The Do It Yourself ideology is deeply ingrained within Worcester’s underground punk scene. With a wide range of people from different backgrounds, Worcester’s punk rockers don’t just play music; they’re a community.

For those that don’t know, DIY is the act by an individual, usually an amateur, of creating or producing his or her own ideas without professional training or assistance. Many punk musicians began forming bands and playing music without any prior knowledge of how to use their instruments. With their passion as a motivating force, these musicians “did it themselves,” created great music and put on their own shows. These shows are usually in basements or small Worcester venues, such as The Shop, The Firehouse and The Raven.

According to Chris Humphrey, who organizes shows at his collective house in Worcester, “It’s an important mantra/ethos of punk. It’s all about empowering yourself to create the things you want and the community you would
like while really taking ownership of it.”

Jon Brien, whose main band is Jon the Archivist, said, “The cool thing about DIY: You can just do it. Anyone can try it.”

The punk scene, community-building and the ideology of DIY are all inherently related. Caitlin Indermaur, who plays in Ghost Guest, said that to her, DIY in the Worcester punk scene is actually “DIT – Do It Together. The whole process is not just DIY; you collaborate with artists, their art, their passions … that’s what so cool about the DIY scene, it’s the collaboration.”

Indermaur’s bandmate, Heru Black, believes DIY means “accessibility, being able to do the things that you want without having money or without completely understanding what you’re doing, really, and being able to learn as you go, helping others and piecing things together, so that everyone’s goals workout .”

What sets the Worcester punk scene apart is its passionate musicians and sense of community. Black said, “The stereotypical punk scene is not as accepting or friendly,” but in Worcester, “the environment is so accepting, it can kind of be overwhelming.”

Many musicians spend their time giving back to the Worcester community. Brien often participates in activities such as the Food Not Bombs event. “Saturday mornings people would get together … in the Starship [a punk house on Oliver Street in Worcester] kitchen and cook a bunch of vegan food and bring it to the Worcester Common, where we would set up a table and give free food to people. So we have food on one end, and at the other end of the table, we would have a ton of ’zines about anti-war and protesting.” Brien added, “[There is] something about the community here; it’s somewhat grounded more in the activism side of things. … There’s a lot more politics running through the soil of the Worcester community.”

Indermaur and Clark University student, Alex Cowan, produced a short documentary about the Worcester punk scene last year – DIY Woo – which shows how the DIY ideology and the punk scene in Worcester go hand in hand. One of the interviewees said Worcester’s punk scene “builds a sense of community,” and “DIY is a good way to collect ideas, progressive ideas, new ideas.” Another interviewee said, “You can really thrive in the community. It’s a great place for creative minds of all walks of life.”

Humphrey said he feels “constantly surrounded by creative people, and I think that’s enabled me to pursue whatever strange passions I’ve had. Doing things like feeding the homeless with my friends on the weekends, living in a radical collective situation and hitchhiking to places I’d never thought I would see before are all things I would have never done if I hadn’t been exposed to the punk community.”

And all are welcome. Indermaur said, “Everyone’s got each other’s back; everyone’s so accepting, you don’t even have to be punk” to get involved. There are countless great bands playing all over the city, so whether it’s playing music, booking shows or just being a fan, you can get involved.