Editor’s Note: This piece was written by a student at Randolph-Macon College as part of a feature writing course. Thank you to the students and to Professor Seth Clabough, Ph.D., for organizing the project.
The storage unit smelled of sweat and wood. The garage door was open, gusting wind in from outside. The instruments were piled on top of one another, just asking to be played.
A small storage unit in Mechanicsville, VA is where VCU students Jack Martin, Blake Bailey, and Matt Butler, friends and bandmates, come together to practice for their upcoming shows in Richmond.
The bandmates have immersed themselves in multiple Richmond hardcore bands for the last several years. Through this, they have explored a subculture of hardcore music and a bigger meaning for themselves: being straight edge.
Straight edge, by definition, is a commitment not to consume drugs or alcohol. However, as a subculture of hardcore music, it works as a commitment to oneself and a rejection of the culture of drinking.
“By not smoking, drinking, or doing drugs, you’re being your own self,” said Blake Bailey.
The Movement
The straight edge movement began in DC and Boston in the 1980s. This idea was popularized by Minor Threat’s song “Straight Edge.”
“They kind of made it this whole movement without trying to,” said Matt Butler.
This is what makes being straight edge different from just being sober. Sobriety, as a baseline, is abstaining from drinking and drugs, but being straight edge is a statement against alcohol and drugs.
“The term itself is so linked to hardcore music. To say that you’re straight edge is a commitment to that movement, but it’s also saying you know the history of it,” said Jack Martin.
The Decision
College students who make the decision to give up alcohol and drugs to better themselves may be tough for some people to understand in that culture; however, for some, it could also be the easiest decision. The reason someone might decide to give up drinking and drugs may be to simply improve their quality of life.
“It was a combination of things that were happening in my personal life and my family life,” said Martin. “It’s nice having a group of people who could hold me to the standards I wanted to set for myself.”
A decision to become straight edge could also be a result of family issues with addiction. Watching a family member go through addiction makes it ten times easier to decide to take drinking and drugs out of your life.
“My mom’s side of the family has a history with addiction. Seeing her have to deal with her family definitely helped me make my decision,” said Butler. “I didn’t want to ever put her through that.”
Some people become straight edge because they see what drinking and drugs can do to the people they love.
“My friends growing up started smoking weed, and that was never something I wanted to do,” said Bailey. “That influenced my choice because I was seeing how consuming drugs and smoking weed and drinking all the time really affects your life.”
The Social Life
Drinking, smoking, and experimenting with drugs is arguably a “normal” experience in college. It might be hard for people outside of Richmond hardcore, and who aren’t straight edge, to understand the concept of it.
“If I go to a party and not drink, it can seem a little weird to people who don’t quite get it,” said Bailey.
Typical college students might not be able to comprehend a life outside of partying. Drinking or not drinking are both not bad things; although judgment will always be a lurking factor on both sides.
“The people who I want in my life and want to be around are not gonna judge me for whatever choice I choose to make,” said Martin.
While being straight edge, in some ways, is a contrast of incorrect perceptions or assumptions of hardcore music, it mostly holds value for each committed person as an individual.
“I’m sure, to a lot of people, when they hear punk they think of the archetypal guy with a mohawk holding a beer bottle, but it’s so much more diverse than that,” Martin explained.
Being straight edge is a personal choice that is not made for external validation or for the satisfaction of others.
“Some people take offense to the concept of it,” said Martin. “Some people see it as an ego thing or like ‘we’re better than you because we don’t do this,’ but it’s a personal choice thing. It’s not about being validated by others, it’s about how this is what I want for my life.”
The Past
Despite being straight edge, each bandmate has had a history with drinking, smoking, or drugs that has led them to this decision in the first place.
“I was smoking a lot, and I was having a lot of family and mental health troubles,” said Martin. “I realized I was doing it because I was looking for a way out. That was a huge turning point for me.”
Drinking is not always a fun pastime for everyone. In the moment, it seems like a good idea, but for some people it ends up making them morph into a different person.
“It was short-term fun, and in return I was regretting my actions,” said Bailey. “Drinking was negatively impacting what I thought about myself and my interactions with other people.”
The Impact
Being straight edge is not a concept that is meant to judge people who choose to drink or do drugs, but rather a commitment for oneself to stray away from partaking in drinking or drugs to better themselves.
Straight edge may be a subculture of hardcore music, but it is also working as a way to normalize not having to drink or do drugs just because you’re in college or around people who participate in those activities.
“We’re a part of this movement because it fulfills us,” Martin said confidently.
Main photo by Kellen Mitchell
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