Young Poor & Angry Press

We live in a world of instants. People can send emails, instant messages, and texts that reach their recipients in seconds. We can look up anything and everything on the internet, watch television on our phones, and even in some cases video chat across the world. That being said, this instantaneous-ness that surrounds our culture has set a dangerous standard of achievement lately.

I grew up in a world before even dial up internet. Our life line to the world was a television set or the radio. It was a interesting time where if I wanted to see a movie I had to ride my bike to the local video store and rent one (they were a dollar a piece and I would usually get about ten that would last me a weekend.) If a new record came out, I would wait till I got some allowance, take a bus downtown to Hyde and Zeke Records and try to find it. Sometimes it didn’t yield positive results as the record could be sold out. If I wanted to go to a show, my friends and I would hang out around the venues and check the flier poles to see what was happening.

These were magical days in a sense. Now times have changed drastically. No longer do I have to wait for anything. With a click of a mouse I can find ten new bands that sound exactly like the one I just listened to. I can check any number of websites and order a CD or even download it at light speed to my computer. Hell if I want a movie all I have to do is find it on the internet now. These are all great innovations and something that each and every day I marvel, but the problem lies in this current generation.

There is no work anymore. Instead of saving up money for an album kids can download a pirate copy, screwing bands out of their hard work in the studio. No more do you actually have to attend shows to buy a shirt or patch, now you can go down the street to Hot Topic and pick it up or order it off some website. The “underground” has blown up into niche cultures so vast and wide that you need a PhD in Sociology just to tell the difference between Twilight fans and goth kids. All of this seems petty to write about until you consider this: kids today feel entitled.

No longer is it acceptable to just be yourself. You’ve got to self identify with a subculture and then put your name out there to become famous. We live in a society where people are well known in this and other scenes for nothing more than their haircut and how they look in skinny jeans. In the 80s and 90s it didn’t matter who you were. Roger Miret and Toby Morse were just people… and shockingly enough, they still are JUST people - people who are very talented and who play great music - but they are people nonetheless.

I love hardcore, punk, and hip-hop.. but what I see before me isn’t even remotely the same scene with the same heart anymore. Actually, that’s not fair, because there are plenty of kids who embody the ethics and morals that come with really being a part of this scene. Though those kids are so few and far between that they fall through the cracks because if they aren’t famous then no one really knows who they are. Those kids who get all kinds of crap because they care about the world outside their scene and feel it’s relevant to everyone, not just those who listen to this or that type of music.

Take Gina “G-Child” Morganello for instance. Don’t know who she is? You’re probably not alone. Gina was on a VH1 show called aptly “The White Rapper Show.” I won’t go into all the details as the title of the show is pretty self explanatory. First and foremost Gina is a extremely talented emcee. She fought hard to get on the show and though she didn’t win it didn’t take away from her talent. Gina isn’t an overnight success. Gina didn’t go on American Idol or sell out her convictions (she’s a very socially conscious rapper) to win the show. Instead she stuck to her guns and while she didn’t come out on top, in some ways she’s a big winner.

People like Gina are what this music scene should be. It isn’t about making records to appeal to a mass audience (Asking Alexandria, P-Diddy, etc.) It’s about making music that comes from your heart and soul. It’s about humping a shitty job at a discount clothing store for eight hours a day, then coming home and writing lyrics and music until 4am. It’s about planning your work schedule so that you can go see a show and buying a record from the band and not some website. It’s tearing fliers off the wall and putting them on your wall to remind you of the fun you had seeing that band or saving up for weeks just to buy a mic. It means not putting aside the things you care about just because they’re not cool or fit in with your image in whatever scene you’re in.

Music is an outlet to express feelings about the world around you. As soon as you forget that message, you’ve sold out everything that people have worked hard for their whole lives. If you’re signed right now, don’t forget the people who got you there. If you’re just coming up and working your ass off, don’t be discouraged that some band got a contract and you didn’t. Don’t give up and keep fighting because without people who do, a music scene holds no value anymore.

Editor’s Note: If you would like to check out G-Child’s work you can find her here. Please do her a solid in giving a listen and supporting the underground music scene.

Alright boys.. grab your 3XL sweatpants, camo shorts, Tripp jeans and all the other apparel in accordance to your genre of preference and let’s get to the basics of siq mosh. Sorry ladies, you’re going to have to sit this one out because we all know how hard it is to fake seizures and flail limbs with your boyfriend’s hoodie and recently purchased band merch in your arms.

Now, since stage dives moved out and rented their home to synchronized skipping, it’s fairly safe to move on to simple moshiquette. First of all, if you’ve never pretended to jump rope whilst rhythmically bobbing your head back and forth in front of your full body mirror, you should stop reading here and thoroughly practice before moving on to level one. Forward from mirrors and two steps, you begin at level one: Standing on the outskirts of the pit with your hands crossed over your chest giving subtle head nods in tune to the breakdowns. Be sure to survey your fellow level mates around the pit - these will be the blokes you attempt to utterly one up and destroy in the pit come next show with floor punches that will blow their feeble little minds. The time you spend until your next attended show should be spent in a clean and safe area in a large room in your house. If you can’t produce an impressive spin kick, you will forever be shunned in your hardcore community.

Alright, so Emmure is in town and it’s time for your initiation into level two. Don’t go all out for the first few bands, you need to save your energy for the real champs. Once the first band starts, begin to pace eagerly from one side of the pit to the other. Clutch your fists to the sides of your head and throw them down while making faces of discomfort. This is your build up - getting ready for your big moment. Level two is about to be chased out with swinging arms and donkey kicks, bringing on the adoration level three greets you with. Close your eyes and remember all of the youtube videos of live Hatebreed shows you watched and just let the energy consume you. Congratulations, you have just shaken, seized, and thrown your first punch into the inner circle of the final level.

But wait! A group of wild long haired heshers have appeared! They’re running around desperately in circles trying to shove and push the masses, knocking over you and all of your fellow moshmellows. How dare they threaten your warrior-esque mosh superiority! They do not approve of your kung-fu styles and are mistaking your highly worshiped pitgrounds for that of a Kindergarten schoolyard. Before all hell breaks loose and you find yourself at a Papa Roach concert, you must show them that your kung-fu is the best! Once you’ve proved one very important point, you acquire +6 knowledge.. spin kicks are all that will ever really matter.

However, mosh isn’t just a show-time activity.. it is an inevitable way of life. Benjamin Mox, 19, from Lewes, Delaware shares with us his passion of pitting; “Moshing is life. The rush it gives you makes you feel unstoppable. Mosh or be moshed!”. True that, brother! Now that you know how to teeter around a circle made of sweaty guys and insta-scene broads with hearts in their eyes, you’re set in your scene. No one could ever possibly disrespect you without having a swarm of khaki and camo pitting their reputation away. All that’s left to do is give a side arm bar to some twat’s mouth, get REAL pumped and smack his girlfriend’s half priced beer out of her hand, and subconsciously scream “STRAIGHT EDGE REVENGE”. Once completed.. you, my friend, have undoubtedly mastered the mosh.

Or.. have you?

It’s no secret the Tibetan government has been in exile for 51 years and an extraordinary culture has bloomed in exile.

The streets of Dharamsala are filled with juxtaposition — a culture previously isolated has collided with the modern world at an astoundingly fast pace. The first generation of elders’ offspring are now easily having their own children — Tibetans who have never been to their homeland.

Differing opinions on Tibetan politics abound — some for the Dalai Lama’s middle way, others feel it is too passive.

As tourists come through the northern Indian streets, they leave bits of their cultures. With the rise of the Internet, this small mountain town is far from isolated. Small restaurants play Shakira and the town’s two night spots favor Hip Hop and modern Tibetan songs.

For the past two years, I have been fascinated with this collision of cultures. I’ve met young Tibetans who embrace traditional music — whilst their skin bears tattoos of ancient symbols. Artists in track pants paint thangka in traditional methods dating back thousands of years.

What I had not yet seen was modern Tibetan art — mostly because up until this past week, there was not a space dedicated to it. Art is a labor of love and passion, and throughout time, it has been most charged during times of paradigm shifts. The Tibetan culture is definitely in the midst of a paradigm shift: modern influences are colliding with an ancient culture steeped in religion and tradition.

Tashi, a young Tibetan, recognized this collision and has opened the first contemporary art gallery, Peak Art, in Dharamsala. The gallery is curated by a young American, Sarah Mac. When you enter, the space is deceptive — after years in New York, I felt the urban aesthetic immediately — raw white walls, good lighting and the use of found objects to create seating and special divides.

Several of the pieces embrace the traditional image of Buddha, while others embrace Buddhism’s principle concepts, such as impermanence.

Artists are also showing images from Tibet — a man riding on horseback and a landscape — whilst others capture emotions and the new landscapes of Tibetan culture — a view from Tibetan Children’s Village.

While there is no website yet available for the gallery, this space is truly answering a need for emerging artists.

In March I was relayed a story some of you might have heard. It was about a sixty year old man with Parkinson’s disease named Bob Letcher. Bob has been on disability since 2005 and has had brain surgery which was paid for by Medicare and a charitable contribution from the Cleveland Clinic. Before this, Bob was teaching the young minds of today science and technology policy at Ohio State University. Meaning Bob gave back to his community when he probably could have been using his intellect somewhere else in the private sector. He molded young minds and taught policy which might one day govern how everything is done in our society.

What was Bob rewarded with when he stood outside the Columbus office of Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) holding a hand written sign reading “Got Parkinson’s? I Do. And you Might. Thanks for helping, that’s Community!”?

Yes, that’s right. That’s our kindly sixty year old professor getting berated by a group of rabid anti-health care reform protesters. At one point being told that these people were somehow giving him a handout by paying for his brain surgery via Medicare. If you don’t know what Medicare is (you’re probably either a Tea Bagger or one of Sarah Palin’s offspring) it’s government health care that we all pay for in taxes. Bob here was thanking all of us for giving him the necessary surgery he couldn’t afford because he was a teacher, so we as tax payers stepped up and paid for it.

Our pledge of allegiance reads “one nation, under god with liberty and justice for all.” Meaning we are one big community of people in this country. No one is any better than any other person, and everyone has an equal right to protection under the government and it’s institutions. Meaning just because someone can’t afford to pay taxes doesn’t mean they don’t get equal protection from the police and fire departments. They’re not denied ambulatory aid because they’re impoverish for any reason.

With the passing of health-care reform by Congress and President Obama we’ve taken one step further towards taking care of our citizens. Still, people stand on the sidelines and pass judgment on 86.7 million Amerians who are currently without health-care.  That means that out of 300 million Americans 86 million don’t have health insurance. The protesters at Bob’s rally were telling him that unless he’s one of the privileged elite in this country that he isn’t allowed to survive. That doesn’t sound much like the country that I stood up and pledged my allegiance to during all those football and baseball games.

The country that I stand for is a country of citizens united for the common good under a flag of democracy. Where each person is given the tools they need to succeed by their government. A government with is elected of our peers and by our peers to represent us in open debate in Congress. A open debate which has yielded amazing results in passing the first major health-care reform in fifty years.

So when you hear someone on the street complain about government run health-care or make some bold statement about not wanting to pay for health-care for someone who can’t afford it, do the right thing: call them a functionally retarded asshole and  by them a first class ticket the hell out of the United States because the rest of the common folks in this country wanted a change.