Many people often look at me weird when they ask what type of music I listen to, and expect to hear the same as they hear from everyone else. Why do I listen to Punk when most of the world has moved on? The concept of punk is foreign to most people since it died out before most of them had reached the age of two. It seems ancient and distant from today’s society.

Growing up I was not very well liked in my high school, and me and my friends had become the "out-crowd" of a school I didn't even know was big enough to have an "in-crowd." I was tired of what I saw around me. I was tired of how fake society seemed, the perfect picture it tried to paint, the idea that someone could be better or less than another, and just how it operated in general. As the years progressed I soon took interest in the art of punk music, bands like Mxpx that I grew up with but didn't pay too much attention to, and bands like The Clash introduced to me by my dad. This search for music that carried a stigma of genuineness and honesty, and also my interest of the world back in the 80's and 90's worked hand and hand.

What people don't realize is that punk music goes beyond the music and into a sub culture, each sub-genre of punk having its own variations. The idea of youth sub culture itself is very alien to those who were still young in the 90's, and so it’s hard to explain. Punk music has its own ideologies, and once someone listens to punk music it often begins to shape their ideology. Slowly my dress also changed, which brought upon criticism by those who wanted to do the same, but had the fear of conformity on a day to day basis. The criticism I received never bothered me because I thought everyone looked like they came from a Kohl's magazine. I didn't care what others thought, I figured I could either make others happy or myself happy. The dress even at times probably deterred girls and attracted girls, but I never thought about that too much. The clothes made me feel confident, there is something about the edge, and being different that brings out your confidence. If you can set the standards instead of letting the world set them, your life becomes a-lot easier.

In a sense though, it is not easy, its actually quiet hard being a punk. I constantly get sly comments about my music or dress, which in a sense does hurt. I also think I scare people sometimes, but I think we need to have people with edge and with good hearts to keep others from being pushed around, or intimidated. I also rarely have people to talk to about Punk music, which is such a big part of my life. So in turn the only way I can share is to force people to listen to the music and messages that I hold so dear.

I know it doesn't really make sense to you, and I know you probably think it’s all a phase but, it goes beyond the music. Even if one outgrows their taste for the music the ideology stays.