Calgary’s punk scene has its own illustrated map, with a legend and everything.
It’s called Rock Against Boredom: The 1980s Punk and Post-Punk Music Scene in Calgary, and it comes from the Calgary Atlas Project at the University of Calgary’s Calgary Institute for the Humanities. Tom Bagley did the art, Richard Sutherland wrote the text, and a team handled research, editing and design. You’ll find it for sale in local bookstores, which is the right place for it.
The story it tells is a good one. By the late 1970s, the local scene had gone a bit flat, with a lot of cover bands playing familiar hits. Then punk and new wave arrived and set off what the map calls an explosion. The big idea was do it yourself. You didn’t need permission, just a few friends and something to say. People formed bands, wrote songs, played shows and made records in all sorts of styles.
It all happened in community halls, taverns and new spaces that opened just for new music. The word travelled through live shows, radio and local publications, Vox among them. Artists, poets and writers joined in too, so guitars had company. Before long there was an underground network of bands touring across North America. The map describes the 1980s as the scene’s awkward teen years, which is a lovely way to put it. Awkward and loud, and growing fast.
The creators are honest that the map is far from comprehensive, and they point you to the Calgary Cassette Preservation Society. It’s a non-profit that digitizes music from bands and artists in the Calgary region, and its website is an online archive of the city’s musical history. It holds tapes, LPs, 7 inch singles, CDs and gig posters. Set aside an evening for it, because it’s a proper rabbit hole.
Calgary’s DIY spirit carried on past the eighties. To see where it lives now, have a look at how Sled Island bounced back from a $200,000 flood loss, or read about the King Eddy’s second act in a room that has hosted plenty of loud nights.
Pick up the map this weekend, or open the archive and press play on something you’ve never heard. Somebody in Calgary made it, and it deserves a listen.
Sources: Calgary Atlas Project, Rock Against Boredom; Calgary Cassette Preservation Society.
If this one hooked you, try Calgary Once Hosted an Organ Competition With Its Own Mall Concerts, then A Museum Where the Instruments Still Sing.
Related reading from us: The Hip Farewell Came to Studio Bell.
Quick answers
Rock Against Boredom is an illustrated map of the 1980s punk and post punk music scene in Calgary. It comes from the Calgary Atlas Project at the University of Calgary’s Calgary Institute for the Humanities. Tom Bagley did the art and Richard Sutherland wrote the text.
The Calgary Cassette Preservation Society is a non profit that digitizes music from bands and artists in the Calgary region. Its website is an online archive of the city’s musical history and holds tapes, LPs, 7 inch singles, CDs and gig posters.
By the late 1970s the local scene had a lot of cover bands playing familiar hits. Then punk and new wave arrived, and the map calls what followed an explosion. The big idea was do it yourself, with bands playing community halls, taverns and new spaces.
