HOUSTON PUNKS UNITE AGAINST FASCISM
You may not have been paying attention but many in the Houston punk community have been busy when it comes to fighting for what they believe, including raising alarm bells over fascism in the local scene.
It started with the band Giant Kitty and their Inauguration Day concert in 2017, which raised more than $2,000 for the ACLU, an organization they figured would have its hands full during the incoming Trump administration. In terms of drama and action, though, James McDowell II of Gen Why has been the resistance poster child.
In the summer of 2018, McDowell got crossways with some folks at a White Oak Music Hall punk show who were sporting white supremacist patches on their clothes. McDowell confronted them, and though the incident didn’t come to blows, it sparked a viral media storm about whether or not alt-right and Nazi iconography and messaging would be tolerated in the city’s concert venues.
“I don’t think we had a big problem,” says McDowell. “I think we almost had a problem, but that got weeded out real quick.”
To make sure, McDowell and a merry band of musical miscreants started the Punks Against Racism concert series. The first one occurred shortly after the incident at White Oak and was an admittedly slapdash affair. Despite the haphazard production, it was one of the more talked about local shows of 2018. A second showcase followed in March, with more to come, though no dates are yet set. (Gen Why, which headlined last month’s show, will be playing Houston Punk Fest #7 at Satellite Bar on Saturday.)
The name of the series continues to be a raised middle finger to the elements that sometimes hide in loud, aggressive music scenes. Deplatforming is an effective tool in proper maintenance of a scene, and that’s partially why Punks Against Racism keeps happening.
“I’ve always been heavily against racists of any type, Nazis, anything that far over to the right and fascistic in nature,” says McDowell. “It should go without saying that all punk shows are anti-racist shows to begin with, but the reason we named it that was that there were people in that particular situation who used to be part of the punk scene. We called it that to call anyone out who might be hiding in our midst.”
Noogy is another band that participated in the second show with an unapologetically derisive opinion of the possible Nazi incursion into the punk shows of Texas. They came down from Denton to play.
“This is definitely a great way to make them feel unwelcome because when you have an entire scene of people joining together to say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to stand for your hate,’ it really speaks volumes,” says bass player Kurt Brisbin.
Not every scene in Houston has been as proactive in the fight. An April 3 metal concert at White Swan was canceled after it was revealed touring Finnish band Horna had strong ties to the National Socialist black metal scene and had expressed white supremacist views. An organized backlash followed, but the show was secretly moved to the Hellcat Café, where it went on.
Unlike the punk scene, there appeared to be little resistance to the Horna show from Houston metal heads, who defended the show largely along the lines of free speech. While some bands like Kozilek and Doomstress embrace diversity and take public stands, it has been far less prevalent than in Houston punk. When it comes to removing fascist acts from Houston stages, there is still a long way to go.