When Pete Spielman got into hardcore music, he wasn’t interested in the message. He was heavily into drugs and alcohol, but after two rounds of rehab he realized he would have to change his ways to stay alive.

He sought out friends who would help him stay clean, and he found Syracuse hardcore band Earth Crisis.

‘They have been my best friends for years,’ said Spielman, a former roadie for the band and a student at Onondaga Community College. ‘They saved my life.’

The members of Earth Crisis pioneered the Syracuse hardcore scene in the early and mid-’90s. The band stressed its straight-edge, vegan roots and was one of the first to weave metallic elements into the hardcore genre.

Young people in the United States formed a hardcore style of punk music in which musicians were able to express their views on politics, war, animal rights and personal situations, Spielman said.

In the early 1990s, the genre’s popularity plunged.

‘There was a huge drop-off,’ Spielman said. ‘It was practically uncool.’

Hardcore exploded back onto the music scene in Syracuse primarily because of Earth Crisis, which formed in Syracuse and released its first major album in 1995. The now defunct band, went on to a successful national career under Victory Records. Syracuse skateboarder and musician Karl Buechner started Earth Crisis as a way to blend his interests, Spielman said. The group brought hardcore back on the map at the time when the scene was starting to fade away, he said.

‘About 90 percent of people now going to (hardcore) shows in Syracuse go because they’ve heard of Earth Crisis,’ said Chuck Monday, the vocalist and guitar player for the band John Wayne’s Severed Head.

Earth Crisis and the sub-genre it inspired strengthened the straight-edge movement, which swears off drugs and alcohol. Young people attend shows with huge Xs on their hands as a statement of pride to indicate that they avoid alcohol and drugs.

Earth Crisis was very outspoken and militant about its beliefs, which often caused controversy, Spielman said.

‘There was a backlash to their message,’ he said.

Despite the negative response, Earth Crisis brought politics and rock ‘n’ roll together by using its artistic license to discuss the animal rights cause, Spielman said.

‘Earth Crisis embraced straight edge and animal rights, which formed a whole vegan straight-edge movement,’ Spielman said.

Earth Crisis inspired other hardcore bands to express their feelings on specific causes. Bands often use political aspects in their music to discuss issues like the current government administration and anti-war protests, Monday said.

‘Hardcore is more about expressing yourself,’ Monday said.

A typical hardcore show in a lesser known venue will usually include a small crowd of people and be open to all age groups, Spielman said.

Although most hardcore shows are male-oriented, more women are becoming involved in this genre. Megan Keeler, a resident of Syracuse and a promoter of hardcore shows, says she has noticed an increase in the amount of women involved in hardcore.

Although women have had to earn respect among the people in hardcore, the atmosphere of the scene has encouraged Keeler to stay involved.

‘(Hardcore) is like a family,’ Keeler said. ‘The energy just sucks you in.’

That energy is still alive and vibrant in Syracuse, where bands plan shows several times a week. Admission to these shows can range anywhere from four to seven dollars. First-time listeners can get a preview of the hardcore experience on the Internet.

Syracuse hardcore Web sites, such as syracusepunk.com and finalxword.com, provide information on upcoming shows and news events on current bands.

‘It is way more accessible than it used to be,’ Spielman said.

‘I kept digging deeper and deeper and found out hardcore is going on in India and in Japan,’ Monday said. ‘It’s a global thing.’

But the best way to get exposed to the hardcore scene, Monday said, is to attend a show.

Syracuse’s hardcore scene thrives today, and the city will always be a piece of hardcore history.

‘History never happens in your own hometown; it’s always happening somewhere else,’ Spielman said. ‘A huge hardcore scene, though, started in a small city in Central New York called Syracuse.’

Published on April 4, 2004 at 12:00 pm