The spirit of DIY is as much a part of the punk culture as mohawks and mosh pits. Right from the start, bands and fans alike have been putting thoughts into action and building scenes with little money, resources or permission.
One band that know the triumphs and challenges of doing things yourself, is Manchester’s duo Sewer Cats. The band are known for their staunch commitment to DIY principles and the wider punk rock ethos as much as their frenetic, raw sound. Organising tours, writing and recording, creating inclusive and accessible spaces – Josh and Cass have found inspiration from the ghosts of punk bands past in how to do band life with as much freedom and authenticity as possible. And although separated by 40 years, one band in particular continue to provide a model that the Sewer Cats feel is as relevant today as it was in California in the early 1980s.
Punk Rock Philosophy caught up with Josh and Cass to discuss the punk principles that are important to them and how punk legends Minutemen are still influencing the way they do things…
Cass: “The great thing about punk is… you can do it yourself. That is what it is supposed to be and I think for kids in particular, that is a brilliant message- you can get out there and do stuff! We have not lost that. We still operate by that philosophy. In fact, it has grown over time.”
The band’s mutual love for punk rock goes way back to their respective teenage years when they were both introduced to a band- and a scene- that would show the power of music, solidarity and community.
The concept of DIY (in the punk context) can sometimes become a bit amorphous and resigned to a pithy catch phrase rather than a practical guiding principle with a clear aim of making creativity accessible. Josh and Cass are keenly aware of what DIY means in practice and what it can open up for a band- but it certainly isn’t the easiest path to take:
Cass: “If you wait for someone to pluck you and write you a cheque to tour and release things, you will be waiting forever but you can make it happen yourself! You have to put in work of contacting venues and buying a shit van so you can tour … but at the end of it, you would have experienced something. I think that is important and something that I try and share with other bands, especially younger bands- please do not wait to be signed or join a booking agency, just go out and do stuff yourself! Get some equipment, get a van and GO.
It is hard work to get a tour together and a lot of logistical planning. All the boring stuff! It is not glamorous or fun but it pays off. I am proud that I have been able to book two successful European tours that have been well attended and we got around without too many incidents! But it is graft. No one will do it for you, and you have to put in the hours.”
Hard work it may be (I’m exhausted just thinking about organising a tour around Europe!) but the payoff is in not just the freedom itself but the experiences that that freedom offers- experiences you wont get when working with people whose only motive is making money:
Cass: “You can choose to do things that do not make sense from a capitalist perspective. You can go to a teeny town that’s got a 50-capacity basement to play in and you think, ‘well if I was an accountant that would not make sense to do’ but because I am not, we will go there and we will play this great show to people that are absolutely buzzing to have a band from Manchester that has come all that way to play in their town. And they are gonna pass around the hat and actually- because they are so appreciative- you walk away with more than enough money to cover costs and you sell out of your box of records.
If you weren’t a DIY musician playing a show, you would never go there and speak to these people and learn about the culture of the venue they have set up and how they have taken it from a squat to a venue with a lot of anti Fascist activity there and they are doing lots of cool stuff in the community. And they want to know what is happening in your scene- it’s an exchange of punk rock values for an evening. If you were an accountant sat at a laptop that show would never happen.“
Josh: “A band managed by someone would probably never do it… so you are missing out on proper punk venues.“
Organising a tour across the lesser-frequented venues on continental Europe is a demonstration of a work ethic that US hardcore-scene royalty Minutemen would be proud of. Formed in 1980, the San Pedro trio of D Boon, Mike Watt and George Hurley modelled a compassionate, empowering and staunchly independent work ethos. Nestled in the vibrant US punk scene that sprang up in Reagan’s America in the 1980s, Minutemen are one of those bands that have inspired generations of devoted fans not just musically but politically and socially:
Cass: “Josh’s elder brother introduced us both to Minutemen. So we got into them at a similar time.“
Josh: “‘I Felt Like A Gringo’ is the first song of theirs I ever heard- a very easy dance-y song and I thought it was amazing!“
And as well as the music, Josh and Cass were immersed in understanding their songwriting process and how they engaged with the community around them:
Cass: “We were reading about them and then there’s the documentary We Jam Econo- we saw that and read ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’. You kind of pick up on things through lyrics but by reading about the way they did things is how you become interested in how they operated.“
Josh: “And they are insane musicians! Just on a different level. I came at it a weird way, I learnt to play the guitar from John Frusciante in the Red Hot Chilli Peppers so that is how my brother got me into the Minutemen as D Boon has some funk influence. So, I started going that way and then went down the more hardcore route. I love playing along to them as much as I can.“
Due to the tragic untimely death of singer D Boon in 1985, the band had a relatively short lived career leaving an impressive legacy of four studio albums including the transformative ‘Double Nickels on the Dime‘. They’re up there with bands like Minor Threat and Operation Ivy that have a dedicated following that inspire so much affection despite operating for a limited time. And between their eclectic experimental sound, their community- minded ethics and their willingness to express their affection for each other, it is no wonder that they have inspired legions of bands and fans to not just get involved in punk, but to do it in a way that embodies a certain set of values:
Cass: “It was the sound but also the way of doing things that resonated with us. When you’re a teenager and don’t have many resources it is inspiring to be like ‘well they put on their own shows and they do things on very little money’. And when your skills are limited there’s this message of do it anyway- write your own song or poem, do what you can with what you got! Put on a show in a church hall… it made it all feel very accessible to us rather than looking at Green Day or a band in a stadium and thinking that is not achievable. We thought ‘we can do this’.
And I think they were nice guys. I think in punk you get a lot of spitting on the audience or falling out with each other and what set the Minutemen apart is that they had such affection for each other. That deep brotherhood that they had is not something you see in punk very much and that is really appealing. They really respected each other.
It was ahead of its time I think, that antidote to toxic masculinity to have this model of male friendship that was very close and really unafraid to be like ‘I love this person’. And also, a very self-deprecating tone at times, acknowledging that we’re goofballs doing this and yet here we are doing this thing.”
Being a couple who are also a band means The Sewer Cats are no strangers to holding deep, personal affection and bond with your band mate and leaning into the vulnerable space of presenting that to the world:
Cass: “That is something we resonate with because we are a couple, so we’re going out into the world with great affection for each other and feeling like we’re two people who don’t know what we’re doing and yet somehow it works! We did a song on our latest album ‘Obnoxious’ called ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’ and we referenced D Boon and Mike Watt and compare ourselves to them and talk about our affection for each other and that was heavily influenced by their band.”
Minutemen were a unique addition to what was a pretty loud and heavy hardcore scene- their style was thoroughly eclectic and incorporated experiments in genre, timescales and composition, always underpinned by a view of the world that recognised the psychic struggle that Capitalism imposes on us. A topic that Sewer Cats have also explored albeit with a modern update in songs like ‘Get It’:
Cass: “Lyrically, I find Minutemen very inspiring because it is that thing of getting to the point quickly- a 1-liner that is concise. And there is the shortness of things, not dragging things out, just getting out the cutting scissors. D Boon’s lyrics are very smart and economical and I love that.
I think what is interesting about their music is the kind of idea that capitalism sucks away creativity so D Boon was very much rallying against that and they had a whole album that was about the commercialisation of their music (‘Project Mersh’). It’s the feeling that capitalism takes away from creativity, that everything has to be monetised and that is very much something that we have touched upon and how that is a drain on creativity and how we should push against that. Another DIY punk value- push against that! Feel the discomfort because if we monetise everything and become drones to capitalism, we are ineffective creatively.”
Josh and Cass show no signs of being ineffective creatively. Even as they approach a mini hiatus in 2026, there are still things happening- like a live EP out in Spring and more top secret plans- you’ll have to keep an eye on the band’s social media to keep updated! Whatever comes after that is up to the band- they’ve got the freedom and expression to do it. A fitting tribute to the legacy of a band like Minutemen:
Josh: “They set the gold standard for what a DIY punk band should be- every DIY punk band should look at them and take something from how they did things.”
And if you are now intrigued about the Minutemen and want to know where to start with their music (or you already love the band and want to see how your top track picks would match up) we asked Cass and Josh to give us their Minutemen top 10:
- History Lesson Part 2
- This Ain’t No Picnic
- Corona
- I Felt Like a Gringo
- The Punchline
- Maybe Partying Will Help
- Little Man With a Gun in His Hand
- One Reporters Opinion
- Shit From an Old Notebook
- Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing
Listen to Sewer Cats music and stay informed HERE.
I recently saw Sewer Cats play with 2 other great bands The Complaint That Creeps and Jay Vee and the Cardinal Sins and they sold me a wooly hat, a T shirt and both their CDS for £25! I have more records on SST than any other label: Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Husker Du, Meat Puppets, Black Flag, Dinosaur, Volcano Suns, Leaving Trains, Das Damen, Screaming Trees, Slovenly, Grant Hart, Gone, Blind Idiot God, Steve Fisk, Negativland, Saccharine Trust, Roger Miller, Angst, Greg Ginn & probably others I forget!