Somebody That I Used to Know
After many years, hardcore has earnestly taken up the conversation around depression and mental health. But just because we’ve opened a conversation doesn’t mean that we've figured out how to have it.
I.
A few weeks ago I was approached by a writer who is currently working on a book about the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. I wasn’t really expecting it. Aside from a handful of posts on Instagram over the years, I haven’t really spoken so much about my friendship with Elliott in public, and that’s almost by design: I feel very specific about my memories with Elliott and I’ve always been nervous about playing a part in painting a picture of him that I feel like he would have hated.
Although we technically met in 1996 (and then again in 1997), Elliott and I didn’t really start getting to know each other until 1998—specifically at a time when we were both going through some difficult-to-navigate growing pains. In Elli…