Taking Punk to the Masses — Jacob McMurray

Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind is a book that I wrote which visually documents the explosion of Grunge, the Seattle Sound, within the context of the underground punk subculture that was developing throughout the U.S. in the late 1970s and 1980s. This musical journey is represented entirely through the collection of Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture, pulling from a permanent archive of over 800 filmed oral history interviews and 140,000 artifacts – instruments, costumes, posters, records and other ephemera – dedicated to the pursuit of rock ’n’ roll.

Featuring over 100 key artifacts from MoPOP’s collection, Taking Punk to the Masses illustrates the evolution of punk rock from underground subculture to mainstream embrace. These artifacts are put into context by the stories of those that lived it: Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart, Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson, X’s Exene Cervenka, Sub Pop founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, Black Flag’s Henry Rollins, Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan, Blondie’s Chris Stein, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, and nearly 100 others.

Tracing a lineage from “Louie, Louie” to the rise of Grunge with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Mudhoney, Taking Punk to the Masses is the first visual history of one of America’s most vibrant music scenes, as told by its participants and seen through the surviving artifacts.

Over the past 20 years, the MoPOP has amassed over 900 filmed oral history interviews with musicians, producers, club owners, fans, and others associated with every genre of music. These interviews, along with the museum’s massive artifact collection, form the basis for every exhibition. The exhibition Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses includes footage from over 100 interviews. A selection of those interviews are included in a DVD, exclusive to the Taking Punk to the Masses book.

248-page full-color 7.5" x 9" softcover with DVD
ISBN: 978-1-60699-433-7

Design: Jacob Covey
Publisher: Fantagraphics

Reviews:

Paradoxically for a volume dedicated to such a proudly ragged and rough-hewn aesthetic, Taking Punk to the Masses is a beautifully constructed gem. Even more peculiarly for a history lesson wedged between hard covers, it'll make you hear the music that has so spectacularly inflamed your speakers and headphones for three decades. (Jason Diamond - NPR.org)

This is a good thing right here. (Lil Wayne)

This book rules. It is very, very fun to read if you care about this stuff.... If you… have an interest in punk or the Seattle indie rock scene then you'll love this thing to death. (Nick Gazin - VICE Magazine)

…[T]he artifacts included in the exhibit wonderfully illustrate everything that was exciting, vibrant, and anti-establishment about the scene that eventually went mainstream. The item descriptions are explanatory but concise, and the artist commentary is insightful and revelatory. (Frank Valish - Under the Radar)

More reviews: KEXP