For the second week of Anti-Matter's anniversary month, we celebrate a legend and ask the hard question: Must our lives in hardcore be fated for planned obsolescence? Or is this truly built to last?
Oh man. I can't wait for this interview. I'm about to turn 43. I recently started booking shows for a small venue in small town where Cover Band/Happy hour acts reign supreme. We're focused on original Acts. I told a friend, "I'm more Gilman Street than Wall Street." Meaning, i don't care about making a ton of money. I just want to do good work in proud of. But I'm about to be 43. I'm severely under employed. I'm on Medicare. I still live paycheck to paycheck, even as I'm making the most money I've ever made. But I'm still trying to live this authentic "punk/hardcore" life, and I'm always wondering... Is it worth it?
So i absolutely LOVE when you touch on those topics, as they are things i think about every single day. Sick of it all was a gate way band for me. I can't wait to read their thoughts. Thank you for what you do. I used to do zines and podcasts and every time i get the itch to do it again, i feel like I'm too old and it's embarrassing to keep trying at this age. But you make it look so damn easy. I'm happy to support your stuff today. ❤️
Happy (early) birthday, Norman. I hope it's one filled with joy.
I love the questions you are asking here. I'm about a year and a half away from 50 myself and I still love hearing exciting new hardcore bands and being up front at shows. I'm even trying to get a new band going. But I can't help but ask myself if I'm just getting in the way of and taking up space for the teenagers and twenty-somethings that hardcore speaks to now, the same way it spoke to me when I was first finding my way into it. Because I do still see hardcore as a youth movement, even though there are still so many people in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s doing interesting and thought-provoking things within this scene. And I think that these people that have been around hardcore for 20-40 years have a perspective that could be so valuable to people just finding their way in.
If we're going to keep this thing going and keep it sustainable, we're going to need to be doing a lot more than donating to the plethora of GoFundMes in our not too distant future. But I really don't know what that looks like in a country with no foreseeable socialized healthcare or universal basic income.
Here's to hoping Lou gets the medical attention he needs and he heals quickly. Looking forward to Thursday's interview.
Side note: I still wear a Youth of Today "Go vegetarian" t-shirt regularly, but can't help but chuckle to my 48 year-old self every time I put it on.
I think that's a valid feeling — making space for younger people to get in there and do their thing. I get that. But when I think about this, I think about intergenerational dialogue as just another one of hardcore's many evolutions. And part of me sees an importance to the continued engagement of "hardcore elders" as a cultural feature that existed even when I was a kid, the only difference being that the age gap between me and my "elders" at that point was much, much smaller.
When I talk about sustainability, I am thinking of individual *and* collective sustainability. Meaning that this scene only continues to survive when there are enough people to sustain its many arms. When people "age out," we lose something. When younger kids drop out because hardcore didn't give them a path to sustenance as an adult, we lose something. Creatively, culturally, economically, practically, we lose something. I've been very lucky to have carved a path that allows me to contribute the way I do at this stage of my life, and I believe part of my responsibility is to leave behind signs that read: THIS WAY. x
Oh man. I can't wait for this interview. I'm about to turn 43. I recently started booking shows for a small venue in small town where Cover Band/Happy hour acts reign supreme. We're focused on original Acts. I told a friend, "I'm more Gilman Street than Wall Street." Meaning, i don't care about making a ton of money. I just want to do good work in proud of. But I'm about to be 43. I'm severely under employed. I'm on Medicare. I still live paycheck to paycheck, even as I'm making the most money I've ever made. But I'm still trying to live this authentic "punk/hardcore" life, and I'm always wondering... Is it worth it?
So i absolutely LOVE when you touch on those topics, as they are things i think about every single day. Sick of it all was a gate way band for me. I can't wait to read their thoughts. Thank you for what you do. I used to do zines and podcasts and every time i get the itch to do it again, i feel like I'm too old and it's embarrassing to keep trying at this age. But you make it look so damn easy. I'm happy to support your stuff today. ❤️
Happy (early) birthday, Norman. I hope it's one filled with joy.
I love the questions you are asking here. I'm about a year and a half away from 50 myself and I still love hearing exciting new hardcore bands and being up front at shows. I'm even trying to get a new band going. But I can't help but ask myself if I'm just getting in the way of and taking up space for the teenagers and twenty-somethings that hardcore speaks to now, the same way it spoke to me when I was first finding my way into it. Because I do still see hardcore as a youth movement, even though there are still so many people in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s doing interesting and thought-provoking things within this scene. And I think that these people that have been around hardcore for 20-40 years have a perspective that could be so valuable to people just finding their way in.
If we're going to keep this thing going and keep it sustainable, we're going to need to be doing a lot more than donating to the plethora of GoFundMes in our not too distant future. But I really don't know what that looks like in a country with no foreseeable socialized healthcare or universal basic income.
Here's to hoping Lou gets the medical attention he needs and he heals quickly. Looking forward to Thursday's interview.
Side note: I still wear a Youth of Today "Go vegetarian" t-shirt regularly, but can't help but chuckle to my 48 year-old self every time I put it on.
I think that's a valid feeling — making space for younger people to get in there and do their thing. I get that. But when I think about this, I think about intergenerational dialogue as just another one of hardcore's many evolutions. And part of me sees an importance to the continued engagement of "hardcore elders" as a cultural feature that existed even when I was a kid, the only difference being that the age gap between me and my "elders" at that point was much, much smaller.
When I talk about sustainability, I am thinking of individual *and* collective sustainability. Meaning that this scene only continues to survive when there are enough people to sustain its many arms. When people "age out," we lose something. When younger kids drop out because hardcore didn't give them a path to sustenance as an adult, we lose something. Creatively, culturally, economically, practically, we lose something. I've been very lucky to have carved a path that allows me to contribute the way I do at this stage of my life, and I believe part of my responsibility is to leave behind signs that read: THIS WAY. x