The Jocks vs. the Pretty People After the release of their single, “Haircut/Shave,” in March of this year, the Jocks have been a source of controversy for their pro-white and violent lyrics. The band was put under a lot of pressure from the media and organizations such as B’nai Brith in the beginning, but now the band is playing at the biggest punk and hardcore festival in the world, Punk & Disorderly, which is all-ages, and where many anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations also have a presence. “Punk is white, right? Then we should be in a punk band,” says Joey Jordison from Slipknot and a veteran of both Roadrunner Records and the metal label Combat Records. Joey adds that “when we first started this, we weren’t thinking about race at all. We just saw kids wearing punk tattoos and clothing. That was all we were looking at. We were just trying to do something that was positive, and we never expected to piss anyone off because of it.” With the release of their first full-length, “Haircut/Shave,“ they have not only pissed off a lot of anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations, but have also pissed off and angered many fans as well. “I had a show called The Ripper Show, and a lot of the promoters were worried that maybe I had some white power tattoos or was the leader of a skinhead band,” says Nick, a member of the Jocks. Nick then continues to say “so most of the time, I had to wear a hat with an ear flap over it. Even people in the scene would come up to me and ask me questions about it. That was the only real discrimination I ever had.” The Jocks have been threatened by and have engaged in fights with anti-fascist groups and skinheads at concerts. A common reaction from fans has been “Why don’t you all get a haircut/shave!” “I think a lot of people know us and know what we stand for. The majority of them, at least at our shows, would say that we’re a really badass band and that we are going to kick their ass. They come to our shows to be a part of what we are doing, not to bash us. That’s probably the most frustrating thing about the situation,” says Joey. The Jocks have been the victims of a smear campaign since their debut. As stated in an editorial by Nick, the members of the band are not racists, and their lyrics are about the struggle for equality among races. He wrote the following in response to the backlash he had received: “A couple of people have approached me in the street and started talking to me about ‘your band.’ They say ‘what do you mean, your band?’ And then they say they don’t like ‘White Power.’ Then they go on about ‘skinhead’ music, but then the conversation moves to ‘your band is about race, not hate. How can you be a racist and stand for peace?’ I then tell them ‘I’m not a racist. I’m standing for all of the wrong reasons. We’re not saying “kill all whitey.” We’re saying stop discriminating against the white man!‘ They go on and say ‘well, that’s still bad, your fornication with the devil in promoting that white pride and white power in this world is making you a racist.’ I reply that ‘if you believe in freedom, then you can’t believe in hatred. As long as freedom exists, there is no room for hate.’ I always say that ‘racism is the idea that we should be separated because of our skin color. Hate is the action of judging people that are different. ‘I’ve actually been told by a skinhead that I’m a nazi and I need to stop promoting violence. I didn’t see how skinheads could be against violence when they are part of a movement that glorifies violence. ‘Most of us are just rock n rollers with a little extra attitude! We love punk music, we love punk attitude, but we aren’t skinheads and we aren’t racist. You’ll always see a lot more skinheads than us because they are the dominant group in punk/hardcore music.” While Joey has been called a white supremacist, Joey says he is not and explains “the only reason why [racism] is associated with punk music is because we have some pretty harsh lyrics about it, and because of our appearance. I have a tattoo on my neck of a Jewish star and some other words that are related to anti-semitism, so people have taken offense at that, too. As far as I’m concerned, we don’t belong in this band. If we don’t do that anymore, I’ll make sure no one ever has anything to say about it again.” The Jocks want to stop the negative attention and want to bring more fans to their message. Joey explains “I can’t go to a show without some white kid coming up to me and asking me ‘aren’t you just a nazi?‘ The first album and our shows were just some place we could show the world what was in our heads, but now we want to help kids and fight for the rights of all races. We want the black community to be able to own their own music and start bands and live in neighborhoods without the fear of being targeted for a drive-by shooting.” When asked if they would play a show at a place like Irving Plaza where “Haircut/Shave” was recorded, Joey and Nick said that if they do play Irving Plaza that they would play in a different location, and if their set was cut short by a fight, they would do something different. “We’re not going to play at Irving Plaza or any place like that unless we can play where we feel comfortable. If they stop us and kick us out, we’re not going to stop fighting. There’s no such thing as a Nazi rock band, only a white supremacist rock band.” The Jocks are not the first band in the hardcore punk scene to face this kind of discrimination and criticism. Oi! bands are a great example of this. While the political, anti-fascist stance of Oi! is similar to that of the Jocks, Oi! music is often very political, anti-fascist, and violent. “The media is very anti-Oi! and has been so from the beginning,” says Joey. “I feel that it’s something that everyone who is involved with the punk/hardcore scene should be aware of. I believe Oi! in the same way that I believe that the Jocks should represent the white movement. I don’t agree with what Oi! stands for, but if someone says ‘it’s a racist thing,’ then they obviously haven’t listened to them. Not every band should be Oi! — but it’s wrong to judge us in this way.” “Joey Jordison is just as much of an inspiration as Ian MacKaye is. “The Oi! spirit is all about standing for freedom and having your own voice. I don’t get as much flak as the Jocks do for what I say, but we aren’t as political as they are. People see us as anti-race or a bunch of race-warriors. We’re not. I’ve said that we should have an Oi! section of this festival, and we will. We just want to bring a message of music to people that will spread equality throughout the world.” The Jocks is an interesting case because on the surface, it would seem like a perfect fit for the punk scene. Punk has always been about standing up against the oppressor and speaking out against authority, and Joey and Nick are doing that. Joey even says, “I’m sure I’ll get called a punk again at some point in my life.” Unfortunately, the political stance of punk seems to be too much for punk kids to deal with sometimes, which is something that Joey and Nick are not taking as an excuse for their behavior. The Jocks are trying to help with this by offering their music to people of all races and to fight against hate. “We haven’t figured out the answers yet, and we’re still in the process. We just want to have an idea of what we should do to help people. It’s not like all of the kids are going to listen and understand what we’re saying. Sometimes it will just seem like noise. But maybe if the kids don’t like our band, then they’ll listen to the message, they’ll hear what we’re doing and maybe we’ll bring more people to the Oi! scene. We’ll just have to wait and see,” says Joey.