How I got into Hardcore

Since a young age I have always loved music of all genres- especially alternative music. I grew up listening to bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Jam, Madness and Oasis, as that is the kind of music my dad would blare out in his car or be watching on Top of the Pops. Although, I didn't like all the bands I heard, alternative music always struck a chord with me from a young age because it wasn't just talking about generic subjects like most pop music in the early 2000s was.

I remember listening to Punk music for the first time; bands like Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys really grabbed my attention because they discussed issues that not only they could relate to- even if as a young kid I couldn't relate to it becasue at that time in my life I wasn't hating on tories just yet. I enjoyed how aggressive and passionate they were. I was amazed by how angry they all sounded because I was an angry kid and this was something I could feel angry whilst listening to.

Then in my early teens, after blasting Fall out Boy and Panic! at the Disco on repeat, I came across Black Flag whilst searching for similar bands to the punk I used to listen to. I also discovered Your Demise at this time too. Again, I was struck by the anger but this time I was more drawn to the sheer amount of energy that was exuded in the heaviness of the guitars and aggresive vocals. It was second to none. I watched videos on Youtube of past gigs and the moshing and dancing was alien to me, but I knew that I wanted to be involved somehow, despite being years younger than those in the videos.

After that, into my mid teens, my music taste continued to evolve and I was listening to more deathcore bands like Suicide Silence and Chelsea Grin, but I still loved hardcore. I was that girl who would have to go to heavy gigs with her dad because she wasn't old enough. But as soon as I was old enough, I went to small local hardcore shows and took it all in. I watched the moshing and the violence unfold before me, yet I was too scared and fragile to join in because I would have been clarted in the face because i was so short.

Living in Northampton wasn't the best place for hardcore shows at all. Fast forward many years and it wasn't until I moved to Birmingham last year, at the age of 18, that I found a scene where I could actively be involved. Now, living in the Second City, going to hardcore gigs is a regular occurrence and it's when I come back home to Northampton where I feel lost and like a small teen again. It's cool living in a city where there is a tight nit community all with the same love and where I can see cool local bands and others from different cities. It's especially cool that now I am pretty much an adult, I can finally hold my own and mosh every now and then- even if there still is a 99.9% possibility I will still be clarted in the face because I'm still no taller than I was years ago.

Getting into Hardcore was a gradual process throughout my teenage years, it was a trial and error process of finding bands which suited me because I am the pickiest person alive when it comes to music. Although it was an instant love for the bands and the culture that I discovered back then, it wasn't an instant transition into being a 'hardcore kid' like some people I know. Now I'm in Birmingham, I will continue to go to gigs and find more bands that I'm into, whether it's hardcore or not. One thing is for certain though, regardless of whether I grow to love hardcore more or grow out of it when I'm older, I will always mosh when given the opportunity.

By Amy Demidow