Minneapolis punk scene reeling after death of musician in mass shooting
A friend has identified August Golden as the man killed in a mass shooting at a Minneapolis punk show on Friday night.
Alex Stillman owns a local business called Outta Wax that presses vinyl records. Stillman was at the show and talked about Golden, what she saw and how this will impact the community.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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How are you doing?
It's the question that we keep asking each other and you can’t answer it. I think a lot of us are still reeling and in shock with what's happening and just trying to support each other, but relatively okay.
Tell me about the person who died, identified by friends and bandmates as August Golden.
He was just a beautiful human who joined our community in the last couple of years to be closer to friends, but I didn't know him before he moved here. But just based on our common interests, and love for this specific DIY ethos and every kind of art that comes along with it, I knew immediately that we would be close friends.
I think that's kind of how it is in our community is. We take people in quickly, because it's easy to pass these judgments when you know you have the same ethos.
What about the space that was involved in this incident? What does it mean to you and the community?
I mean, this is a long-standing strong hold space from even beyond. Before it became Nudieland, it had been a place in our community where artists have met and and lived and I have been going to events in that space for over a decade.
Do you do you think you'll still feel safe going to punk shows in Minneapolis given what happened?
I absolutely will continue to go to these spaces in the future. I think yeah, there definitely needs to be some conversations about how to make people feel comfortable. But I think also these spaces create a place for healing and they always have and I think people will continue to want to be a part of these spaces.
Have you had any national responses from other punk communities?
Yeah, internationally, we have received words. I mean, a lot of this is a tight-knit community where a lot of us know each other personally. And even if you don't know each other personally, you understand what the spaces mean. And we've had international outcry. A situation like this has never been seen in in our community before and it comes as an absolute shock.
What's the impact on the southside of Minneapolis?
Yeah, I think a lot of us are drawing parallels between what happened to us in the summer of the uprising and having that trauma be brought up again. I don't know how many times you can hug your friends in the middle of the night and thank them and tell them that you're happy that they're alive.
Audio transcript
Alex Stillman is on the line right now. They're a local business owner of a record press and lathe embossing business called Outta Wax in Minneapolis. Alex, welcome. Thanks for joining us.
ALEX STILLMAN: Hello.
CATHY WURZER: How are you doing? I understand the man who died was someone you knew and you also know some of those who were injured. Tell me about yourself. How are you doing?
ALEX STILLMAN: I mean, it's a question that we keep asking each other and you can't answer it. I think a lot of us are still reeling and in shock with what's happening, and just trying to support each other. So relatively OK.
CATHY WURZER: Relatively OK. All right. It's extraordinarily difficult, especially in such a traumatic situation. Tell me about the person who died, identified by friends and band mates as August Golden.
ALEX STILLMAN: They were just a beautiful human who joined our community in the last couple of years to be closer to friends. I didn't know them before they moved here, but just based on our common interests and love for the specific DIY ethos and every kind of art that comes along with it, I knew immediately that we would be close friends.
And, yeah, so I think that's kind of how it is in our community is we take people in quickly because it's easy to pass these judgments when you know you have the same ethos.
CATHY WURZER: Tell me about the do-it-yourself ethos that you're referring to here. I think many folks don't understand the make up of the punk community. Can you explain?
ALEX STILLMAN: Well it's extremely social, so it revolves around supporting each other while rejecting bigotry and that sort of-- I'm sorry this is very difficult. [CHUCKLES]
CATHY WURZER: I totally understand.
ALEX STILLMAN: It's a difficult question to answer. But it is just a mentality of not needing to be approved by corporate entities as far as making art and music and creating community. That's why we have our own venues and put out our own music without larger music industry standards specifically.
CATHY WURZER: OK, yes, I see the picture you're painting. That's why you're the owner of a record press, right?
ALEX STILLMAN: Yeah, correct. [CHUCKLES]
CATHY WURZER: (CHUCKLING) Yeah. And obviously the venues that you mentioned, Nudieland to be one of them, you don't have to have a large company booking the bands and that kind of thing. Tell me about the space that was involved in this incident. What does it mean to you and the community?
ALEX STILLMAN: I mean, this is a long-standing stronghold space from even beyond. Before it became Nudieland, it has been a place in our community where artists have met and lived. And I've been going to events in that space for over a decade.
CATHY WURZER: Do you think you'll still feel safe going to punk shows in Minneapolis, given what happened?
ALEX STILLMAN: I absolutely will continue to go to these spaces in the future. I think, yeah, there definitely needs to be some conversations about how to make people feel comfortable but I think also these spaces create a place for healing and they always have. And I think people will continue to want to be a part of these spaces.
CATHY WURZER: A final question here for you, this is, of course, we're talking about the local community, but there's a national community that's also really strong. Have you had any national responses from other punk communities?
ALEX STILLMAN: Yeah, internationally we have received words. I mean, this is a tight-knit community where a lot of us know each other personally. And even if you don't know each other personally, you understand what these spaces mean. And we've had international outcry. A situation like this has never been seen in our community before and it comes as an absolute shock.
CATHY WURZER: I'm a proud Southside native and this area has taken a lot of hits of late. This is one of them. And of course, the murder of George Floyd is another major event. What's the impact on the Southside of Minneapolis?
ALEX STILLMAN: Yeah, I think a lot of us are drawing a lot of parallels between what happened to us. That's the summer of the uprising and having that trauma be brought up again. And I don't know how many times you can hug your friends in the middle of the night, and thank them, and tell them that you're happy that they're alive.
CATHY WURZER: Alex, I know this is really hard. I appreciate your time. Thank you so very much and I hope you take care of yourself.
ALEX STILLMAN: Thank you.
CATHY WURZER: Alex Stillman has been with us. Alex is a local business owner of a record press and a lathe embossing business called Outta Wax in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis Police, by the way, say they don't expect to release any more information today.
Now, August Golden, who you heard in our talk, was a member of the Minneapolis band Scrounger. For our Minnesota Music Minute today, we wanted to play some of the band's music. This is the song "Farragut Park" by Scrounger.
[SCROUNGER, "FARRAGUT PARK"]
(SINGING) Never know what you do to freaking dress. Throwing rocks, breaking glass, anoint, play tag.
Tell the groups you need it.
I get welts all the time while they play. I got blues all night while they bless.
Download transcript (PDF)
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