Bod Mods

For those not in the know, "bod mod" is short for body modification, a cornerstone of the underground world. Bod mods can come in a variety of types. Now under the "normal" definition of the term, it can mean something as simple as getting your ears pierced. But to under-grounders this can mean anything from tattoos to piercings to scarification to branding. Most bod mods aren't meant to act as attention-grabbers, although they always get someone's attention. Instead, bod mods are the main way under-grounders like to express themselves and can even help to make them feel more comfortable in their own skin. I speak from experience on this.

Tattoos - These are self-explanatory for anyone who lived in the twentieth century. Ink of various colors are injected into the skin via fast-moving needles. It can be relatively painful depending on where the tattoo is. In my experience (five tattoos) the most painful place I've had tattooed is my upper back. Between the spine, the ribs, and the shoulder blades it doesn't make for a very pleasant experience, but the result was so worth it (see picture above). And for all the people asking "How can you do that to yourself?" the answer is simple. If you take care of a tattoo correctly, which can take up to two weeks of constant care, by the time it's healed it feels like you've had it all your life and it fully becomes a part of you and not just your skin. Not to mention they are completely addicting, thus the reason why I've gotten five within a span of three years.

Piercings - Yet again a pretty straightforward bod mod. A long needle gets stuck through your ears, tongue, lip, nose, or wherever else you might want one, and a ring is slipped through it (rings are preferable since they're easier to clean and less prone to infections). Then the healing time varies depending on where the piercing is. For a full list of rough healing times you can go here. Keep in mind healing times depend on how well you take care of the piercing. For pretty much any piercing, I recommend a product called H2Ocean. It's a premixed formula of salt water (the best option to keep new piercings clean without irritating it) in a convenient spray canister and can even be used on oral piercings.

Scarification - This is one of the lesser-known bod mods. Again, it's a simple idea, just a little more cringe-worthy, even for me. The basic idea is to make a deep enough mark in the skin so that it leaves a scar in a designated style. This isn't nearly as predictable as tattoos or piercings just because of all the different factors there are, like skin thickness. For more info i recommend this page.

Branding - This goes along with the scarification and it's applied exactly how you think it supposed to be. A mark is burned into your skin. This is one that I personally wouldn't try, just because I don't like extreme heat or cold (yeah, it can be done with extreme cold too). If you want to get more extensive check out this page.

Metal Mayhem

For above-grounders, it's more than likely that you haven't heard about this particular underground festival, except perhaps in passing. But this one event is the highlight of any under-grounders' entire year. Rockstar Metal Mayhem is the one concert that metal-heads and Goths alike cry over if they miss it. This concert is annual and is held over the summer months, normally making its stop in Pittsburgh around the first weekend of August. For my own part, I have attended the past three and never plan to miss another one. This all-day event hosts a variety of metal bands that changes from year to year. During the past year such bands as; Five Finger Death Punch, Rob Zombie, Korn, and Lamb of God all hosted at the main stage while In This Moment, Chimara, and others hosted at the other two stages available. And for motocross fans, there is always a few ramps set up for professional dirt-bikers to show off their skill to the crowd. And what's even better are the deals for buying band merchandise. Say you really want to get autographs from your favorite band but don't want to pay a ridiculous amount to go backstage. Not a problem. Most vendors offer deals to fans for buying merchandise. For example, for buying a shirt and CD from the In This Moment vendor last year for $25, I got to meet and get autographs from the entire band. Pretty cool, huh? A full schedule and list of bands playing are available at the website here. Keep a lookout on January 31 when the list of bands makes its debut to see if anyone's playing who catches your eye. Lawn seats are usually about $40. If you want to get closer to the action, be prepared to dish out a good $120 for pit tickets. But no matter what, you're going to have a great time around a lot of great people. Hope to see you there in the summer.

Band Spotlight: Slipknot

Slipknot is one of the most popular bands in the underground world. I had the pleasure of seeing them in concert two years ago at Rockstar Metal Mayhem during the release of their album "All Hope is Gone." And they are nothing short of awesome. The entire band consists of nine members and was formed in 1995 in Des Moines. They currently have four albums out; "Slipknot," "Iowa," "Vol. 3: Subliminal Verses," and "All Hope is Gone." Although they lost one band member (Paul Gray, bassist) not long ago, the band is still going strong and plans to release a new album sometime in 2011. The two gentlemen you see pictured above (courtesy of Google) are the two most well-known members, Corey Taylor (top) and Joey Jordison (right). For those of you who don't recognize Corey Taylor in Slipknot get-up, you might recognize his dulcet tones from bands such as Stone Sour, Apocalyptica, Anthrax, Soulfly, and Avenged Sevenfold. As for Mr. Jordison, he has performed with bands such as Murderdolls (who also came out with a new album not long ago called "Women and Children Last), Wednesday 13, Frankenstein Drag Queens, and even performed with singer Rob Zombie at the last Metal Mayhem in August. I honestly felt bad for Zombie during their set because Joey was getting the most attention out of everyone. For more information on Slipknot you can go here. But for now, here's some music for the curious...





Oh, and as an FYI, you can see some appropriate moshing behavior in the video for "Duality". Note how everyone stops and doesn't move until Corey gives them the O.K.

A Common Enemy

This title has probably got your brains working into thinking: A common enemy between us and them? Hmmmm... Yes, there is in fact, a group that both above-grounders and under-grounders have come to loathe because of their behavior... EMOS. Now please note that in order to qualify as one of this hated group, the person must have the attitude, which is the most annoying aspect. Now the way to tell if someone is an Emo, superficially at least, is to look at their appearance. Ask yourself the important questions. Do they look like they have more piercings than tattoos? Do they have mysterious markings (i.e. cutting marks) in conspicuous places? Could their hair be described as a reverse mullet? Do their pants look like they are crushing the life out of every sperm in their testicles or egg in their ovaries? Do they bear any resemblance, whether in personality or appearance, to the character on the top-left? If you have answered yes to the majority of these questions, then odds are you can confirm that this person is Emo. This appearance differs greatly from a Goth. If you look at the picture below the first one (note that this is me and one of my friends) you can notice quite a few differences. One, we have visible tattoos and less piercings. Two, neither of us are wearing ball-suffocating pants. Three, we aren't afraid to smile and look happy.
But, as I said, it isn't so much the appearance of Emos that irritates us Goths and metal-heads. It's the attitude they display. A typical Emo is whiny, attention-grabbing, and otherwise pathetic. Unlike Goths, Emos do what they do to get attention. This includes everything from their piercings to cutting to just plain bitching about why their lives suck. Seriously, who wants to sit around and listen to that every day?
Actually, calling a Goth or metal-head an Emo is one of the worst insults you could possibly pay us. Call us whatever else you want (bastard, slut, bitch, etc.) and we'll probably laugh at you. But call us an Emo and all bets are off.

Alternatively Cute

Now despite all of it's creepiness and whatnot, the alternative/underground world has a vast amount of cute things for people to bask in. Most of these come in the form of stuffed animals and other toys. Take for example a delightful little line of stuffed toys called Skelanimals. These adorable creatures range from anything to Kit the lovable skeleton cat to Timmy the sneaky skeleton spider (seen on right). The Skelanimals line hosts a variety of toys and merchandise that can be seen on their site here. There you can find anything Skelanimals from their different series of stuffed toys to clothing to perfumes. Each Skelanimal toy comes with their own back story as well as a list of their likes and dislikes for their new owner to be aware of. Personally my favorites so far are little Timmy there as well as Diego, a cute little bat.
The Vamplets (seen above) are another alternative to those boring, ordinary toys. These cute bloodsuckers just want a good home and a neck to bite. Like the Skelanimals line, there are a variety of options for you to choose from, including clothing and a bottle of disappearing blood, just like those disappearing juice bottles... only better. They also come with their own bios that tells their new mommies and daddies about the personality traits of their newly adopted Vamplet. All of their merchandise as well as the whole Vamplet online world can be viewed here. The nursery is especially cute.

Creator Spotlight: Jhonen Vasquez

Knowledge of the alternative/underground lifestyle would not be complete without mentioning Jhonen Vasquez. Creator of comics like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Squee as well as the animated series Invader Zim. Some of you may remember the show from when you were kids and watched Nickelodeon. Unfortunately, due to arguments between Vasquez and the producers of the T.V. station, Invader Zim was canceled after only one season. The repeats of the show are still viewing on the Nicktoons channel. Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (JTHM for short) is an older comic series that is still highly popular. Johnny, the main character, is your typical brooding goth who hates people and is under the impression that there is a monster living behind the wall of his house. In order to placate this monster he must continually paint the wall with blood. In the end it turns out that this isn't just some crazy hallucination. Squee, on the other hand, is a young kid who originates in the JTHM series. His parents generally ignore him and the only person who looks out for him at all is Johnny, even though he's is scared of Johnny beyond all belief. I would highly recommend taking a look at all three of Vasquez's creations. While some bits of them might be off-the-wall and gross, there's plenty of entertainment to be found in their oddities and there's a surprising amount of wit in JTHM for a comic about a psychopathic young adult.

Image Issues

(Note that these images are courtesy of Google)
When you think of the term "goth", what's the first thing to come to mind? Probably something along the lines of these characters correct? These two are some well-known villains from Disney films; Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and the Evil Queen from Snow White. These ladies have plenty of things in common with modern goths right off the bat.
1) They dress in dark clothing.
2) They're loners.
3) They have altered perceptions of the world.
No, I'm not saying that Disney causes the world to have a negative view on goths or metal-heads, but the images don't exactly help either. The biggest contrast that is usually overlooked when comparing goths to Disney Villains is that goths aren't out to destroy happiness or kill people. Mostly goths and others like them tend to get anti-social because no one outside their groups want to risk coming near them. The best way to break that trend? Go and talk to them. We're not going to bite your head off just for saying "hello" and being friendly.

Sounds of the Underground

The alternative/underground forms of music are one of the first things that turns people away from the lifestyles. Don't lie, you hear some of it and think "WTF?" Just hear me out. Listening to things like pop and R&B are drastically different from listening to things like metal and techno. Now with pop and hip hop the different sounds and instruments mesh with each other and create one harmonious sound, right? With metal it's different, all of the instruments are sort of "doing their own thing" but in a way that they all can be heard together. The trick is this: find the instrument that is taking the lead. This involves some practice, but once you listen to enough music it'll come naturally. Take for instance if you were listening to a song entitled "Psychosocial" by Slipknot. You want to mainly listen to the main guitar. The main guitar sets up the bottom line for the rest of the instruments to follow. This is an easier example because the drums follow along very closely with it.
Now for those who just want to ease themselves gently into the genres alternative and underground have to offer I might suggest:
1) Jack Off Jill - Clear Hearts Grey Flowers
2) In This Moment - The Dream
3) Lacuna Coil
These albums get you off to a gentle start. Most of the time it's normal singing with drums and guitars playing metal melodies. There is some screaming, which is going to turn some people away instantly. Don't let it, you just have to find the singers that can do it well. And if you want to dive head-on into metal listen to "Nymphetamine" by Cradle of Filth. It's where being a metal-head started for me.

Mosh Pit Etiquette

Believe it or not there are some basic, unspoken rules about behavior when in a mosh pit. A mosh pit, for those who are unfamiliar with the goings-on of metal concerts, is essentially a group of people running into each other and otherwise going "crazy." While it outwardly looks like there is very little control over one's actions while in this pit, trust me, you need to exercise some control while you are in one. O.K. yeah, people DO get hurt in mosh pits and it can be a violent thing, but do not be an ass. Some basic rules for the mosh pit:
1) If someone doesn't look like they want to be there, odds are they don't so don't target them. And if those people somehow manage to get caught up in the pit, then help them to get out if you are close to them.
2) Mosh pits are a mostly boys-affair. If there are girls around who don't want to be a part of it, look out for them, they are smaller than you are and can be knocked down a lot more easily.
3) Be aware of who is actually around you. And I'm not talking about just in the pit, I'm also including the people at the edge of it who like to watch the action but might not necessarily want to be in it. Normally there is a group of people creating a ring that creates a human barrier for the moshers to follow, they'll help you if you need it, but they're also there to help the people outside of the pit who are in close quarters to you.
Trust me, there is nothing more annoying at a concert than some jerk who thinks he/she can just completely let loose and get away with it. You'll make a lot of enemies very quickly if you just lose control and wind up hurting people or breaking things (cameras, cell phones, glasses, jewelry, etc.).

What Happens Down in the Underground?

Welcome, welcome one and all to a little blog about the alternative and underground world. Sounds scary, yes? O.K. yeah, it might be, I'm not going to lie. But it honestly doesn't have to be. As a person who has lived an alternative/underground life, I'm widely used to the various oddities that others on the outside looking in might think of as more than a little strange. Fear not, however, for I shall provide a guide for those who are on the outside so that some understanding about these types of lifestyles can be reached. Now, when I refer to alternative/underground, I'm talking about goths, punks, metal-heads, and the like. Yes, all the scary people. Don't worry, we're not nearly as scary as you think. So if you're ready to go, let's begin...