The Ledge #87: Mike Virus and Punk Aid

Rock 'n' roll, particularly punk rock, has always had the stereotypical cliches about unfair treatment. Movie after movie has featured rockers typecast as outsiders, hassled by parents, teachers, police, jocks, and "the man". For the most part, these portrayals have been as far away from reality as a typical episode of Glee.
Yet 35 years after the great punk rock explosion, and almost sixty years after the first big blast of rock 'n' roll, punk rockers are being targeted in certain areas of the world. All of us at Realpunkradio were shocked to read this story from Aceh, Indonesia:

"Deputy mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal says she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty in her crusade against the punk community of Banda Aceh, proudly telling of how she has supervised police raids at cafes and city parks in recent months.
The presence of the punk community is disturbing, and disrupts the life of the Banda Aceh public,” Illiza told the Jakarta Globe.
Sixty-four young people have been held by the Aceh Police since Saturday for the supposed crime of being “punk”. They have not been charged with any crime or brought before a court.
On Tuesday afternoon, police took the detainees to the Aceh State Police camp, located in the hills 62 kilometers outside of the city, to “re-educate” them. Mohawks and dyed hair came off as police shaved the men’s heads and forced them into a lake. The women’s hair was cut short in the fashion of a female police officer.
"This is a new social disease affecting Banda Aceh. If it is allowed to continue, the government will have to spend more money to handle them,” the deputy mayor said, adding that religious scholars were assisting at the camp."

Evacuate leader Mike Virus also read this story, along with many others that detailed even worse treatment from Aceh officials, and decided he needed to do something to help. Utilizing not only his contacts from a lengthy history in punk rock but also social media, within 48 hours he gathered over 70 bands to contribute tracks to Punk Aid 2012: Aceh Calling.
The Ledge is honored to have Mike Virus on this week's show, and he gave us access to all of the tracks from Punk Aid, which will be released on March 1 via PunkAid.org. Besides chatting about his musical career and the benefit album, we sample tracks from bands that span the globe, including some brave groups from Indonesia that vow to carry on no matter the repercussions. Virus also talks about what others can do to help the situation.
This is definitely a show worth hearing, and you can stream it via Stitcher, subscribe to the show at iTunes, or directly download it HERE! This episode will also be streamed on Realpunkradio this Friday (Feb. 17) at 5 pm eastern.
Here are the tracks aired during this interview:
1. Evacuate - Aceh Calling
2. Antiseen - Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
3. Among the Enemies - Collatoral Damage
4. Burns Like Fire - One More Shot
5. Time Square Timebomb - One Of us
6. Doggy Style - Punker's Anthem
7. Violent Affair - Social Disease
8. Your Last Rights - A Contra's Objection
9. Combat Crisis - Our City
10. The Bricks - Punx United
11. Hangover Generation - Rise Up
12. Frankenstyle - Trip to Nowhere
13. Combat 77 - Unwanted Rebels
14. Cheapness - Police Bastard
15. Brigade of Bridge - Streetpunk Tonight
16. The Oversuck - Truth Can't Be Blind
17. The Borstal - Wake Up Boys
18. Skangkots - Dance Sucka
19. Versus - DIY Or Die