Punk Reigns, Animals Rule! - M.Y.O. interview

Make Your Own folks interview
- conducted ages ago

One of the things that I'd like to read in a zine is yung thoughts and ideas of people connected to the undergound pero ung walang mga banda o not involved sa musical aspect ng scene. Tingin ko, these people always have valid ideas when it comes to the scene in general. Zinemakers, distro runners, etc. all contribute in their own DIY way and it's always inspiring to read about them. I had an interview once through mail of Gani behind Make Your Own and had recently asked permission to have this interview posted dito sa blog and he agreed ( thanks a lot!! ). Read and enjoy. 

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No, this is not a call to "make your own" interview. It's a chat with the cool people behind MAKE YOUR OWN, a local zine and distro outfit with a focus on animal and environment issues..Thanks to Gani for the time to answer these questions. 

1. Tell us why you decided to do M.Y.O. in the first place, do you think that stuff like animal awareness is not really practiced by pinoi punx ( or by ordinary people, for that matter )? Why not?

MYO - Our main aim for publishing Make your Own zine is to educate local scenesters about the animal awareness issue and to educate them to support the rights and welfare of animals. Pinoi punks are not yet well informed about this issue due to lack of education and information concerning this topic. In Europe, Japan, USA and other foreign countries, animal awareness and environmental issues are highly supported by different scenesters ( punk, HC, crust, sXe ), bands, labels, distros and zinemakers and more. There are a lot of individual punks and hardcores joining in different militant groups, totally committed to rescue poor animals from the cruelty of barbaric humans perhaps it's high time to educate the local punks about this issue by using our zine and other local zines and newsletters which are important underground channels to spread the message to the local scene. 

Continuous dissemination of information 'til they become well informed about this issue is an excellent contribution to the local punk scene for the benefit of the animal world. We've seen that some local zines like Betloogs #3, Noisecore # 1 and others are gradually featuring the said issue. Some bands like Human Waste got a song about the horror of animal cruelty and we've also heard that a newly born DIY non-profit collective based in San Pedro, Laguna known as Dare to Care is doing a good job. Definitely good moves to enhance the pinoi punx struggle against animal cruelty.

2. When it comes to environment protection, the Philippines has one of the worst. Our forests are continually being depleted and rare animals are suddenly becoming extinct. What do you think is the best way to protect the environment and ourselves as well? Do you think that a violent, direct action is better than a pacifist way?

From http://ribbonaroundabomb.com/2013/09/17/
raab-radio-43-animal-instincts/

MYO - Here in the Philippines, peaceful action is the best start to arouse the punks and mainstream people to protect our animals and environment. Dissemination of information, propaganada, leafletting, sending letters to Congress and Senate, signature campagins, seminars, symposiums, formation of collectives and joining in animal welfare and environment groups are some examples of peaceful action for the benefit of the animals as well as the environment. When most of the punks and common people become interested, it's time to organize and mobilize them to ensure continuous struggle against animal abuses and always remember also that the struggle cannot be won without the fullest mass participation. A legal mass movement is strongly needed to act as a driving force to send our message to the President, Senate, Congress, press and other government agencies. This is the legal way and indirect approach of struggle.

In contrast, direct action is underground, revolutionary in essence and illegal to the scum authorities. A good example of Direct Action is done by the ALFSG to save animals from the hands of animal abusers and also Earth First movement who are always conducting "illegal" actions to save various ecosystems. Direct action is widely used in other countries but is still absent in our country. We do believe that direct actions are also needed by the Filipinos to advance our struggle against animal and environmental abusers. Unfortunately, we are not yet ready to achieve these underground actions due to lack of interested people to go UG and be part of it. Besides, direct actions need money for funding to buy tools, vehicles and other equipment needed to attain the most useful and successful offensive tactic against the enemy. Direct action is the extreme form of struggle and according to some, it is the only real solution to get the bastards. Maybe we can also attain this kind of militant action in the future if some Filipinos decide to go completely underground and ready to face the risk of getting charged and spending a few years in prison when they get caught by the dominant authorities.

3. Some aspiring government officials use the environment as a platform for their election bids. What do you think of this?

MYO - The environment issue is one of the most important agenda to carry by the politicians but it is also true that only a few of them are dedicated to uplift the environment and most of them are just using it during election campaigns and when they get elected, they don't do anything to protect the environment. Instead, they will become one of the destroyers or supporters of environment destruction esp. the rampant illegal logging. The Philippines has lost almost 80% of its forests and several biologically important areas are gone forever. That's the reason why environmental issues should always be at the top of the political agenda because only the politicians are able to create and enforce environmental law. We highly respect these politicians who are dedicated to support the cause and to enhance the environment protection efforts nationwide ever after the election period.

4. Do you think that local animals on the brink of extinction have a chance to be saved or are they already doomed?

MYO - Yes, they still have a chance to be saved and everything should be done to prevent the local wild animals from becoming critically endangered or from facing a high risk of extinction due to over-hunting and massive forest destruction ( their habitat ). Rescue efforts include protection of their remaining known habitats. That means illegal logging and uncontrolled kaingin ( slash and burn ) farming must be totally eradicated. The threat of forest fires is a common outcome of uncontrolled slash and burn activities of some farmers. Captive breeding is also an important measure to save endangered animals like the Philippine Eagle which is the most endangered specie here but some species are not successfully kept of a long period of time and bred in captivity. That's why captive breeding is also considered the last resort in the conversation effort and it is only done when the population of the specie in its natural habitat is very low. Another drastic measure that should be implemented is to ban the hunting of wild animals, different conservation strategies are really important to save endangered animals from extinction.

5. What other projects are you planning to address these issues, other than your zine and distro?

MYO - We are planning to form a collective in the future is dome local punks and hardcores are willing to join and cooperate.

From http://en.paperblog.com/radical-media-and-earth-first-without-you-513212/

6. Speaking of your distro, tell us more about it. Do you plan to release any local stuff?

MYO - Make Your Own distro is a small DIY, low/non-profit distro. We get bulk copies of foreign zines and some copies of imported records from different foreign labels and zinemakers and sell it here as cheap as possible because most local punks cannot afford to place a single copy order from foreign labels due to expensive overseas prices of their stuff. Besides, the current peso to dollar rate is killing us. If we get bulk copies, foreign labels/zinemakers would give us their wholesale prices which are cheaper and therefore we could sell their imported stuff at cheap prices also.

We don't have any official local releases ( except for Make Your Own zine ) because we run a distro and not a label. But we always distribute local zines, newsletters and band demos done by different local zinemakers and bands from different scenes. This is the best help that we could offer for them to spread their stuff, not only in the Philippines but also to foreign countries, so to all local punks who are currently making DIY zines or newsletters and to all bands who got a demo, you can send a photo copy of your zine/newsletter or one master copy of your tape demo and we'll help you promote and distribute it through our distro. If anyone is interested to get a copy of our catalog, write us and please send a self addressed stamped envelope.

7. Back to the fanzine, your section on animal trivia is unique and one nice piece of handiwork. Where do you get all these amazing stuff? Why did you decide to put it in your zine?

MYO - We get it from different veterinary books, Daily Inquirer's trivia, wildlife books, children's animal books, local and foreign wildlife magazines, newspapers and other reading material with that subject matter. It's entertaining, interesting and educational, that's why we decided to print it. Besides, our zine is a punk zine for animal awareness so instead of making a record or zine review, we replaced it with animal review, trivia and info.

8. Would you agree that there was a strong scene here during the 80's and that the UG cannot return to that state anymore? Since you have been in the UG foe quote some time, where do you think the scene is heading? Can it reclaim its former glory?

MYO - I don't agree that the mid 80's local scene was stronger to the current scene. I got an opportunity to hear the early pinoy punk bands and demos aired over the radio station RJ-AM hosted by Howlin' Dave early 12 to 1 noon Saturdays and Sundays and that was in 83, 84 and 85. I used to watch the early 80's gigs consisting of Pinoy rock acts and early punk bands held in Angono Elementary School, Angono Rizal ( with 3rd world Chaos, the Jerks, Wuds ); Marikina Sports Complex, parking lot of DZRJ-AM in Sta. Mesa, Manila, Philtrade and other gig venues. Some pinoy rock concerts organized by DZ-RJ during the early 80's included pinoy punk bands as guests or supporting bands because during that time, pinoy rock bands were the dominant artists while the pinoy punks were the subordinate bands in every gig because there were only a few pioneer punk bands existing at the time. Besides, DZRJ-AM was then known as the Rock of Manila and their addictive 12 to 1 noon program was known as Pinoy Rock and Rhythm playing the anthemic sounds of Juan dela Cruz, Maria Cafra, Sampaguita, Anak Bayan, Horoscope, and other great local Pinoy rockers. 

In 1980 ( I was still in high school at that time ) they started to play the demos of Chaos, the Jerks, College, Medusa and Integrated Circuit and they also started to interview local punk bands on the air. This radio station was the first and only station then who promoted punk music locally and that was the start of the Brave New World generation. Perhaps some of the few but remarkable comparison then and now are the ff: during the 80's, only a few zines existed ( Garbage, Blatant Underground, the well-known Herald-X ); slamdancing or pogoing was more violent, fistfights and occasional stabbing during and after the gigs; local and international networking were unapparent; DIY distros and tape or zine trading were absent; most punks then were more on fashion ( wearing creepers, mohawk-styled colored hair ) but their attitudes were fascists in essence and the scene was active only in Manila. Unlike today, several zines and newsletters are sprouting from different scenes, slamdancing is less violent, local and international networking are common activities of active scenesters, bands and zinemakers. Tape and zine trading are rampant and DIY ditros are mobilized. Fighting during gigs is uncommon, more bands release their demos thru the DIY way; diff. scenes from the provinces are well developed and sometime more active than in Metro Manila. Plenty of punks are educated about the principles of the punk/HC subculture due to their access to reading material obtained through trading and networking and more and more punks are wearing simple clothes but their attitudes, philosophies and principles are obviously punk. Yep! Punk is not a fashion, it's an attitude and a way of life!

Definitely, the local scene is heading towards a positive direction which is the main goal of all active pinoy punks and hardcores.

9. What new local bands have you been closely keeping an eye on?

MYO - Actually, all UG bands are great and there's no need to mention their names, In fact, we are collecting copies of their demos, rec., live bootlegs or officially released albums just to hear their music as often as possible because we don't attend gigs regularly due to hectic working schedules.

10. Adie's got her own zine entitle, Heart's Desire Journal. From the title, I guess it's more of a personal zine. What's it all about?

MYO - Yes, Heart's Desire Journal is a personal zine done by punks in love with other punks. It contains articles, columns, pics, comics, quizzes, tips on love, love quotes, poetry and many more. The author released 3 issues at the moment. Unfortunately, she printed 2 copies only per issue and according to her, "No portion of the said journal may be copied or reproduced without permission form the author", because it's too personal and all contents of that personal zine is dedicated to her one and only symbiotic partner so don't try to ask her why she didn't send you a copy for review.

11. Ok, guess that's all. Thanks a lot!

MYO - Thank you very much Mike for having an interest to conduct an interview for the crew of MYO zine and distro. It really helps us a lot to promote our DIY projects. We'd like to inform all punks that MYO zine #3 is out now and back issues are still available. Just send any trades if you want to get a copy. Thanks again and keep the scene healthy and strong!

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You can check out Make Your Own's current stuff at myodistro.blogspot.com.