Art & Creativity Quote by Greg Ginn

Ginn is poking at a fault line in early-80s hardcore: the scene wanted its music to feel like a weapon, but it also needed a story about what counted as “real.” Saying the Minutemen were “more of an art thing” isn’t just a genre label; it’s a social sorting mechanism. “Art” reads as suspiciously intellectual, experimental, maybe even pretentious - a whiff of gallery space in a culture built on sweat, speed, and blown speakers. Black Flag, by contrast, got cast as the blunt instrument: relentless touring, bruised minimalism, a band that looked like work.

The subtext in “although I didn’t see them that way” is Ginn rejecting the audience’s need to police meaning. The Minutemen were political, funny, jagged, and incredibly disciplined. Calling them “art” flattens that urgency into a vibe, as if the band were making commentary instead of making contact. Ginn’s confusion is revealing: SST’s whole ethos was that the underground shouldn’t have to choose between intensity and experimentation.

Then he drops Saccharine Trust as the punchline. By SST putting out weirder, more abstract bands, Ginn wasn’t merely diversifying a label; he was antagonizing a fanbase that treated hardcore like a uniform. The “confused people” line captures a moment when punk’s DIY infrastructure outgrew punk’s tribal expectations. Ginn is describing a label acting like a laboratory while its audience still wanted a bunker.