“There were no clubs back then; there were ‘live houses.’ There was no dance scene. Rather than escapism, it was like self-assertion. That had become the norm of the time. This also affected the technical ability you need to perform with a music instrument. With a poem or a performance the guitar doesn’t need to be played well.” -Satoh
This rupture from institutional systems of displaying performance offers insight into the structure or lack thereof in the sonic dissonance of the music. To assert oneself in a created space allows for a destruction and moving away from the traditional modes of mastery associated with classical music. Independent production and distribution without affiliation to a label furthers this stray from corporate industry and signed label artists.
Japanese punk rock and hardcore was in some respects built through the work of Satoh. The archive that the photographic image provides as well as the representational power acts as a greater tool for promotion and distribution. Many of Satoh’s images were featured in underground magazines and publications. Takarajima was a youth magazine in which Gin Satoh shot for: providing insight into gigs taking place in the underground scene of Japan for young readers.
