Kyaw Kyaw's parents worried that he had become a drug addict and his neighbours thought he had gone mad.
The 26-year-old Burmese youth dyed his hair blue, covered his body in tattoos and started wearing heavy black boots, studded leather jackets and Anarchist t-shirts.
In a country where most men still wear traditional dresses, dressing punk style is an act of rebellion.
But for Kyaw Kyaw and his friends, punk is much more than a fashion statement: it's their way of fighting back against the military-backed government, which has embarked on a series of reforms since elections in November 2010.
Rebecca Henschke spent a night with the band.
We're in the kitchen of Rebel Riot's one-bedroom base camp.
It's nearly midnight: a risky time to be playing punk music.
Kyaw Kyaw tells the others to put more sheets over the metal drums and cymbals to muffle the sound - they don't want to attract too much attention.
Also known as Burma, the country is rapidly changing and old censorship laws have been relaxed but no-one is sure where the new boundaries are and what might land you in prison.
Rebel Riot's base camp is located in a suburban area of Rangoon.
Fourteen people live here communally.
The walls are covered with drawings of punk concerts: singers with mohawk hairdos screaming into a microphone in front of a wild crowd.
This is an anti-war, anti-religious track.
Some of their other lyrics read … "No fear! No indecision! Rage against the system of the oppressors!" "Resistance!".
On the wall, Kyaw Lyaw points out a picture of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi next to the Russian punk band Pussy Riot.
"Aung San Suu and punk! So Pussy Riot also a punk music band. You know Pussy Riot? from Russia? They arrest Pussy Riot and Aung San Suu said please free them. So we are very happy because Aung San Suu Kyi thinking about punk! We very surprised after the reading the news and we are very very thank-you Aung San Suu Kyi."
While Burma's opposition leader might be thinking about punk, the general public is not.
Kyaw Kyaw estimates there are only 200 punks in Rangoon.
When they moved into this area, their neighbours were not impressed.
"Very different society because our society has many traditional rules. They think we are crazy. We are mad. No good craziness, so they think. So they don't understand what we are."
When Kyaw Kyaw heard punk rock for the first time, his life changed forever.
And he understood that it was through music that he would fight for change in society.
"Since I was young I wanted to be a radical person. I found out that punk is radical music and completely opposite to traditional Burmese culture."
"Why do you think you always wanted to be a rebellious person, where did that idea come from?"
"Punk! Since I was in school I wanted to change the style of society. I didn't like the way people were lying to each other and I didn't like the corruption and misuse of of money. I noticed that when I was young and I didn't like it. I want to change the style of society and I chose punk in order to do that."
"What was the first punk music that you heard?"
"Sex Pistols. My first band was Sex Pistols… I heard the song Anarchy in the UK."
"How did you hear it, on the radio or a CD?"
"I found a DVD on the streets and I was really happy…like a lottery win!".
But Kyaw Kyaw's family didn't approve of his taste.
His mother is a housewife and his father a police officer.
"He's a policeman but he doesn't like the government. he doesn't want to support the government but he had no choice, no chance."
At first, Kyaw Kyaw says his father was very shocked about his punk lifestyle but after he explained he's working to improve society, his father understood and now they often discuss politics.
"Sometimes we have the same view - what I want is what he wants."
"And now he's proud of you?"
"Not really proud! Because he always worries. Sometimes I go to demonstrations in the street and here, demonstrations can be very dangerous."
Kyaw Kyaw founded Rebel Riot in 2007 when the military junta cracked down on the so-called Saffron revolution launched by Buddhist monks.
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators were arrested then and soldiers were ordered to shoot upon their own people.
He's not impressed by the country'srecent transfer of power to a civilian government after almost five decades of military rule, becasue he says the new government is mostly made up of members of the former ruling junta.
"Firstly democracy is equal to capitalism. Also the Change we are having is just a change in words, not a real change. The gap between the rich and poor is widening and there is much to do on this front and I don't think the name changes at the government level are doing anything about this."
They also spread their political views through clothes sold at their street stall.
The sign above the shop says 'Resist, D.I.Y do it yourself or die, no masters, no gods'.
The stall is directly opposite the central police station.
Some nights after they packed up the shop they hand out food parcels to homeless people.
"Every day they are hungry so we are thinking what can we share? We just say this is for your dinner."
"What do they think of these punk people giving them food?"
"No, they don't care what we are. They say, 'thank-you we are very hungry.' They don't care what we look like they just hungry."
"And how to do guys survive - how do you make enough money to eat?"
"We invite and share from our shop income but sometimes we have nothing to eat - so we are hungry sometimes. We not enough money sometimes."
Kyaw Kyaw says his parents often check on him and bring him food parcels telling him to eat more because he is too thin.
They also worry about him getting bitten by mosquitoes at the stall at night, he says.
He says, they love me very much.
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