1, 2, 3, 4 How's Punk, What's the Score? An update on punk rock and hardcore in Indy with JS!

Indy has a long and legendary history with punk rock. Going all the way back to the beginning of punk, Bloomington’s the Gizmos and West Lafayette’s Dow Jones and the Industrials were at the cutting edge of punk rock in the mid to late 70s, in the 80’s the Zero Boys were one of the first and biggest hardcore bands to come out of the Midwest and Sloppy Seconds were riding a wave with their Ramones influenced straight up punk rock. Through the 90’s Indiana produced bands like Split Lip and Burn It Down and Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette recorded some of the biggest albums in the genre by artists like Rise Against, Screeching Weasel, Alkaline Trio and so many others (seriously, google it). But where are things at now with punk rock in Indy? We reached out to John Saxen, who rose to prominence as the frontman for Indianapolis hardcore band Bolth , and now plays in a number of punk and hardcore bands, as well as manages Elle 2.0

JS - I was asked to write about the state of Indy hardcore/punk and how it overlaps with our microlabel / collective, elle 2.0. Before I say anything, my only intention here is to meet people halfway. I have no interest in recruiting or popularity. Hopefully this will reach people who have been disconnected due to the pandemic.

Six years ago, my open-ended recording project "elle" begat the elle 2.0 collective. Sixteen releases later, it has grown into an established Indiana microlabel as well as a huge archive of show videos. We also make buttons, book events, and more. I am most proud of our recent benefit comp/mixtape raising $500 for The Julian Center; Neither elle 2.0 nor the artists took a penny of these sales. Why bother? I remember this culture being a constant fight to exist internally and externally, and I want to be like the handful of folks that pulled me up. I want to use my resources and experience to keep it going in the right direction.

So to answer the question, hardcore/punk is alive and well if you want to find it. Ignore the bullshit on the internet and go to a show. I used to play Gameboy between hardcore bands because I didn't have any friends. The first time I went to Punk Rock Night at The Melody Inn, I thought I was going to some kind of motel. Now I can't imagine my life without this community.

Crisis Actor 'Submission' out June 19th on elle 2.0"

Some humble suggestions: If you want punk, check out Anti-Feds and Mr. Clit and the Pink Cigarettes. If you like it meaner and faster, check out my band Crisis Actor. If you want hardcore, check out Kiddo and LIB. My other band Out Of Touch is a younger style of hardcore I guess. And if you like metal, Obscene is leading the pack, period. As for venues, get to know Black Circle, The Melody Inn / Punk Rock Night, and (if it ever reopens) State Street Pub. Crisis Actor's "Submission" drops June 19th (provided nothing goes wrong) on 10" record, cassette, and everywhere digital.

facebook.com/elle8778 / instagram.com/elle2.0collective / youtube.com/user/elle8778