by Mr. Jay L.

Created on: May 06, 2008   Last Updated: August 26, 2010

Okay, Kindergoths, listen up. I've read a bunch of these articles on introducing newbies to the scene, and for the most part they're okay. Not stellar, not fantastic. They're okay. They also contain some well-meant but slightly misleading information.

Let me tell you my story...

IN THE BEGINNING

First off, I started out in the scene as a kid back in the 1980s, when goth wasn't goth. Yes, the subculture started out in the punk rock scene; as punk began winding down a small group of bands started incorporating synthesizers and sound effects into their music, and began to have the familiar sound of Depeche Mode, Souxsie and the Banshees, and others we know today. But how did this split lead to the modern Gothic community?

Very simply, there was a nihilistic, fatalistic apathy that existed near the end of the 1980's; having lived so long with the shadow of nuclear war and communist threats, many people were convinced that we were all going to die in a flash and a bang, as evidenced by Oingo Boingo's "It's Just Another Day." The economy was slowing and opportunities for a brighter future were evaporating. This lead the disenchanted punks to form a small, short lived culture that went by the unimpressive name of "Death Rock."

The clothing remained punk in style, but the colors darkened to grays, blacks, and whites. Hairstyles shifted from liberty spikes and other punk hairdos to New Wave styles. Kids started flooding their bodies with niacin pills, which turned their skin beet red before it faded to pale white.

I left the scene in the early 1990s, and entered the Heavy Metal world. I would return to the scene in 1995, by which point the Gothic subculture had risen from the ashes of Death Rock and splintered into a variety of sub-subcultures.

THE "MODERN" GOTHIC SCENE - IN ORANGE COUNTY/LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Of course, there were arguments in the L.A./O.C. area that escalated to a verbal and social war. People in L.A. claimed they were Goths as far back the 1970's. Goths from the richer parts of Orange County, draped in silks and velvets and elegant hairstyles, glared down their noses at the PVC and pleather-clad L.A. Goths as being uncouth, uneducated, and insignificant. Instagoths flooded the coffee houses, clad in Mommy and Daddy bought overpriced clothes from Hot Topic. Saab cars became the car of choice, much scorned by the poorer Goths for being a budding stereotype.

And here I came back into the "scene." Poppy Z. Brite was popular. I read half of one book

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