DIY Conspiracy — Punk & Hardcore Forum Board

I've been known as a huge Spotify hater for a long time. I've also never been a fan of podcasts. I like reading words (paper or digital), so now I want to talk a bit about Substack influencers. Basically, Substack is a platform that offers an easy way to publish and monetize email newsletters, yet it benefits from controversy while offering little editorial oversight (e.g. Substack has a growing alt-right/white supremacist problem).

In the last couple of years, I’ve noticed Substack being used by more and more punk writers and zinesters (mostly American, middle-aged male). It’s incredibly easy to get started, especially if you don’t know how to build your own website. But most non-tech savvy people don’t realize that if you don’t own your domain name, you don’t really own anything. On Substack, those articles ultimately belong to Substack. Like any other corporation, if they change their business model, you’ll either have to comply or remove your work.

The bigger problem is how aggressively the platform pushes paid subscriptions. Visit any Substack blog/newsletter, and the site will do everything in their soft power to convince you to start a paid publication/subscription. Its business model depends on paywalling as much content as possible, because that’s how it makes money. It’s yet another platform selling you the idea of monetizing your passion, and I'm still sick of all this digital creator economy and the subscription-based plague of late-stage capitalism. These days, every app on your phone, every website you read, and every service you use tends to have a basic free tier and a “premium” subscription.

Substack itself is becoming a gated ecosystem, where creators mostly promote other Substack creators. And there’s only a finite audience willing to pay for “exclusive” content. Eventually, every corporation starts doing shitty things to squeeze out more profit. And while saying all that, I’m not against people supporting your digital work. I’m always grateful when people donate to DIY Conspiracy or my personal projects (which I fund heavily out of my pocket). But I believe in making content free for everyone and letting people the option to support you on their own terms.

I don’t really keep track of who’s who on Substack, so I’ll just mention some creators I’m aware of.

Razorblades and Aspirin – Michael D. Thorn is a legend, and I forgive him for running a Substack because he loves the same music I do. Razorblades and Aspirin is an excellent printed zine (sadly, I think on hiatus?), and he also takes fantastic photos at hardcore punk shows. Absolute respect.

185 Miles South – Zack Nelson’s blog to accompany his 185 Miles South hardcore podcast. It’s all about hardcore punk, and he’s both passionate and knowledgeable. Not a fan of podcasts, but this guy is a legend.

Burned Beyond Recognition – D. Agacki’s blog for hardcore record reviews and interviews.

Unaltered Perspective Zine – Another digital zine focusing on American hardcore.

No Idols – Tony Rettman, USHC legend. Author of books on NYHC and straight edge history, and currently writing in many places online.

SUB>SUMED (Ian Trowell) – Blog on UK subcultures, music, fashion, popular culture, art, and media. Sometimes offers interesting takes on anarcho-punk and goth.

Dan Ozzi – Author of several books on pop punk and emo. I’m not into most of the bands he writes about, but sometimes his opinions are worth reading.

Anti-Matter – Norman Brannon, best known as the guy from the post-hardcore band Thursday (he also used to play in 108, Shelter, and Texas Is The Reason). Anti-Matter started as a zine in the early ’90s, later became a column in Punk Planet, and is now on Substack (on hiatus). I really enjoy his essays and interview style, though he tends to focus only on hyped, big-name bands. His interview with Kent McClard (Ebullition/HeartattaCk) was excellent. He eventually shut the project down at the end of 2024 after complaining of not getting enough paid subscribers. The kind of guy who wants to get paid for covering big names in hardcore.

Some non-Substack creators I enjoy:

Yellow Green Red – Matt Korvette from Pissed Jeans. Super nice guy who writes short, MRR-style review roundups covering all kinds of good music (not just hardcore punk). Occasionally posts interviews and gig reports. Hosted on his own domain, completely free content, minimalist design. 10/10.

Salvo – Antifascist metal blog by music journalist and union organizer Kim Kelly. Uses a platform similar to Substack. All new interviews are free to read, but there’s a paid subscription option for those who want to support.

Six Noises – Craig Hayes from Aotearoa/New Zealand, best known for his In Crust We Trust columns at Last Rites. He’s written for DIY Conspiracy in the past, left all social media behind, and now publishes (irregularly) on his own site. His work is completely in line with what I like, and In Crust We Trust has been a big inspiration for my own writings.

see/saw – I have mixed feelings about this one. It’s run by Evan Minsker, who used to write for some major media outlets. While it covers a wide variety of punk music and offers quality band interviews for free, most of the content is paywalled, including the weekly "Punk This Week" column. I’m also put off by his Instagram growth tactic of asking people to comment on a post to DM them a link. The exact kind of influencer-style bullshit I can’t stand.

Great post. I've tried out Substack myself, and found that I prefer to post to my own website. I don't like the aggressive monetization and the constant notifications. That said, I am going to check out the links above and follow those that peak my interest.

This is my first post on this forum and I hope it's ok with a little bit of rambling and some shameless self-promotion.
I take concert photos, mostly from the punk and hardcore scene in and around Oslo, Norway. And I hate having to use social media to share them. It's really hard to get people to leave their walled gardens, but I notice that whenever I post an image on instagram there's an uptick in visitors to my site. I've been toying with the idea of dropping all social media, but I worry that if I do my site will go totally unseen. The bands I photograph are really good, and they deserve to be seen.

My website is built on a free version of Wordpress using a free template. I only pay a yearly sum for the domain name and to keep it ad-free. I had to copy/paste some code from a help-article once, and that might be why it sometimes looks a little wonky on phones. I dunno, I'm about as tech-savvy as a dizzy seagull.
My point is, for a fistful of dollars and a little bit of effort, it's still possible to create websites without algorithms, upvotes and likes.
I yearn for a return to the days of the internet when people made their own weird sites showing off their stuff. And I applaud DIY Conspiracy for opening up this forum. It's a step in the right direction and I hope it'll help foster a large, thriving community.

My site is located at https://www.myscenesucks.com and I hope it might be of interest to anyone reading this thread. But don't just visit mine. Create your own!

Lots to check out that have been shared. I'll add two more:

Language of the Damned by Neil from Teargas/Phenomena

https://substack.com/@languageofthedamn ... d&r=3mec4l

DX from Straightjacket Nation does one too which includes Distort back issues

https://substack.com/@distorttheworld?u ... d&r=3mec4l

Hey ivel, thanks for sharing all that, and your self-promotion is actually much appreciated!

To make the link work correctly, you can edit your comment and add https:// in front of it.

This see/saw project that I mentioned ran a great scene report for Norway btw.

https://see-saw.fun/near-arctic-state-o ... -explosion

Awesome. Thanks for the help and the link. It's always fun to read about your own scene. To see what others choose to spotlight etc.

Thanks for this huge reading list! I know there were probably a lot more than I was aware of.

I find it strange that in the last 20-odd years there's always a push to monetize your passions. "Oh, you knit/make vegan belts/screenprint t-shirts/etc...? You should start an Etsy." I also find it strange that a DIY arts and culture movement relies so heavily on corporations like Meta. Just today the BBC had an article on how Meta was mistakenly banning Instagram accounts for child sex abuse and cybersecurity rules violations.

I've always been in favor of email lists over Instagram accounts. That way you own your own data and avoid the algorithms.