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Finding Aid for the Max Ward Collection of Powerviolence Material, 1990s-early 2000s LSC.2345
LSC.2345  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Processing Information
  • General note
  • Biography/History
  • Scope and Content
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Related Material

  • Title: Max Ward Collection of Powerviolence material
    Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2345
    Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 5.6 linear feet (10 boxes, 2 flat oversize boxes)
    Date (inclusive): 1990s-early 2000s
    Abstract: The collection documents the emergence of the Powerviolence music scene, a little known subgenre of hardcore punk, which was primarily active in the 1990s through the early 2000s. Materials consists of original fliers, posters, handbills, correspondence, photographs, stickers, zines, and patches collected by San Francisco Bay Area drummer, Max Ward.
    Language of Materials: Materials are primarily in English with a small amount in Japanese.
    Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Creator: Ward, Max

    Conditions Governing Access

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Max Ward Collection of Powerviolence Material (Collection 2345). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Purchase, Johnson Rare Books & Archives, 2017.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Kuhelika Ghosh in 2017 under the supervision of Courtney Dean in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).

    General note

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 8229204 

    Biography/History

    Powerviolence is a subgenre of hardcore punk known for dissonant, fast, and short songs with constant tempo changes. It emerged in the early 1990s, primarily on the West Coast of the United States, with bands like Man is the Bastard, Spazz, and Capitalist Casualties. Some trace the origins of powerviolence back to late 1980s hardcore bands such as Siege and SSD. Many of the leading powerviolence bands had dissolved by the early 2000s but some some continue to tour.
    Max Ward, sometimes known as Hirax Max, was a San Francisco Bay Area drummer who played in the bands Spazz, Plutocracy, Capitalist Casualties, What Happens Next?, Bombs of Death, and Scholastic Deth[sic]. He was a major influence in the powerviolence scene. Ward was also the founder of 625 Thrashcore Records, which booked tours and released records for local, national, and international powerviolence bands. He produced the zine Mosh of Ass and contributed to the zine Maximumrocknroll. As of 2017, Ward is a professor of History at Middlebury College in Vermont.

    Scope and Content

    The collection consists of materials collected by drummer Max Ward related to the powerviolence scene from the 1990s to early 2000s. Includes original fliers, posters, handbills, correspondence, photographs, stickers, zines and patches, documenting the emergence of the scene in the San Francisco Bay Area through to when Ward moved to Japan in the early 2000s.

    Organization and Arrangement

    Arranged in the following series:
    • Series 1: Correspondence, photographs, and zines, 1990s-early 2000s
    • Series 2: Fliers and stickers, 1990s-early 2000s
    Original order of materials was maintained.

    Related Material

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Ward, Max -- Archives.
    Hardcore (Music)
    Punk culture--California--20th century
    Zines