An interview with punk legend Mike Park
Mke Park has long been one of the foremost DIY statesmen in the US, with his label putting out early releases of big names like Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, Joyce Manor, and the Lawrence Arms. He’s also the founder of Skankin’ Pickle, The Chinkees, Ogikubo Station, and the Bruce Lee Band. I caught up to talk with him about his active status as a punk legend, his activism against anti-Asian racism and other injustices, and his work ethic and ethos around everything he does. Bruce Lee Band’s new EP “Division In The Heartland” came out on May 28 on Asian Man Records.
Eli Schoop: I guess the first thing I notice is that I’m pretty sure I’m twenty years younger than you, which speaks to the fact that you’re an OG. I love that. I love punk OGs. My first question is, how’s it feel to be an elder statesman in the game?
Mike Park: It’s not a good feeling because the fact I have to do it--it’s frustrating--are we talking music or politics? If we’re talking politics it’s frustrating, if we’re talking music I’m very happy to be still doing this.
No, definitely music. I mean politics, that sucks compared to music.
MP: I’ve been doing so many interviews I’m trying to keep track. (laughs) I’m still invigorated cause I’ve been doing this since high school, it’s very rewarding to complete music, a project you started, so yeah. Exciting.
I see you on Youtube and on your website doing podcasts with the new crop, the younger bands coming up now. How is that compared to when you were younger?
MP: Well it’s always going to be different to compare what it was like in the 80s to 2020, but any youth movement is exciting because I remember what it was like being young, being impressionable and excited about music. To see that being transferred to the next generation and the generation after that, I’m super excited. And I think this current crop of bands, obviously can’t speak for everything in particular, but I got re-introduced to the 924 Gilman scene, which is a place I’ve been going to since the 80s, and seeing how the younger guard has taken over, I was in the back of the room looking in, saying wow, these kids running things are in their twenties, or younger. And you still have the old hats coming in and volunteering, and I see this community happening again, and so many new bands coming out of it, that’s really cool to see. I just wanted to like, get back in and start working with local bands. A lot of people think I’m a Chicago label because we have so many but I wanna focus on the Bay Area.
I was just gonna say, one of the Asian Man bands that I came to love is Colossal, and you know, Colossal was a hidden gem in that Chicago scene, and similarly the Lawrence Arms was also a part of that, so I thought Asian Man was a Chicago label. But I’ve seen a lot of the videos coming out of your label are super Californian.
MP: Yeah, for sure. I think the last four bands were from the Bay Area.
It feels like, every scene has bands that are lackadaisical and party-oriented, and other bands are political, but it feels like, all the bands now, even one from California, which was traditionally seen as a laid-back, chill area, everyone is committed, and obviously including yourself, to an ethos of justice, an ethos of DIY versus the capitalist regime that we’ve been going through, and I just wanna know your thoughts on how that’s developed and how political punk has been developed.
Well, I think historically California has been political, with the Rock Against Racism movement in the 80s that Jello Biafra was a part of, and San Francisco--very liberal, very political. So coming from that, in the late 70s, throughout the 80s, Jello was doing Rock Against Racism shows at the Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway, in San Francisco. And even if you go to Southern California, where there’s a lot of goofier punk, but a lot of those bands, like the Circle Jerks, Black Flag, have been rooted in politics. So I think California has always been rooted in, especially if we’re talking about the genesis of punk, was always rooted in politics. But that can be said for any region of the United States. There’s always going to be political artists, there’s always going to be party bands. I don’t look down on a band if you’re not political. I mean look at the Aquabats, I love the Aquabats. You don’t need to be a certain way, this is just my prerogative.
Of course. Your label’s releases are so varied, that you could find any stripe on the roster, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen your politics shine through and take charge as Asian Man stands against anti-Asian racism and anti-Asian violence. How has that been for you?
Well that’s been day one, I ran the Ska Against Racism tour in 1998, I founded the 501(c)(3) for Peace Foundation, I rode my bike from Seattle, Washington to San Diego, California to raise funds for a youth center in the Bay Area. I consider myself an activist first, so the idea of Asian Man is strictly to let people know that a person of color is running the label, cause rock’n’roll and punk rock is very whitewashed, and people of color, especially Asian-American kids didn’t know who to look up to. And so I wanted to be very overt, that OK, this is an Asian-American running this label.
You are one of the most prominent Asian people in punk, and I think even for people who aren’t into punk as much, it shows someone who is blazing a trail and who has opened up space in that scene. Do you consider yourself a trailblazer or do you just want people to say “Hey, it’s okay to be Asian and be punk”?
Again, it’s cause there was so little representation even on the coasts where there’s more diversity, I just wanted to be there for the one Asian punk kid who was going to shows in Middle America. It was something I strived for on purpose, it wasn’t like, subliminal.
With this record, I mean, ska is not as much in vogue anymore (laughs), but there’s people like Skatune Network online who keep that alive, so I wanted to know what made you think this was the best avenue for you artistically to really promote your ideals and say “This is fucked up”.
It’s just been a longstanding band. I don’t know if you’re familiar with my catalogue but I have another band called the Chinkees which is based on the NWA feeling of using a racial slur to get your message across. It wasn’t intentional, I’ve just been playing ska since the 80s and it’s in my blood. I love all music, it’s just what I do best.
For sure, not only in Skankin’ Pickle and in Kemuri, but bringing back the Bruce Lee Band, you have your own Mike Park lane in ska. Does that stem from like the early ska in the 70s and 80s, with the antiracist stuff out from London, things like that?
Definitely, definitely. I mean the idea of 2-Tone Records and the uniting of black and white. But the band that really pushed me, there’s two bands that pushed me in a progressive direction, which were Fishbone--in the 80s, seeing six black, alternative men fronting a band was unheard of. And their logo of “Fuck Racism”--you just didn’t see that, as a high school kid, especially. So that was an eye-opening experience which really affected me. And the other band was 7 Seconds, a hardcore band from Reno. Listening to the vinyl “Colourblind” and reading the lyrics as a teenage kid just moved walls for me.
That’s definitely been the story of punk, with bands like Fishbone, Bad Brains, the Specials, that they show you we can do this music too, it’s not stratified about race. And with your band, with Jeff (Rosenstock) and Kevin (Higuchi), standing together as a mixed-race band, seems to stem from that ethos as well.
Yeah, not intentionally, just kind of worked out that way. It’s nice to have Kevin and not be the only Asian member of the band. And he grew up in San Jose too, so it’s nice to have that camaraderie as well.
Right, and I know Jeff is super busy as well, I’m guessing. But you run a label, so obviously you’re busy.
He’s crazy busy!
(Laughs) So how did this happen then? Like is he still in New York, or?
No, he's in LA now. Kevin lives in San Diego, his parents live in San Jose. I knew he was coming up for Thanksgiving. So I did a group text like, let’s record something while you’re here. No direction, we didn’t plan on more than whatever we could achieve in a short period of time. And Jeff was the only one not up here so we just said yeah, let’s do it. And we didn’t rehearse, learned the songs on the spot, recorded in one day. And Kevin drove back to San Diego again.
When I looked at the Wikipedia page for Bruce Lee Band, it was like 15 dudes.
So it was a side project at first. A backing band I had in 1994, with some songs that didn’t make the cut for Skankin’ Pickle. So it was just a fun project I had, and like ten years later I had another batch of songs and I used the band RX Bandits, and OK, this is just for fun, did a couple shows. Then in 2014, I was with Jeff and we were listening to Operation Ivy and maybe Suicide Machines’ first album, and were like “Oh, let’s just make a ska-punk album.” At that point, we just made the permanent lineup of me, Jeff, Dan, and Kevin. Before that, it was nothing serious, a fun, little side project.
It definitely doesn’t seem like you would have had a publicist before. Now, with you and Jeff being these kinds of public figures, does Bruce Lee Band feel like it’s taken a bigger role as an artistic project for you, considering you’ve had all these side projects. Does it feel like a main one, or?
No, it’s just one of many projects that I feel like are a part of me. I’m excited about it, and will do my best, with anything I do. It’s definitely not the number one priority, but it is an equal member of the party, of everything I do.
I guess Asian Man would be the number one priority...
I guess so, you’re right! (Laughs) Asian Man is number one.
For my final question, I gotta ask, what’s your favorite meal?
Y’know, I love Korean food. My ideal meal is Korean barbecue, with a lot of side dishes. In Korean, it’s called Banchan, like kimchi, radishes. I love Korean barbecue.
I know my editor Joshua (Minsoo) Kim will be happy about that one.
If my mom can make it, that would be best.