Shayna Maskell Interview (Politics as Sound: The Washington, DC, Hardcore Scene, 1978-1983)
Shayna Maskell is Assistant Professor at George Mason University’s School of Integrative Studies. Her new book is Politics as Sound: The Washington, DC, Hardcore Scene, 1978-1983, which captures vibrant music being made in the capitol by bands like Bad Brains and Minor Threat.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
After college I started work (on 9/11 of all days) at a nonprofit in DC as a grassroots organizer. I met amazing people, a few of whom are still my good friends, but I also realized that I was not an organizer; I hated the phone, for one. So I went back to school, this time running across the country to California.
I got my Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Southern California, where they paid for my tuition in exchange for me teaching undergraduate writing courses. Never had I ever taught in all my life, but a free Masters was too good to pass up. In my three years there, I discovered it was best to leave the fiction writing to my professors like T.C. Boyle. But I also found not only my love for teaching but like-minded music souls in my friends and classmates and a professor, Sue Compo. They helped validate the idea that music was worth talking about, writing about, staying up all night listening to, dancing to, and arguing about.