In my 20+ years in hardcore, I’ve realized that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sure, maybe this year Vans are in and Air Max are out. Swoopy myspace hair is out, Macklemore fades and long greasy metal hair are in– but hardcore kids are still hardcore kids. Their outfits change, they jock a different set of crappy washed up old bands, but the basic DNA of the hardcore scene stays the same. And what I’ve realized is that at end of the day, there are basically only THREE kinds of hardcore kids… which are you?!
Example: Harley Flanagan from CRO-MAGS
SCUMBAG
The heart and soul of Real Hardcore is the scumbags. When I say “scumbag,” I don’t mean that they are assholes or bad people. In fact, oftentimes these are some of the nicest, friendliest people you’ll ever meet. I just mean that they are marginal people, who would be dead, in jail, or institutionalized if they didn’t have the structure that hardcore provides. They are into hardcore because it’s better than jail or rehab.
Although there are less and less of these people with every new generation of hardcore (thank god), the fact of the matter is that they are a key ingredient of the hxc ecosystem. I mean, for someone to be willing to essentially live like a drifter, living in a van with 3 or 4 other alcoholics, traveling around the country making $50 a night on a good day kind of requires that their other options are limited. “Hm…. I’m 26, what should I do with my life? Answer the phone at a tattoo shop? Barback at some shithole so I can sell blow out of the back room? Join the army?” When that’s your range of options, playing bass in TERROR for 1.5 tours starts to sound pretty appealing!
I have a soft spot for scumbags, because I come from a long line of them (most of my family has been in prison and/or a drug addict, and a handful of them are dead from OD, murder, or suicide) and I get where they are coming from. I bust their balls, but I like and respect them. They’re not bad people.
And then we have all the dumb little crew kids who think it’s cool to dress up like scumbags… enough said.
Example: Thanos Reignz from THE EMMURES
WEIRDO
These are the kids who don’t really fit in anywhere else, and end up in hardcore sort of by default. They are into hardcore because they can make weird music/art and people will tolerate it (and sometimes even like it!). Think of this category as kids who were too angry for the Monty Python/drama club crew, too smart for the loser stoner crowd, so they ended up spending a lot of time alone making weird shit (*cough* oh god how i know this feel *cough*)
I’d say the majority of people in good bands fit into this category– they’re usually really ADD space cadets who are pretty much just gonna do what they’re gonna do whether anybody likes it or not. In stark contrast to the people who loudly proclaim that they ‘dont give a fuck what u think’ but in fact give lots of fucks about what you think, these are the guys who sincerely do not give a fuck and that’s what makes them super weird people but also brilliant, innovative creators who set the trends that everybody else follows– Big Chocolate, Kurt Ballou and Todd Jones are three great examples of this.
Example: Kelen from THE STORY SO FAR
RELATIVELY NORMAL PERSON WHO SOMEHOW FOUND OUT ABOUT WEIRD MUSIC
No idea how people like this get into hardcore but they don’t stay for long because, well, why would a normal person stay involved in hardcore? Where do they come from?? How do they even find out about this shit?????? The mind is bottled. I know Kelen from TSSF pretty well and I can promise you that he has much, much better options than playing music for chubby girls with low self-esteem. I can also promise you that he is a genuinely cool, smart, nice guy who will grow up to have a great life as an unremarkable middle-class dad. Jelly :(
I wish I was one of the normals but the truth is I’m a weirdo :( Although I’ve definitely noticed that I tend to be attracted to people in the “relatively normal, good guys” camp like Ray Harkins and the Toontrack guys. What about you?? What type of hardcore kid are you???
