Everybody has their own road to punk, listen to what you like, be true to yourself, fuck what they say

Growing up in a rural town in Ky and nerdy confused abused and stoned!Only 20 minutes away on the interstate awaited a punkrock hole in the wall called Pandemonium. I found myself in that place! It felt like surreal beautiful, brutal magic and it was the answer to who I was becoming! Punk rock!!!!!

Punk for me is: stay free, do and say what you want to and stand up if things are fucked ! also some other things.

I feel ya bro, growing up we didnt have the luxury of having the internet and i grew up poor as fuck too so whatever punk i could soak up, i would. if it wasnt for the offspring blowing up and opening the door for the amazing other epitaph and lookout bands then i wonder where we would all be now because the epitaph explosion was felt even here in New Zealand in like 95 when i was like 13 it was the perfect time for me to find punk rock. and like what you like thats what punk is having your own opinion and being straight up enough to say i like this a and not this because otherwise we would just be like any other suit wearing 9 - 5 jerk. the fat wreckcords and hellcat samplers were fucking gold back in the early 00's is there any comps out there today that would be as good as those ones? that was rad to here your story bro, keep up the good work

As someone who got into punk due to seeing broken bones open for napalm death back in the day I get it. As someone who grew up in the newport south wales/bristol punk scene it was all crust for me. Also the Levellers who are arguably the biggest folk punk band, saw them a load not realising all bands were connected to punk.

Grew up in Baltimore MD, my older cousin was into punk letting me borrow tapes like black flag and the germs, so I enjoyed the sound, it was 1994, then my first concert was Green Day & the Riverdales, the show was amazing, that’s why I’ll always respect n love Green Day, anyway my first cds were Green Day dookie and offspring smash , I connected more with 90s punk bands, started listening to nofx, white caps, rancid( favorite song was hyena) as time went on I started liking bands like suicide machines, Reel big fish, etc, I started tripping n smoking and I loved the mindset of live fast die young, live today like it’s gonna be the last. Also loved groups like bloodhound gang, they acted punk but they were considered more like rap rock, they kinda did their own thing. I loved to party and having that carefree lifestyle.

Dude you have a lot of the same influences as me. I love metallica and guns and roses and I will tell punkers that 7 days a week lol

You'll get it. Don't feel like you ever need to explain your own tastes. Whatever makes you rock is what you are.

I'm a 48 year old straight edge person who never liked Minor Threat all that much. I also didn't like the Dead Kennedys much, either. Pre-Rollins Black Flag was rad, though.

Punk origin…man being a young lad growing up in the suburb of Houston…growing up music was always something big for me and my pop was a skater in the 80s so because of him I was introduced to so many bands…even jamming to the soundtrack to the Tony hawk pro skater game. 7th grad was when it hit me to enjoy the music aesthetic and pick up a bass and jam with my pops. Now being almost 36 I still have the same music tastes as I did then.

Your sentiment on not caring is totally mine too, I’m 45 grew up on fat wreck then moved into hardcore via victory stuff late 90,s. First merch long sleeve rancid give em the boot shirt bought in Leeds 95 when they toured with swinging utters

Traded my Kriss Kross tape for "Lets start a war" (because the cover looked cool) when I was 12 years old and never looked back

Dude I grew up on 107.5 I think that might be the last time I listened to the radio.

Man you wanna talk about small ass punk scenes, I'm from the sticks of New Hampshire lol. Luckily friends I had known since I was about 5 or 6 got into it at the same time as me when we were 14, or we got each other in to it, or one of us did (I can't remember) and Boston/Burlington/Portland were close enough we could get to shows. We had a ripple effect for folks in my age group (35) and I saw many a friend in our circle bob their heads to what we'd listen to so we'd give them some CDs. 21 years later and it's all a bit dead here. I miss Suburban Showdown.

my guy- we are the same exact age. i was born in ‘82, san jose CA…. and had a very similar journey. the radio was all we had! and maybe older siblings and friends who introduced us to shit. but dude.. we are also products of the 90’s so all that fat wreck and epitaph shit was what shaped us! i got into the older shit as i got older.. but for me, it was ‘94 in the back of my parents car heading back north from orange county.. green day basket case hit my headphones- musta been KROQ.. that hit me like a ton of bricks. whoa..fast, melodic, and urgent. it changed the course of my life. thanks for sharing this shit dude it’s important to connect this way- with honesty and humility. fuck the judgement!

It's funny because I would associate with you on those things, or at least ask you about old shows you've been to. What would you rather talk about? Shitty weather, boats, camping?

Being a punk in bomb city sucks ass. There literally is no scene here. I also set out as a lone wolf when I young. Yet I’m still that way. I have one punk friend. I travel all over the nation just to see shows.

Where i started life out in north eastern Kentucky back in the 80s, i was definitely the odd kid out. I was the only kid in 2 shcools that was into skateboarding. Back then it was Garth Brooks and MC Hammer. Another kid moved into my neighborhood that was into skateboarding and he gave me an old VHS with the old Thrasher skate vid "Blast from the past and present". That was the first time i heard Agent Orange and i was hooked. There were some great bands on that vid. Thats when it started for me. It was pretty cool when 16 years later when i was kiving on the east coast, my band got to open up up for Agent Orange. That was my first "Im really doing this" moment. Not in a working band anymore but im still living the punk rock life even though im clean and sober now.

Year: 2000 Age:11 Kid at lunch hands me a dead Kennedys cd. 1 weekend later I saw the boils. Been here since and never leaving❤

I got into a lot of the older UK bands at an early age, but I give credit to buying The Casualties For The Punx at 13 and looking up all of the bands they wore on the album artwork 😂

I got into punk for the short 2-3 minute songs and take a break from long 7-10 minutes songs from later Iron Maiden albums

Wtf Randall! I was at that lollapalooza in Dallas also. So fucking weird. Especially because I live in bomb city and you live in Houston. I was in love with the Melvin’s back then. What sucked about that show was the Melvin’s and rancid played at the same time. I watched the Melvin’s then ran over to the other stage to catch Rancid. I’m so glad now that I watched the Melvin’s though because I’ve only seen them twice in my life. I’ve seen rancid about 8 more times since 96.

Bedtime for democracy is great

My first love was black metal. But coming out of a rehab center my cousin give me circle jerks album “group sex” and it was over.but the older I get I find myself returning to black metal. Mainly because so many hate it. 😃but in the end you should always ask yourself “ if I like it , then why should I care what others thing?” Plus battle ruins . He he he , I’m always going to suggest them to you. But I respect your decision to do /listen to what you want to. Battle ruins

Really all you need is D.O.A bloodied but unbowed and U.S. Bombs- war birthday, Garibaldi Guard......the unseen are postcard punks same with casualties......

If you're from Houston u should be listening to Bobby Soxx & the Teenaged Queers, THAT'S true Punk Rock.

Well said. I would always get shit for not liking tool. I get that it’s well written music. It’s just not my cup of tea. F’em

I don’t care what other people listen too as long as I don’t have to listen to the crappy 90’s American pop punk. I was lucky enough to find a cheap cd collection with all the classic English bands like SLF, Angelic Upstarts, Sham and Anti Nowhere League. It put me up to the best punk in my opinion

Some many people who hate bands never seem able to articulate what exactly it is about them they hate, or if they can, it's often something they've just assumed.

dude, I used to hide my punk stuff from my parents in '99-'00 when I was 12-13. I just told my dad I hid Rancid's first self-titled a couple months ago (he laughed). I, too, had little to no punk friends and absolutely zero luck starting a band. The Clash were an experimental rock-band. There's nothing punk about their cover of "Police and Thieves" and Sandinista and Combat-Rock are completely experimental. So what if it's not noisy and distorted, it's experimental. I kinda think punk rock start'd with Rancid's first album and cosmically branched out in all directions, past, present, and future. call me crazy, how could punk exist before "Adina" or "Rats in the Hallway" ??? it may have pre-existed, but if someone can explain HOW punk existed BEFORE "Hyena" or "Unwritten Rules" or "Outta My Mind", I'll believe but I'm guessing they're just explaining quantum-science, not talking about punk rock.

I think 2000s street punk is pure garbage. But that's just me and my opinion

No one cares.

Who are you? No fx sucks sooooo bad, not punk!!!! If you like them all you need is bad religion-suffer ( melodic punk genre) if you want real punk check out US Bombs, Stitches, Smut Peddlers, Swingin Utters, Smogtown, Angry Samoans, GBH, Cocksparrer, Ruts, Stiff little fingers, Humpers, M.I.A., Agression, Stitches, Stitches,.........stop with all the mainstream pop punk except Rancid

Do you like The Stooges?