“The rise of a racist folk music scene shows how the far-Right has extended the breadth of its cultural embrace to include a range of musical forms that one would not traditionally associate with fascism and which many “traditional” fascists would doubtless find a challenging listen. These include Neo-Folk, Darkwave and National Socialist Black Metal [NSBM].
- “Searchlight Extra” on Neo-Folk February 2007
A note on this column:
This is an edited version of the original column. I knew from the start that it would be somewhat controversial and had stated in the first paragraph that I would willing redact, edit and publish any rejoinders to anything that was disputed and am now doing so.
In the original column I used a small label release of two neofolk records as a stepping off point to criticize the fascist undercurrent present in the scene. Despite what the individuals or bands involved with that label may think, it was not done out of any personal vendetta or mean-spiritedness on my part, but merely used as what amounted to a rhetorical device with which to structure the column. I couched my language in a way that, while not accusing the label or any of the bands on the label of being fascist, unjustly linked them to that element of the neofolk scene.
For that I apologize.
After speaking with one of the owners of the label and being assured that neither they nor any of the bands on the label support far right politics by any means I agreed that the column had unfairly singled them out and it has been rewritten to reflect that.
Lesson learned. I will be more careful in the future.
The essence of my argument has not changed though. I have noticed an increased interest in neofolk and I find that troubling. Let me start by first giving a bit of history.
Neofolk, as it exists now is largely due to the musical careers of two individuals, Douglas Pearce and Tony Wakeford. Pearce and Wakeford’s first band was the punk band CRISIS. The early singles had a sound reminiscent of the post-punk of WARSAW era JOY DIVISION as well as the early peace-punk of bands such as THE MOB and ZOUNDS. The singles were political, being explicitly anti-racist and anti-fascist, and the band was politically active, being associated with both Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League.
By the time of the release of their album, Hymns Of Faith, in 1980, CRISIS’s sound and thematic content had started to become more experimental. The band soon split, with member going on to several post-punk bands with Pearce and Wakeford creating the most famous of the lot, DEATH IN JUNE.
The name DEATH IN JUNE itself is a reference to the Night of the Long Knives, an early Nazi purge, and the band itself was, explicitly, an exploration of the fascist aesthetic. In Douglas Pearce’s own words:
“When we first formed we were investigating fascism, no bones about that. It’s interesting to see what this tainted ideology which has been so powerful had to say in the beginning.”
Pearce, the only continuous member of DEATH IN JUNE, has been dogged by accusations of Nazism the entire length of the bands career, largely because of the continued romanticization of fascist ideology and the Nazi aesthetic, ongoing collaborations with known fascist artists (e.g. Boyd Rice and Michael Moynihan) and support of white power acts, such as DER BLUTHARSCH, to name a few.
Tony Wakeford left DEATH IN JUNE in 1984, supposedly because of a disagreement over his ongoing involvement with the National Front, an involvement that allegedly often included street level violence. His next band ABOVE THE RUINS, contributed a song to a National Front benefit album, No Surrender, along with RAC (Rock Against Communism) bands such as SKREWDRIVER and BRUTAL ATTACK. Though supposedly a break with his far right past, his following band, SOL INVICTUS included other known fascist activists, such as the bassist from the RAC band NO REMORSE.
Wakeford made this public statement on Myspace (yeah I know, fucking Myspace) last year:
“….Many years ago I was a (sic) once a member of the National Front. It was probably the worse decision of my life and one I very much regret. … this is the last public statement I plan to make on the subject…. In the end people will either have to believe me or not.”
Whether or not Wakeford is still a fascist or Pearce ever was or if they have been merely acting as provocateurs is not up for me to decide here. Entire books have been written on that subject. What is of concern is that the sound and aesthetic developed by these bands, along with other frequent collaborators such as David Tibet and Current 93, established the template that modern neofolk follows. It can be simplified as a post-punk, post-industrial, folk-inspired experimental music. Thematically, besides the obsession with the fascist aesthetic, neo-folk generally is concerned with things such as paganism, romanticism, the occult (Evola has been particularly popular), European heritage and folklore. Many of these trappings are directly related to the elements of volkisch theory that were used by Nazis propagandists and the Nazi occultists, such as the Thule Society.
Modern bands carrying on the legacy of DEATH IN JUNE, like LUFTWAFFE for example, have continued this flirtation with fascism, prompting numerous, ‘are they or aren’t they’ articles and interview questions. The point of this brief history is that, unlike the Oi scene for example, neofolk, from its inception, has been dangerously and ambiguously enmeshed in far right politics. It attracted not only those interested in commenting on fascism (much like the closely related band LAIBACH does) but also genuine fascists. Stormfront, the premier online forum for white supremacists, has had a number of discussions on neofolk, militarist, neoclassical, darkwave and experimental post-industrial music and its appeal to racialists. The level of ambiguity that exists about what these bands actually stand for has helped draw a significantly large number of actual fascists and racists to the scene and develop an entire openly-fascist subset of the genre.
As I said earlier on, I have noticed what seems to be an increase of interest in this scene by the slowly spreading post-punk diaspora. My point, which may have gotten lost in the more inflammatory original version of this column, is that small boutique labels act as ‘tastemakers’ far more than they may realize and that by releasing neofolk they may be playing with fire. I am not saying that all, or even a majority of, neofolk bands are fascist or even crypto-fascist. I am sure a great number of these bands are legitimately and non-politically interested in things such as fascist history, runes, paganism, European heritage and the Nazi occult (which is fascinating, I own several books on it myself). Yet, when these same things act as the coded symbols used by Odinists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists world wide and are staples of other racialist music such as RAC and NSBM, the knowing use of them, while claiming to be apolitical, is troubling, to say the least. It displays a willful blindness to what is actually being communicated.
The following is a quote by the openly fascist Michael Moynihan:
“I’m sick of people saying they’re “not political,” as I think this is a cup-out…If you’re going to espouse “fascist” ideas, then I believe you have to accept some of the responsibility for their application in the real world; otherwise what is the point of espousing them in the first place?”
I am reminded of two things that tangentially relate to my argument so allow me to digress for a moment. The first being an interview with Gary Bushell where he remarks that in hindsight it may not have been the best idea in the world to name his compilation, Strength Thru Oi (a play on name of the Nazi organization Strength through Joy) nor to include a known racist skinhead (Nicky Crane) on the cover, especially at a time when he, a socialist, was attempting to help distance the Oi scene from the surging National Front and races riots at gigs.
The second anecdote is less directly related. There was a brief period several years ago, when at least two and maybe three hardcore bands, displaying a jaw dropping level of ignorance, named themselves things like REDEMPTION 88 (I’m just making that up, I can’t remember what they were actually called). They used the 88 not in the Heil Hitler manner that RAC and Nazi punk bands had, but in reference to youth crew. I wish I was making that part up.
That didn’t hold for long, of course. The punk scene has been exceptionally good at self-policing. For the large part the far right elements of the scene were excised by the late 80’s and went on to form their own, parallel, music scenes. There have of course also been unfortunate witch hunts, one of the most recent was the calling out of FUCKED UP (which I touched on in an earlier column) over their references to Evola and other Nazi occultists. These witch hunts can be said to at least have had the positive effect of clarifying where bands stand, which, while not the intent of the original column, I inadvertently ended up doing as well.
What I fear, is that an increased interest in neofolk will not include this aspect, and instead the far right elements will be treated with the same level of political apathy that was given to black metal. When the hardcore punk scene began to explore black metal, the racist and fascist aspects of that scene were for the large part ignored, excused and apologized for and therefore allowed to fester, even as the music gained much wider audiences. This fence walking process of appeasement only allows the infestation of these scenes to grow and any notions of staying non-political or neutral in a fascist infested scene I feel is hopelessly idealistic.
I will end with a final quote.
“Neo-folk acts as a social and ideological glue holding its Nazi adherents together, as well as drawing in a smattering of younger followers who start out as music fans and end up full blown mystical fascists, and without this, the ease with which these rats are able to collaborate politically would be massively reduced. Removed from the access, distribution and networking points provided by neo-folk, the individual and collective influence of this subculture’s fascist inspired ideology would be massively reduced.”
- Stewart Home
This is the second ep by THE CYBERMEN, from 1978 I believe.
Edited and published by Sakevi from G.I.S.M. and Charmy from Laughin’ Mose/AA Rec. Glossy full-page color and B&W photos of Ghoul, Aburadako, Outo, Laughin’ Nose,
Lip Cream, Kyahh, Samhain and Psychic TV. Articles/interviews of G.I.S.M., Cobra etc. Lots of cool live photos, artworks and ads for Skelton, Jisatsu, Hold Up Records, Lip Cream tape, as well as full-page ads for AA and ADK Records saying that the Gauze LP is out and the Typhus LP is planned to be released. The back cover has the large live pic of The Stalin. Extremely rare!P.O.W.(Punk On Wave) Vol.2 - Magazine, P.O.W., 1985, Japan, Paperback format, Full-color covers, 113 pages - $60
Edited and published by Sakevi from G.I.S.M. and Charmy from Laughin’ Mose/AA Rec. Glossy full-page color and B&W photos of G.I.S.M., Lip Cream, Cobra, Auto-Mod, Willard, Chaos UK, Wretched, Disorder etc. The G.I.S.M. part is two full-pages and has killer live photos of Sakevi. The photos, interviews and articles of Gauze, Hanatarash, Willard, Chaos UK, AA Rec., U.K. HC etc. The ads for AA, KPP Rec., Ghoul EP/Hold Up Rec., Last Bomb, and tons more cool stuff in this issue. There’s even a two full-page odd artwork by Sakevi. Written mostly in Japanese, ofcourse. Fucking amazing underground punk mag! Note:The back cover has a bottom part cut out.P.O.W.(Performance Of War) Vol.3 - Magazine, P.O.W., 1985, Japan, Paperback format, Full-color covers, 106 pages - $70
Special Sakevi issue. This ultra-rare, awesome mag was edited and published by Sakevi from G.I.S.M. Lots of insane pics, interviews and articles about topics like death, war, execution etc. Written in both Japanese and English. John Duncan was a co-editer for this issue, and most of the main contents were translated into English. There’s also a rare full-page ad for the G.I.S.M. VHS release with a large live pic of Sakevi, Lip Cream ad, Hanatarash live photos, full-page Selfish Records ad and cool artworks. Very professionally done underground mag with glossy covers. Extremely rare!”
—
In the upload of POW that is circulating the internet, the same as in this post, issue 2 only contains the covers basically. But as you can read above there’s a lot of cool shit that we’re missing…