For me, it was exciting music to begin with (punk music!) and then it was increasingly about how I laugh and have fun in a way that others don't like or respect or think is dumb... I was kind of weird. Not like, anti-social, brooding, misfit type weird, but just really talkative, bombastic, "weird," maybe even a little effeminate for a teenage boy -- not like I was gay or signaling I was gay, beause I am not, but because I was lanky and acting silly & having fun....
I was chatty & energetic...
And I saw how that clashed with the more conservative culture and norms, and so then it was also all about how this music isn't just super fun... It's about how I can distinguish & express myself in a real fun way.
(Isn't me - just a fun reference pick of what the style & lifestyle was all about)
I also found my teenage girlfriend through my punk lifestyle and it was just so fabulous having this pretty girl who was also a punk, going to shows with her, hanging out, dressing punk on a budget with DIY shit, pirating music... We had our group of friends and just on a school night, you know, going out to the Wal Mart and buying cheap snacks and playing hacky sack and talking way too long, going to a payphone and saying "dad dad don't worry I am sorry I don't got much time I will be home by 11, just go to bed first, I'll try to not wake you up" (comes home at 2)...
So many fun shows & bands, new sounds, everything was exciting, and the whole crew was just into... experiencing life from their own perspective that was resepctful, non-judgmental, and you really FIT IN, and it filled youw ith pride to be out with the punks & skins & hardcore kids and people LOOKING over...
And you'd occasionally see that 12-13 year old kid who didn't have any of the gear except maybe a band shirt (poseur band!) and they'd give you that look of like... "oh man I am going to be like those guys - I am on that path..."
Just the other day in the supermarket picking up milk I was walking with my heavily tattood arms out and that... LOOK of the face of a man who was a punk rocker, you know, the expression of the joker, the trickster, the life-loving rebel... and I saw a boy in his late teens with long hair and a band shirt give me that look of admiration - of mutual souls.
You know it when you see it.
Keep the fire alive, guys! Whether it's punk, goth, rockabilly, even if you are a raver... Live the life. It's beautiful and changes you forever and never goes away. It's an indelible mark.
I feel this! I used to be deeply into the gothic, german industrial, and metal head scenes, and I totally get that sense of finding a community and a way to express yourself. For me, it was all about the German music, dressing up, style, and the make up. Just like you found your place with punk, I found mine with German industrial and metal. It's amazing how these subcultures can shape our identities and provide lifelong memories. Miss those times in so glad i have lots of pictures!
