What does one think of when they hear the word "hardcore"? Most people I talk to about hardcore music equate it to "that screaming music", which I guess isn't necessarily off, but definitely isn't correct even as a stereotype. Hardcore music has essentially been pigeonholed as anything that is "harder" than most of the music on the radio. People would call Asking Alexandria and Minor Threat hardcore. Now before I go on a giant pretentious rant about the wrongness of that statement, I want to talk about why people (especially myself) love hardcore so much.

Let's start with the basics. Hardcore has a history that is about as punk as its forerunners. If you've ever seen a film called "American Hardccore" you would realize why hardcore is as fast, loud, and angry as it sounds. In the late '70's kids who could barely play instruments found out that they were mad about a lot. Some hated the overabundance of drugs, some hated all the rich kids they went to school with, others were mad at authority. Either way they needed an outlet. So they plugged in their instruments and yelled about how upset they were. One of my favorite moments from this era of hardcore is seeing Henry Rollins literally punch out an audience member during one of Black Flag's sets. As aggressive and terrifying as that sounds, it's appealing because of how real it is. Hardcore was where everyone was gathered to let out all their anger, and sometimes it got rough. Oh well, people were...kind of respectful. You had Dead Kennedys, SS Decontrol, Bad Brains, really the list is pretty hefty and name dropping at this point is pointless. But the point is, there were a lot of people making a lot of music, some of it became ultra popular, some of it fell into bargain bins in dusty record stores.

Hardcore was fast and loud, but soon it progressed. With the '90's came what some may consider the largest explosion of music ever and what has molded and created so many of the popular music we love, and some of the not-so-popular stuff as well. In the '90's screamo, metalcore, grunge, nu-metal even all started to split away from the typical genres. And with it, more and more bands that were hardcore were not as hardcore as many hardcore snobs would like to say - I used hardcore a lot in that sentence. Anyways, I've diverged a bit, but the main point is that after this time I come into play and my love for hardcore starts to form.

I tell you the history of hardcore because it's exactly where my love of hardcore started. I was a teenager and surfing the television when I discovered the documentary I talked about. And I thought to myself, "this could be a good one." I watched it, then I watched it again, then I watched it again. Then I went to my computer and downloaded all the discographies of all the bands I heard. I listened - almost too much - to all of these artists and decided that I really liked this music. So then I started to going to shows, and boy oh boy that's really where it got off the ground.

I would go to this warehouse venue when I was a teenager, usually by myself, to see these bands play music I loved. I was seeing Bane, Trapped Under Ice, countless others and being blown away. I could go wherever: Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York. And everywhere I went there was a sort of family atmosphere. Everyone was welcoming, no one was judging you. We were all there for one thing: to listen to music and slam. Run around and get it all out, dance, just stand there. Do whatever as long as you were respectful. It was a home I never had, it was a safe haven away from all the nasty, awful stuff in the world. I discovered one of my favorite bands during this time. I made really solid friends I still talk to during this time. It was what helped me get through my teenage years.

And then I got old and started to listen to other music, and started going to shows less. And it really bummed me out. I had a hole in my chest and in some ways I didn't know why that was. And then I made a journey one time to see an old friend and go to a show, and realized that what I was missing was hardcore music. And it's funny. Everyone calls it angry music, devil music, awful, boring, too much, etc. but I love it all the same. It will probably always be my favorite genre of music because of everything it's done for me, because it has a history that I find much more interesting than genres like indie or post-rock. Maybe it's the worst type of music, but there's still millions out there who share the same thrill I do when a band comes on and hits their first dirty chord and you know exactly what type of music they're gonna play. It's that thrill that will keep me going to random people's houses, traveling hours, just to see a few sweaty people abuse their instruments and each other for a few hours.

Live forever, hardcore.