Five artists that inspired Black Flag’s Henry Rollins
Black Flag were pioneers of the hardcore scene, continually pushing boundaries on and off-stage with their frenzied, high-octave sound. Formed in 1976 in California, the post-punk band has cycled through various line-up changes over the years, but founder Greg Ginn, the guitarist and primary songwriter, has remained through them all, releasing the bulk of their output on his independent label, SST Records. The band he forged is now considered the first of its kind.
Black Flag were unique in that they paired the angry simplicity of the Sex Pistols’ lyricism with constant atonal guitar shredding and tempo shifts. They were noisy and cacophonous but also deeply poetic, preaching about anti-authoritarianism and non-conformism. While early punk music deemed itself almost above musicality, Black Flag experimented with free jazz and rhythmic melodies, influenced heavily by heavy metal and sometimes classical music. They were not afraid to experiment with genre as well as song length – bringing a playfulness to punk that cemented them as leaders of their underground scene.
The introduction of Henry Rollins as lead singer in 1981 also introduced his meditations on loneliness, poverty, and despair. Under Rollins, the band promoted a self-governed DIY ethic, almost constantly travelling to tour the US and Canada to shows they’d booked themselves. This created a word-of-mouth network that benefitted the up-and-coming hardcore musicians in the scene that admired Black Flag. The band were said to have spray painted their logo all over Los Angeles to drum up attention, much to the delight of these fans.
The iconic band logo, a black flag scattered across four rectangles, has often stirred up debate over its meaning. It’s been suggested it’s intended to symbolise anarchy, being that it’s the total opposite of the white flag of surrender. But frontman Henry Rollins has always insisted it means anything fans want it to because punk is not about being prescriptive. For all its fashion and posturing, punk is a mentality more than anything, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Likewise, just because a band’s output is heavy and aggressive doesn’t mean they exclusively listen to punk or hardcore – and Rollins is no exception.
From Bowie to The Beatles, here are his five favourite artists.
Five artists that inspired Henry Rollins:
The Beatles
Beatlemania resulted in fans fainting at the mere sight of their favourite band, whereas Black Flag shows were known to end in violent on-stage punch-ups, so they seem an unlikely favourite of a hardcore band. Still, the psychedelic sounds of The Beatles always appealed to former frontman Rollins, who loved their gentle voices. “They seemed like they’d be friendly people,” he said.
He’d stolen his mother’s Yesterday and Today vinyl as a teen, squirrelling away in his room and playing it on a loop for hours. “I played that record all the time, and it became this electronic babysitter,” he explained. “I’d just listen to one 15-minute side for hours. It didn’t matter that it was the same songs, it just mattered that someone was in the room with me, keeping me company”.
The Fab Four were a source of respite in the face of teenage angst and continually inspired Rollins throughout his time with Black Flag.
The Stooges
The hang-ups of his teenage years behind him, Rollins turned 20 and started gleefully getting into fights at punk shows after discovering the likes of the Sex Pistols and The Damned. When he joined Black Flag in 1981, he was surprised that the band was less than impressed with his affinity for punk rock. He said the band sat him down for a musical intervention of sorts, telling him he had to be “down with Black Sabbath, the Stooges, and the MC5”.
After that chat, he put on Fun House, The Stooges’ second proto-punk studio album – and had a few realisations. “Upon first listen,” he explained, “A few things hit me: OK, this is my favourite record, and it’s the purest record I’ve ever heard, and I’m never going to do anything that good.”
Le Butcherettes
After seeing them open for The Stooges, Rollins declared Le Butchettes as his favourite band – Sin Sin Sin his favourite album of theirs. Rollins explained that lead singer Teresa Suárez, also known as Teri Gender Bender, is the one he found so captivating on stage. “Charisma for a hundred million years,” he said of her. “She’s one of my favourite people out there making music. She’s the real thing.”
Listen to Le Butcherettes ‘Tonight’ below.
Swans
As Rollins told Pitchfork, he met Swans’ Michael Gira in 1984 when Gira gave him copies of Young God and Cop. Young God, in particular, is bleak, brutal and loud, with Kurt Cobain listing it as his 50th entry on his last ‘50 Favourite Albums’ journal entry, under its more controversial title, Raping a Slave.
“It was just the gnarliest stuff I’d heard up to that point. It’s really harsh,” said Rollins of the lyrics: “No one burns your skin like a cop.” He recalls being fascinated with Gira’s lyricism and concept of power, the idea that there was strength in submission. “There’s nothing like those records,” he said. “Michael’s records and his energy just blew my mind, I had never been around thought like that.”
David Bowie
Rollins was on tour in the UK when he got the news of David Bowie’s death in 2016. He said he was miserable and didn’t want to go on stage that night – so he kept playing Blackstar on repeat because “he kept not exactly being dead.” Bowie lives on through his music, which Rollins calls “take-me-to-my-happy-place records”.
Bowie has influenced countless musicians through his unrivalled unique artistry. However, few could draw a straight one between his music and that of Henry Rollins’.
