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What does straight-edge mean?

    Straight Edge is a more philosophical offshoot of the punk movement, a
    The basic tenet of the philosophy centres around the issue of
    self-control. The goal is to regain as much personal control over your
    own life as possible. sXe is the only youth counter-culture to actively
    discourage drug use, alcohol use, and casual sex.

    Straight edge is a lifestyle centred around personal development and
    well being, while encouraging fun and togetherness. sXe is not just
    about  being into contemporary punk music acts and being against drugs.
    It goes deeper than this. The movement wishes to attract people away
    from dependancy lifestyles centred around drug habits (legal or
    illegal) and unhealthy and exploitative eating and general living
    habits common in modern cultures. sXe is not dogmatic, there are no
    hard rules, these are for you to decide. Nobody should dictate like
    the police, or preach an ideology like the church or state.

Where does the name straight-edge come from?

    According to legend, the drummer for Minor Threat [Jeff Nelson], one of
    the first bands to preach the "stay punk, stay clean" ethos, …was
    drawing a poster for a show using a wood ruler. He commented to his
    bandmates that the ruler’s straight edge was a metaphor for their
    lifestyle.

        Straight Edge
        by Minor Threat, 1981

        I’m a person just like you
        But I’ve got better things to do
        Than sit around and fuck my head
        Hang out with the living dead
        Snort white shit up my nose
        Pass out at the shows
        I don’t even think about speed
        That’s something I just don’t need

        I’ve got the straight edge

        I’m a person just like you
        But I’ve got better things to do
        Than sit around and smoke dope
        ‘Cause I know I can cope
        Laugh at the thought of eating ludes
        Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
        Always gonna keep in touch
        Never want to use a crutch

        I’ve got the straight edge

What’s with the Xs?

    A common practice at all-ages punk shows was to mark minors with an "X"
    on their hands so they couldn’t buy alcohol. As the straight-edge
    philosophy grew popular, punkers who were older than 18 but didn’t
    drink for ideological reasons started to mark themselves with the X in
    a show of solidarity.

 

Is straight-edge a religion?

     No. Although sXe embraces some of the moral values held by most major
    religions, sXe’ers don’t necessarily believe in a God. There is no
    organised church or worship service. However, some sXe’ers are members
    of organised churches, temples or mosques where they feel that the sXe
    beliefs fit in.

Why do kids get into straight-edge?

    Some common reasons people decide to become sXe include: 1. wanting to
    control their own lives 2. seeing what damage drugs can do to others
    3. being raised in an alcoholic family 4. identifying with the sXe
    values and 5. being with people who have the same values.

   Ruth Horner said "There’s just such a TREMENDOUS social pressure to
    drink, do drugs, and so on. Society says ‘just say no’ but what does it
    matter, once you turn 21? Or at least become an adult. Then it’s just
    an accepted form of ‘recreation.’ By then it has become an accepted
    ‘addiction’ as well. Look at how prevalent alcohol and tobacco and
    negative sexuality are in the media, not just commercials. it’s a big
    part of our culture, particularly youth culture. Where does it end you
    up?

    "That’s right. No where fast. I just don’t understand. From what I have
    heard, hangovers suck. Watching your life fall apart sucks. It’s just
    not fair o yourself, or anyone else around you that loves you to take
    such a risk and purposely deny yourself the privilege of being healthy.
    Health isn’t a privilege, it’s a given. It doesn’t FEEL good to have
    hangovers.  It doesn’t FEEL good to OD. It doesn’t FEEL good to go
    through withdrawal and it most certainly doesn’t FEEL good to have
    AIDS! So why don’t today’s youth learn from example? I did. A lot of
    others out there have too. But for some reason, the ignorant are still
    out there.

    "You just have to learn to stand strong against it all. Stay true to
    yourself. Find alternatives. Personally I find that I get a high from
    going to hows. Just the ROAR of the guitar, and the RUSH of the drums
    feeling he sweat drip from my face, being squashed by the others around
    me. I find THAT exciting!!

    "I don’t think I’m any better than anyone else, I just think I’m being
    smart. And if you have a problem with that then tough."

How do I join the straight-edge?

    You don’t join straight-edge, you become straight-edge. To do that you
    just get involved in the scene and start thinking for yourself.

    The idea is to closely examine your own life, identify what factors
    influence your thoughts and behaviours, assess what impact they are
    having on your life and rid yourself of those factors which you deem to
    have a negative impact on your life.

What about the music?

    Straight-edge grew out of the hardcore/punk scene and the music plays
    an important role. The music is fast, powerful, with angry and
    thoughtful lyrics. It forms a a vital outlet for rage and sadness
    against abusive and/or dysfunctional political, societal and family
    structures.

What is hardcore?

     "Hardcore is the style that began in the early 80s, often applied to
    bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Sick of It All, Bad Brains,
    Rollins Band, Fugazi, etc.–sort of "2nd wave" punk bands.  They were
    sloppy punk bands that played with more intensity and heaviness than
    earlier ones like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, etc.  Today’s hardcore
    bands are tighter and much heavier, and can be divided into two general
    types (usually called East Coast or West Coast, for where the band is,
    but it’s not always consistent).  The first type are smoother, with
    heavy grooves that flow, with a vocalist that sings (or at least tries
    to) or shouts.  The second type is heavier, with tight, stop-and-go
    rhythms and harsh vocals that are a cross between shouts and low
    screams."

    hopefully with the current popularity of punk rock more kids
    will discover that the world ain’t exactly a great place, and work for
    positive change despite the many evil forces in this world. And that is
    the best definition of hardcore I can imagine."

Why are there so many rules?

    Straight-edge isn’t about rules. It’s a philosophy about being in
    control of your own actions and making decisions for yourself. As a
    result you’ll choose not to smoke, drink, sleep around, eat meat but
    these choices may be different to different people. The hallmarks of
    straight-edge remain hardcore/punk music and don’t smoke, don’t drink,
    don’t fuck.

Is straight-edge about politics?

    Although sXe is not inherently political, politics are a logical
    extension of an sXe lifestyle. Once you have regained control over your
    life, the desire to help others and to make a positive contribution to
    your culture, society, community by addressing issues of social justice
    is a very natural thing to do. Many sXe’ers join organisations like
    Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and SADD (Students Against Drunk
    Drivers). They also encourage friends to give up drugs, alcohol, and
    smoking.

Do I have to be vegan/vegetarian to be straight-edge?

    "vegetarianism is not part of sxe, only a natural progression."

    Veganism has little to do with sXe pure life ideals. People generally
    aren’t addicted to animal products. But it seems logical to look at
    everything you put into your body once you start examining external
    factors, and so many sXe folk logically choose to adopt a vegan life.
 
    A vegan excludes animal flesh (meat, poultry, fish and seafood),
    animal products (eggs and dairy), and usually excludes honey and the
    wearing and use of animal products (leather, silk, wool, lanolin,
    gelatin…). The major vegan societies all disallow honey, but some
    "vegans" still use it. Some "vegans" also refuse to eat yeast
    products.

Can I take medications if I’m straight-edge?

    Some kids say you shouldn’t take any drugs. "Straight Edger’s exclude
    all forms of drugs from their lives, including alcohol, cigarettes,
    illegal drugs and often other drugs such as aspirin. Most sXe’ers don’t
    even "use" caffeine."

    However, it would be stupid not to take medications for serious
    illnesses. How can you take control of your life if you’re delirious
    or dead!

How much does pro-life feature in sXe?

    This is quite a heated topic as you can imagine.  I’ll take the
    liberty to define some of the terms since there is a lot of different
    meanings being used - I’ll take the obvious ones.  Pro-life is the
    belief that life (especially human) is always valuable and should be
    supported and defended.  It is not however anti-choice, just like
    pro-choice is not anti-life.  Pro-choice is the belief that people
    should be able to make life choices by themselves, and in particular
    whether they choose to have an abortion performed on their unborn
    child.

    Given the definitions above most who’ve got the straight-edge are
    pro-life and pro-choice.  That is, they will take responsibility for
    their actions (which is the reason for being straight) and will not
    take the easy option of aborting an unexpected child.  However, they
    will not presume to force the same ethic on others.

    Those who are hardline will also be anti-choice.

All my friends drink, does this mean I have to find new friends?

    No! Be a good influence for them. You can be a better friend by
    being straight.

 

What is hardline straight-edge?

    "Hardline is a very specific political eco-defense movement that
    believes they have the one truth of natural living, including
    abstinence from drugs, veganism, and pro-life beliefs.  They also claim
    to believe in direct action, but it remains to be seen if they’ll do
    anything."

    From the Hardline Creed:
    "The time has come for an ideology and for a movement, that is both
    physically and morally strong enough, to do battle against the forces
    of evil that are destroying the earth (and all life upon it). …

    "That ideology, that movement, is Hardline. A belief system, and a way
    of life that lives by one ethos - that all innocent life is sacred, and
    must have the right to live out it’s natural state of existance in
    peace, without interference. … Any action that does interfere with
    such rights shall not be considered a "right" in itself, and therefore
    shall not be tolerated. Those who hurt or destroy life around them, or
    create a situation in which that life or the quality of it is
    threatened shall from then on no longer be considered innocent life,
    and in turn will no longer have rights.

    "Adherents to the hardline will abide by these proncilpes in daily
    life. They shall live at one with the laws of nature, and shall not
    forsake them for the desire of pleasure - from deviant sexual acts
    and/or abortion, to drug use of any kind (and all other cases where
    one harms all life around them under the pretext that they are just
    harming themselves). And, in following with the belief that one shall
    not infringe on an innocent’s life - no animal product shall be
    consumed (be it flesh, milk or egg). Along with this purity of
    everyday life, the true hardliner must strive to liberate the rest of
    the world from it’s chains - saving lives in some cases, and in others,
    dealing out justice to those guilty of destoying it."

EMO

Emotional-punk music’s history is highly debatable, both because bands that have been part of the "emo" movement shun the term and try to distance themselves and because there is no clear-cut beginning to or emergence of the movement itself.

Most emo-privy people mark the emergence of the genre as being in 1984, when the band Rites of Spring began playing in

Washington

,

D.C.

In a surprising deviation from standard punk music, the RoS lead singer produced heavily emotion-laden lyrics, dangerously exposing himself and his personal feelings in each song. There was no precedent for this sort of direct vulnerability, with the closest comparable exposure being country/western music, in which singers lamented about dying dogs and insufferable in-laws. However, emo made the pain even more personal, as the singers exposed not those around them but themselves through their heart-wrenching tales of woe.

With the incorporation of Rites of Spring into the

Washington

,

D.C.

underground scene, emo became acceptable, and copycats followed. The next band to make a substantial impact through emo was Moss Icon, who combined Rites of Spring’s lyrical heartbreak with traditional punk’s energy, drawing new, excited audiences with its adopted intensity. As the music began to reach more and more people, the movement grew, and emotional-punk music began to spawn its own subculture in the early 1990s.

By the late ’90s, the American teen’s appetite for hardcore had somewhat subsided, replaced by a craving for semi-commercialized punk pop. The emo movement turned away from its hardcore roots and began to incorporate twinkling guitar or piano riffs, and melodies became more heavily emphasized as the music moved away from its "screamo" past. The music during the 1990s became more mainstream than ever, and by the millenium arguably "emo" bands were garnering regular rotation on MTV and radio stations nationwide.

Since emo emerged from the underground and came into the national spotlight, it has become more and more indistinguishable from its punk-pop counterpart, which is what has become of the original punk movement that spawned the emotional-punk subgenre. Modern pop is currently shying away from the boy bands and dance divas of the late ’90s and early millenium, instead steadily moving toward more of a punk sound and overall culture. As these two (sub)genres overlap and reintegrate, a new underground will emerge as "hardcore" followers shun the commercialization of their movement.

More EMO stuff:

The Emo genre and subculture has become something that is very hard to define. Because of this it is difficult to trace its ancestry. Most people who claim to be “in the know” cite the D.C. hardcore/punk scene and more specifically the band Rites Of Spring as the founders of emo. However, history has shown that it is rash to attribute the formation of a musical genre to one band. By looking at the musical scenes of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s we can better determine the roots and influences that started and continue to affect the emo genre and subculture.

Before one can understand where “emo” comes from one must first understand what it is today. “I prefer to think of it [emo] as punk rock that’s more melodic and introspective/depressing than hardcore, but still tapping into that primal energy and anger” (DeRogatis 1). This style of music has spawned a subculture of and scene that has been continually growing since the early nineties. Most of the kids look like nerds; wear dark rimmed glasses, chuck

taylor

high tops, and thrift store clothes. It is pretty easy to stereotype an “emo” kid, which is ironic because no can seem to define “emo” music.

The best way to describe “emo” music is by soft arpeggiated guitars overtop soft airy vocals that build up and release into an orchestra of heavy distorted guitars and then brought back down to the original quiet part. Emo lyrics are generally very poetic and range from topics of lost love to religious beliefs or other emotional subjects. Yet “emo” covers a wide variety of bands these days, from the soft melodic pines of American Football to the hard driving sounds of At the Drive In. How can a genre so large be traced to anything?

The problem is that what one person defines as “emo” is not to the next, it all depends on your point of view. Jason Gnewikow from The Promise Ring states it well, “ I could validate the point that we are an emo band, and I could also go on the other side and invalidate it. It all comes down of whoever’s asking, their perception of what it is” (DeRogatis 3). The prevailing perception of emo usually comes from the band Sunny Day Real Estate. Started in

Seattle

in 1992, SDRE combined their roots in hardcore with melodic vocals and a “pop” feel. Their 1994 release of “Diary” changed the emo scene forever. “Sunny Day came out of nowhere and changed a lot of peoples lives,” (

Kurland

2) says Jeremy Gomez, bass player for the band Mineral. “Most people today when they think of emo think of the The Get Up Kids, Mineral. , and bands like that, that are coming from Sunny Day Real Estate” (DegRatis 3).

Many people argue that Sunny Day is not emo at all. They claim that “emo” rose out of the D.C. hardcore/punk scene and the band Rites of Spring. “[Rites of Spring] was a melodic hardcore group, but what set it apart was the subject matter of its songs. Rather than ranting about revolution and anger, Picciotto sang about lost love and forgotten memories” (

Kurland

1). While Rites of Spring did bring a more melodic sound to hardcore/punk, they certainly were not the first, and they also were not the first hardcore punk band to focus their lyrics on other subject matter.

The hardcore/punk scene as a whole had been moving in this direction. A Rolling Stone article in 1985 cites this growing trend, “Primal punk is passé… They have learned how to play their instruments. They have discovered melody, guitar solos and lyrics that are more than shouted political slogans” (Goldberg 1). Bands like Hüsker Dü had been pioneering new avenues in hardcore punk. “For the past two years, Hüsker Dü has been confounding warrior punks and mainstream rockers alike with a rapidly evolving fusion of high-speed thrash, recombinant pop-song structures, and emotionally scared lyric confessions” (Frickle 1).

Rites of Spring put out one full album and an EP; they lasted for a little less than 2 years and played around fourteen shows. Lead singer Guy Picciotta then went on to start the band Fugazi, whom took some of what Rites of Spring started and progressed from there. However, only “to some extent Fugazi moved the legacy of Rites of Spring and Embrace forward, though its music was never quite as emotionally exposed. It would fall on the bands that followed to fashion emo into the style heard today” (DeRogatis 1).

Although the influence of Fugazi and the

Washington

D.C.

scene on emo were substantial, emo, as we know it today did not rise solely from hardcore scene. What is disturbing is that most sources that try to trace the history of emo leave a huge gap between the “D.C. Dischord sound” of the mid to late eighties and Sunny Day Real Estate of the mid nineties. How did emo get where it is today? I propose it was a marriage between hardcore and indie rock with grunge as the father of the bride, paying for the wedding.

While bands like Rites of Spring and Hüsker Dü were breaking new ground in the hardcore scene, a band named Sonic Youth was transforming the indie/underground scene. “Sonic Youth used guitar riff hooks as the bait, but obliterated melodies and conventional song structures with long passages of drone, odd guitar strains and scathing atmospherics” (McGurgan 1). Their 1987 release of Sister would prove to be a hugely influential album.

“On this record they use the soft, warm sound as a base from which each of the song’s emotions flower. The effect is comforting and primal, like the hum of a mother cooing her child to sleep. Then out of nowhere, like the opening bars on "(I Got A) Catholic Block," guitars crash in and twist the pervading sense of peace into feelings of disruptive frustration. As the lyrics and the tempo converge and take the song’s feelings to a pitch, the pace slows down; the guitars slowly drop off as if the emotions had been spent…” (Neumann 1)

Sonic Youth continued to redefine the predictable rock song by producing progressive albums throughout the 1980’s, following Sister with their masterpiece Daydream Nation. Their influence on rock music is almost unprecedented, especially for a band that never had a Top 40 hit. However, full recognition of their significance would not come until the effect of Nirvana’s Nevermind was felt throughout the rock community.

Another band that was redefining the indie scene at this time was The Pixies. They formed in 1986 when lead singer Charles Thompson placed an ad in

Boston

for a “bassist for a Hüsker Dü and Peter, Paul, & Mary band” (Kane 1). Once Charles had all the members he needed The Pixies began to write songs and play shows around the

Boston

area. Their music is typified by stop/start-distorted guitar beneath Thompson’s vocals as he “veers from a whisper to a scream” (1).

“The Pixies’ busy, brief songs, extreme dynamics and subversion of pop song structures proved one of the touchstones of ’90s alternative rock” (Erlewine 1). However, more importantly The Pixies laid the groundwork for the alternative explosion of the early ’90s. They were one of the first indie bands to break through the pop charts giving the lesser-known underground bands of the early 90’s an opening to gain success.

As the eighties moved into the nineties the American youth was looking for a new direction in music. Kids were tired of the fake pop anthems sung only to make a dollar. “There has been a return to the emotionally charged performance, the display of raw power as an assurance of the truthfulness and sincerity of the performer(s)” (

Santiago

189). These Generation X’ers wanted music that mirrored their feelings. “They defined nineties rock with an angry metal/punk and rap, which reflected their fears, frustration, desperation, and hopes” (Szatmary 315). Out of this need for emotion, feeling, and true music came the grunge scene and eventually the emo scene.

Seattle

’s Sup Pop label arguably was the impetus behind the grunge and emo movements. “Sup Pop scored its first success with Soundgarden” (326). They began signing other similar acts in the early nineties and eventually stumbled upon a local band named Nirvana. The

Seattle

scene and the “Sup Pop sound” had shaped a worldwide explosion of ripped-jeaned, flannel shirt wearing teenagers. “By the end of 1990, Sub Pop had helped to create the image of

Seattle

as the site of an exciting, emerging music scene” (328).

Nirvana was the band that broke things open in

Seattle

. After their first album, Bleach, on Sub Pop, Nirvana went on a European tour with Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth introduced Nirvana to David Geffen, owner of the DGC label. Geffen paid off Sub Pop and singed Nirvana to his label. In 1991 Nirvana released their landmark album Nevermind. “[Nevermind] was the perfect embodiment of punk attitude, classic rock, and pop melody — the combination of which had never been embraced, or heard before” (Gulla 1).

“In early 1992 Nirvana hit the top of the chart…within a year the band had sold 10 million copies of their debut…” (Szatmary 328). Nirvana was the quintessential overnight success story, giving record labels and garage bands everywhere a dream that they could find or become the next big thing. “Everywhere music critics spoke of the search for the ‘next Nirvana.’ Major labels scoured

Seattle

for still – unsigned bands” (Bertsch 1). Now the music industry had an ear to the underground and underground bands now had a platform to stand on.

After Nirvana left Sub Pop, they continued to look for new ground breaking talent. They discovered local

Seattle

band Sunny Day Real Estate and released their first full-length album in 1994. “On "Seven" and "In Circles," the first two songs of its debut album Diary,

Seattle

’s Sunny Day Real Estate practically drew up the blueprints for an entire genre of rock” (Cohen 1). It was with this album “that emo began making waves outside the hardcore community” (

Kurland

1).

“Sunny Day Real Estate inadvertently signaled ‘go’ for the emo-core frenzy with Diary” (Cohen 1). Jeremy Egnik’s powerful falsetto voice coupled with vast dynamic shifts and heartfelt lyrics typify Sunny Day revolutionary sound. Their influence on the emo community was immense considering the low profile they kept, only doing one interview and never playing a show in the state of

California

. In 1995, before the release of their second album, LP2, Sunny Day Real Estate disbanded, however, their impact had already been made.

The emo-core genre was now off and running. With bands such as Mineral, Texas is the Reason , and Christie Front Drive following in Sunny Day’s wake the genre had begun planting its roots around the country. Today, emo has evolved into many different styles and sounds with every new band adding it’s own twist to the genre. Because of these artist’s diversity I would not be surprised if many other genres of music will develop from the huge canopy of emo.

Music is something that does not change overnight it evolves slowly yet dramatically. Music advances because artists are constantly pushing the boundaries, striving to be different, striving to be original. No true musician wants to be labeled or put in a box and that is why few bands want the “emo” stereotype. The fact is that the underground/indie scene evolves within itself, even within different genres, labels, and subcultures.

In order to trace this evolution we must look at the scenes and genres in general that contributed to emo. While certain bands become more popular than their other contemporaries, and other great artists are overlooked it is important to touch on the larger more influential group and artists so that a general consensus can be reached. There are far too many bands that have influenced the emo genre to list, however, by looking at the main artists in a genre one can get a general feel of what was happening in that genre at the time.

Rites of Spring and Sunny Day Real Estate did not start the emo genre. They were two of the more influential bands in the development of emo. Emo was the culmination of many bands and genres all brought together at the right place and the right time. Many bands had to build bridges for underground artists to be heard in the mainstream. Many other bands also brought about new sounds and ideas that helped to form the emo sound. With all of these factors in place a band and or a label had to start the wheels in motion forming the emo genre.

WHO IS PUNK?

Everyone has the potential to be punk. It is much harder for someone who comes from a placid, un-challenging, ignorant upbringing, because they don’t see the value in questioning or provoking the institutions that gave them such tranquility. But such examples of carefree existence are rare in today’s shrinking world.

Eternal questions still burn in the minds of most people. What it means to be human is becoming more clear every decade. Sometimes, people are trained to follow the safe path to an early grave by consuming and repeating the dogma of a fearful aristocracy.

On the other hand, the human spirit is hard to kill. Punk is a microcosm of the human spirit. Punks succeed with their minds, not their brute force. They advance society by their diversity, not their conformity. They motivate others by inclusion, not domination.

They are at the front lines of self-betterment and by extrapolation can improve the complexion of the human race. They adhere to unwritten universal principles of human emotion, obvious to anyone, and shun elitist codes of behavior, or secret agendas. They embody the hope of the future, and reveal the flaws of the past. Don’t tell them what to do, they are already leading you.

What is PUNK?

PUNK IS: the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions.

PUNK IS: a movement that serves to refute social attitudes that have been perpetuated through willful ignorance of human nature.

PUNK IS: a process of questioning and commitment to understanding that results in self-progress, and through repetition, flowers into social evolution.

PUNK IS: a belief that this world is what we make of it, truth comes from our understanding of the way things are, not from the blind adherence to prescriptions about the way things should be.

PUNK IS: the constant struggle against fear of social repercussions.