To this very day there are people out there who consider SST to be a way of life. The attitude a few key bands on the label exhibited still resonates with people. Slogans like “Rise Above” and “We Jam Econo” will always have validity but there are SST fans who take it deadly serious. SST was dangerous because, as Masha tells Max Renn in Videodrome, it had a philosophy. The philosophy was if there was something standing in your way, don’t go around it, crush it and steamroll ahead. SST played with fire.
Considering SST has around 400 releases in its catalog and a lot of drama still lingering, it must have seemed like a daunting task to cover a story with many potential brick walls in the way. “No brick walls but early on I wondered what I’d gotten myself into!” Author Jim Ruland already had a head start on the SST story by giving a helping hand to original Black Flag singer Keith Morris for his book My Damage. While Keith’s input was already there Ruland had some difficulties getting the interviews off the ground at first. “I had trouble getting people to return my calls or respond to my interview requests via email,” he says. “After I interviewed Mugger, I asked him for advice and he told me to go on Facebook. I’d deleted my account but once I logged back on I was able to get a hold of people pretty easily. Turns out all the old punks are on Facebook!”
Most writers might have struggled whether to tell the story concentrating on just the label’s innovations and success after the hard climb up or to tell a story of corruption from the best intentions. “No that wasn’t a struggle. I suspect it was harder for some people to read than it was for me to write because I didn’t have an agenda,” says Ruland. The book tells a compelling story for those who are not in the know but for fans and those who have been there it’s a familiar tale of David challenges Goliath only to become Goliath. Not everyone comes off looking like the musical heroes they are when it comes to behavior behind or in front of the scenes at SST. But Ruland manages to stay neutral when things veer off course. “I didn’t have an axe to grind or anything like that. It’s not a pro-SST book or anti-Greg Ginn book. I just wanted to tell a narrative history of the label and keep the music it championed at the center of the story.” Among the tragedies in the book is the episode between Black Flag and Unicorn/MCA where Black Flag members and SST owners Chuck Dukowski and Greg Ginn ended up serving time in prison. This was after years of harassment by local police had caused them to move locations several times. The book serves as a cautionary tale as well as a music story. “Most definitely, but first and foremost it’s the story of a label that had to fight for everything it achieved. Nothing was handed to SST,” Ruland stresses. “The label faced obstacles at every phase of its existence. Ultimately, SST is story of what happens you become what you hate.”
One thing about tackling a story this big is what bands to give coverage to. The label gave starts to an astounding amount of legendary or should-be-legendary bands. The Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth and Soundgarden among others are given plenty of paragraphs and rightfully so. But one band and especially one member of that band figures prominently in the story and beyond and that is Descendents but they seem underacknowledged. Even though they started on New Alliance before releasing the landmark All record on SST, their drummer, Bill Stevenson would serve a long haul with Black Flag before they would change their name to All and be the catalyst in Ginn forming SST side label Cruz Records. “I didn’t want to cherry pick titles from New Alliance or Cruz because that wouldn’t be fair to the artists on SST that didn’t get much coverage, and there are quite a few I wish I could have expanded on: Angst, Das Damen, Painted Willie, Paper Bag, Saint Vitus, Trotsky Icepick... I could go on and on,” Ruland explains. “Personally, I think the Descendents should write their own story and when they do I’ll be the first in line to buy it!”
Even with a frustrating open ending since SST is still in some type of operation, Ruland’s telling of the SST story is essential for fans of punk, indie rock and music bios. The influence of the label and the bands is being felt by a new generation. Go to the local shopping mall and you will see junior high school kids wearing attire emblazoned with the logos of a lot of bands Ruland discusses here. His writing is concise and he uses episodes involving many of the bands to help tell the story while keeping things interesting and not derailing from the destination. And it’s not all struggle or tragedy, you can’t help but chuckle when Ruland reveals that when Dukowski was let go from Black Flag, Henry Rollins asked if he should go with him for fear Ginn would dismiss him as well in favor of a Dio-like metal singer. The hardcover book includes several great photos by SPOT, Edward Colver, Linda Aronow, Naomi Peterson and many others.
