Dave Grohl talks about the impact of Washington D.C. hardcore legends Scream in a new bonus clip from the forthcoming home and video on-demand release of the documentary, Punk the Capital.
The film dives deep into the punk and hardcore scene that emerged and flourished in Washington D.C. between 1976 and 1983. Scream, who formed in 1981, were one of the most pivotal acts and their debut album, Still Screaming, was the first full-length LP released on Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson’s seminal Dischord Records.
In the clip, Grohl remembers picking up his first Scream album and the thrill of realizing this wasn’t a band of untouchable rock stars, but a group that was based not far from his own home. “I remember listening to [the album], turning it over and seeing that their PO Box was close to my house — and it blew my fucking mind!” Grohl says. “Like, ‘Oh my god, one of D.C.’s best hardcore bands is like three miles from my house! It blew me away.”
In another clip from Punk the Capital, MacKaye — who, along with co-founding Dischord fronted hardcore pioneers Minor Threat — speaks on the evolution of punk to hardcore. “We said we were hardcore punk rock, meaning that we didn’t need to look tough or have this kind of self-destructive, nihilistic kinda thing,” he says. “We were more committed. It wasn’t a dress-up thing. We were actually going to live it.”
Punk the Capital originally played at a few festivals in 2019 before getting a wide theatrical release earlier this year. The film will be released to video on-demand services this month, though an exact date has yet to be announced.
There will also be a special screening of Punk the Capital at the Miracle Theatre in Washington D.C. on June 10th. Accompanying the film will be a 10-minute short with never-before-seen archival footage about the 1970s radio station WGTB and a benefit concert featuring the Cramps, the Chumps and Urban Verbs. A Q&A with NPR’s Bob Boilen (who helped organize that benefit), Rob Kennedy (of the Chumps) and co-directors Paul Bishow and James June Schneider will follow.