On The Desk of The Editor - Empty Family Portraits: The Dismissal of Those Once Essential

by Kenneth Fury

CW: SEXUAL ASSAULT/ABUSE

For those who play guitar, do vocals or even write songs, challenging questions have been placed in front of us. When we stop supporting those who were once heroes due to abuse, it leaves many gaps.

Not only do our music libraries shrink, but so does our pool of influences, as ghosts continue to crop up. Cold turkeying albums that you spun time after time, sometimes for years, can be incredibly disheartening. But more than this, more than the ache similar to losing an old friend, our art suffers. We become cut off from players, lyricists that MATTERED to us. Not only this, but how do we move past?

Attempting to pretend they never happened simply doesn't work and is also irresponsible. No, I will not pretend I did not spend the entirety of last summer telling people I worshiped Lou Diamond's guitar playing (and then spent the rest of the year in some sort of horrified shock). In all honesty, I wanted to do heavier Jank- even jokingly referred to it as Jank with teeth. But when shit hit the fan, the wind was knocked out of me.

by Ocean & Anchor Photography

Whilst I've had many guitar idols over the years, Lou's work was an obsession for me. Jesse Lacey, a musician who seemingly made me want to refine my sound and aesthetics now haunts me. The flowers around the mic stand I thought to be the pinnacle of art lay as one of the largest skeletons in my closet. But never, not for a second have I gone back to their music. I freely admit missing their music, but where does this leave ME? No longer do I spend evenings admiring tone and attempting to learn the parts. Instead, songs that I haven't heard in months wake me up in the morning. I believe in order to be honest and truly handle the situation, we can't stonewall and pretend none of this happened. No, let us not glorify or speak of the past in the manner of boyish glory. But in the times we do grieve, I believe we should discuss it. This has a few benefits in my mind. Firstly, it makes sure that the history of abuse or pedophilia is still brought up. Secondly, communities like hardcore or emo, that are based of emotional cathartic have a duty to make sure people have an outlet. Shaming someone for saying "ah shit, I kinda miss listening to Devil and God" defeats the point. The loss of art is a terrible thing- but it's a sacrifice we make in order to uphold ethics in our scenes. It's for the best, but that's never stopped anything from hurting. We can't compete. This about growth- for ourselves and our community at large. Who knows. Just a couple thoughts.

by Ocean & Anchor Photography