John Niven Quotes

When you break it all down, my punk rock is my dad's blues. It's music from the underground, and it's real, and it's written for the downtrodden in uncertain times.

We need punk now; we need it more than ever. We need rebellion by youth.

There's a lot of anger in 'Queen of Denmark,' and that's me getting political.

I do fear for the generations of people who came of age thinking that pop-punk is what punk is, and that all the rebellion you need is just to stick your tongue out in the mirror every once in a while.

All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations.

All punk is is attitude. That's what makes it. The attitude.

Punk rock seemed to make sense. I was listening to The Clash and I really loved their social messages and they have a great history of fighting racism.

Too much emphasis is put on American roots music when people try and place me. You know, I grew up listening to punk.

I was the only punk rocker at my high school. And there were at least a handful of black kids who liked hip-hop. Both were kind of the new music of the day, and it was lonely being the only punk.

When you're thirteen and listening to punk, the aggressive nature of music can sway you to the dark side.

My parents were worried about me, certainly when I became so deeply interested in music and people like the New York Dolls who, at the time, were very peculiar indeed.

In the early days, myself and my friends were into punk because we had no money, just very basic instruments and skills. It was more about the ethos and the energy.

Punk is not really a style of music. It was more like a state of mind.

A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit.

Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People

If you listen to 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,' by Gil Scott-Heron, that album is dripping with rage.

Hardcore bands were coming out with names like Urban Waste and The Mob, you know, a lot of kind of tough names. So Beastie Boys was the stupidest name we could come up with. And unfortunately, it stuck.

The Clash is pretty much my favorite band, and their songs like 'Rock the Casbah' are political dance tracks.

The popularity of punk rock was, in effect, due to the fact that it made ugliness beautiful.

From the age of 14 onwards it was really punk rock, The Clash particularly. I think I learnt more from them than I did at school, because that got me into fashion, politics.

All punk music is is rebellion, going against the grain. It takes different forms. Sometimes it's a band throwing their instruments around or making really violent and noisy sounds, but it doesn't have to take that sonic form. It can take more of an energy.

Seeing Wolf Eyes for the first time - I was fifteen. I had this crazy feeling that this my generation's Stooges. I got infected by that energy.

I was a massive Sid Vicious fanatic.

I was really into punk when I was about 14.