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Post by xreganx on Apr 26, 2014 7:30:23 GMT
This thread is awesome, respect to everyone for sharing their stories.
As far as kids staring to drink early, I think that's pretty common. I mean I know the drinking age in the US is 21 but it's 18 in Australia and other countries, so drinking at 15-16 seems common place, i don't think I know one person who didn't drink by 16.
I got drunk for the first time and smoked when I was in grade 4, so I would have been 10 years old.
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colintappe
Open your eyes look and see B.I.B Mabbey's Delight
Posts: 181
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Post by colintappe on Apr 26, 2014 10:48:19 GMT
Doom and ENT are so cool. Late 80s ukhc ranks up there with late 80s ushc, imho. Antisect, Axegrinder, Hellbastard...that's the good stuff right there.
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Post by ferry on Apr 26, 2014 10:55:54 GMT
cool what poison is talking about where we come from. I was a big computer nerd (Commodore 64) up till the beginning of my 17th year. I had 3 C64 on my bedroom, my own telephone line and was online for 24 hours a day. that was the time you could call someone, connect your C64s and take a game from their computer and download it on your own. the unspoken rule was: you take one game, you give one game. but that hardly happenend  during that time there was also a lot of trading and penn-palling and stuff. which later on was replaced by tape trading with people from over the world. anyways, I am starting to drift off, when I was 17, I started going out, drinking a little beers and smoking some pot with my punk friends. But as soon as I started hitting on my own nices with having drunk a few beers (3 or 4, not 20!) I noticed that alcohol was not for me. smoking was also not for me. during that time I played in a punkband called Crisis of Society and our drummer also played in the straight edge band Feeding the Fire. via this way SXE came in my life... About straight edge shirts: I used to not were them. I was really into the SXE is for myself and stuff. I still am, but I wear my SXE shirts at age 42 very regularly. with proud! |
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circlestorm69
This record is gonna be a 12 inch
ONCE I CRY
Posts: 541
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Post by circlestorm69 on Apr 26, 2014 11:02:36 GMT
"as soon I started hitting on my own nices…" hahaha! That a reason for sure to be come sXe :-)
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Post by lordxhumungus on Apr 26, 2014 11:21:26 GMT
First off, I really like what colintappe said about having older straight edge dudes to look up to and show that it's not just a passing phase. It's cool how so many of you have followed the path for so long. It truly does keep the movement relevant. There have been times in my life that I had sobered up but didn't consider myself straight edge. SXE is a commitment to a way of life. I only now consider myself SXE now because I've accepted this commitment and I'm only now ready after all these years to do what's right.
Second, man I love how you broke that down Dobek. Age by age. You were a dedicated youngster to be so into punk.
When I was a kid I just listened to whatever my parents did too. Mostly Led Zeppelin and 70's rock - still good stuff. It got me to appreciate guitar driven music. I got into metal in like '85 at the age of 10 because of an older cousin. He bought me my first piece of vinyl Overkill - Taking Over when it came out in '87. I still have it even though my brother destroyed side B with a pencil during one of our many brawls. An older skater kid got me into Minor Threat and AF shortly thereafter. I bought my first Minor Threat tape at a record store in Hyannis, Massachusetts during a family trip. Punk came later in high school. I grew up on Long Island so I would cut school for days at a time and hop a train into NYC. Me and my friends would hang at Washington square park and smoke weed and at Tompkins Square park with the squatter punks. Missing Foundation used to put on free shows in the park and punks would overtake the whole area. So cool but that's also how I started getting high. CBGB's and ABC No Rio - Those were my 2 spots.
I was more than aware of straight edges existence during that whole NYC period of my life but it really didn't sink in until I went to college. I attended (I use the term loosely) the University of Rhode Island for one year. I cut my very first day of orientation to go up to Providence with some like-minded new found friends to see Shelter and 108. Going to a show in a different region exposed me to a new scene. That whole New England vibe was way different from the NYC vibe. It made me really take notice to the whole straight edge thing. That's pretty much where my fascination started.
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Post by lordxhumungus on Apr 26, 2014 11:37:10 GMT
"as soon I started hitting on my own nices…" hahaha! That a reason for sure to be come sXe :-)
So funny!
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Post by lordxhumungus on Apr 28, 2014 22:50:35 GMT
Hey everybody,
Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your thoughts and stories. I've been having a great time on this board ever since I joined up. Talked to some cool people and scored some great records. We all have our different opinions and different ways of going about things but we're all still like minded too. Straight edge or not.
Thanks again,
Jeff
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xmoshxedgex
The Sap Hotline
iron maiden / BLACKOUT ! RECORDS nerd
Posts: 174
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Post by xmoshxedgex on Apr 29, 2014 8:32:05 GMT
i am 40 edge since 1993 - so what
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Post by lordxhumungus on Apr 29, 2014 10:08:24 GMT
i am 40 edge since 1993 - so what Indeed |
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Post by ferry on Apr 29, 2014 16:16:17 GMT
I have a healthfood store and today a woman (35 years old) asked me about my watch. I alsways waer longsleeves in the store (because of tattoos) and my x-watch is Always turned in my wrist. but still she saw it. she asked, what does is mean... i said, ever heard of Straight Edge? she started smiling and said: yes, because I am, she said. funny. could not tell by seeing her. we talked about music etc and how much she loved Heaven Shall Burn...
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takemeaway89
The Sap Hotline
I can still remember the last time I cried.
Posts: 168 
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Post by takemeaway89 on Jun 2, 2015 13:53:26 GMT
I labelled myself edge when I was younger but then I lapsed and started boozing again and other stuff. A few years ago I decided to go sober not because of sXe music (which i've always loved) but because it wasn't doing me any good especially mentally as I suffer badly from depression. I would never call myself Straight edge again but I'm proud to be tee total. And like Regan I went veggie and then vegan a long time ago and that's always been more important to me than being sXe.
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colintappe
Open your eyes look and see B.I.B Mabbey's Delight
Posts: 181
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Post by colintappe on Jun 3, 2015 0:36:02 GMT
Man, The Straight Edge is still so cool.
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cwas
The Washout Sessions
OG NJ NOW CA
Posts: 26
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Post by cwas on Jun 3, 2015 3:45:48 GMT
Getting in on this a bit late, but here goes. My story is pretty similar to a lot of you I suppose. I've always loved music and collected records, from as early as like 5 years old. I can vividly remember staring at the gatefold dust cover of Kiss Alive Two and memorizing every line to every song. My parents were smokers and casual drinkers, and it always turned me off. I can remember thinking as a young kid "I'll never do that". Right around 6th grade my friends started experimenting with drinking and smoking, and I was totally not into it. I was way more into skateboarding than anything else. I started playing music with friends covering Black Sabbath and Kiss songs around this time.Thru Thrasher magazine I started listening to the punk/hardcore bands on those skate rock tapes. That lead to finding out about punk and hardcore, which inevitably led to Minor Threat. I lived on the NJ shore, and my freshmen year I would sit in my room and learn Minor threat songs on the guitar, (still not really even aware that there was such a thing as a Straight Edge scene) I didn't drink or do drugs because it just didn't interest me at all, and my peers would try to mock me, but I didn't really care. Then came the night I went to a local hardcore show, there was drinking and drugs, but the rush of the music changed me, and I found people who were more like me. Some friends needed a guitarist for their straight edge band and one of the songs they covered was Steppin stone done like MT, and I already knew that one so I was in! (sorry to go on and on)
From there on my life has never been the same. I started going to Cb's matinee shows, to the Anthrax in Conn, to City Gardens in Trenton. I still remember the show in PA with GB, YOT Beyond and ?? we stayed at the same friend's apartment that all those guys from the band stayed it. The scene to me was about so much more than just not drinking or doing drugs. It was all about the energy, the friendships, the angst, the music, the sing alongs, the stage dives, the road trips. I liked being different in High school, I was the skate punk, the straight edge kid. And I was proud.
As an adult I experimented with drinking, bars, weed, psychedelics in my 20's. I've never really liked the way any of them made me feel, so for the last almost 10 years I haven't done any of it. I guess I would identify as straight edge because I feel proud of the movement and how much the movement means to me, but I don't really go around claiming it. I've been Vegetarian (well pescetarian for the last 10 years or so) since I was 16. I think the health benefits of being this way are undeniable. And I feel clear headed, and proud. I don't push my beliefs on anyone, and haven't since I quit that straight edge band in my junior year of high school. As for music, I stepped away from hardcore in the 90's (particularly the SE stuff) for the most part when things seemed to be getting more generic (I know I missed out on a lot of great bands, and I am making up for it now by going back and listening to them now!) And for the last 10 years or so, I've been collecting records again (both going back and finding long lost loves, and new and improved stuff as well) and listening to a lot of hardcore, both old and new, straight edge and not. But I always find myself drawn to the stuff that screams of positivity and making a change!
Thanks for a cool thread and for listening to my story.
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Post by Raven X Army on Jun 3, 2015 5:04:09 GMT
About straight edge shirts: I used to not were them. I was really into the SXE is for myself and stuff. I still am, but I wear my SXE shirts at age 42 very regularly. with proud! Ferry, this is something from your neck of the woods: The first ever SXE shirt I owned was the HOLMSLICE shirt. Not just any HOLMSLICE shirt. If I remember this right it was the shirt that Dominick is wearing in the photo on the inside cover of the SOY Abyss 7" I got it from the guy who got it from Dominick. I am pretty sure I still have it somewhere although I haven't seen it for years. I will look for it. It's this shirt but not white, mine was athletic grey xshirtsx.blogspot.jp/2008/12/holmslice-straight-edge-design-shirt.html |
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takemeaway89
The Sap Hotline
I can still remember the last time I cried.
Posts: 168
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Post by takemeaway89 on Jun 3, 2015 6:00:46 GMT
Man, The Straight Edge is still so cool. I'm not saying it isn't but after breaking my edge I could never label myself sxe again. It just wouldn't be right and to be honest when I was straight edge I didn't really make a big deal of it. I didn't wear big X's or anything. It was just a personal choice. Having experienced the dark side of drinking since then its a personal choice again today. One I'm so glad that I made. |
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Post by ferry on Jun 3, 2015 16:53:24 GMT
That's an awesome shirt dobek!
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Post by Raven X Army on Jun 3, 2015 21:04:22 GMT
Man, The Straight Edge is still so cool. I'm not saying it isn't but after breaking my edge I could never label myself sxe again. It just wouldn't be right and to be honest when I was straight edge I didn't really make a big deal of it. I didn't wear big X's or anything. It was just a personal choice. Having experienced the dark side of drinking since then its a personal choice again today. One I'm so glad that I made. I don't follow the "once you break edge, you can never call yourself straight edge again" logic. People in general trip, fall, change their minds, then change their minds again. It's what makes them human. I'm not saying people shouldn't take responsibility for their actions in the past but as far as personal choices go, what you do now is what matters. You can call yourself whatever you want. |
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Post by reasontorevelate on Oct 14, 2016 22:12:50 GMT
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Post by reasontorevelate on Oct 15, 2016 20:15:02 GMT
Part of me doesn't like labelling myself, but I have a strong interest for sxe stuff: music/bands, books, zines.
I stopped drinking in the 90's, which wasn't always easy in a heavily crust/squat-punk influenced scene. Going against the grain of those already going against the grain can bring about weird conversations.
But nowadays, if I get asked if I'm straightedge or not, I will answer with "yes".
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colintappe
Open your eyes look and see B.I.B Mabbey's Delight
Posts: 181
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Post by colintappe on Oct 18, 2016 8:33:10 GMT
I like when people get high and mighty about "labels." Like, "why do you need a label for yourself." It's so dumb. Like, living in society, everyone gets labeled and put in a category, and labels others and puts them in a category. It's basic human nature and completely unavoidable. Age, race, nationality, tax bracket, gender, so on and so forth, that shit gets put on you whether you want it or not. But then this one area of your life where you choose your label yourself because you identify with the music, lifestyle and culture and it's like "oh, what, you NEED this label, gawd, I'm so beyond all that."
Idk, I'm just venting because I'm hearing a lot of dumb "edge day" backlash from SUPER COOL AND JADED DGAF HC BROS who are super smart and cool and totally don't care about anything, except for when their Instagram feed is clogged up with pics of Side By Side records for a day, then they turn into crying children.
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xjesseex
Hey, can we play more than 2 songs?
Posts: 9
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Post by xjesseex on Oct 24, 2016 6:05:20 GMT
straight edge is the best.
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Post by lordxhumungus on Jul 6, 2018 10:13:47 GMT
Thanks Bot. Go F yourself.
xBOTx
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xmoshxedgex
The Sap Hotline
iron maiden / BLACKOUT ! RECORDS nerd
Posts: 174
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Post by xmoshxedgex on Jul 23, 2018 21:09:17 GMT
i am 44 edge since 1993
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xvx
Zip, zang, boom, your'e outta here
Posts: 54
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Post by xvx on Jul 28, 2018 11:27:29 GMT
I labelled myself edge when I was younger but then I lapsed and started boozing again and other stuff. A few years ago I decided to go sober not because of sXe music (which i've always loved) but because it wasn't doing me any good especially mentally as I suffer badly from depression. I would never call myself Straight edge again but I'm proud to be tee total. And like Regan I went veggie and then vegan a long time ago and that's always been more important to me than being sXe.
This. The Straight Edge was only the beginning and paved the way for me to become vegan and question all kinds of patterns most people deem acceptable. I've been in bands with people who were vegan but not straight edge and always preferred it that way to the other way around. I don't have any friends who are straight edge, in the 90s the only people I knew who were, happened to be sketchy dudes in bands I didn't care to get involved with. I have friends who drink I don't have a problem with, unlike smoking. I automatically avoid people who smoke, I change the side of the road when people walking in front of me smoke and I get into people's faces if their smoke comes my way. If I get into a conversation with a girl and she pulls out a cig, instant turnoff and time to move on.
These days I tend to think that describing myself as straight edge doesn't make that much sense. I just don't do drugs at all and don't know why anyone should care. It's just not a big deal. I wouldn't know how to explain it to someone who is abstinent but doesn't subscribe to the straight edge. I'm not under any pressure and hardly identify with any of the current straight edge hardcore unless the bands have moved on to veganism.
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