Creativity Quote by Greg Ginn

Punk mythology loves to pretend every scene is born fully formed in a sweaty club, but Ginn points to the unglamorous truth: infrastructure is the revolution. “There wasn’t anyone else to do it” isn’t self-pity; it’s a DIY diagnosis of a music economy that, at the time, had no slot for a band like Black Flag. The intent is practical and urgent: if the gate is locked, build a side door, then turn it into a hallway for everyone else.

The subtext is about power. Founding SST to release a single record reframes the label not as a business plan but as leverage - control over timing, distribution, and the narrative around the band. Ginn isn’t claiming artistic purity so much as asserting ownership in a system that typically strips it away. “Very worthwhile” is doing double duty: it’s a sincere valuation of the work, and a quiet rebuke to an industry that didn’t recognize the value until after the fact.

Context matters because SST wasn’t just a logo on a sleeve; it became a template for American indie culture. What starts as one band’s survival tactic becomes a platform that later housed whole strands of underground rock. The line captures the punk paradox: anti-establishment art still needs organization, logistics, and a willingness to do boring, thankless labor. Ginn’s statement lands because it treats creativity as something you’re responsible for shepherding, not just making.