On November 6th 1975 in a half-empty London art college, four snarling teens took to the stage and changed music forever. Building on Reggae’s rebellious spirit, borrowing MC5’s energy and channelling The Velvet Underground’s spiky abrasion, these caustic kids called themselves The Sex Pistols.
Their snarling, uniquely scrappy sound immediately turned heads - and it was swiftly labelled ‘punk’. Inspiring The Buzzcocks, The Clash and The Damned to dash out and pick up guitars, The Pistols’ slimy sonic concoction cut distortion-soaked anthems with intoxicatingly unadulterated London swagger.
Fifty years later, the UK punk scene’s influence is still inescapable. Touching everything from fashion to activism, spawning multiple musical subgenres, and with its DIY ethos embedded into the DNA of hip hop and even indie filmmaking, the ‘70s punk explosion didn't just birth a genre – it kickstarted a creative revolution.
So rather than look backwards ourselves, we handed the mic to five musicians who've lived with punk's influence for decades. From their favourite UK punk tracks to the modern London scene and the movement's enduring legacy, here's what they had to say. Happy 50th, punk - here’s to another 50 years of power chords, politics and provocation.
Steve Sladkowski (PUP)
- Standout UK punk track: "I'm So Bored With The USA" – The Clash
PUP have spent the last decade cementing themselves as one of modern punk's most vital bands, carrying the genre's DIY spirit from Toronto dive bars to festival main stages around the world.
For guitarist Steve Sladkowski, though, it all starts with Britain. From discovering his dad's Clash records as a kid to standing on the legendary Roundhouse stage himself, he explains why London's punk legacy still casts a long shadow over music today.
What was your first memory of hearing UK punk?
Steve Sladkowski: My dad, without a doubt. I found his record collection when I was a kid and The Clash and the Sex Pistols were tucked alongside other UK new wave bands like Elvis Costello, XTC and Squeeze. That was my way in.
What does the phrase 'London punk' mean to you?
Sladkowski: London punk is anti-capitalist and cosmopolitan. It understands the indelible influence of the Windrush Generation on the aesthetics of punk. It's The Roundhouse, Vivienne Westwood and the Brixton riots. It rules.
Who are the most important UK punk band?
Sladkowski: The Clash.
How has the London punk scene influenced you?
Sladkowski: PUP headlined the Roundhouse – the venue where the photo for the London Calling album cover was taken. Are you fucking kidding me? That was one of those surreal moments where you realise you've become part of a lineage you've admired your whole life.
What do you think of the London punk scene today?
Sladkowski: It's dynamic, noisy, progressive and endlessly fascinating. Bob Vylan, enough said.
It's now been 50 years since the UK punk explosion. What do you think is its greatest legacy?
Sladkowski: Class and racial solidarity scares power. Punk understood that from the very beginning, and that's still one of its greatest strengths.
Steph Carter (Former Gallows guitarist)
- Standout UK punk track: "Pretty Vacant" – Sex Pistols
Steph Carter has lived punk from almost every angle imaginable. He helped define one of Britain's fiercest hardcore bands with Gallows before taking that same DIY philosophy into one of music's biggest brands as the Director of Culture Marketing for Marshall. For Carter, punk's greatest achievement wasn't simply changing music; it rewrote the rules for culture, creativity and self-expression.
What was your first memory of hearing UK punk?
Steph Carter: Hearing a friend's band cover Pretty Vacant at school. I already knew the song, but seeing it played live was completely different. The energy hit me in a way the record never had.
That moment sent me down a rabbit hole. I started discovering the original bands and everything that came with them, and there was no turning back.
Who is your favourite band from the original era of British punk?
Carter: I've always loved The Clash—they're a very close second—but for me it has to be the Sex Pistols.
Never Mind the Bollocks is such a seminal record. Steve Jones' guitar playing is deceptively simple but incredibly intentional. Every note feels like it belongs exactly where it is.
I was lucky enough to play through Steve's guitar rig once and it really hit home that nobody quite sounds like him. The second he picks up a guitar, you know it's him.
What does the phrase 'London punk' mean to you?
Carter: Cultural impact.
It goes beyond music. It's art, fashion and activism rolled into one. It's rooted in the bands that started it all, but it's just as much about the path they carved for everyone who's followed.
How has the London punk scene influenced you?
Carter: The DIY ethos has always been part of who I am.
Every band I've been in, I've been involved with recording or producing in some way. When we made Grey Britain, Frank and I recorded all the vocals in our mums' house. We drilled a hole through the wall between our bedrooms, turned one room into a vocal booth and the other into a control room.
Then there's performing. Punk gives you a freedom that's hard to find anywhere else. It's raw, immediate and completely honest.
What do you think of the London punk scene today?
Carter: The stereotypes are still there—you'll always find punks hanging around a bridge in Camden—but the scene has evolved far beyond that.
What excites me now is how much incredible new music is coming through. Punk isn't just a genre; it's an attitude. Every new generation finds its own way to challenge the status quo.
With everything happening in the world, there's certainly no shortage of things worth shouting about.
What's your favourite moment in punk history?
Carter: For me, it's the way punk constantly refuses to stand still.
Bands keep taking something raw and uncompromising and finding new audiences for it. There isn't one defining moment in punk history because, hopefully, the best one hasn't happened yet.
Charlie Longman (Clobber)
- Standout UK punk track: "That's like picking a favourite strand of fucking hair! Off the top of my head… 'Clampdown' by The Clash… no! 'Love Song' by The Damned… oh, fuck off."
Nobody in this feature embodies punk's refusal to self-edit quite like Charlie Longman. The Clobber frontman delivers equal parts humour, honesty and chaos, bouncing from the Sex Pistols' cultural impact to modern political punk without ever sounding rehearsed. If anyone proves punk hasn't lost its bite after 50 years, it's him.
What was your first memory of hearing UK punk?
Charlie Longman: My mum and dad used to watch I Love the 1970s every week.
Each episode focused on a different year, and the first time I ever encountered punk was the episode about the Sex Pistols. I was about six years old.
They terrified me.
But I couldn't stop watching.
Before that I'd never really cared about music. Then suddenly there were these ugly blokes who couldn't play, dressed like absolute idiots, and somehow they were the coolest people I'd ever seen.
That half-hour of television completely blew my brain open.
Longman: Who are the most important UK punk band?
Of all time? The Sex Pistols.
Whatever your opinion of them, they're the reason the world knows about punk. Without the Bill Grundy interview, Sid Vicious, the scandals and everything else, I don't think punk escapes the underground in the same way.
The fact people are still paying to see the band with Frank Carter on vocals tells you everything.
Right now?
The Menstrual Cramps.
They don't take prisoners. They don't compromise. They write about issues they actually live, they're involved in grassroots activism and they don't do it for clout.
What does the phrase 'London punk' mean to you?
Longman: A bloke with dreadlocks wearing a Subhumans T-shirt asking me for guest list because he's spent all his money on K and Buckfast.
It's now been 50 years since the UK punk explosion. What do you think is its greatest legacy?
Longman: That there's now a punk scene in almost every corner of the world.
Kids from completely different backgrounds are taking it somewhere new every single day.
It's the soundtrack to revolutions, nights in the pub, football terraces and your favourite comic books.
It's probably the reason you made friends at school.
It's probably the reason you left your hometown.
It never sleeps—and thankfully, it just keeps getting better.
Ian Shelton (Militarie Gun)
- Standout UK punk track: "Mannequin" – Wire
Few modern hardcore bands have bridged the gap between melody and mayhem quite like Militarie Gun. But for frontman Ian Shelton, that balancing act didn't start in California—it started with Britain's first wave of punk. From
The Adicts to Wire, Shelton explains why UK punk's humour, hooks and refusal to play by the rules still influence everything his band does today.
Who is your favourite band from the original era of British punk?
Ian Shelton: The Adicts.
I first saw them when I was in eighth grade and they've been one of my favourite bands ever since. Monkey's A Clockwork Orange-inspired face paint completely fascinated me because I was obsessed with that film as a teenager.
When you're a messed-up kid growing up in a small town, getting into fights and trying to work out where you fit, A Clockwork Orange feels strangely relatable. Seeing a band embrace that imagery felt exciting.
I also think The Adicts get overlooked when people talk about the first wave of British punk. They deserve far more credit than they usually get.
How has the UK punk scene influenced you?
Shelton: One thing The Adicts do brilliantly—and something we've always tried to do ourselves—is pair incredibly dark subject matter with melodies that stay in your head for days.
Take Easy Way Out. It's ridiculously catchy, but it's about suicide.
The Sex Pistols did that really well too. They wrapped serious ideas in wit and humour. That's something I think British punk has always understood better than anyone else.
It's tongue-in-cheek. It's aggressive if you're outside looking in, but once you're part of it, there's an intelligence underneath all that noise.
What do you think is UK punk's greatest legacy?
Shelton: Its wit.
That biting sense of humour.
The feeling that you're standing outside society, pointing at the world and saying, "We're not part of this."
That's always been incredibly powerful to me.
What do you think of the London punk scene today?
Shelton: We love bands like Chubby and the Gang because they capture something that's unmistakably British.
I remember discovering bands like The Flex and Violent Reaction and instantly falling in love with them. It's that mix of relentless aggression with just enough melody to keep you hooked.
Then there's Oi.
The influence of Oi on modern punk and hardcore is everywhere right now, and that's entirely down to the UK scene continuing to push things forward.
What does the phrase 'London punk' mean to you?
Shelton: Melody.
Rock and roll.
Protest.
And, at its heart, upsetting people.
Daniel P Carter (BBC Radio 1 Rock Show host)
- Standout UK punk track: "London Is The Reason" – Gallows
For nearly two decades, Daniel P Carter has been one of Britain's loudest advocates for alternative music.
Whether introducing listeners to tomorrow's breakthrough bands on the Radio 1 Rock Show or performing himself, he's watched punk evolve without ever losing sight of what made it special in the first place. Fifty years on, he believes its influence stretches further than ever.
Who is your favourite band from the original era of British punk?
Daniel P Carter: I'd probably go with The Damned.
I've always loved how broad their musical palette is, especially once they started leaning into darker, gothic territory.
You can hear their fingerprints all over early American hardcore, which I absolutely love.
I should probably add one caveat though—I do have a real soft spot for the current incarnation of the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter on vocals.
What's your favourite moment in punk history?
Carter: Ian MacKaye hearing Expensive Sound by British punk band Empire for the first time.
What does the phrase 'London punk' mean to you?
Carter: It's funny how certain cities become inseparable from particular genres.
Seattle has grunge.
Berlin has krautrock.
Kingston has ska and reggae.
Manchester has baggy.
Punk, though, belongs to London.
I'm sure there are a few older New Yorkers who'd disagree with that, but it's hard to think of another city that's become so synonymous with a movement.
It's now been 50 years since the UK punk explosion. What do you think is its greatest legacy?
Carter: That it's still inspiring people.
Not just musicians, but artists, designers, filmmakers, activists and creatives of every kind.
Fifty years later, punk is still giving people permission to challenge convention—and that might be its greatest achievement of all.
PUP, Reclus.e and Militarie Gun all play 2000 Trees Festival July 9-11th. Clobber plays London’s The Grace on August 1st.