Hey Ho, Let’s Go: The power of DIY (and punk rock)

‘DIY’ (or, ‘do it yourself’) is commonly seen as the ‘leisure’ pursuit of tool belted, ‘all the gear and no idea’ dads the world over.

But long before ‘DIY’ became synonymous with power tools and out of town warehouses full of the aforementioned dads wearing expressions of total confidence whilst actually feeling completely overwhelmed when deciding if they really do need a bastard file or a bullnose plane, before all of that, ‘DIY’ was actually the working model for alternative artists, punk rock bands, pirate radio stations and underground ‘zine’ publishers.

They knew that if you wanted to get something done, you had to do it yourself. The speed at which they operated, the speed of changing trends couldn’t wait to do things the ‘right way’ (and they often didn’t have the resources to do it the ‘right way’) they had to roll their sleeves up, pick up a pen, tape recorder, typewriter— whatever they had to hand — and start creating.

One of the earliest examples of this ethic — the founding fathers of ‘punk’, the Ramones, formed in New York City in the early 1970’s and went on to become one of the most influential groups in the development of punk and alternative music on both sides of the Atlantic.

Famous for fast, short songs that mostly clocked under two minutes, the Ramones were the epitome of the early ‘DIY’ ethic. They could barely play their instruments — original frontman, Dee Dee Ramone, realising he couldn’t sing and play at the same time moved quickly from vocals to bass — Joey Ramone took up the mantle of lead vocals after soon realising he couldn’t play drums and sing. This was not a band with a traditional recipe for success.

The Ramones went on to record and produce their first album, Ramones, in under a week at a cost of just $6,400 — in a year that saw the release of the Eagles Hotel California and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life — $6,400 would probably struggle to cover the Eagles weekly drinks rider.

"Doing an album in a week and bringing it in for $6,400 was unheard of, especially since it was an album that really changed the world. It kicked off punk rock and started the whole thing — as well as us."

— Joey Ramone

The do it yourself ethic of the Ramones went on to influence the entire punk rock culture and without it we perhaps wouldn’t have seen such legendary bands as Nirvana (who themselves recorded their debut, Bleach for just $606.17), The Clash, Arcade Fire and Metallica to name just a few. We also may never have seen the record labels that went on to create some of the most influential bands of the past 30 years — labels such as Sub Pop (Nirvana), Rough Trade (The Smiths), 4AD (Pixies, The National), even Creation Records (Primal Scream, Oasis) likely would not have existed were it not for the foundation punk set down.

The punk ethic of ‘do it yourself’ was not just a way to save money, it was a way of simply getting things done.

“Doing is the best kind of thinking’”— so roll your sleeves up, pull out the marker pens and start creating.