By In a time when everything cool is now cliche, Stewart Ebersole is trying to bring danger back to punk rock music. In his new book, Barred for Life, Ebersole talks about an iconic symbol that defined a band, a generation and a movement. And he has over 300 photos and stories from around the world to prove it.
Black Flag was a punk rock band from southern California. Their idealistic, do it yourself, in your face attitude and aggression struck a chord with late seventies music fans.
Now, a book about their enduring logo, the bars, is bringing people together to talk about what the logo means to them and why some have chosen to have it tattooed on their body.
“The bars represent a pure image of punk rock in its early years,” Ebersole said. “Before it was even remotely profitable.”
The late 1980’s and 90’s saw a rise in “new punk rock” that built on the foundation of what bands like Black Flag started. Green Day and Blink 182 took the ideas of American hardcore music and commercialized it. Ebersole believes it killed the essence of what punk rock stood for.
“The creators of the Vans Warped Tour, Hot Topic and Urban Outfitters should be lighting candles at a throne with the names of every punk band that made no money,” Ebersole said. “Just so these vultures can come along and make a lot.”
The bars logo was created by Raymond Pettibon, the brother of Black Flag founder Greg Ginn. He was instrumental in defining the band’s early aesthetic. And it is his design that is the focus of Barred for LIfe.
1980's punk rock symbol "the bars"
Ebersole came up with the idea for the book from a conversation he had about his own bars tattoo. He wanted to know if others on the east coast or across the United States had the permanent ink and set out see.
What began as an experiment to see if others shared the tattoo and the mentality, turned into a blog, a tour and photos from thousands of people who wanted to be involved.
Photo shoots in over 40 US and 6 European cities and plans to travel to Japan, Australia and New Zealand have proven there is a large community of Black Flag fans committed to this world by tattooing the logo for life.
Ian Macdonald lives in Saint John, New Brunswick. He grew up listening to punk rock and was a huge fan of Black Flag. He decided to get “barred for life” in 2006. He said it was something he wanted since he was 13 years old.
“I had always considered the bars to be representative of something both pure and reckless,” Macdonald said. “Having conviction for what you believe and not wavering from it.”
Macdonald got barred for life in 2006
Macdonald says the bars were a strong symbol for anyone growing up in the early 80’s punk rock scene. Even those who didn’t know what it meant took the symbol seriously. The clean, pure image of four black bars made people ask questions. Macdonald thinks the image has endured because of its simplicity.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask me about my tattoo and their tone always seems to be of genuine interest,” Macdonald said. “They know it’s not just a picture on your skin.”
What started out on gig posters and graffiti around L.A., for a small group of music fans in the know, has endured for over 30 years. The bars have become a symbol of a time when people were the fuel behind the engine of a movement. When ordinary fans with a passion for energy and change could revolutionize a time.
Henry Rollins was the lead singer of Black Flag from 1981 to 1986. He grew up listening to the band and was given the chance to audition after the original singer decided to switch to guitar.
He got the bars tattooed on his bicep as a way of showing his commitment to the band and to the punk rock movement he helped create.
Rollins continues to tour the country with new bands and doing spoken word. He is aware of the legacy Black Flag has created and the different generations that come to see him. But he doesn’t take any of it for granted.
“I don’t expect anything from my audience,” Rollins said. “I’m always happy and surprised there’s anyone out there at all.”
Check out Stewart Ebersole’s blog for photos and updates on the book.
