Hazan Motorworks Walks The Line Of Beauty And Ridability
Reading through many blogs on music, art, design and of course motorcycles, there is a never ending parade of thoughts about how to walk a straight line. And to what exactly that proverbial straight line is vastly depends on what sub genre or niche is being spoken about. Unspoken rules are the norm and it takes a scholar to navigate through all the landmines, but then again if you are into the subject, you are generally a lifer within these niches. Punk rock and hardcore is one of our mainstays and has been since late 80's as a young teenager. This genre seems to attract more diatribe than any other we have ever encountered because it is chock full of idealists and individuals whom are all relatively intelligent and the music is pure emotion spanning all subject matters. Sure, there may be fists flying and bodies moving in a form of break dance fighting that Zoolander would be baffled by, but it's fueled by passionate individuals whom challenge whats considered the norm. What gets interesting though relating to thoughts about punk rock ideals on a bike build such as this one by Hazan Motorworks, is the fact that it is clearly a motorcycle and walks the tight rope of beauty and ridability. The same mindset of form and function that envelops punk rock is also a similar vibe within the motorcycle community. Every motorcycle becomes an extension of the rider through the physical riding stance and the way a rider adorns their machine. When looking at a few sites such as BikeExif the bike builds tend to get torn apart by readers and verbal assaults are the norm. Purists want a motorcycle too look great and seem ready for all types of riding. Artisans want to build a rolling sculpture that looks as good sitting in the garage as it does glistening down the highway.
Hazan does one hell of a job of landing square in the middle and I can bet that with just a backpack with some basic tools and maybe some oil, a weekend 500 mile run is easily doable and heads will turn at every corner. Builds such as this one are a great reminder that individual creativity should be honed and perfected over time. Anyone can go buy pair of Red Wing boots, grow a beard and ride an old bike. Creating a new vision from scratch is the punkest thing one can do and is pure DIY through and through.
Is it an art deco barn find or a machine built from a singular vision?
The raw metal details speak volumes on the craftsmanship
Clean lines and ready for the wind
Harley never could imagine a futuristic build as this for an Ironhead
Desktop lathe and the remnants of aluminum shavings
The legendary punk scene that emanated from Washington DC is still being felt today. Many of those band members went on to create bigger projects and represented the birth of a new movement within punk rock. For that, we cannot thank them enough as it helped to shape our punk and hardcore musical influence.
Link to original post on Kickstarter.com
"A documentary film about the legendary (and often misunderstood) Washington, DC punk scene in the 1980s.
ABOUT THE MOVIE SALAD DAYS is a documentary-in-progress that examines the fertile Washington, DC punk scene of the 1980s. This was a particularly important time in the evolution of punk and independent music, with DC based bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Black Market Baby, the Faith, the Slickee Boys, Void, Government Issue, Marginal Man, Dag Nasty, 9353, Gray Matter, Beefeater, Scream, Rites of Spring, Fugazi, Shudder to Think, Nation of Ulysses, Jawbox and others defining the DC aesthetic. Local record labels like Dischord, Fountain of Youth, Teen Beat, and Simple Machines would become standard-bearers for the DIY revolution.
WHY NOW Much has been written about the pre-Nirvana period of American punk rock, but there's never been an examination of DC's contribution. We've spent the last year interviewing dozens of the participants who helped create the local music scene in the 1980s— musicians, photographers, DJs, activists, and writers—to tell the story of one of the most inspiring (and misunderstood) decades in independent music. We've also sorted through hundreds of photos, live videos, flyers and zines for inclusion in the film. Like countless others, I discovered punk rock as a kid. Growing up in the Washington, DC area I was so taken with what I was witnessing that I started a fanzine and began to document the local scene. Almost 30 years later, I wanted to revisit the people and places that have informed my life and so many others. It's been a hell of a journey so far—but we're not done yet. WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP As we finish up the pre-production phase, we need your help. Your donations will offset the upcoming costs of editing, animation, graphics, mastering, color correction, sound editing, travel and more. We have a daunting task ahead of us—and yet we’re so passionate about telling this story that we’re anxious to share it with the world as soon as we can. We hope SALAD DAYS will see a Q3 2013 release and we have high hopes for its festival run. Thanks in advance for your support—we can’t do it without you!
With Ian Mackaye during his interview for SALAD DAYS.
With Dave Grohl during the filming of SALAD DAYS
WHO WE ARE
An August 1985 Washington City Paper article on Crawford entitled "Punktrepeneur"...
SALAD DAYS Director/writer SCOTT CRAWFORD is a music journalist, musician and graphic designer. As a teenager in the DC suburbs, he started a fanzine called Metrozine that documented much of what was happening in the DC hardcore punk scene in the 1980s. In 1985, Metrozine (and WGNS) released a 7" compilation called "Alive & Kicking" that featured unreleased tracks by DC area bands Gray Matter, United Mutation, Marginal Man, Beefeater, Cereal Killer and Mission Impossible (featuring a 16 year old Dave Grohl). He was quoted in both Dance of Days and Banned in DC—the two most definitive books on the early DC punk scene. In 2001, he launched Harp magazine and served as its Editor-in-Chief for over 7 years. Crawford also launched the online music portal Blurt (blurt-online.com) in 2009. Serving as Director of Photography for SALAD DAYS, Jim Saah (jimsaah.com) is a native of Washington, DC who has worked professionally in photography and video for over 25 years. He has shot for a variety of publications and websites ranging from the Washington Post to Rolling Stone. He's also an experienced videographer whose credits range from union organizing films to music documentaries. Recent films he has worked on include movies about the bands Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie and Eddie Vedder. HOW KICKSTARTER WORKS Kickstarter is an amazing funding platform for creative projects like ours. However, it's an all or nothing process—if we don't reach our goal, we lose EVERYTHING. We've given ourselves 30 days to fund this project. Please help us in any way you can. We have something for everyone—regardless of how much you give. CAN WE EXCEED OUR GOAL? Absolutely! Every penny we receive is going towards making the best film we can possibly make. Therefore, anything we can make beyond or goal can be put towards covering all of the many unexpected costs that will no doubt occur along the way." THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Scott Crawford Director/writer SALAD DAYS FOLLOW OUR PROGRESS:
SALAD DAYS on Twitter
SALAD DAYS on Facebook Interviews include:
Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat, Embrace, Fugazi, Evens, Dischord)
