How punk rock music inspires my approach to creativity.
Let me introduce the concept of 'Punk Rock Podcasting' to you.
I’m in a period of big changes (some yet to be announced) and moving further in to becoming a totally freelance creator and producer which is exciting and challenging all at once.
The entire process has got me thinking a lot about my approach to creativity and the current state of the media landscape in Australia (and the world!)
I’m currently managing content on a YouTube channel that is reaching about 100K viewers a month, which is an awesome result for me, and I’m really stoked. On top of that, I do this fortnightly blog (hoping to become weekly), run my own podcast, and also produce podcasts for various clients in my business.
Often, when working with clients, they ask me about signing with a big company to manage their production for them. Usually, I get disheartened hearing this, because it goes against my approach to podcasting — and creativity more broadly.
Let me introduce a concept I’ve come up with recently… I like to call it, ‘Punk Rock Podcasting.’
I was born in 1994, and grew up in the golden era of a resurgence of punk and pop-punk music coming out of the grunge wave of the early ‘90s. I’m talking about snot-nosed punk bands like blink-182, Green Day, Offspring and Jimmy Eat World, who totally encapsulated by childhood and in some cases continue to inspire my adulthood.
As I continued to explore the punk genre as an adult, I went back to its early days in the ‘70s with groups like The Ramones and The Clash. Firstly, the debut self-titled record by The Ramones in 1976 is the pinnacle of punk music. It’s short, unadulterated, punchy and free of self-indulgence. Listen to it.
Secondly, I see now that the ethos of the punk movement inspired and framed my creativity around podcasting and content creation. Punk music was about DIY creation — using the resources available to you in the moment to make the best product you could.
Many punk bands received backlash in the ‘90s for signing to major labels — which many saw as completely anti what the punk movement was about. While I understand the commercial value of creativity, I always try to hold the ethos of punk close to me.
I create my own content and I believe I can do pretty much everything a big company could do by myself. That is punk rock. That is me using what is available to me to create a good product. I am completely DIY and do not rely on any outside sources to create my content. It is me writing, setting up gear, producing, filming, recording, editing, uploading and directing the entire operation. That is punk rock.
If you’re a new, up and coming creator or producer, it can be very tempting to try and get a big company behind you, and I completely understand that. But I encourage any young people reading this to back yourself and see what you can achieve using your own resources, your own time and your own ability. Trust yourself and think about Punk Rock Podcasting to see what you can achieve.
Tom DeLonge, co-frontman of blink-182, and creative visionary behind many other musical (and non-musical) projects such as Box Car Racer and Angels & Airwaves, constantly inspires me in this way. One of my favourite quotes from him comes from a documentary series called ‘The Pursuit of Tone.’ I’d like to share it here:
“The whole punk rock thing has nothing to do with music at all. I think kids missed that point entirely. It has to do with the transformation of being one of the group to an individual, and having the balls to say what you want to say, do what you want to do, and follow the path that seems fit.” - Tom DeLonge
This quote absolutely speaks to me and inspires me. To me, punk is about finding the strength and passion within you to be yourself and create independently, without relying on and outside source to make your passion happen. I encourage any creative reading this to think about the Punk Rock Podcasting theory I’ve posed here and consider how you can apply it to your own creativity.
Thanks for reading.
Mike Liberale
Hey! Thanks again for checking my blog out. It’s currently fortnightly but hoping to go weekly in 2025!
I’m doing a bunch of dumb stuff on the internet that I think is cool, so I’d love for you to check it.
Did you hear The Simpsons recently aired a ‘finale’ episode? It was great, and I talked all about it in one of my best performing videos for 2024! Check it out here:
We also do a monthly Movie Club over on my podcast feed. At the end of October, we’re going to be watching Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, but in September we spoke all about Sam Raimi’s horror film, Drag Me To Hell. Have a listen here: