From the Publisher: "The world as we knew it ended. For a moment, our trust in societal institutions like celebrity culture, the government, and banks eroded, and our collective consciousness turned focus to utopian experiments like mutual aid programs, divesting from overfunded police departments and reconsidering our relationship to work. Now, as time has passed, employers require workers to return to the office, police budgets are relatively unscathed, and Black Friday sales have broken new records. The energy driving societal change has transformed back into a desire for the status quo. For Issue 3 of Hii Magazine, we’re highlighting the stalwarts of and examining the possibilities for opposing the status quo and constructing alternative futures through the conceptual framework of “PUNK IN THE POST-APOCALYPSE.” Punk is an ideology heavily associated with music and fashion, but its ethos is widely applicable: “celebrate expressions of individual freedom,” “don’t wait, just do-it-yourself,” and most prominently, “f*ck the establishment.” Currently, the average consumer’s relationship to “the establishment” is near symbiotic as we’ve tethered ourselves to major corporations and institutions through the phones in our pockets. How can one oppose something that’s so integral to our everyday existence? You know that one scene in the Matrix where they put the bug in Neo’s belly. The punk that emerged in 20th century Britain has largely become the very thing it was raging against: Doc Martens is now a suburban staple (debuting at the London Stock Exchange at $3.7bn in 2021), major record labels have embraced the genre that once derided the industry’s excess and the subculture’s history has been forcibly churned into mainstream media products like FX’s Pistol and the CBGB food franchise. Poignantly marked by the recent passing of Vivienne Westwood, the profitable punk of today seems to have killed punk as we knew it. When we extrapolate the spirit of punk, there are many movements that fall under its umbrella, even if their provocateurs didn’t wear spiked hair or studded jackets. Dadaism, noise music, rap, and other efforts to defy what’s above and celebrate who’s below, show us that the punk spirit carries on when we respond to the changing world. Hii is calling for pitches on essays, interviews, fiction, whatever the f*ck to showcase how and what current efforts in sound are pushing punk during this current dystopian moment."
