles with addiction, which ended in a devastating suicide that would alter the course of rock history. Throughout, Goldberg stood by Kurt's side as manager and close friend.

 

Drawing on Goldberg's own memories of Kurt, files that previously have not been made public, and interviews with, among others, Kurt's close family (including Courtney Love), friends, and former bandmates (including Krist Novoselic), SERVING THE SERVANT sheds an entirely new light on these critical years. Casting aside the common obsession with the angst and depression that seemingly drove Kurt, SERVING THE SERVANT is an exploration of his brilliance in every aspect of rock and roll, his compassion, his ambition, and the legacy he wrought-one that has lasted decades longer than his career did. Goldberg also explores what it is about Kurt Cobain that still resonates today, even with a generation who wasn't alive until after Kurt's death.

# # #

more praise for SERVING THE SERVANT:

 

"As soon as I started reading I got sucked in and I couldn't put it down. As a huge Nirvana fan, it is petrifying to even attempt a description or enlightened comment about Kurt. I just want to say,

any music fan should want this book. Any Nirvana fan must have this book."

-Joan Jett

"There have been many portraits of Kurt Cobain, but none as warm and clear-eyed as this one.  Danny Goldberg has always been one of my favorite observer/journalist/architects of popular culture. It's no surprise that his deeply personal memoir does what Cobain's best work does. 

It burrows in deep, and sticks around.  Add this to the rich sonic legacy of Nirvana -

Goldberg's soulful account of Cobain as a close friend,

gone way too soon, yet vividly alive on every page of this remarkable book. Bravo, Danny."

-Cameron Crowe

"People always ask, 'What was Kurt really like?' That's probably not a question that any one person can answer about anybody, but anyone who knew Kurt will tell you that this book sends

you vividly back to that person, in that time, at those places. Serving the Servant

contributes an invaluable piece to a complicated collage."

-Michael Azerrad, author of Our Band Could Be Your Life and Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana

 

"As a lifelong rock fan and onetime rock journalist, Danny Goldberg treasures Kurt Cobain as an artist. As Nirvana's manager, he's intimate with the ambition and empathy that drove Cobain toward stardom. As an activist, he admires Cobain's refusal to understate his own political ideals. And as Cobain's shrewd advisor and fond friend, he misses him even more acutely than the rest of us."

-Robert Christgau, author of Is It Still Good to Ya?: Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017

"Amid all the darkness within and surrounding Kurt Cobain, Danny Goldberg, his manager and friend, always saw the light. His portrait of Cobain is loving, intimate and three-dimensional. We feel the pain of Cobain's loss anew, palpably -- as we do the indelible power of the great gift of his music."

-Anthony DeCurtis, author of Lou Reed: A Life

"This memoir by Danny Goldberg, Kurt Cobain's manager, friend and trusted advisor during Nirvana's bright and culture-changing burst of fame, offers fascinating details about how the band changed and was changed by the music mainstream along with unsparing views of how those around Cobain - including Goldberg himself - could not prevent his slide into drugs and despair. A deeply honest book that provides crucial insight into a brilliant life and a death that broke all of our hearts."

-Ann Powers, author of Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music

 

Danny Goldberg book about Kurt Cobain to be released

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TEGAN AND SARA’S FIRST MEMOIR, TO BE PUBLISHED BY MCD x FSG IN THE FALL OF 2019

HIGH SCHOOL, TEGAN AND SARA’S FIRST MEMOIR, TO BE PUBLISHED BY MCD x FSG IN THE FALL OF 2019

December 11, 2018 (Burbank, CA) – High School, a memoir by Warner Bros. Records recording artists Tegan and Sara, will be published in the fall of 2019 by MCD, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, alongside Simon & Schuster Canada and Virago in the United Kingdom. High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of the identical twins from Calgary, Alberta. It follows Tegan and Sara as they grew amid grunge and rave culture in the 90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. While grappling with their identity and sexuality, often alone, they also faced academic meltdown, their parents’ divorce, and the looming pressure of what might come after high school. Written in alternating chapters from both Tegan’s point of view and Sara’s, the book is a raw account of the music, drugs, alcohol, love and friendship they explored in their formative years. A transcendent story of first loves and first songs, it captures the tangle of discordant and parallel memories of two sisters who grew up in distinct ways even as they lived just down the hall from one another. This is the origin story of Tegan and Sara.    "How did you start your band? When did you know that you were gay? What were you like before Tegan and Sara? We have spent twenty years answering those complicated questions with simple answers,” said Tegan and Sara. “Writing High School gives us the opportunity to tell the intricate stories that shaped our relationship as sisters, musicians, and queer girls.” During the course of their 20-year career, Tegan and Sara have sold well over one million records and released eight studio albums, earning seven Gold certifications and one Double Platinum certification in the process. They have received three Juno Awards, a GRAMMY® nomination, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, and the 2018 New York Civil Liberties Union Award. They have performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, from Coachella to the Academy Awards.   In 2016, they created the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which fights for health, economic justice, and representation for LGBTQ girls and women. Learn more about the Tegan and Sara Foundation HERE

Tegan and Sara will go into the studio next year to record their ninth studio album. For a Tegan and Sara field day, check out this playlist here

TEGAN AND SARA’S FIRST MEMOIR, TO BE PUBLISHED BY MCD x FSG IN THE FALL OF 2019

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BEST BOOKS OF 2018

BEST BOOKS OF 2018

1. Never a Lovely So Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren by Colin Asher

2. Swans: Sacrifice And Transcendence: The Oral History by Nick Soulsby

3. Tesla: Inventor of the Modern by Richard Munson

4. Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip

by Joel Selvin

5. The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities

by Wayne Kramer

6. Point of View: New York City and the Birth of New Wave by Chris Stein

7. Bring It On Home: Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin, and Beyond--The Story of Rock's Greatest Manager by Mark Blake

8. Queen: Album by Album by Martin Popoff

9. Closer You Are: The Story of Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices

by Matthew Cutter

10. Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall

by Tim Mohr

11. The Lives of the Surrealists

by Desmond Morris

12. Ravens and Red Lipstick: Japanese Photography since 1945

by Lena Fritsch

13. Wasn't That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America 

by Jesse Jarnow

14. Coal Black Mornings by Brett Anderson

15. The House of Worth: The Birth of Haute Couture by Chantal Trubert-Tollu

16. Bruce Springsteen: From Asbury Park, to Born to Run, to Born in the USA

by David Gahr

17. How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain

by Ruth Goodman

18. Pink Floyd: Album by Album

by Martin Popoff

19. Smash!: Green Day, the Offspring, Rancid, Nofx, and the '90s Punk Explosion

by Ian Winwood

20. Kafka's Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy

by Benjamin Balint

BEST BOOKS OF 2018

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BEN IS DEAD: Ben Is Dead Magazine 30th Anniversary Reunion Weekend! (a mini-festival at multiple locations)

Ben Is Dead Magazine 30th Anniversary Reunion Weekend! (a mini-festival 
at multiple locations)

Friday, November 9 - Darby Romeo's B-Day with Kid Galahad, Pu$$y-Cow, 
SHAVE, Surrogate Brains
Kid Galahad and The Eternals {"cooler then The Saints with their tribute 
to The Saints"} / Pu$$y-Cow {"doing an extended residency during the Ben 
Reunion Weekend, which means they're pulling out all the stops"} / SHAVE 
{"straight outta Signal Hill and we can't wait"} / Surrogate Brains 
{"one of our fave Lookout Records bands, coming to L.A. and playing 
special just for Darby"}
8:30 p.m., Café NELA {"because it's as close to reliving Al's Bar as we 
could get"}, 1906 Cypress Ave., Cypress Park, Los Angeles, 90065. 21 & 
over. $5.
https://www.facebook.com/events/161864854757471/

Saturday, November 10 - The Zine Explosion Archived!
"Before blogs, and barely at the onset of the Internet, the '90s saw the 
"Zine Revolution," with writers, artists and publishers recognized 
globally as the true purveyors of punk / alternative scenes and DIY 
culture. Our keynote speaker - Darby Romeo of Ben Is Dead, one of the 
largest and most popular zines of that era - brings us back in time when 
the best computers had 40mb, the fax machine and telephone hotlines were 
social media, and the photocopy machine was the great liberator of a 
truly free press. She's joined by other old-school zinesters (including 
Johnny Marr from Murder Can Be Fun, Russ Forster from 8 Track Mind, 
(hopefully) Noel Tolentino from Bunnyhop, Larry Harmon of Genetic 
Disorder, Jeff Fox of Barracuda, writers from Flipside, Kevin Chanel of 
Gearhead, Chin Music, and Punk Rock Confidential and others; Adam 
Pfahler from Jawbreaker will do a short talk about the importance of 
zines to indie music in the '90s) telling hilarious "Zine War Stories" 
about what those times were really like. UCLA has one of the most 
comprehensive Zine Archives in America, with many of the best on exhibit."
4 p.m., UCLA Music Library, Schoenberg Music Building, Room #1102, 445 
Charles E. Young Dr. E., Westwood, Los Angeles, 90095, 310 825 4882. 
All ages. Free.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1654685781302064/

Sunday, November 11 - Ben Is Dead 30th Anniversary Reunion Bash + 
Old-School Zine Fest
15 BANDS!
Skatenigs, Savage Republic, Midget Handjob, Popdefect, WACO, Hepa-Titus, 
JFA, 11:11 (ex-Fluorescein), Poppy Jean Crawford, Pu$$y-Cow, Superbean, 
Glen Meadmore and The Kuntry Band, John Trubee, Leyna M. Papach 
(ex-Geraldine Fibbers), "and special surprise guests to be announced on 
November 5."
ZINE FEST
8 Track Mind • Amok / Koma • Barracuda • Ben Is Dead • Caligula • 
Endless Party • Flipside • Genetic Disorder • Murder Can Be Fun • Punk 
Museum
MOVIE
Stuart (Amok Books, "Desolation Center" documentary director) Swezey's 
Sean deLear tribute documentary will screen promptly at 2:30 p.m. – 
please arrive early!
PHOTO EXHIBITION
"Wild Don Lewis was one of the most prolific documentarians of the '90s 
scene in L.A. His Ben Is Dead-related collection of images will be 
exhibited on the outside patio."
2 p.m. The Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd., Echo Park, Los Angeles, 90026, 
213 413 8200. All ages. $48 (proceeds go to raise money for the 
forthcoming publication of the "Best of Ben Compendium").
https://www.facebook.com/events/2131547253838505/

contact: zinefest@benisdead.com

BEN IS DEAD: Ben Is Dead Magazine 30th Anniversary Reunion Weekend! (a mini-festival at multiple locations)

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Punk Rock, Revolution, and The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Burning Down The Haus Book out 9/11

Burning Down The Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall



By literary translator and journalist Tim Mohr, 
Out September 11, 2018 via Algonguin Books
 
“The best punk book since Please Kill Me.” 
​—Legs McNeil, author of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

“The true story of how teenage kicks turned into political opposition. With meticulous research and impassioned prose, Tim Mohr brings to life the saga of a bunch of East German punk rock kids who broke the state that wanted to break them. A book to warm an old punk's heart.”
—Claire Dederer, author of Love and Trouble
 
“Equal parts terrifying and exhilarating, Burning Down the House is a fabulously alive history of punk rock behind the Iron Curtain, where simply dressing like a punk could get you hauled in by Stasi, the dreaded East German secret police. Mohr ties the fearless music-driven resistance to authoritarianism and mass surveillance in the 1980s to our current fraught times, showing how even the most formidable forms of oppression can be shaken by highly motivated, creative kids with riotous rage and a driving beat. A thrilling, inspiring read.”
—Rob Spillman, editor of Tin House and author of All Tomorrow’s Parties
 
Writer and award-winning German-language translator Tim Mohr has announced the release of his first book, Burning Down the House: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall, out September 11, 2018 via Algonguin Books.  Telling the little-known story of a group of East German kids who rebelled and helped set the world on fire, Mohr takes readers on a fascinating trip through the 1980s. Rejecting the dismal, pre-ordained futures the dictatorship tried to impose on them, these teenagers embraced punk—the aesthetic, the music, the liberating feeling of collective anarchy—and defied the state and its security apparatus. Banding together, they faced down surveillance, police violence, blacklisting from schools and jobs, and even imprisonment as they fought to create and control their own individual futures.

Beginning in earnest in the late 1970s, a handful of young people who had lived in the shadow of the Berlin Wall their entire lives caught snatches of punk music on forbidden British military radio broadcasts and began to question authority, daring to dress differently and make music that was dangerously critical of the government. Living inside the borders of East Germany but outside the system, they were hassled in the streets relentlessly pursued by the Stasi—the notorious East German secret police—but would not be deterred in their pursuit of punk. The movement grew in size and ferocity throughout the 1980s, evolving from a minor headache for the authorities into a full-on existential crisis. They raged against the system, out loud, publicly, writes Mohr, emboldening other dissidents and helping initiate the street protests that finally brought down the Wall in 1989. Although the future remained in limbo at that point, one thing was certain—the punks had played an indispensable role in regime change.

Mohr, who arrived in Berlin in 1992 and discovered a netherworld of dark and dirty clubs in derelict buildings, learned the secret history of punk rock under the dictatorship from those who had lived it, and he fell in love with the world they had created in the aftermath of the fall of the Wall. Burning Down the Haus is ten years in the making, as Mohr interviewed dozens of key players and researched Stasi files—finding in the process that what had seemed to be just a fascinating story was actually eerily relevant in today’s world. The story of this DIY revolution represents a sort of blueprint for resisting authoritarianism.

Writing with a keen eye for observation and the narrative grace of a novelist, Mohr resurrects this all-but-forgotten story with insight and cinematic urgency. Timely and resonant, Burning Down The Haus is a fiery testament to the power of youthful protest in the face of oppression.



TIM MOHR

Punk Rock, Revolution, and The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Burning Down The Haus Book out 9/11

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