He was inviting me into his tribe, so to speak. He wanted me to listen to his music and become a fan. Probably he was just imitating the behavior of other musical hopefuls on MySpace. But I think it all stems from the grassroots early days of any given genre. In my case, it was hardcore punk.

I recently had the opportunity to see American Hardcore, a documentary about the U.S. punk and hardcore subculture during the early '80s. It's a very accurate account; it illustrates how this particular scene came to be a tribe of dissatisfied, anti-establishment punks full of piss and vinegar. Between their distaste for glossy mainstream music and a desire to build a national community of hardcore punks, these kids sought out their own scene. They identified their tribe and its members.

Music from that era had a certain wildfire effect. It seemed to spread and spread, all the while adding and adopting slightly different elements until it produced a variety of identifiable punk scenes in various cities, each a part of the larger hardcore punk community. Like any great big erupting fire, it eventually lost some of its flash and seemingly died down. The embers created by early hardcore in America spawned more bands than were present during the genre's original inception. Still, as the punk movement grew, its very own members became disenfranchised. They stepped aside. And as described in the film, it seemed that from one day to the next, it was over.

Where did it go? Where did the ideals go? The counter culture created out of necessity was no longer giving the punks what they needed. Now what? Some moved over. Some stuck it out and watched the evolution of the scene. There was no e-mail, MySpace, cell phones, or Sidekicks. Yet somehow everyone seemed to get the message, mostly via the world-of-mouth that initially grew the movement: We are done.

That was 20 years ago. New generations of scenesters have picked up the flames and still feel the sting of trying to fit into mainstream society. For some, the new music is just as passionate and message-driven. For others, it's a pure release of the creativity within. The point is that the tribe is still searching for its members. A music scene can grow just as a small fire can become an engulfing blaze. This one is still catching fire. It is still changing the way music fans see the world and cope with the trials and tribulations of needing a place to belong. I hope that what we do at Chord allows some music fans to find their people.

The ride is not over,
Gus
gus@chordmagazine.com
PS please join our tribe myspace.com/Chordmag