{"id":69870,"date":"2021-06-18T09:48:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T08:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=69870"},"modified":"2021-06-18T15:24:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T14:24:43","slug":"tijs-barry-snaith-talks-chrissie-hynde-johnny-thunders-the-ramones-and-his-new-collaboration-with-online-ninja-and-public-domain-activist-carl-malamud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2021\/06\/tijs-barry-snaith-talks-chrissie-hynde-johnny-thunders-the-ramones-and-his-new-collaboration-with-online-ninja-and-public-domain-activist-carl-malamud\/","title":{"rendered":"ACCESS ALL AREAS – TIJ’s Barry Snaith On His Punk Past And New Collaboration With Online ‘Ninja’ and Public Domain Activist Carl Malamud"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 30 years now, Carl Malamud\u2019s<\/strong> been waging a mission to make public information free and accessible.<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s a campaign that\u2019s landed the internet pioneer in hot water and frequent court battles with governments and officials in his native US and overseas. It’s also attracted the attention of the FBI.<\/h4>\n

Georgia’s even accused him of employing a \u201dstrategy of terrorism\u201d over his efforts to force US states to publish their own laws freely on the net.<\/p>\n

Now with the aid of alternative musician and videographer Barry Snaith<\/strong> – aka The Inconsistent Jukebox <\/strong>and longterm collaborator Martin Lucas,<\/strong> his tireless activism has been distilled into a cinematic five-minute musical composition.<\/p>\n

Matt Catchpole <\/strong>caught up with TIJ\u2019s Snaith – <\/strong>once of Wakefield punk rockers Strangeways – <\/strong>to find out how the unusual project came about.<\/p>\n

\"Carl
OPEN ACCESS NINJA – Carl Malamud, picture by Kirk Walter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe music was actually originally intended for an ad, which is in production as we speak, but it\u2019s ended up becoming a single too. Free of course – how could it not be?\u201d Snaith says of the birth of Open Access Ninja <\/em><\/strong>by The<\/strong> A2K<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Snaith was introduced to Malamud by Lucas and the trio became fast friends.<\/p>\n

Malamud\u2019s fearlessness and determination to bring what should be public information out of the protection of copyright and making it freely available to all via the internet proved hugely inspiring to Snaith.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarl\u2019s a tour de force! Brewster Kahle<\/strong>, founder of The Internet Archive<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, said about him: \u2018Heroes for me are ones who take risks in pursuit of something that they think is good. He\u2019s in that category\u2019. I agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarl\u2019s on a one-man mission to achieve something worthwhile for people, for something that should be free, and at his own expense and risk. That\u2019s admirable.”<\/p>\n

One of the first technologists to realise the potential of the internet, Malamud authored several books on the subject and launched his own start up before becoming consumed by Open Access activism.<\/p>\n

Since forming the not-for-profit Public.Resource.Org he\u2019s become the scourge of government of all levels – both in the US and internationally.<\/p>\n

Any organisation which seeks to keep secret, shroud in bureaucracy, or charge fees for what Malamud believes should be public information is likely to find itself on his hit list.<\/p>\n

Notable achievements include digitising 568 government films for the Internet Archive and YouTube, persuading Oregon not to assert copyright over its legislative statutes and challenging California\u2019s copyright claims by publishing its criminal, building and plumbing codes online.<\/p>\n

Outside the US, he\u2019s taken on the governments of the UK and India over free access to regulations and standards documents.<\/p>\n

Not bad for someone who jokes that he \u201cmajored in beer\u201d at the University of Indiana.<\/p>\n

Allied to his considerable intellect and resourcefulness, Malamud deploys a wicked sense of humour to get his point across.<\/p>\n

For example the logo, or seal for Public.Resouce.Org, is literally a cartoon seal – the mammal – complete with whiskers.<\/p>\n

\"Public\/Resource.Org
BADGE IT UP – The Public.Reource.Org seal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similarly he describes himself as a “usually civil servant” on Twitter.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a way of providing a new perspective to what might otherwise appear a dry subject.<\/p>\n

Wired<\/strong><\/span><\/a> calls Malamud \u2018The internet\u2019s own instigator\u2019 employing wit, gimmickry, lobbying and the power of social media to expose\u00a0 what the magazine calls \u2018the fine print of the citizenry\u2019s everyday existence\u2019 – stuff like fire prevention codes and baby seat safety regulations.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s not exactly chucking TV sets out of hotel windows, Malamud\u2019s work has a rebellious quality that appeals to Snaith\u2019s punk sensibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what he does IS rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and he has King Kong\u2019s balls (figuratively speaking of course, I don\u2019t know him THAT well),\u201d Snaith jokes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to knowledge is a human right and he\u2019s unafraid to take on governments for that right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snaith says Malamud\u2019s input gave real energy to the collaboration and he receives a full co-writing credit on the single.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarl was, unsurprisingly, the driving force behind the project but Marty and I had free creative rein,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\"A2K
REBEL WITH A CAUSE – The Inconsistent Jukebox, AKA Barry Snaith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lucas is a longstanding friend of Malamud\u2019s, working with him on several groundbreaking projects.<\/p>\n

He was a producer and editor on The Internet Multicasting Service <\/strong>– the first internet talk radio show –<\/strong> which Malamud launched in 1993 and also produced his Geek of the Week <\/strong>internet audio show – effectively a podcast, long before the term was coined.<\/p>\n

Lucas was thus well placed to condense Malamud\u2019s renegade spirit and activism into song.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarty\u2019s role was to be a kind of cross between a Raymond Chandler<\/strong> movie-narrator and Lou Reed<\/strong>\u2019s half sung\/half spoken drawl,” Snaith explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe skilfully shaped many of Carl\u2019s epithets and beliefs into something mysterious to perfectly fit the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using the soundtracks of John Barry –<\/strong>\u00a0whose credits include several Bond<\/strong> movies, The Ipcress File <\/strong>and Bullitt <\/strong>–\u00a0as his template Snaith then worked up an evocative, electronic backdrop to Lucas\u2019 abstract lyrics.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Marty brought in vocalist Tad Robinson<\/strong> to add his rasping New York drawl at the end and give some soul to what could be a cold subject,\u201d adds Snaith, and Open Access Ninja <\/em><\/strong>was unleashed.<\/p>\n

Here’s Snaith’s teaser video for the single:<\/p>\n