hybrid moments

On view October 27, 2010—January 7, 2011
Lilian Caruana’s photographs depict the forbidding
and intimidating style of the punk and hardcore
denizens of New York City’s East Village. These
portraits from the mid-1980s explore the
individuality and vulnerability beneath that
anti-social exterior.
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
25 West 43rd Street, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Punks and Skinheads of the
East Village, 1984-1987
Photographs by Lilian Caruana
Phone: 212-642-2094
Email; calandra@qc.edu
Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 6 pm
exhibition opening
HYBRID
MOMENTS
Independent Music
in Italian America
November 5, 2010
Calandra Institute
Thursday, November 4, 2010, 6 pm
film screening
Average Community (2010), 86 min.
Fred Zara, dir.
Growing up in Trenton, New Jersey, in the mid1980s, filmmaker Fred Zara went by the name
Fred Fatal, played drums in a punk-rock band
called Prisoners of War, and managed to get
kicked out of high school before reaching the
10th grade. While visiting his hometown on
the occasion of the Trenton Film Festival, he
decides to confront his troubled past and the
troubled people in it. He is joined by his two
older brothers and former band mates, one a
disheartened New York journalist, the other
a free-spirited Seattle musician, as he reunites
with old friends from Trenton’s punk scene, revisits
painful memories, and tries to make sense of what
it meant to grow up in a dying city.
Post-screening discussion with writer/producer
Christopher Zara led by Rosangela Briscese,
Calandra Institute.
Photo of Vinnie Stigma by Rudy De Doncker
Brochure Design by Ana Benaroya
How is it that an Italian-American grandmother’s
gesture against the evil eye became the
internationally recognized symbol for heavy
metal music? What does the “Frank Sinatra of
the punk scene” sound like? And why do so
many punk musicians—-the Ramones, the
Rezillos, Fugazi—-want to be Italian?
While the history of Italian Americans in jazz
and early rock and roll is well documented,
little is known about their contribution to various
types of alternative, independent, and underground
music. Though these terms are problematic, they
remain useful for discussing less-mainstream
genres—-metal, punk, experimental,
singer-songwriter—-and their associated
subcultures. Artists performing in a variety of
musical styles, from Ronnie James Dio (Black
Sabbath) to Vinnie Stigma (Agnostic Front), from
Natalie Merchant to Ani Di Franco, from Joe Jack
Talcum to Ted Leo, represent an Italian
presence—-sometimes veiled, sometimes
overt—-in the American music scene. Ethnic
identity has not been the defining feature of
alternative musicians’ creativity, yet ItalianAmerican artists’ italianità is revealed through
name change or retention, lyrics, cultivated
persona, or performance style.
Panel discussions and paper presentations will
explore topics including: the Italian-American
influence in indie music-making; the experience of
negotiating ethnic identity and subculture identity;
and, the assertion, or lack thereof, of Italianness in
performers’ musical personae.
In conjunction with the event, the Calandra Institute
will host a film screening of the documentary
Average Community (2010), directed by Fred
Zara, on November 4 at 6 pm. An exhibition of
photographs of the ‘80s punk scene by
Lilian Caruana opens on October 27 at 6 pm.
November 5, 2010
Symposium Program (subject to change)
9:30-10:00 am
Coffee & Pastries
1:45-2:45 pm
10:00-10:30 am
Introductory comments
Rosangela Briscese & Joseph Sciorra
(John D. Calandra Italian American Institute)
Two influential proponents of punk talk about
the rough sounds and mean streets of New
York’s hardcore scene.
10:30-11:30 am
Moderator: Gerry LaFemina
(Frostburg State University)
East Coast Metal
During the 1980s, Italian-American musicians
in bands like Anthrax, Dry Kill Logic, and
Stormtroopers of Death created an alternative
to California’s metal scene in the Bronx and
Westchester, New York.
Moderator: Joseph Sciorra
Participants: Howie Abrams (A&R
Consultant/Artist Manager), Rob Caggiano
(Anthrax), & Nicholas Sciorra
(Sciorra Media Group)
11:45 am-12:30 pm
The Return of the Son of Shut Up ‘n
Play Yer Guitar: Zappa plays Zappa
and De Andrè plays De Andrè
Goffredo Plastino (Newcastle University/
Association for Cultural Equity)
12:30-1:45 pm
Lunch on your own
Anima e Hardcore
Participants: Carl Porcaro (Killing Time)
& Vinnie Stigma (Agnostic Front)
3:00-4:00 pm
Italianità in a Minor Key
Ruminations on the sometimes veiled,
sometimes overt Italian-American presence
in the indie scene.
Moderator: Antonino D’Ambrosio
(La Lutta NMC)
Participants: Kaves (The Lordz), Martín Perna
(Antibalas), & Vic Ruggiero (The Slackers)
4:15-5:00 pm
Closing Remarks:
Punk as Anti-Guido
Gerry LaFemina
(Frostburg State University)