NAME: Weber

Straight Edge for 12 Years

I was 17 when I first heard about straightedge, and to be honest at first it was hard to swallow as I was a young surf punk who based his life on waves, weed and cheap wine. I was listening to local surf/skate punk bands from my area as well as the classics such as NOFX, Pennywise, No Fun at All and Millencolin when I discovered a harder version of these bands that actually sang about stuff that meant something, such as Youth of Today, Minor Threat, Raised Fist and Gorilla Biscuits. I was playing in a band that ended up being known as Day of Contempt from Adelaide, Australia. We played some shows with some local bands such as Forcefed Nine and Price of Silence and discovered that there were bands that also had a message that I could go and see every weekend. I guess this was my introduction into a hardcore lifestyle and the first time in my life I actually thought about the possibility of being drug free. What did it for me though was the day the guitarist in my band got an album called Destroy The Machines and brought it to a party we were all at. I remember not caring about the new album my friend wanted to play, all I wanted to do was hear the songs I already knew and party. But my friend got his way and I was introduced to the almighty force that is Earth Crisis, which would end up changing my life and get me off the destructive path I was already on forever. I listened to that album over and over again, studying the lyrics and trying to play all the songs on my drum kit and it was only a matter of weeks before I decided to take meat out of my diet. I grew up for the most part in a single parent household surrounded by alcoholism and depression, witnessing the pain drugs and alcohol caused me and my family on a daily basis and less than a year later I made the logical decision to put an X on my hand and vow to live the best life I could and break the evil hold substance abuse had over my family, and 12 years later at 29 years old I am still straightedge, still proud and still as excited about it as I was back then. I still X up at shows, I run an edge clothing label called Trust Comes Tough and I still owe it all to that one record Destroy the Machines. Earth Crisis made such an impact on my life and made me realize that I didn’t need drugs or alcohol to be cool or fit in and gave me the push I needed to embrace what being hardcore and straightedge really meant, being a free thinker and choosing my own path in life with a clear mind and a proud heart…FOREVER TRUE XXX

Name: Josh James

Straight Edge for 12 years.

When I was in the 7th grade I saw “sXe” on the back of a punk comp. I

had no clue what that meant. My friend Justin told me he thought it

meant this thing called “Straight Edge.” I tried drinking and smoking

around that time, the typical teenage “rebellion,” but it did nothing

for me. I knew pretty quickly the lifestyle most of my friends were

starting to lead wasn’t for me. I’d rather be skateboarding and

listening to punk bands than getting fucked up and waking up in a

puddle of puke.

I think I was at a Good Riddance show where they refused to start

their set until all the neon beer signs were turned off. It was

intense to realize how strong something meant to someone. To some it

would seem extreme, but it made sense to me. Straight Edge was the

perfect fit for me because it is me. I’ve watched more than enough

friends die at the hands of substance abuse, and I am thankful every

day that this is the life I have chosen. A lot of things have changed

in my life and a lot of things will change before I die, but one thing

that will stay the same is I am Straight Edge.

NAME: Dan Meyers

Straight Edge for 11 Years

I am one person who can say straightedge saved my life.  In my younger days I was involved with the wrong people.  The people I was “friends” with were pretty heavily involved with cocaine and some with meth.  I myself never went that far but I did drink a lot and smoked weed on a regular basis, but I was constantly pressured into doing cocaine.  I was headed down the wrong path, then in 1996 I started working with a straightedge kid.  I started hanging out with him and his friends, and eventually I became straightedge.  After I became straightedge I found out fast the people I thought where my friends really where not.  I was constantly told, oh true till 21, or true till college.  Well guess what, i went to college, and here I am 28 years old and still edge.  I am proud to say that I have been straightedge for 11 years and Courage Crew for 9 years.  I have gone through good times and bad times in life.  I have been heavily depressed and my Courage Crew brothers have been there for me, and I never had to resort to drugs or alcohol to deal with my problems.  Straightedge is not just a phase, it is how I live my life, and guess what, it is not hard.

Dan Meyers

Flint/Detroit, MI  CXCB

NAME:  Eric Michael Schauffele aka EMS
How long you’ve been edge: Est. 1991

Growing up in your usual dysfunctional American broken home my teenage years started out with a lot of angst and frustration.  My mother worked her ass off to provide for her young unguided kids (which until recent years I took for granted) and she eventually decided to remarry.  This meant we had to pack up and move from our neighborhood, the only thing I knew.  I was barely a teen and hanging out on the streets until 2am on a school night and getting into all sorts of things which was the norm.  Being removed from the friends that I had (which were my entire world and wolfpack) I felt life slipping even further away.  A few parties here and there, crawling on the floor, and some tears of frustration, I knew all ready that if I didn’t alter my course my life was going to crash and burn fast.  I hung out with a lot of older punkers and skins and as much as I looked up to them and thought they were cool, I just had this sense that they were on a bad path.  I had known of straight edge for a bit and just didn’t quite get it at the time. Once I had hit that point in my life though it started to make some sense.  I thought long and hard to the commitment that I was contemplating.  I knew it was all or none.  After a few weeks I made the pledge and haven’t turned back since.  Combat boots, Mohawk, and Xing up made me even more of an outcast in my brand new school. In the long run I feel like it has made me stronger.  It has made me be okay to be alone, it has made me feel strong and empowered to be myself and walk proud.

Many crazy nights have occurred over the years and depending on the side of the bed I woke up on you might be lucky and get the posi, optimistic part or the more militant, aggro EMS.  Countless acts of “straight edge revenge” have taken place and even though I’m 32 now, I’d probably do the same in those situations.  Whether it was smashing the drunk driver’s windows out and stealing his car belongs and car stereo or beating up drug dealers on Haight / Asbury streets in San Fran, it all just felt like a natural “survival of the fittest” reaction.

Many moons later as most of my friends have completely given up on their convictions that are tattooed on their skin; I still can’t understand why they would want to change so drastically and do a 180.  I’m 32 and feel like I can’t relate to just about anyone around me at this point.  There are a few people here and there but we’re normally hundreds of miles apart and interact so infrequently.  It seems like all of my peers can not partake in a single social function without alcohol being a part of it.  As great of people my friends are it makes me concerned for their futures and their choices in life.  I think they’re all in serious denial of how much their habits are dictating what they can and can’t get done for themselves.  Or maybe they just don’t give a fuck.  Who knows? But when I sit there and listen to them complain about financial problems while paying a $50 bar tab, cry about relationship problems and wake up next to some unknown person, or that they don’t have any time to get things done but spend most of the weekend hung-over and immobile… I think to myself “Maybe I just don’t give a fuck” and throw my sympathy right out the window.

Being straight edge definitely doesn’t get any easier with age.  When I was 16 everyone just thought it was a strange teenage passing phase and now at 32 people I meet just think it’s down right strange and unexplainable as to why you would live sober.  Whenever I feel alienated and need a good pick me up I just listen to “Forged in the Flames” and I will remember exactly what I am and why I am this way.

Name: Gary Mann

Straight Edge for 14 years!!!

Of all the dumb things I’ve gotten myself into and mistakes I’ve made, I did them with clarity of mind. I can never blame any of my actions on a smoke, a liquid or any other force. I’m accountable for every word I say and every step I take…and that to me is the most important thing a person can do for themselves. With all of my faults and mis-steps I can never say that I have regret…just lessons learned. I’ve seen a lot of things that being under the influence has done to people I love and have loved. There are constant reminders of why I should hold the amount of pride I do for the most important label you can have for yourself. I have tons of friends who are and aren’t straight edge, and I love them all the same. I’m not sure the ones who are edge make me stronger in my conviction because I’ve never been tempted by substances in any way but I feel as much pride in them as I do for myself for making that decision. I feel like life does enough horrible shit to you without you asking for it, so why dive into a situation that puts you in a compromising mindset right off the bat?

For the people I love and the goals I’ve made for myself…I have no choice but to be straight edge.

NAME: christopher gutierrez. aka: deadxstop

straight edge for 20 years.

Even as a 14 year old kid i took it seriously. there was hesitation when i put the black marker to the back of my hand that afternoon in Matts basement between sets of bench pressing. i knew what it meant and i thought long and hard about the decision. Even if i didn’t yet possess the words to articulate my passion and sincerity, i knew this wasn’t a passing idealistic youth movement. this was about making a lifetime commitment to hold myself to higher standards, to raise the bar on the bloodline and damaged family genes i was born with and to then and there, as a child in basement, say to myself with the upmost conviction; you are better than this. For my mother, for those i hugged, for those that i kissed on the forehead and most of all, for myself, i took the marker and completed the X. But i knew it wasn’t about the ink, that was simply a symbolic gesture… But it made it real. and i knew it. It was me. It always has been. I had made a promise with a marker that day to be a better person. To give myself a platform up and away from the mundane, the simple, the trite, the false rebellion and the mindlessness of peer pressure. that black X was more of a “fuck you” to conventional thinking than any mohawk or spiked leather jacket ever could be.

Straight Edge is the greatest investment i have ever made, because it is an opportunity to become the best version of myself i can be. It is a simple investment that produces the greatest returns… and the best investments are in yourself. It was never about fashion or cliques or crews; hell, it wasnt even about the music. It was about ideas, self-confidence, self-reliance and self-determination. A true measure of character. A punk philosophy born out of a punk revolution, and it is my job, my purpose, to leave this world a better place than when i found it. how that is accomplished is by understanding, tolerance and empathy. It is about loving yourself so hard that its impossible to not infect those around you. It is about fighting the good fight, and most of all, it is about understanding that straight edge is a starting point. putting an X on the back of your hand doesnt make you better than anyone. abstaining from drugs and alcohol doesnt make you a better person if you are still hateful or racist or homophobic. But what does make you better is what you do with that clean slate. an opportunity, an investment into yourself that will set you apart from the clones and automatons that are content with keeping their heads in the sand. Its the effect you have with your voice, your shoulder, your ears and your heart that will determine your character, and nothing has brought a shine to my character more than saying that i am straight edge.

Joe “Hardcore”

Straight Edge since Dec. 4^th 1999 

I’ve come along way from the long hair and the confusion between metal and hardcore of my early teens. I am closing in on 30 and I have 3 kids. When I am not bustin’ my ass as concrete laborer I am either booking shows or swordfighting in the SCA. Yet no matter which hat I am wearing or which role I am in, I feel as if it is my personal commitment to a straight edge lifestyle that gives me that extra breath, extra push or stronger foundation in each or any of my endeavors. As I learn more about life and its ups and downs I can say with a straight face (no pun intended) that being straight edge has provided me with a clearer mind to navigate through the muck and mire.

Name: Crystal Preston.

Straight Edge For 15 and a half years.

My younger years were spent moving around a lot since I was a navy baby, which made it difficult to make and keep friends. I grew up with a father and step father who are both alcoholics. I saw how this hurt my family and wanted no part of it.  I lucked out and spent the majority of my growing years in Syracuse, New York which at the time had a well-known Straight Edge scene. I embraced the Straight Edge lifestyle when I was 12. I discovered Straight Edge through my best friend’s older brother, who also turned us onto hardcore music. 

My first hardcore show was at the end of 1994. It was amazing to meet so many kids who felt the same way I did about drugs and alcohol. When I first started going to shows the most prominent band in Syracuse was Earth Crisis, which was, and still is a perfect example of a Straight Edge band. It was as though they knew exactly how I felt, and I was proud to be part of the scene. Growing up in Syracuse gave me an amazing opportunity to see so many great Straight Edge and non Straight Edge hardcore bands, as well as make many new friends that, to this day I keep in contact with. 

The hardcore scene in Syracuse, and the people that I grew up with have made such a positive imprint in my life, I will never forget it. I am forever changed in the best way possible. I have also been blessed with my other half, Chip, who has been Straight Edge nearly as long as I have been. It is a wonderful thing to share something that is so important in your life with someone you love. I am very proud to say that I have been straight edge for 15 and a half years, and have no intentions of changing that. XXX.

NAME: Richard Charles Walbert II aka xCHIPxSEM

Straight Edge for 14 years

Growing up I never tried anything. My parents spoke to me at a young age about drugs and alcohol, I listened to what they said and took it very seriously. I was always very athletic and didn’t want to ruin what I had whether it was playing football after school or soccer at school. I met Roy Ugarte in high school and we discovered punk rock and hardcore in 1995. After attending a few shows, we saw Morning Again and Earth Crisis and that was it for me. From that point forth, I found out that there was a group of people who felt the same things I felt and understood what I was going through. Now, after turning 30 a few months ago, straight edge is as important to me now as it was when I was a 16 year old kid discovering this wide world of hardcore. Not much has changed honestly. I still X up for shows, I still buy music, I still support the local and touring bands, and I try to present myself as a role model for the new generation who may not have that older figure to show them that they don’t need to follow the masses. I never look down on them for making their own choices, whether it is to be straight edge or not. I just want them to see that they have a brain and are free to make their own choices, not mimic the people they see on TV or the kids in their school. We are a positive force in a world that functions on glamorizing a lifestyle of sex, drugs, and money. This is the true alternative…til the day I die, I am straight edge. XXX