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MURPHY'S LAW
TELLS IT LIKE IT IS
by Jonathan Williams
Photos by Jonathan Williams and Aysha
From the November 2004 issue of Prick Magazine.
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 Murphy's Law. |
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It's been almost four years since the last proper Murphy's Law album was released. But just because these hardcore punk legends have been a little quiet lately doesn't mean they haven't had a lot going on.
Considered to be one of the originators of the New York Hardcore punk scene in the '80s, frontman Jimmy G has been keeping busy running his tattoo shop, appropriately called New York Hardcore Tattoos and Piercing, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with business partner and fellow scene veteran Vinny Stigma from Agnostic Front.
"It's a tattoo parlor, it's not a tattoo gallery," Jimmy says of his shop. "In New York a lot of shops are about get in, get tattooed, get out. We're about come in, fucking hang out 'til you want to get tattooed, learn, have a good time. It's supposed to be a clubhouse. Tattoo parlors in New York City years ago were like neighborhood hangouts. I got my first tattoo at Mike Profetto's place and we'd sit there until 6 in the morning after getting tattooed. All the stuff here in New York, you're going to get tattooed by a name, not by somebody you respect. People want to get tattooed by somebody they don't even know because they think that's cool. I like to go to a place and hang out and meet the person, get fucked up, drink. It's like a beauty parlor for ugly people, that's what my shop is."
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And even though Murphy's Law isn't currently signed to any record label, Jimmy and his rotating lineup of bandmates have still been busy writing and recording new material that has yet to be released.
"I have a lot of shit that we've compiled and recorded and videotaped," he says. "We don't have to be on a label. I'll just compile it all and find the best shit and put it all together and make my own fucking covers and just sell it at shows. I'll buy this thing for 2000 bucks and make DVDs and CDs, burning my own fucking covers, ripping off the record labels that fucking won't sell me back my music. Fuck them, I'm selling my own shit. I'm just going to make the shit and sell it at the shows. I don't care. I'm not really about selling stuff, otherwise we'd have more than five shirts right now."
True to his hardcore punk roots, Jimmy doesn't pull any punches when expressing his views, especially when it comes to the evolution of the tattoo industry.
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"Too many fucking fruitcakes in our industry now," he says. "Too many people that think they're artists instead of tattooists. Bob Roberts, Mike Profetto and Philadelphia Eddie - that's what I look up to. People that tattooed in New York City when it was illegal, when they weren't supposed to do it, and they did it for years. Now all of a sudden every art student is a tattooist to make money. It's not about that. A shop should be a fucking clubhouse. A shop should represent your neighborhood and your friends, just like the hardcore scene and the punk rock scene."
When it comes to the current state of punk rock, Jimmy has plenty to say as well, both about newer bands and veteran acts that he feels have strayed from the ideals they once upheld.
"These California kids, they've got Mohawks and spiked hair and tattoos on their hands and everything, but don't talk about drugs, don't talk about fucking," he says, clearly becoming agitated. "You've got 17 year old kids writing songs about broken hearts. How many little muffin-heads with spiked hair, black shirts, little spiked belts, and black pants have you seen? It's fucked up. That's what I'm here for - I'm here to fuck with them, I'm here to make them scared. Fuck them. Fuck their Warped Tour, too, and their fucking $30 tickets and their middle-of-the-heat fest. Fuck punk. That's punk? Pay 30 bucks and $25 for a shirt, that's punk?
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"These other people that sell shampoo and stuff and perpetrate punk rock and try to play this meek and mild shit but they're making millions of dollars wearing spiked jackets, driving around on tour buses and trying to play some bullshit," he continues. "There's a lot of perpetrators out there. You get fucked up, you drink, you do lines, you go out with your boys for a month at a time and get fucked up. That's a tour. Not go out and profit, $15 T-shirts, $30 ticket to get in, $50 a spike on your $200 handmade jacket."
So, just what does it mean to be a true punk rocker today?
"Get your face tattooed, get your fucking nipples pierced, go get laid, get drunk, and play in a punk band on your own," says Jimmy. "That's the way to do it, not sponsored by a huge corporation [that says], 'Watch what you say, watch what you do. Don't talk about fucking onstage, don't talk about marijuana onstage, don't talk about beer onstage.'
"You don't hear bands talk about anything controversial," he continues. "I'm waiting for someone to say, 'Fuck you, you faggots.' Nobody says anything. It's so safe. Punk is not the Warped Tour. It's anti-punk. They made punk safe. They made punk queer."
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 New York Hardcore Tattoos and Piercing. |
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New York Hardcore Tattoos and Piercing
127 Stanton St.
New York, NY 10002
212.979.0350
Murphy's Law is currently on tour. For more information on the band and the shop, go to www.hardcorenyc.com.
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