Lifestyle: Straight Edge Movement

When I was in high school I never knew or had an idea what straight edge was. All I knew was there were kids who drank, who were usually popular, and the kids who didn’t. There were kids who smoked pot, kids who tried other risky things, and those who were clueless about what was going on. I happened to be one of those kids, the one who was out of the loop. I didn’t know what Ian MacKaye had started back in the 1980s hardcore scene. I didn’t know about how groundbreaking the whole thing was or how transformative it can and would be. My life didn’t change around until I learned about music and the scene.

After I graduated in 2006, I was all gung-ho for drinking it up, getting crunk, and being a life of a party with a handle of Captain Morgan’s in one had and a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the other. The three days after my 18th birthday, I got drunk at a pool party, consuming large quantities of Jell-O Shooters that tasted more like Robitussin than anything. I’m not sure when I decided exactly to go straight edge, but I feel it had something to do with reading a book called Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo by Andy Greenwald. The first chapter talked about this raw, cathartic, and organic scene called “Hardcore” that I had never heard of before in my life. Kids at my high school had never heard of Minor Threat, Black Flag, 7 Seconds, Youth of Today, or Cro-Mags. They never knew about this scene that had grown up from the roots of old punk and straight rebellion from mainstream music. The one man I remember reading about and feeling an awe-inspiring pull towards was front man to Minor Threat, Ian MacKaye. Greenwald put into such formulaic words as to how the scene worked in just under four pages. I remember reading the lyrics to the song “Straight Edge” and thinking, “Holy crap, this is amazing. I knew that I could say ‘no’ to drugs and alcohol but there were and are kids that still live this and enjoy life without them.” Up until then, I knew that drinking and drugs were apart of youth culture and it deeply saddened me. It felt as if the youth of today were in too much of a hurry to grow up and get away from the embarrassing years of adolescence and childhood. I embraced mine. So, after thinking it over and knowing what I would and could do, I took the title.

Straight edge is more than just a stamp to kids who don’t drink or do drugs, it’s a lifestyle and a beacon of hope. Hope to others who go through countless of situations where they lose control over their functions and their abilities to think logically for themselves. It’s almost a solitude; you are in control of everything that you do and you don’t have to guess whether what you are doing is right or wrong. Ian started out with the statements of saying “no” to recreational drug use, drinking, and sex in the scene. In American Hardcore, the documentary, Ian says that they were sick and tired of the macho scene and drinking, considering it went along with rock mentality of the 70s/80s music heroes of that time. Ian and the guys in Teen Idles/Minor Threat took it there. H.R. from the Bad Brains told Ian to take his message out; kids wanted to know about the straight edge. It was the ultimate form of rebellion. People seemed to expect that kids would drink and do drugs when they went out and did their thing, but the fact that kids that were going to shows and enjoying them sober was a whole ‘nother level.

In today’s music society, it’s an open playing field. Kids drink, kids do drugs, but they have present day influences besides Ian, and the guys in SSD with Al Barile, to look up to. Tim McIllrath, lead singer and activist in the Chicago-based band Rise Against is one of the most profound ones in today’s market. Tim is vegan-straight edge and a strong activist for PETA and most vegan endeavors, even to the point where his band‘s latest release, Appeal to Reason, was printed on and distributed in an eco-friendly, disposable case. He is well into his 30’s, with a family and is staying strong. Some other examples of the straight edge lifestyle being popularized are three guys, one from Wisconsin, who is based in a Chicago-area band, a guy who I work with who had experienced the life of intoxication, and the other is a guy who is a self-published writer and former hair stylist. The first mentioned is none other than Andrew Hurley, drummer for world renown band, Fall Out Boy, the second is a guy by the name of Dave Brown, who just published his first book entitled Adult Crash, that featured pictures taken at shows where he grew up (including shots of the Cro-Mags and Government Warning) and the last and certainly not least is a personal hero, Christopher “Hey Chris” Gutierrez.

Andy is a guy who was submerged in the hardcore scene early on, playing in multiple bands such as Racetraitor, killtheslavemaster, and Arma Angelus. Andy has been an inspiration in today’s major label fueled band economy because he brings the table a new type of rock star. He’s quiet, subdued, a talented drummer, and most of all, a dedicated person to the edge. He’s vegan, and has anarcho-primitivist views that you don’t see too often in public bands. He sticks to his gut and continues to live out his values and ideals to the highest level, which in an industry that is tainted with certain pay-offs by majors and venue owners (I would think) is a major accomplishment.

My co-worker, Mr. Dave Brown, has been through a lot. He has been on almost every drug imaginable except for Heroin, and has gone through countless numbers of experiences that are legit too crazy to be real. For example, his parents were hippies and at four years of age, he had his first “special” pot brownies at a hippie wedding. His father, from there on out, thought that it would be funny if he got him high when his mother was gone. Dave was around six years of age when all that started to go down. He began doing drugs recreationally, and frequently by the time he was in high school, and by his late teens, early 20s, he was in too deep. He told me it never helped that he dated the wrong women who were into the drugs and drinking as hard as he was to be able to get out. About ten years ago, he had a terrible night of drinking and drug use and woke up the next morning and decided that he was done for good. Quit cold turkey. A decade later, he is in his mid-30s, he’s clean, married to a straight edge woman and has two beautiful kids. He is now a published writer/photographer and tells some of the greatest stories known to man such as “The A.F.I. Make-Up Case Incident”. The only really depressing thing, besides his past, is that his short term memory is kind of shot due to all the drug use, so if he takes care of a customer in the middle of a juicy and hilarious story, you have to remind him where he left off.

Dave is legitimately the full bodied incarnation of my hero in my work place and my current city that I reside in -- considering it’s alllll hipsters and indie kids who are so tragically cool that they need to drink and party and get as shitty as humanly possible at every opportune moment. I get mocked at my workplace for being straight edge on an almost daily basis. One of my co-workers is a true womanizer and hipster, and it doesn’t help he works at one of the top indie clothing stores in my city, said to me the other day “You know, people would like you better if you drank.” and then fell into an uproarious laugh with another one of my co-workers who I was attracted to. I was furious. I was thrown off guard, disrespected, and as repulsive as it sounds, a little flattered. My theory as to why he said that is because they want their women drunk as fuck and easy as pie to get in bed with and make their night “perfect” where they can take control and use their power over them. The more intoxicated a pretty girl is, the less her common sense and judgment is thus making it easier to be that notch on the bedpost. It is a repulsive thing to do, especially demeaning for young women everywhere (I don’t care if you smoke, drink, do drugs, whatever--- it’s a HORRIBLE feeling to be used and thrown away). I was extremely hurt that these guys would do that to me considering I am the little sister to them. Yeah, joking in the workplace goes a way, but really, you take it too far when you start criticizing someone’s personal beliefs and ideology. I get asked all the time if I’ll quit the edge when I turn 21, seeing as that is five months away. I look at them in the face and say “No. I probably won’t.” Then they come back with a snide remark and say “Don’t you want to drink at your wedding?” I respond coolly: “Non-alcoholic champagne or bubbly will do just fine.” Then they lose their shit and mock more and leave and do their thing. But what I am saying here is DO NOT compromise your values. Be strong. Be brave. Stand up for yourself and tell them no. Don’t let a bully get on you about that. They are weaker in a sense that they want to bring you down to their level to “have fun”. Giving up is not an option.

Christopher Gutierrez is a friend of mine. He’s a friend of anyone who has ever sat and listened to him and helped him live his dream of becoming a self-published, successful, and self-sufficient writer. He not only has a song written about him called “Grenade Jumper”, but he also is and has been a straight-edge supporter and practitioner. He had been back in the days of the 80s before he learned of the Sex Pistols from the skater punks out on the streets of Chicago suburbs. Chris was a black sheep, much like the Minor Threat logo, getting bullied and picked on at school, but if anyone knows his books and him, you know he survived and came out so much stronger than he had before. Chris went through shit that you could not imagine, much like Dave but minus the drugs and alcohol. Chris is a survivor, a story, and a hero, in every essence of the word. His books make you laugh, they make you cry, they make you reflect, and they make you respect him and his choice. He doesn’t push his shit on you, so don’t try to push your shit on him. He is a lifer. He’s 34 year old and he does not give in. He does not give up. When he gets down, he gets off the ground, dusts himself off, looks around, and keeps fucking going. He’s like the Little Engine That Could -- he thinks he can, he thinks he can, and he knows that he can, so he succeeds. Chris is someone I look up to when I feel shitty, when I feel victimized and betrayed. He is a concrete foundation on bad land; he’ll hold fast no matter what weather. That, to me, is what straight edge and being a hero is all about.

In saying all of this, I’m not trying to push my beliefs on anyone. I am straight edge because I chose to be. I do it because there are countless amounts of young girls at shows that I attend that look up to someone, whether it’s the cool girl with the Hayley Williams-styled hair or the guy in the American Apparel hoodie/v-neck combo, they look out for someone to aspire to be like. I befriend these kids at shows to show them that yes, old people (and we are old when they are 13, 14 years old) can be cool and sober and nice. I also have young neighbors who I have grown up with that I view as little sisters. At their middle school, drugs, alcohol, and teen pregnancy are becoming all too familiar to them and if they don’t have a positive role model in their lives that says “You don’t have to drink to be accepted or smoke pot to be cool” then once they hit high school and don’t have a dominant recreational activity, then they could be sucked in if they are not strong enough. But not only for them, I do it for myself. I am healthy (and a little over weight), I am strong, I am smart and intelligent, and I know what I want in life. I view drugs and alcohol as inhibitors to my goal and my dreams. Some people use these inhibitors as stress relief and a way to unwind and relax, but all I have to do is put on some music, put me in front of a computer, and I’m good to go. With bands like New Found Glory (who has Chad Gilbert as their reigning sXe’r [to my knowledge]) and the guys from Four Year Strong, kids in the scene should have no problem with finding a good influence.

But here is the bottom line: being straight edge does not mean that you don’t want to have fun, it just means you want to have sober fun that you would like to remember the next day or year or decade. It has nothing to do with the way you dress or what you listen to, it has all to do with heart, dedication, passion, and persistence. Never give up on something you believe in and that goes for anything in your life. Don’t push your beliefs on others if they are not willing to accept it. Listen to them and be respectful because no one wants a punk ass, know-it-all to hang out with if you are going to be contradicting every second you talk to them. All of my friends, save for a few, drink and do some recreational drugs such as pot and they respect me. They know that I am their ride home, their ticket to their beds and toothbrushes, their crutch for them that are too drunk to walk and their hair tie when they are puking their guts out. Be supportive of your friends even if you don’t agree with what they do. The only time I would say to step in and put a foot down is if their use of these things begins to hinder your friendship and that’s where the ultimatum is made. Me or the nights binge drinking and hitting the GB in the “Sparta Hole”. Never ever doubt yourself thinking you made the wrong choice. Do what you feel is right for you. Always. Never change your ethos to please others. Straight edge is a lifestyle I would recommend but I will not force you to do it if you don’t want to. It’s about respect. Plain and simple. Right then, right there. “To be a monument, for the rest of them” (A Day To Remember, “Monument”).

Written By: Samantha Merz