PAULA GUERRA, FLUP, IS-UP, KISMIF Project, Porto, Portugal
TÂNIA MOREIRA, FLUP, KISMIF Project, Porto, Portugal
HÉLDER ALVES, ISSSP, Porto, Portugal
April Vertigo. The social network of the Portuguese punk movement (1977-2015)
Contents
1. The KISMIF Project: an overview2. The KISMIF Project: objectives3. The KISMIF Project: methodology4. The Portuguese punk scene: some results
1. The KISMIF Project: an overview
The central knot of this project is in the context analysis as well as in the social agents who emerged, the development and sedimentation of social and musical manifestations of punk in Portuguese modernity (1977-2012), in a diachronic perspective with sinchroniccontours, cross-referencing time and spaces.
We believe this to be the most fertile path towards exploring objects of such a complex nature, socially invisible, which need a variety of paradigms for its efficient explanation and scientific understanding.
The lack of specific scientific studies in Portugal, and its incipient use by political, institutional and scientific entities justifies the true importance of this project.
Internationally, the study of these musical manifestations and its inter-relations with the social structure is partially owed, after the 1970’s, from the cultural studies and its consistent interpretative framework (subcultures), being themselves enriched by posterior analysis (music mediation, re-materialization of culture, cultural production, tribes and music scenes). It is thus important to understand these paradigms on a Portuguese scale.
We are interested in
Production | Promotion | Consumption
inside a matrix which understands punk as a form of popular culture, as it implies an access to spaces with specific instruments of expression and communication, the increase in cognitive, emotional and symbolic patterns, the creation of specific cultural products, the possibility of aesthetic experiences, and the mobilization of social actors originating from popular backgrounds as well as urban middle classes.
It is also important to stress the framing of our analysis in the much larger phenomenon of “territorialization” of cultural activities – also applied to popular music scenes, our analytical zoom.
In the approach of this phenomenon, it is important to bear in mind the symbiotic relationship between territory and cultural consumption: while the first makes the latter essential for territorial development, it also makes the territory the primary element in cultural dynamism.
2. The KISMIF Project: Objectives
1. To do a systematic investigation of urban cultures associated with punk music, understanding its importance in the processes of identitary construction of social agents, young people in particular;
2. To promote a connection between the several areas of cultural fields analysis, as well as analysis of how the music is enjoyed by the public, in different scales;
3. To build a punk relational space, distinguishing a set of stances in a specific social environment, inside the rock universe, related to the structure of the artistic field and the Portuguese social environment;
4. To experiment several methodologies and investigative techniques, with the goal of understanding the importance of the several daily lives which are constituted by musical consumption and practice, as well as its importance and impact in the restructuring of social practices.
3. The KISMIF Project:
Methodology
We intend to arrive at these goals crossing methods of extensive and intensivenature, in an reflexive ethnographic matrix, which we defend as an adequatestrategy to deal with the object’s complexity, diachronic and sinchronicsingularity.
We intend to develop investigation for action. Starting from documental analysis, exploratory interviews, life stories, case studies, focal groups, and finishing up by gathering investigators and field agents in the discussion of results. The dissemination of the results will be made through the direction of a documentaryand the creation of a web platform of Portuguese punk. This is one of the innovative products of the project, which will integrate the documentary, the databases gathered and the relevant products and subproducts in the context of dissemination.
4.The Portuguese punk scene: some
results
Until now we conducted 214
interviews, and we analysed 93
fanzines (in a total of 177
issues), the names of 788 punk
bands, the titles of 1429
albums, the covers of 118
albums, and the lyrics of 264
songs.
Age N.º %
15-30 years old 38 17,76%
31-45 years old 109 50,93%
> 45 years old 67 31,31%
Total 214 100,00%
Gender N.º %
Female 30 14,02%
Male 184 85,98%
Total 214 100,00%
Interviews’ role in the scene N.º %
Musician active 48 22,43%
Musician inactive 14 6,54%
Mediator active 27 12,62%
Mediator inactive 10 4,67%
Fans 29 13,55%
Musician and mediator active 42 19,63%
Musician and mediator inactive 7 3,27%
Musician inactive and mediator active 4 1,87%
Musician and mediator inactive 11 5,14%
Musician inactive and fan 22 10,28%
Total 214 100,00%
In the interviews we asked to all interviewees to indicate their
preferences in terms of songs, albums, videos, bands and personalities
(actors of the Portuguese punk scene) in a list (no ordered) with up 10
references.
PURPOSE: to know and understand which are thesongs, albums, videos, bands and actors most“important” in the Portuguese punk scene.
IN THE NEXT SLIDES:we will see some of the results obtained after the submission of these preferences to the social network analysis
Figure 1: Personalities most referenced
Name of thePersonality
% of theintervieweeswho cite him
Bands Age in 2014 Roles in the punk scene
João Ribas 51,9Kú de Judas, Censurados, Tara Perdida, Kamones, N.A.M. (Núcleo de Atrasados Mentais)
(RIP 2014, 49 anos) Musician
Miguel Newton 21,5 Mata-Ratos 47 MusicianJoão Pedro Almendra, Autista
21,0 Punk Sinatra, Peste & Sida, Kú de Judas 47 Musician
Zé Pedro 20,6 Xutos & Pontapés 61 Musician, DJ, Radio
Rui Ramos, Rui Rocker
19,6Choque, Crise, Crise Total, Profilaxia, Santa Vulva, Pixas Paradas Conceptual, Feijão Freud, Rolls Rockers, Asfixia
(RIP 2013, 49 anos) Musician, DJ, Radio
Manolo Almeida 18,7Crise Total, Profilaxia, Capitão Fantasma, M.A.D., Los Paz D´Alma
45 Musician
Frágil Lapa 18,2Senisga, Renegados de Boliqueime, Motornoise, Frágil and Alchool Friends
46 Musician, Promotor, DJ
Francisco Dias, Xico 17,8
Dawnrider, Alpha Chapter, Two, Apostle of Solitude, Subcaos, Crise Total, Porcos Sujos, Rolls Rockers, No Counts, L’Amour Rocks
37Musician, fanzine editor, music editor, owner of record store, radio, DJ
Victor Torpedo, Vitinho
16,4
Objectos Perdidos, 77, Subway Riders, Blood Safari, Tédio Boys, The Parkinsons, Planet Jacumba, Tiguana Bibles, The Hateful, Victor Torpedo Karaokee
41Musician, Plastic Artist, DJ, Designer, Illustrator
Pedro Ayres Magalhães, Dedos Tubarão
10,8Faíscas, Corpo Diplomático, Héróis do Mar, Madredeus, Resistência
58 Musician
Figure 2: Geographical origin of the interviewees Geographical origin of Personalities
Figure 2: Geographical origin of the interviewees Geographical origin of Personalities
In this figure we can see that:- the personalities most referenced are from Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Sintra.- the variable "territory" has some influence in the choices of the interviewees - theterritories near to each other appear in this figure also in the same cluster. This meansthat interviewees tend to choice personalities from cities near to their local of residence interviewees and personalities chosen are most of them friends
Figure 3: Bands most referenced
Name of theBand
% of theintervieweeswho cite theband
Geographicprovenience of
the bandStatus in 2014 Years in activity
Total of years in activity
Crise Total 52,3 Sintra No ativo 1983-1988; 1995- 24
Censurados 47,2 Lisboa Inativa 1988-1994 6
Mata-Ratos 42,1 Oeiras No Ativo 1982- 32
Kú de Judas 42,1 Lisboa Inativa 1982-1986 4
Peste & Sida 37,9 Lisboa No Ativo 1986- 28
Aqui d'el-Rock 26,2 Lisboa Inativa 1977-1979 2
Xutos & Pontapés
22,4 Lisboa No Ativo 1978- 36
X-Acto 22,0 Lisboa Inativa 1991-1999 8
Figure 2: Geographical origin of the interviewees Geographical origin of Bands
Crise Total
Censurados
Kú de Judas
Mata-Ratos
X-Acto
Aqui d'el-Rock
