What's More Punk than the Public Library?
How Pre-Gonerfest brought punks, kids, and MPL together
Thrashing bodies, wailing guitars, screaming “sad boy” & psychedelic post-punk music, and… walls of books? Story time? Kids dancing with inflatable dinosaurs and unicorns? That was the scene at the Central Library’s Pre-Gonerfest concert, which capped off their summer Explore Memphest programming and preceded the longstanding Gonerfest, a local music festival “spanning genres and generations, showcas[ing] unique and wide-ranging bands, MCs, and DJs from around the world.”
You might not think it on an average day, but there’s really nothing more punk than putting on a rock concert in a library. Just ask your local librarian; there’s an above-average chance that they’re a secret punk themselves. Take Skyler Gambert, for example, a librarian at the Orange Mound Branch Library by day, guitarist for local bands Tuth and Sweet Darlin (and singer for the latter) by night, and the mind behind Pre-Gonerfest. “I’ve observed that [the Memphis punk scene] has its own culture, its own population of Memphians who are really into that type of music, and I haven’t really seen them at the library a lot. Music is such an important part of our city, and we always need to play a role in it, so I wanted to bring those people into our spaces and make them feel welcome,” said Gambert of his inspiration for Pre-Gonerfest.
Gambert’s connection to Goner Records, the local record label/retail store that helped land Memphis-based musical acts Blvck Hippie and Model Zero for the concert, goes back to 2012 when he interned for Goner. There, he embedded himself into the local music scene and grew a strong appreciation for what it takes to put on a concert - skills he would apply when creating Pre-Gonerfest.
The concert fit neatly into the existing Memphest programming - a system-wide children’s concert series emphasizing literacy and summer reading incentives started by the current Regional Manager of the Central Library, Dara Day, and continued by Children’s Services Coordinator, Jessica Clark. Memphest began as a spiritual successor/free alternative to local programs like Rock-N-Romp, where punk fans with families could take their children to expose them to new types of music in a family-friendly environment, but with an emphasis on musical acts and literary activities that more directly reflect the community.
“When Blvck Hippie played, being able to see so many kids - especially little Black girls and boys - watching an almost all-Black band playing music that is not necessarily the stereotypical thing that they might hear meant a lot to me,” said Day of her experience at Pre-Gonerfest.
That kind of equitable access to unique and underground experiences is paramount to the library’s mission, with the hopes of reinvesting straight back into the community. “Those kids that were at Pre-Gonerfest may never have been exposed to that kind of music, and the library is a place where they can go and get that for free. They can go to the library and say, ‘I was a part of that, I’m a part of this city. I’m part of that scene. I’ve seen those bands, and I’ve experienced that music,’” said Gambert. “That’s why you have kids at events like that, y’know? So they can get the bug, and then maybe they’ll start a band, and now there’ll be all these new people doing it 10 years from now. Who knows, maybe they’ll even play at the library!”
Concert series like these also directly pay back into the libraries themselves. Clark explains that, on a basic level, they simply increase direct engagement with the libraries: “the majority of people who come to events like these are usually like, ‘oh, I didn’t know the library does these kinds of things, I should get a library card.’”
But, in Clark’s opinion, these types of events are about more than just pulling in new library patrons; they’re about redefining what the library can be. “I’m sure the littler kids that attended were just like ‘this was a blast, I got to dance with a unicorn,’ but I think for the older kids, maybe it makes them see the library as more relevant. They’re in school all day, they’re told to be quiet all day, so seeing a different side to that when they come to a place like this makes them feel more comfortable. And then, if they’re more comfortable, they’re more willing to ask a librarian for a book that maybe they wouldn’t feel comfortable asking about at school, more willing to explore their interests without fear of being judged.”
Based on the success of this inaugural concert, Gambert, Clark, and Day all plan to continue the Pre-Gonerfest programming moving forward. “It was one of the most successful Explore Memphests that we’ve had,” claimed Day. Moreover, the relationship with Goner has opened doors for other types of programming. Gambert is currently in talks with another Memphis-based record label to partner on a hip-hop-focused event based largely on the success of MPL’s partnership with Goner on Pre-Gonerfest.
The reshaping of MPL’s image as a home for everyone - punks and hard rockers included - has also had an effect on the response from musical acts. When discussing her experience booking bands for prior Memphest concerts, Day mentioned that “there is always a bit of an ‘it’ll be noisy, is that okay in a library?’ And like, yeah of course that’s okay. I asked you to come, of course you’re gonna be loud.” But since Pre-Gonerfest, excitement and engagement from the acts has grown. “Now I’m talking to a band about performing, and when I’m like ‘[it’s at] the library’ they say ‘oh yes, we would love to work with the library, we’ve always wanted to play the library.’ I guess now we’ve got punk cred or something,” joked Gambert.
Going forward with future Pre-Gonerfests, Clark wants to increase representation and equitable access both in the bands that play and in the marketing around the event. “We didn’t have a big Latino crowd [at Pre-Gonerfest], but I think that if we’re not marketing in a way that can be understood by everybody that it’s no surprise when they don’t show up. So going forward, I would like to do more bilingual things.”
Programming like Pre-Gonerfest and Memphest as a whole are more than just reflections of the values inherent to MPL that we at MLF aim to support, they’re a part of what libraries should be down to their core. “The way I see it, culture is knowledge and passing on that culture is important,” said Gambert. “That’s already part of what a library needs to offer. It’s not like we have to make [the library] new and fresh [to get more engagement], it’s more like we’re trying to get as much value out of what was already there and give people more access to it. That’s the main thing a librarian does: give people access to information. And that’s what you do when you put on a concert, whether you know it or not.”
The next and last Explore Memphest concert event this year will be at the Gaston Park Library on Saturday, October 11th, from 1 - 4 pm - we hope to see you there!
Thank you to Dara Day, Jessica Clark, and Skyler Gambert for contributing to this piece researched, written, and photographed by Nathan Weinreich. As always, share this post with a friend, family member, or absolute stranger. We’ll see you next time!
- The Memphis Library Foundation Team