As a kid, hardcore was an outlet for my anger, a common ground to displace my animosity and discover exciting, and rather intimidating, forms of expression. I found my thirst for knowledge from this scene, and I have also seen my entire life fall apart (this is, in part, due to my own unreasonable and rather disgusting actions when I was younger). My mind unraveled itself, started questioning the validity of all things, gleaning information like a sponge; it also built a wall.
And that is really the focus of this first post: do the social norms and gender roles inflicted by hardcore on its devout population allow said people to flourish, or does it create a hindrance?
I shall divulge into my own opinion here: in truth, I have seen such a hindrance. People just seem to get caught up in their own Hardcore Hierarchy of Needs whether it be paper/internet zines, amassing a sizable record collection, finally winning that bid for an old X Watch, or even just treating younger kids like shit because they haven't "been around." And I'm sure you have seen it too.
Somewhere along the line, our small society has lost sight of the pure and essential elements which need to be present. At the recent Have Heart show in Houston, Patrick Flynn said something to the effect of this: Hardcore used to be a lot bigger (and I'm positive he said this with much more eloquence than I'll ever be able to) - Hardcore used to be rampant. JD from Shipwreck has spoken on it to. So, what happened? Kids in the motherfuckin' desert (hyperbole) used to be influenced by this, but now, when a decent and thought-provoking band books a show in one of the biggest cities in America, how many people show up? - At most, 100 paying customers.
So what happened? Over the last twenty years, what took Hardcore from this powerful, locomotive entity to a dying breed? Sure, we go to shows, we pay, some mosh, some buy merch, but are we doing anything? Are we REALLY saying something? It's to the point where I'm embarrassed to expel my weekend plans to a coworker because that something, that thing I used to be so proud of, I now doubt it; it's almost stopped "pounding in my heart."
Now all that up there, it's just word vomit, mostly. Unconnected thoughts with more explanation than you would care to read. But I know, looking at the faces around me at a show, that I'm not Alone in this Crowd - everyone wants it to live, to grow. And if that's the case, we need to tend to it. I guess what I'm probing at is that I want people to get angry again. I want someone to stand up and fucking say something, to question the order of things. I want to see a vigor and a fighting spirit that I can feel in the distance. If you want to keep something alive, then stop killing it.
"No more scene, no more unity - SCHISM REIGNS.
What the fuck happened to what we said?
Was it some idiotic game we fucking played?
It wasn't a game to me!
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?"
Please direct all questions, comments, concerns and angry or otherwise vicious diatribes to the following e-mail: schismreigns@gmail.com. Also, I encourage such responses and will base further entries off of said material. Thank you!
