There is nothing more likely now days to generate a lot of replies on a forum thread than the arrival of a new Stanceworks car, specifically anything that Mike Burroughs has had a hand in, either building or photographing. Both Mike and his site has become a lightning rod for extreme points of view, from total adoration to absolute venom. The anger is curious to me, sure you might not like what they do to their cars, there are a lot of cars that people don't like, but it goes beyond that, their very presentation style and attitude seem abhorrent to some people. One person said a while ago that they didn't like their attitude as it wasn't rock'n'roll, it got me wondering, what musical style would Stanceworks be? Hip hop is the answer my friends and I'll tell you why...
Presentation is everything
Without a doubt the chief thing that Stanceworks can be credited for, after you credit them for spending their time building cars, is their presentation style. Photographs are slick, the website is stylish and the rides they build are tapping into some kind of zeitgeist. The hip hop analogy builds from this, where presenting yourself and being seen to be stylish is the order of the day, from the earliest days of Kool Herc through to modern rap superstars, presentation has been key to a public persona. Whilst Stanceworks has built a cult following it has certainly been built on the internet persona of Mike Burroughs and the presentation that his photography has given it.
Thriving on Rivalry
From soundsystems, to rap battles, to ‘dis’ records, hip hop has always thrived on rivalry, one upping each other, calling each other out and generally utilising a dose of healthy competition. Similarly the scene that Stanceworks finds itself in, the US VW and Germanic scene seems to thrive on similar rivalries, lower, or rattier, or smoother, or faster or more hardcore seem to be how they run things. Whilst this may seem needlessly competitive it has always made sure that everyone’s game is raised from show to show. No one seems to rest on their laurels, which is only a good thing for those of us that like people to build cars.
Language
Ahh the language, it may seem incongruous to us that these faceless internet folks are talking of haters, game, ballin' and the like without rolling down Miami's Ocean Drive in some open top hyper car or a Donk of some description, however this is the language that has been tied to the Stancework way of things. Maybe it is a reflection of the urbanisation of American youth and how that has extended across the internet, but it once again re-enforces the hip hop world view.
Spread the word
Without a doubt Stanceworks and Burroughs have been fantastic at self promotion, getting out there (metaphorically on the internet) and making sure their cars are seen, and their scene is seen. Not too far removed from making sure everyone knows about your latest mixtape and creating a hype for more. Putting in the leg work and the hours to promote what you are doing is certainly hard work, making the right choices of where to spend this time is even more so. Stancework certainly has a great hype machine and has utilised it well.
Populist and unapologetic
One of the more recent controversies about Mike's work is the resurrection of a car he had officially announced (and videoed) as 'dead'. His rusty BMW had been through many guises and had finally looked like it was about to turn its last wheel. There was such a strong response to the video and the 'death' of the car that Mike, with a little help from some friends, got it back and better than ever. Pure populism, in the way that Jay-Z 'retired' and then returned, or maybe it is the eight albums that Tupac released after he died. Having a happy audience for his work is one of the things that keep Mike's and the wider Stancework website's fans coming back for more. There is no shame in being popular and a populist, being out there and known trumps the backroom genius here.
If the sound track to the original hot rod builders was post war swing, then rock'n'roll, the new sound track is seemingly American indie bands, however the attitude of the scene as a whole is unashamedly hip hop.
Perhaps this is a needless deconstruction and analysis of a guy and a group of friends that are just spending their time building some cars they think are cool, but next time someone tells you something isn't rock'n'roll, or isn't punk rock, or isn't hardcore enough, consider for a second whether they even want or pretend to be, perhaps they march to a different beat, and are damn good at doing it.
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