We Were Here promises to rip up our received history of rock ’n’ roll and alternative music and repopulate it with the extraordinary Black artists and influential figures who helped steer its course from the 1930s to the present day, including vital figures Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Tina Turner, Betty Davis, Poly Styrene, Bad Brains and beyond. As well as reflecting on why Black people have continued to be drawn to alternative music despite their ongoing ostracization from it by the white mainstream industry, Phillips argues that there would be no alternative music without Black artists, and that its future lies in the hands of Gen Z Black musicians experimenting with the boundaries of what punk, metal, hardcore and indie could be.

‘An engaging, loving ode to the Black artists who’ve made life changing, genre bending music but were sidelined by racism and white rockstar narratives . . . A joyous, fascinating read and an absolute must have for every music fan, maker or history buff’
Kathleen Hanna

‘A true education. This should be compulsory reading for anyone wanting the origin story as it’s never been told before . . . She writes with integrity, authority and a real passion that is infectious’
Simon Raymonde

‘An entirely essential, thrillingly readable, discourse . . . Reads as a passionate dream of truthful acknowledgement and of communitarian alliance replete with joy, understanding and glorious noise.’
Thurston Moore

‘Stephanie Phillips has cracked open the ‘culture’ in this excellent book & let the light in’
Pauline Black

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