Keepin’ It Real In a Corporate World

by Josiah



  As I sit here listening to my neo-post-music, I can’t help but reflect on the changes that have happened in my life and the contributing factors
that surround me. The primary influence on my mindframe is this brilliant community of artists who thoughtfully build each other up and like,
totally do it for the kids. Things can get so corporate sometimes, but like, you know, the scene just slaps it all in the face.



  Like, the other day, we were sitting in Ethical, and I was thinking, “Shit, a year ago, I would have still been drinking Starbucks coffee. They’re
so corporate, they advertise on TV and stuff. TV is so lame. I can’t believe I used to watch it. Well, I guess I still do watch the Wedge and
sometimes HitList, but, whatever.” And as I sat there, I realized that it was because of the scene and the whole punk-rock, DIY ethic that I was
where I was. I think I can remember when I first discovered punk….



  I used to listen to the radio. Can you believe it? I know…sooo corporate. Anyways, this one time I was sitting in the mall at the new food court,
and like, I was just sitting there, when all of a sudden I heard this music coming from HMV and I was like, “Whoa…I’ve heard this on X before!” So I
went inside and asked what it was. PENNYWISE!!! I decided to pick up a copy of their disc and I popped it into my Jeep. I was so inspired. Their
anti-corporate message combined with their slick production and glossy packaging really spoke to me. It’s like, the corporations are so big, that
they must be evil, and like, they go after children and stuff, and like, it all contributes to like globalizationism and stuff, and like, we’re all
robots working for the man and his system and the government is trying to control us and stuff.



  Since then I’ve been a changed person. Sure, I still shop at the mall, smoke Philip Morris cigarettes, drink brand-name alcohol and spend hundreds
of dollars on clothes, but when I walk through the mall, I try to glare at old people, and when I smoke cigarettes, it’s my way of saying, “Fuck you,
authority,” and when I drink, I get so crazy and just mosh and shit, and I buy my clothes at Cheap Thrills and sometimes I write “%&*$ Authority!”
on my hoodies (because like, if I had swearing on my cloths, I’d get in trouble).



  So, yeah, thank you, Abbotsford scene and Pennywise, for reminding me how to keep it real and shit.