Sound Recordists, Workplaces, Technologies, and the Aesthetics of Punk

Punk discourse is heavily focused on DIY aesthetics and, where the production of punk is concerned, the recreation of liveness embodied in cheap, often quickly produced studio recordings. Additionally, punk recordings are often positioned as key to the establishment of global networks, and are at the nexus of the production and dissemination of punk ideologies, yet they are rarely examined musicologically. However, this tendency to define punk in its wider context of DIY cultural production not only results in a dissemination and reception-focused discourse, but also overlooks the realities of the technological, processual, and workplace means involved in some of the genre�s most recognizable texts. Strong connections exist between early punk of the late 1960s and 1970s and classical music-focused recordists, elite recording studios, and highly realized technological capacity. Building on previous work on the tech-processual construction of punk aesthetics, this chapter aims to shift the focus of punk production away from broader discussions surrounding the dissemination of ideology and toward the sites and personnel impacting the production of punk. The work of previously overlooked recordists, including Oliver DiCicco, Craig Leon, John Loder, Glenn Lockett, and Butch Vig, are of particular focus. This chapter shows how much now-canonized punk aspired to constructionist rock music production standards, and how the resulting sonic aesthetics of punk undermine the genre�s DIY ideology. Keywords: punk, recording, production, technology, recordists