AK Press
Better Read Than Dead (Epitaph/AK Press)
An interview with employee Bill Michalski, though any employee could and would do it
by Scott Hefflon
Already huge as compilations go Better Read Than Dead also includes a CD ROM catalog of AK Press, both publishing and distribution, and is a just plain mind-fuckingly good idea. An amazing assortment of music, from punk to metal to rock to just about anything goes, and you’re helping a worker’s co-operative (what those of us with antiquated beliefs would call a company) that supports the education of intelligent anarchy. The word, symbol, and philosophy mean more than just rebelling against yer stoopid parents, yer stoopid school, or yer stoopid fascist boss who makes you work for yer paycheck. According to Ramsey Kanaah, AK Press founder, anarchy is “…basically the common-sense idea that the world would be a better place without hierarchy, domination, authority, and exploitation.” The CD booklet adds, “Anarchism is both a way of organizing the world, and a form of revolutionary struggle to actually change it. It’s basically just common sense. We think it’s pretty cool. We think you’ll like it.”
Seeing as how there are 22 bands contributing a song apiece, I’ll just list ’em so you spot a few of your favorites and run down and buy a copy. Better yet, get a few ’cause you know your friends are going to want it, too. Give the gift of anarchy and great music. Bands that donate tracks are: Cain, NOFX, Snuff, Bjorn Baby Bjorn, Hooton 3 Car, Tribes of Neurot, Napalm Death, Pitchshifter, Spazz, Wayne Kramer, Gary Floyd Band, The Levellers, The Wild Bouquet, Chumbawamba, Big Ray, Zoinks!, Papa Brittle, Larry Byrrds, Chocolate, J Church, Blaggers Ita, and Propagandhi.
When I tried to contact Ramsey for a few quotes and all that journalistic mumbo-jumbo, I was told he was out, but could I help you? I explained my desire to interview the man behind AK Press. Oops. Never ask to speak to The Man at an anarchist organization. Employee Bill Michalski, who answered the phone and politely corrected my faux pas, agreed to the interview as long as it was duly noted that anyone at AK Press could and would do the interview, and that name recognition is not a concern. Explaining that my prior dealings with anarchy involved bleaching/painting it on a large portion of my wardrobe during my high school years without the foggiest idea of what it truly meant, I asked him to treat me like the moron I was. The following is a stringing together of words I jotted down. For more info (a massive catalog of thousands of books, magazines, pamphlets, fanzines, T-shirts, CDs, and Cassettes) send $1 to AK Press, PO Box 40682, San Francisco, CA 94140-0682, or check out www.akpress.org.
How is AK Press organized?
We’re a worker’s co-operative, as opposed to a business with a boss and workers. We’re against the whole idea of hierarchy. We have regular meetings to decide what we have to do. Like if we want raises, we make sure everyone in all three offices (Edinburgh, Scotland; London, England; San Francisco, CA) can get the same raise.
What’re AK Press’ criteria for what it publishes and distributes?
That’s done, to an extent, by each office, merely because the markets are different. But we all agree to publish or distribute a product before we do. Always. Obviously we won’t publish anything fascist, racist, sexist, homophobic, or pro-government. We get a lot of militia-types sending in proposals and manuscripts, as well as a lot of conspiracy theory works, but that’s not what we do. There are plenty of other outlets for that. The market for radical and anarchist publications is growing. We’ve expanded our catalog, and have published a few CDs of spoken word. The same criteria goes for the ‘zines we carry. Besides looking at editorial content, we also check for advertiser support. They aren’t really a big priority for us, it’s just a way to round out what we offer in the catalog while helping out a few ‘zines we think are really good.
How did AK Press and Epitaph combine efforts, and where do the proceeds from the benefit comp actually go?
We were originally going to put out the CD ourselves. We contacted the bands and got permission to use the donated tracks. While a few of the songs have been B-sides, most of them have never appeared on CD format. I would guess that 95% of the songs, at least the versions of the songs we have on the CD, have never appeared anywhere before. Between remixes, live, and demo recordings, the selection is just overwhelming. As far as Epitaph’s involvement, we contacted them because they obviously have resources and contacts far beyond ours, and can reach people and places we just wouldn’t be able to. They paid for the manufacturing of the CD, are doing the distribution, marketing, and promotion. They took the initial risk, but have far exceeded the pre-orders we could have possibly achieved ourselves. Both this compilation and our distribution are to help fund the publishing aspect of AK Press. That’s what’s most important to us, and that’s the most costly aspect of our organization. Any project we independently produce and distribute is obviously much more expensive to us than those we only distribute.
How did you pick the bands and/or songs on the compilation?
We chose the bands, not the songs themselves. To do that would have been an even huger effort, and it’s not really necessary anyway. We tried to choose bands that would support what we’re doing. We wanted bands that people had heard of, because the point of the CD is to make money. We wanted to gain exposure for AK Press and the anarchist ideas for which we stand.
Do you see AK Press doing this again sometime?
The response has been amazing. The bands and labels involved have been very supportive. Once word got out that we were doing this compilation, and what it was for, quite a few bands offered songs that we didn’t even have space for. We had to turn a lot of bands down, for the time being, but now we have enough material in the vaults to do a Volume Two.
