Nation of Ulysses
Nation of Ulysses
Background information
Origin	Washington, D.C.
Genre(s)	Punk Rock First Wave Emo
Years active	1988–1992
Label(s)	Dischord Records K Records Southern Records
Website	Official site
Members
Ian Svenonius Steve Kroner Tim Green Steve Gamboa James Canty

Nation of Ulysses was a post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C.. The band formed in spring 1988, with four members and known as simply Ulysses, drawing inspiration from MC5's mix of revolutionary rhetoric and rock music. Image File history File links NationofUlysses. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... This article is about the genre of music. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in D.C.-area independent punk, hardcore, and post-hardcore music. ... K Records logo K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and, at present, in the band Dub Narcotic Sound System. ... Southern Records is an important record label closely associated with Dischord Records. ... Ian Svenonius Ian Svenonius was an influential vocalist for several bands in the late 80s and 90s. ... Post-hardcore; this specific genre was created by others as a sourse to relaese the emotion that builds inside, making the music intimate and touching to listeners. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... MC5 (short for Motor City Five) was a hard rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1964 and active until 1972, comprising Wayne Kramer and Fred Sonic Smith (guitars) Michael Davis (bass), Rob Tyner (vocals), and Dennis Thompson (drums). ...

Nation of Ulysses consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and James Canty on drums. Tim Green joined the band late in 1989 as a guitarist. Nation of Ulysses disbanded in the Fall of 1992 having failed to complete their third album (the finished tracks were later released as The Embassy Tapes in 2000). In a later interview, Svenonius explained the reason for the split: "Nation of Ulysses broke up because the epoch changed with the advent of digital music and the Nirvana explosion. We were faced with what's now known as indie rock, a sort of vacuous form. We had to determine our next move and this (the forming of The Make-Up) is it." ^[1] Ian Svenonius Ian Svenonius was an influential vocalist for several bands in the late 80s and 90s. ... Electronic music is a loose term for music created using electronic equipment. ... Nirvana was a popular American rock band originating from Aberdeen, Washington. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Make-Up was a band from Washington, D.C. formed in 1995, with three members of the band having previously been in Nation of Ulysses and the short-lived Cupid Car Club: Ian Svenonius, James Canty and Steve Gamboa, and a fourth, Michelle Mae having previously played with Northwest group...

After their break up, Svenonius went on to form the Cupid Car Club with James Canty (on guitar) and Steve Gamboa (on drums), The Make-Up, again with Canty and Gamboa, and Weird War. Green went on to become an engineer and record producer and joined the prog-heavy metal band The Fucking Champs. Make-Up was a band from Washington, D.C. formed in 1995, with three members of the band having previously been in Nation of Ulysses and the short-lived Cupid Car Club: Ian Svenonius, James Canty and Steve Gamboa, and a fourth, Michelle Mae having previously played with Northwest group... Weird War is an eclectic independent rocknroll band stationed in the United States of America. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes . ... The progressive rock band Yes performing in 1977. ... Heavy metal is derivative of rock music that emerged as a defined musical style in the 1970s, having its roots in hard rock bands which, between 1969 and 1974,[1] mixed blues and rock music to create a hybrid with a thick, heavy, guitar-and-drums-centered sound, characterised by... The Fucking Champs are a 3-piece guitar band from San Francisco, California. ...

Nation of Ulysses toured extensively in the United States and Europe with bands like Beat Happening, Fugazi, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Slant 6, among others. Beat Happening was a 1980s twee pop band, the most popular of International Pop Undergrounds roster of influential alternative rock stars. ... Fugazi may refer to: an Italian slang term for something that is fake/not authentic. ... Bikini Kill was a punk band of the Riot Grrrl movement formed in Olympia, Washington in October of 1990. ... Bratmobile was an American punk band. ... Page on Chryslers Slant-6 Engine. ...

Style

Musically and stylistically, the Nation of Ulysses had a tremendous influence on the underground punk rock and hardcore music scene in the early 90's. Their music was noisy and manic, but they also had a strong free-jazz influence. The band was also notorious for their political pamphlets, called "Ulysses Speaks," which they distributed at live shows, some of which are reproduced on their album covers. Their pamphlets espoused what they referred to as "The Ulysses Aesthetic," which was a mix of 60's and 70's radical politics, French Situationist writings, and juvenile delinquency. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock which originated in the United States of America in the late 1970s. ... Free jazz is a movement of jazz music characterized by diminished dependence on formal constraints. ... Situationist, Situationism refers to a cultural praxis developed by the Situationist International (SI), a very small group of international, political and artistic agitators with roots in Marxism and the early twentieth century European artistic avant garde. ... Juvenile delinquency refers to criminal acts performed by juveniles. ...

The group embodied a rejection of the 60's and 70's music and styling by rejecting drug use and advocating that punk youth dress nicely and sensibly. While this might seem to be a trivial point, it should be noted that not long after the Nation of Ulysses toured the USA, the fashion sensibility of the post-hardcore scene, did indeed, change quite considerably, and this was a precursor to the thrift store chic and straight edge fashion sensibilities of the 90's. Thrift Store Chic became popular in fashion during the late 1980s and early 1990s as the grunge movement was building more and more of a fan base. ... For the drawing or cutting tool, see Straightedge. ...

Besides punk rock 'n' roll, Nation of Ulysses incorporated elements of doo-wop, R&B, and avant-jazz in their sound. One of their mottos was "Look Out ... Soul Is Back!" Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Doo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music popular in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s in America. ... Rhythm and blues (or R & B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Avant-jazz (also known as avant-garde jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines elements of avant-garde art music and composition with elements of traditional jazz. ...

The Nation of Ulysses' song lyrics and writings were often sophisticated, erudite, humorous, and sometimes silly. The band did, however, address many issues concerning the underground music scene of the time, such as corporate co-opting, drug use, bad fashion, and poor grammar.

The band was known for their extremely physical performances, with incidents of broken bones and other injuries suffered by the members. They usually wore suits and greased hair on stage, although they sometimes wore matching shirts and pants of a more casual nature.

Ideology

The Nation of Ulysses was not a rock 'n' roll group in the normal sense, but "the group as political party." ^{[citation needed]} // Political scientists have developed concepts of different ideal types of political parties in order to better compare them with each other. ...

Upon the addition of guitarist Tim Green late in 1989, the ideology of the band largely changed from idealism to actionism. Tim Green (b. ... Idealism is an approach to philosophical enquiry that asserts that everything we experience is of a mental nature. ... The term Viennese Actionism describes a short and violent movement in 20th century art that can be regarded as part of the many independent efforts of the 1960s to develop action art (Fluxus, Happening, Performance, Body Art, etc. ...

The Nation of Ulysses philosophy has been described as "a relentlessly provocative (and entertaining) jumble of teenage rock 'n' roll rebellion, leftist radicalism, anarchist punk polemics, and abstract intellectual rambling," ^[2] which gives the sense of "an off-kilter, almost tongue-in-cheek approach to a 'perpetual 18-year old's' view of America, and life in general." They conceived themselves as being a political party disguised as a rock 'n' roll band.

Explaining their intent, Svenonius said "it's basically a new nation underground for the dispossessed youth colony. It's all about smashing the old edifice, the monolith of rock and roll." ^[3] Asked about their use of the medium they claimed to counteract - rock 'n' roll - Svenonious declared "Well, it's a camouflage, to allow for movement, revolutionary liberation from the constraints of everyday composure, basically allowing anybody to move in anyway that they want and to lift spirit to a plateau to destroy 'parent culture.' " ^[3] Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

Nation of Ulysses claimed not to make records, but weapons. Discussing their second release, Svenonius asserted: "it's like a blueprint for the destruction of the Parent Culture. It's like a zip gun ... It's an instruction pamphlet for kids on how to destroy their home life, you know, their domestic state." ^[3] Zip gun is a term used for a crude, improvised firearm, usually a handgun. ...

Although their first album was named 13-Point Program to Destroy America Nation of Ulysses didn't align themselves with a particular political philosophy: "We don't usually address normal political dictums. We aim toward the everyday fixtures of life, like aesthetics, sound, non-spoken things that are inherently political in nature instead of, like bogus politicians who focus on glossy surface issues which avoid any kind of revolutionary change." ^[3] 13-Point Program to Destroy America is the first album by the American punk rock band Nation of Ulysses. ...

Nation of Ulysses record sleeves were festooned with broadsides inspired by the Futurist screeds of F. T. Marinetti, the situationist polemics of Debord and Raoul Vaneigem, and the bulletins of the Black Panther Party. Their record covers were also often direct homages to El Lissitzky and Rodchenko, Russian Constructivists from the 20's and 30's. The band's ideology and clothing were largely influenced also by politicized 60's street gangs like The Vice Lords (Nation) and the Vice Lords's pantherized kin The (Almighty) Black P. Stones Nation. The Futurists in Paris, February 1912. ... Guy Debord (December 28, 1931-November 30, 1994) was a member of the Lettrist International, Socialisme ou Barbarie and the founder and chief theorist of the Situationist International (SI). ... Raoul Vaneigem (born 1934) is a Belgian writer and philosopher. ... This article is about the American political organization. ... El Lissitzky in a 1924 self-portrait Lazar Markovich Lissitzky â–¶(?) (Лазарь Маркович Лисицкий, November 23, 1890 – December 30, 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (Эль Лисицкий), was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer, and architect. ... Alexandr Rodchenko (November 23(Old Style) December 5(New Style), 1891 in St. ... In education, constructivism is a learning theory which holds that knowledge is not transmitted unchanged from teacher to student, but instead that learning is an active process of learning. ... Note: Sometimes the 20s is used as shorthand for the 1920s, the 1820s, or other such decades in various centuries Tiberius, Roman Emperor (14 - 37). ... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 20s BC - 10s BC - 0s - 10s - 20s - 30s - 40s - 50s - 60s - 70s - 80s 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Sometimes the 30s is used as shorthand for the 1930s, the 1830s, or other such decades in various... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 10s - 20s - 30s - 40s - 50s - 60s - 70s - 80s - 90s - 100s - 110s 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 Note: Sometimes the 60s is used as shorthand for the 1960s, the 1860s, or other such decades in various centuries... River City Ransom gameplay (U.S. NES Version) River City Ransom (ダウンタウン熱血物語 Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari Downtown Hotblood Story in Japan and Street Gangs in Europe) is a video game for the Nintendo Family Computer and the Nintendo Entertainment System from the... The Almighty Vice Lord Nation (abbreviated AVLN or VLN) is the oldest and the second-largest street gang in Chicago. ... The Almighty Vice Lord Nation (abbreviated AVLN or VLN) is the oldest and the second-largest street gang in Chicago. ... The Almighty Black P. Stone Nation (often abbreviated BPSN) is a Chicago-based street gang that was originally formed in the early 1960s as the Blackstone Rangers. ...

The Nation of Ulysses also made a zine called "Ulysses Speaks," which was an extension of the ideology propagated in their liner notes.

Svenonius described the Nation of Ulysses as "a shout of secession. We don't want to be involved with the United States and the structure that exists. We've introduced a whole new form of currency that takes its form in garbage ... we indulge peoples' repressed whims and make them banal in doing so. We basically want to create a new sense of who we are community-wise: a nation of youths." ^[4]

Miscellaneous

In 1991, Ian Svenonius was featured as teen-oriented Sassy Magazine's first and only "Sassiest Boy in America." ^[5] He was interviewed at length in the magazine's October issue, much to the disbelief of many in the punk community. Sassy Magazine is a defunct cult fave teen magazine that has fans of both sexes and all ages. ...

Discography

Albums

• 13-Point Program to Destroy America (Dischord) (1991)
• Plays Pretty for Baby (Dischord) (1992)
• The Embassy Tapes (Dischord) (2000)

13-Point Program to Destroy America is the first album by the American punk rock band Nation of Ulysses. ... Plays Pretty for Baby is the second album by the American punk rock band Nation of Ulysses. ... The Embassy Tapes is the third, posthumous studio album by the American punk rock band Nation of Ulysses. ...

7 Inch Singles

• Nation of Ulysses (Dischord/K Records)
• The Sound of Young America (Dischord/K Records)
• The Birth of the Ulysses Aesthetic (the synthesis of speed and transformation) (Dischord) (1992)

Appearances on Compilations

• Pulley Compilation (Simple Machines)
• Greg Sage and the Wipers (Tim Kerr Records)
• Kill Rock Stars (Kill Rock Stars)
• International Pop Underground Convention (K Records)
• Fear of Smell (Vermiform Records)
• 20 Years of Dischord (Dischord) (2002)

The new KRS logo by Sarah Utter on a KRS sweatshirt. ... 20 Years of Dischord is a 3 CD box set featuring 73 songs, 6 video clips and a 134 page booklet. ...

References

1. ^ Make-Up - interview/Steady diet fanzine 1998. http://www.southern.com/southern/band/MAKUP/Int_Steady_diet.html, retrieved December 30, 2006.
2. ^ Huey, Steve. allmusic ((( The Nation of Ulysses > Overview ))). http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:83520r8ac48v, retrieved December 30, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Dundas, Zach. mumblage | the lamb of ulysses. http://www.mumblage.com/ulysses.html, retrieved December 10, 2006.
   Archived: http://web.archive.org/web/20051027215306/http://www.mumblage.com/ulysses.html (may contain dead links and broken images)
4. ^ Cheslow, S. Nation of Ulysses Interview. http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/bang/nou.html, retrieved December 30, 2006.
5. ^ NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN - DOWN OUT THE ROCK AND ROLL CLUB: LIVE PICKS. http://www.newyorknighttrain.com/zine/events/halloween.html, retrieved December 30, 2006.

External links

• Official site on Southern Records homepage
• Buddyhead Mp3 Blog Post on Nation Of Ulysses