What it Meant, and Where it Went
I’m generally really wary about writing from the perspective of nostalgia, and talking about the “good old days.” It’s an easy trap to fall into, and it seems like an endless cycle of people expressing how their time spent in the punk/hardcore scene was the “real” scene, or was more significant or meaningful that it is today. Change is a reality of course, and the scene in the span of five years is never going to be exactly what it was five years previously. It probably shouldn’t be. I have often seen hardcore as a living entity, and it goes through cycles, grows and contracts over time. It should also be no secret that people’s perceptions change over time as well, and what may have once been completely new and exciting takes on a new appearance after time has passed, which is also natural. In addition, I think that the period when most people first become exposed to punk and hardcore is during a time in their lives which they are always going to have some nostalgic feelings, and it isn’t necessarily always related to involvement in the hardcore scene as much as it is of a feeling in that time of life when people are starting to cut some strings and become their own person.

With that said, at a certain point I really do feel like there was a massive shift in what hardcore as a scene is, and represents. I feel confident as one who has been involved both before, during and after this change that this is not merely the work of nostalgia on my part, or wishing for times that have passed.

What it Meant
With that in mind, the first question to ask is “what did it mean?” This is a difficult question to answer, but I think describing the atmosphere that existed prior to the 2000′s can help get a feeling for what it meant, at least to me, then.

What did it mean in a hardcore scene that was much smaller than today, where there were very few bands that ever did a national tour? What did it mean when there were only a handful of hardcore records being released in a year, and that were often fairly difficult to acquire? What did it mean that unless you lived in a decent sized city you might have a hard time finding new releases, or that most of your friends would order different records that everyone would transfer to cassette tape? What did it mean to have to try really hard to acquire a new release, or to hear about a new band? How can these things really be quantified?

It was a time when, in absence of the internet, there was no real “hardcore” monoculture. Every city and region seemed to have their own twist on what hardcore was, from how they dressed to how they danced, and even what their bands sounded like. At the same time, if you saw a hardcore kid out somewhere in your city, or even in another city you knew immediately that they shared some kind of bond with you, and you could always tell by looking that they were into the same thing you were. It was your tribe.

It was a time when the culture wasn’t truncated, and expressed itself through more than just the music. There was a vibrant written culture as well, and zine production and trading was rampant, and when it was rare for anyone to pay for advertising in zines. It was a time when people felt empowered to be involved, and when involvement was encouraged and even expected. It was a time when DIY ethics had a huge influence: it was about passion and expression, and for the most part there was no money to be made. It was a time when bands could get a lot of recognition and popularity even if they weren’t on what was considered a “big” label at the time. Even the few labels considered to be “big” at the time were probably run by a kid out of his basement, without a business plan, or a marketing budget. It was a time when there were major obstacles for bands to do what seem like minor things today such as getting contacts for a tour, or recording a demo. There were no booking agencies, there were no four-band package tours. It was a time when there was no other option to actually hold a recording in your hand before listening to it, it was inherent in the process.

And where it went?
First, I want to be clear that this is not to say that people aren’t still having the genuine “hardcore” experience now, or that the scene as it is inherently worth less than it was. I think a lot of that is a matter of perception, and even in a time when money plays a much larger role, and when bands tour frequently there are still plenty of bands, labels, and individuals that I feel are doing their best to keep a certain spirit of the hardcore scene alive that has more in common with the vitality that was seems to have been more prevalent in the past.

At the same time, the reality is that, in essence, what has changed is almost everything to one extent or another. The growth of the subculture led a few pioneering labels to start running as legitimate businesses, using the same strategies as major labels, on a smaller scale. Practices that were in many ways derided and scoffed at are now the norm in that respect. Money snuck it’s way in as an influence on the scene. It influenced what bands put out records, got signed, toured the most, and presented their concept of what hardcore is to the world.

Personal zines fell off, and were replaced by true magazines, with bigger production, paid advertising, and that formed relationships with labels based on the exchange of money rather than ideas, true interest, or passion.

“The internet” arrived in full force and rapidly changed almost every aspect of punk and hardcore, from the way people discovered bands, to the way individuals in the scene interacted – from personal to digital. In many ways it allowed “hardcore” to lose the context it had previously been a constant.

Technology has advanced to a point where almost any band can release some kind of recording fairly easily. Songs can be downloaded without what used to be the inherent context of packaging and lyrics. Like other forms of music, hardcore transitioned from something that was at one time inherently personal to a commodity, where the ideas and ideals are easily divided from the music that conveys them.

In sum, I really think that hardcore went from something which was at it’s best quite rare and precious, to something that is at it’s worst totally unremarkable and mundane.

Although it seems that everyone has their nostalgia about their personal peak period in the hardcore scene, the changes that have occurred more recently aren’t about how fast bands play, or if bands sound more “metal,” they are more fundamental changes to what the hardcore culture was and is, beyond that of a music preference or genre. It has effected the entire experience of what hardcore is, for good or for ill. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s not possible to put it back in.

Where are We Now?
The real question is where this leaves us, both those of us who are potentially new to what the best that hardcore has to offer, and those of us who experienced a time before so much of “what it meant” was lost. I think it would be naïve to think that things are ever going to return to how they were in the past, as much as we may miss certain aspects of the scene that existed in that time frame. There are a ton of hardcore bands out now, and without a doubt there are some that still capture what I would consider that spark of vitality. And yes the scene is full of bands, labels, venues and magazines that are more focused on making money or recognition, but at the same time I know there are still passionate people out there who want to communicate, who desperately want to express themselves, and who are alive with that essential spark that has always existed in the scene. It’s a matter of what each of us desires, the real or the fake, participation or spectacle.

If hardcore has become a consumers market, at least we still have the choice between consuming yet more decay or consuming life. It may still be harder to seek these others out, but I believe it remains the more fulfilling option by far.

The first of these demos was for ADVANCE, the band that made CR001 a reality. Although the demo came out prior to recording the Who Dares to Dream EP, there was still a demand, and I ended up selling quite a few along with my small distro of ‘zines, shirts and records.

The second of the cassette-only releases was for JACKHAMMER, which was also the first band I played in that actively played shows both in and out of state. Jackhammer in some ways followed in the footsteps of Integrity, and the vocalist of Jackhammer actually spent a lot of time with Integrity singer Dwid, who was living in an Indianapolis suburb at the time. Members of Jackhammer included John Baker (who Dwid dubbed “The Punisher”) on vocals, Clay Snyder (also a member of Split Lip) on guitar, and three of us who had been in a short-lived band called Face to Face; Andy Synder on drums, Ed Baun on guitar and myself on bass.

Though there was definitely some influence from Integrity, it was more of an influence to start a band with a more metal sound than it was to start a band that sounded just like Integrity (although there was a lot of that going around at the time). Honestly, I don’t really think that Jackhammer sounds much like Integrity, though we shared some influences like Slayer, Carcass, Dead Horse, Bolt Thrower, etc. The sound wasn’t what I was really into at the time (I wasn’t heavy into the metal bands of the time and I would have been happier sounding like Judge) but I was happy to be playing in a band with my friends.

At the time I was also getting more and more into hardcore that had strong messages (focusing on political issues, straight edge, and vegetarianism/veganism), and was constantly searching out any bands that fed this desire. Eventually this started being a problem, and even though up until the time I left the band it was still all straight edge members, I just wasn’t passionate about playing in a band without a message I thought was relevant.

I also had a little divergence with the other members in not wanting to list serial killers and mass murders in my thanks list on the demo layout, which everyone else thought was a good idea. Of course, it was just image and marketing, and we were going for a dark tone, but it just wasn’t my thing, and I would have probably preferred the image that relied more on X’s everywhere.

This was also my early start of learning the art of designing a release layout, and for Jackhammer I consistently stole the dark images from Warhammer 40k and WHFRP to use in both the demo and flyer designs. I think it was also around this time when the Catalyst logo started to develop into it’s current familiar shape, the genesis of that also came from Warhammer artwork (and a lot of free time working the 3rd shift at the Bloomington, IN Kinkos).

During the course of my time in Jackhammer we played a handful of shows in Indianapolis and Bloomington, as well as in Dayton (and possibly Columbus), and in Detroit, where we met up with the guys at Initial Records, laying the foundation for the Jackhammer EP to be one of their early releases.

I decided to quit the band shortly before we were scheduled to play the More Than Music festival in Dayton, OH, and shortly before the recording of the EP that was to be released by Detroit’s (and later Louisville’s) Initial Records.

Download the Jackhammer demo here:
Jackhammer - Existence Where the Heavens Fall – demo

Catalyst Records started out as Catalyst fanzine, there were a grand total of three issues published and a fourth planned that never saw the light of day.  I’ve uploaded a PDF of the third installment here, and I’m planning on including the first two in the future as well. The issue featured two band interviews, one with Mouthpiece who was about to release their first full-length, and Split Lip, who were friends of mine, and quite popular at the time, right before the release of their LP For Love of the Wounded.
I chose to start with #3 because it was the pinnacle of my zine-making skills at the time, relying on a third shift job at Kinko’s, and a lot of cut and paste.  I took a lot of influence from zines like No Answers, Conviction, and Indecision (as well as some from the Chicago area like Stormtrooper zine and Persist).    At the time I remember being particularly proud of the Mouthpiece interview and accompanying layout, including the center fold two page spread.

Also of note is that I think this may have been one of the first appearances of the then new Catalyst logo, drawn up for me by another Kinko’s employee, Guav, who was a cornerstone of the Syracuse hc scene at the time.  Another piece of his art also appears later in the zine as well.

The only edit I’ve made is to remove the last page, which consisted of two half-page catalyst advertisements, one for the then upcoming Day of Suffering CD and the other for a compilation to benefit the Animal Defense League, which eventually turned into The Path of Compassion CD.  I left all of the other advertisements in place, and all of which were in the zine free of charge, and tended to be traded back and forth between people putting out fanzines.

I know it’s a tired line, but I think most people who remember will agree that the comparative lack of zine’s in the current hc scene is quite a loss.  I realize (obviously) that it’s a digital age, but there is value in the analog form that seems to be missing a lot of the time.  In addition, I always loved reading what the bands I was listening to had to say about a variety of topics, either expanding on their lyrics, or on other issues.

I’ll also add that with hindsight and distance I could have probably done a better job with some of the interviewing here, especially in regards to the Split Lip interview.  It’s not necessarily that my personal opinions have changed a great deal on some of the issues involved, but that I could have expressed them better, or just accepted that everyone didn’t have the same dedication to DIY hardcore that I did, and that it was futile to expect them to.

With all of that said, download, share and read on.

I don’t think my response has been posted yet, but the article being referenced, and my friend (and former Risen bassist) Alan’s critique is here.

My counter point:

In a perfect world, ruled by both compassion and rational thought, the unadulterated abolitionist approach would be a great benefit for the animals in the food industry system. I will agree that the end goal is one of total liberation, not merely welfare in the form of bigger cages and more “humane” methods of torture and killing.

Unfortunately, this is not the reality animal advocates live in. It is a tactical mistake, as well as a disservice to the non-human animals enslaved and killed for human use to confine the tools to achieve the stated end-goal to those that conform to the “line in the sand” of the pure abolitionist stance. The reality is that the “all or nothing” abolitionist approach translates to “nothing” for the animals currently in the food industry system, now, and into the indefinite future.

The realities are these: as human population increases, and as more nations are moving into a more “western” style economic system the consumption of animal products has increased per capita steadily over the last 60 years. There is no rational reason to think that this will decrease in the near future. In addition, both the increasing demand and constant human population growth is ensuring a higher percentage of animals in the food system will be in factory farm environments. Of course, there are small movements away from these practices, but as a total part of the market, and as a share of the animals currently used for human consumption they are fairly infantesimal. The reality is that there will continue to be billions of animals exploited by humans for a long time to come. With this in mind what should the role of the animal activist/advocate be?

The loyalty that the animal advocate/activist should feel is not toward one monolithic end-goal as a means unto itself. To frame the struggle in this way so removes one very real component from the equation, which is that the goal should always revolve around reducing the unnecessary suffering of non-human animals at human hands.  Activists who are unwilling to budge from the strict abolitionist approach (by constantly denying the validity of any “welfarist” move) are forgetting that there are currently billions of non-human animals suffering in the the system of exploitation, and that there are steps that can be taken (that admittedly fall short of the accepted end-goal) that will significantly reduce the amount of suffering of individual beings currently being exploited.

Continually deriding and rejecting these (admittedly) small measures as “not enough” only ensures that the suffering of those currently in the system will be maximized instead of minimized. Are they optimal solutions? No, but to one IN a cage, a bigger cage is still better than a smaller cage. A less painful death is still better than a more painful death for those fated to be slaughtered. Keeping your beak instead of being mutilated is still better for a battery hen. An hour in the sunlight is better than 24 hours of confinement and darkness for one confined. And less needless suffering is still better than more.

To navigate the best approach, as individuals working towards a world with less unnecessary suffering, it is necessary to acknowledge certain realities, to understand the possibilities, and do what we can to work to make the lives of non-human animals better in any way possible. This may indeed include endorsing or accepting many tactics that are less than perfect, that may seem insignificant to many animal advocates, but which will have a significant impact on the daily lives and levels of suffering of literally billions of non-human animals. A bigger cage is not liberation, true, but a bigger cage is at least a step towards reducing suffering of the animals in question by some degree at the very least. At most it is a small step of progress towards a more humane world that does not rely upon the exploitation of non-human animals. And in the real world, small steps are what are available.  To pretend that progress in this area will not come in small steps is nothing less than delusional.

The point is not to accomplish what leaves a better taste in the mouth of animal activists, but to do what can be done to reduce the suffering of those exploited. Belittling small progress to reduce suffering is more to the benefit of  idealistic activists than it is to the animals who are suffering.

The fact that an improvement in the welfare of the exploited may also make more money for the exploiter is irrelevant. The other option is to support or implicitly condone more cruel and inhumane practices in their place, based on the rationale that it will profit the producers less. Hoping for an end to animal exploitation in the next five, ten, twenty, or one hundred years is not a realistic, or rational option. This should be clear, and goals and tactics of those seeking to reduce exploitation and suffering should recognize it.

This is not to say that the end-goal of total liberation and an end to injustice and exploitation should not remain intact, it should without a doubt. But this end-goal and the small “welfarist” steps to improve the lives of those exploited by even the smallest amounts are not mutually exclusive.   Welfarist progress should not be shunned or disregarded along the way just so activists can feel better about taking an uncompromising approach. Maintaining an unbending and unrelenting abolitionist stance, eschewing any progress less than the unrealistic ideal of total liberation is akin to doing nothing. It definitely does nothing for those currently suffering, and for those billions who are guaranteed to be suffering in the future.

On to the heart of the matter…

The Source: Minor Threat
We can (or should) all agree that the primary source for the straight edge association with sex comes from a song by Minor Threat, who also (to a great degree) created the and initially spread the straight edge ideology.  Other early (though still later) bands touched on the issue, but none in as direct a fashion as Minor Threat.

“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t fuck, at least I can fucking think”
- Minor Threat – Out of Step

The Problem:
The song Out of Step never once mentions straight edge in the lyrics, yet this is where part of the straight edge community has rallied around for an explanation of where the connection with sex originates.  On the other hand, the actual song Straight Edge only talks about drug use, and doesn’t mention sexuality at all.  It presents drug use as something unneeded, and promotes “staying in touch” – maintaining mental clarity.  If any song lyrics should be taken as the basis for the straight edge ideology, then it should be the song of the same name. It should not be a song which makes no mention of it at all.

The Ambiguity of Out of Step and Hypocritical Interpretation:
Even if we assume that the song Out of Step is referring to straight edge, and what it is to be straight edge, the interpretation of those lyrics has been consistently hypocritical and irrational when it comes to the part about sex. The most common interpretation of the lyrics regarding sex is a message of “anti-promiscuity” – which is problematic on its own, because, of course, it is totally open to individual interpretation.  It is also problematic because the line “I don’t fuck” is the only one out of the three that is interpreted figuratively instead of literally.

Celibacy, not anti-promiscuity
If  (and I’m not saying we should) we as a community are going to use the lyrics from Out of Step as a basis on what is and is not straight edge (including those three words pertaining to sexuality),  then rationally,  we should apply all of the each of the directives in the same way.

To put it another way:
Why is it that I don’t smoke is interpreted as “I never smoke cigarettes,” and I don’t drink is interpreted as “I never drink alcohol,” but, I don’t fuck has come to mean “I might sometimes have sex in certain contexts?”

For the sake of clarity and consistency, the same principle should apply to all three points in the song equally, instead of having a different interpretation for one.

Conversely, if we are allowing such an interpretation of one of those statements, then we should allow it for all three, possibly taking the author’s own perspective into account. Ian MacKaye himself mentioned numerous times that the point was to not let anything control your thinking, and that he merely used those three as examples.   He could also have been talking about (in his own example) “playing golf.”

If, as some claim, straight edge does involve human sexuality, and we are taking our meaning from that song, then people who are straight edge should either completely abstain from sex (as they abstain completely from alcohol and nicotine), OR they should be open to a less stringent “straight edge” that allows adherents to drink or smoke, but not to over-indulge to the point where it becomes an obsession and controls their thinking/lives. IF sex is prohibited depending upon context, then the same should apply to the other keystones of the belief.

The word “fuck” has been defined (self-servingly) to mean promiscuity, and not sexual intercourse. But even so, what defines promiscuity? Which acts are permitted and which are not? Who is to say if a relationship is going to be long term or “committed”? In reality, it’s entirely possible to be in a relationship with someone for a year without any sexual interaction, to then have sex and break up a day later.

In addition IF we use this as a basis, and straight edge is also anti-promiscuity, then straight edge should also be expanded to include other obsessive behaviors, gambling, video games, etc, and we should see straight edge shirts with big bold letters proclaiming “GAMBLING FREE”.

To be clear:
I’m definitely NOT saying that this is where our definition should come from.  It is irrational to frame things the way they have been framed (fairly hypocritically) in the straight edge community. The current stance on sexuality has more to do with middle-class Christian values and (repressive) ideas of sexuality and purity than it does with the basic principles of what straight edge is.

The whole idea that straight edge somehow deals with such a nuanced realm as human sexuality should be dropped entirely. Not because I am some huge fan of out of control (and possibly unhealthy), obsessive sexuality, but because straight edge is about maintaining mental clarity at base, and has no rational connection to sex.  Sex is (well, in the best case scenario) a natural and healthy part of the human experience.  All humans are naturally sexual beings, and sexuality is a very important part of human life.

In Summary:
- There is no “third X”.
- There is no basis to believe that straight edge should have anything to do with human sexuality.
- And if it DOES have something to do with sex, then people are being completely dishonest in their practice of the principle.

It had only been a year earlier that I made it to my first out of town show: seeing Ray Cappo’s new band Shelter in Louisville, KY.   In the year since then there had been a growing MidWest scene, with a lot of interchange between the Indianapolis scene and the scenes in Ohio (Cinci, Dayton, Columbus, and Toledo), and especially the Louisville scene.  One big product of this was the development of a “MidWest” sound, pioneered by bands like Majority of One and Endpoint, and taken up by many more like local favorite Split Lip.

At the same time small scenes started popping up around the state, outside of  Indianapolis, and one of these was in Lafayette, a college town about an hour North of Indianapolis, on the way to Chicago.  This is where ADVANCE got their start.

ADVANCE
I think I first saw ADVANCE play in Bloomington at a super small DIY punk club, along with Toledo’s Majority of One (featuring Dirk the founder of Doghouse Records, future Midwest powerhouse label).  I remember that they played quite a few covers that night, enough that it seemed like they played mostly covers, usually from the heavy hitters of the previous “generation” of hardcore, I think they did songs from Bold, Youth of Today, and possibly Gorilla Biscuits and Insted.   They were really clean-cut and had the total “posi” look at that time, which was pretty common in the MidWest.

Soon after I also got their demo, which was pretty solid, and in the vein of much of the popular hardcore bands coming out of the area at the time: mid-tempo, and slightly melodic, with shouted, but not screamed vocals.

I also remember a lot of the hardcore kids in Indianapolis not taking ADVANCE too seriously, since they were the small town outsiders and not a part of the in-crowd.  It didn’t help that t hey showed up to the area where we all hung out one weekend wearing matching ADVANCE baseball jerseys.  Seems kind of silly now, but to put it in perspective, many of the Indianapolis straight edge kids wore black flight jackets, and it wasn’t uncommon for each scene to have its own dress code.

At this point I had done a couple of issues of  Catalyst zine, which went well, and I just had it in my mind that I wanted to start putting out records as well.  It was such an awesome time, if only because there was a true DIY spirit floating around.  I knew I wanted to put out a record, and it seemed totally possible – I just needed to find a band to work with for the first release.  Honestly, I would have preferred to work with Split Lip, who were friends of mine, and who I saw regularly.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards, both because they went on to do releases with the already established Doghouse Records (who was working with numerous MidWestern bands), and because I don’t think they took me that seriously either.

So on the merits of being straight edge, good guys, and their solid demo release I got together with ADVANCE and started planning the first release on Catalyst Records.

All in all the process was pretty easy, even for a first-time venture.  I had some information about getting records pressed through a punk/ hardcore email list I was on at the time, and had the records pressed through United Record Pressing, in Nashville.

I remember being not so into the cover artwork that the band wanted, and honestly, the songs on the EP were a departure from the demo as well,  following the trend of Endpoint and Split Lip and being more melodic than the earlier material, with more singing than yelling, and general with less of a traditional hardcore sound.  Such is life.

The EP ended up coming out with 100 burgundy color and 400 black vinyl.  There were three different covers, a temporary cover I made with a live photo on the front on a blue-gray color paper, a black and white temporary cover with the band’s cover art as a negative image, and the “official” printed cover with the band’s cover art (a sun motif) on ivory colored stock and burgundy/red print.

Advance didn’t end up being very prolific, or influential in their own right, and the band split up within a year of the EP being released.  Members did go on to do bigger and better things, including being a part of other later bands such as Scab (multiple Advance members), Endpoint, Tramlaw, Metroschifter, and Falling Forward (all involving Pat M.).

Download
ADVANCE – Who Dares to Dream EP