AllAgesCT: final rant.
the underground music scene was created in order for a safe space to thrive for all of the kids who felt rejected. all of the kids who felt like they were misfits in their school. they weren’t popular. they listened to weird music and had weird impulses. they found a scene, a high school scene where they could play or listen to music without judgement or feeling threatened. and lately, in the state of connecticut, there has been an alarming amount of threatening behavior especially in this new high school scene that is beginning to take shape.
i’m going to say this bluntly. if you use homophobic, racist, or misogynistic language while considering yourself a member of the scene, you are poison. you are killing the scene that you claim to love. and if you feel the need to rationalize your use of any sort of hateful slurs, it is unfathomable how much you are destroying such a beautiful thing. just because you are young doesn’t make using the pseudo-adjective “gay” okay. just because you have black friends who encourage your use of the word “nigga” mean that you can walk around at shows saying it to your friends. by creating exclusivity and naive hate, you are alienating groups of people who want to get involved. you are on the same level as the jocks you claim to hate. and you’ll make those people coming into this scene feel the same way. there are bands right now full of older people who are setting this example. use your brain. know that it’s wrong. don’t support them no matter how good their music may be. they are shutting out accessibility willingly by saying things that can be triggering or offensive to certain groups.
have a brain. if you don’t use it soon, your scene is in for a rude awakening.
As I’ve said in the past, I usually I try to stay out of scene politics because I feel that they take the focus away from the music; however, in the past few months, I’ve become increasingly aware of the amount of ignorance and childish ambivalence towards hateful language that is permeating certain aspects of the Connecticut scene, and I feel the need to address it in some way. AllAgesCT’s Jack Tomascak, my very best friend in the scene, has expressed his frustration with this very eloquently in the piece above, and I would recommend that everyone from Connecticut and beyond read this, but especially those of you who actively participate in underground music and culture in Connecticut.
I’m not going to point the finger at any specific bands or organizations because that would be rather immature, and thus send the opposite message that I’m trying to convey. Instead, I will leave the choice open to those of you who are reading this. If you encounter any of the hateful and harmful language that Jack has described above at a show or anywhere in the scene, it’s up to you and only you to do something about it. Be mature. Understand the consequences of your actions and words. Understand that toleration of or ambivalence towards this kind of language and attitude is not akin to being neutral towards it, but instead actively perpetuates it. Most importantly, as Jack pointed out above, understand what it means to be in an underground scene, and please, I beg you, work to preserve what is so beautiful about this community.
I trust my followers to heed this advice. This goes beyond Connecticut, and even beyond music, and I hope you all understand that. Thank you.
