For many people hardcore is more than just a music genre. It's a way of life, something to turn to when times get rough. It's an outlet for people to get involved in something that is bigger than themselves.
Kristian Hallbert, lead singer of Crime in Stereo, recognizes the importance of the genre and the scene that accompanies it.
"It's something that gets you through your sh*tty times," Hallbert said. "It's there playing when you're having your best moments in your life. I think you carry around a genre. You are what you engulf yourself into."
He remembers when he was first introduced to hardcore music and what he felt.
"It was definitely chaotic and violent, but at the same time, it was completely welcoming and completely new and something I've never seen before," Hallbert said, "And 15 years later, I'm still there."
Some bands go as far as to write about what they feel about the hardcore scene.
"Sweet Pete" Maher from In My Eyes, a Boston hardcore band from the late '90s, sang about the scene.
"If you look at the lyrics, we're looking way back here, it's more of just growing up," Maher said, "And a lot of them are about the microcosm that is the hardcore scene, which I think is amazing if you really wanna break down the lyrics on all of them."
The first song Maher wrote for the band, "Courage to Care," includes some lyrics about the scene: "But I've found something that keeps me aware / A whole scene of people with the courage to care."
For Maher, that scene has many attractive attributes, but there's one that stands out.
"The kind of positive aggressiveness is what it means to me," Maher said. "That's what I love about it."
The positive aspects of the hardcore scene has introduced him and many others to a lifestyle that he is fully dedicated to--straight edge. Being straight edge, in a broad sense, means no drinking and no drugs. Some people take it to another level by adding no promiscuous sex, no caffeine and other restrictions, but there is a common theme with everyone who celebrates this lifestyle.
"It means to keep my head clear and be happy with my decisions," Maher said.
As passionate as Maher is about his clean lifestyle, he said he didn't want to shove that way of life down the throats of listeners of In My Eyes.
"We always wanted to be In My Eyes, a straight-edge band and let it known that we're a straight-edge band," Maher said. But that lifestyle did not dominate the band's music. "We didn't want to write songs like, 'You drink, you stink, you do not think.'"
Several of Boston's hardcore musicians say they work together to create something that encompasses so many people. Chris Wrenn, owner of Bridge Nine Records, appreciates its self-reliance.
"Hardcore has a sense of community," Wrenn said. "It's a smaller version of the real world with good and bad aspects, but at the simplest, it's a place where I can meet people who like the same music, subscribe to a similar set of ethics including straight edge, veganism and a strong do-it-yourself attitude."
This unity is what keeps Pat Flynn, lead singer of Have Heart, in the scene.
"I know what good it can do for young people who are struggling with their own problems at home or in school or just in life in general," Flynn said. "I know how massively beneficial that can be for someone, and I'd like to see that continuing."
In finding the hardcore scene, young people find a community they themselves control.
"They're coming together without the total direction and orchestration of adults and that should be recognized," Flynn said. "I mean, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, all that young kid sh*t is always done by parents."
The 24-year-old sang in Have Heart for eight years until the band's final show in October, 2009. Throughout the band's career, he realized how much hardcore has provided for him.
"It's completely littered with so many great moments in my life," Flynn said.
"I know what good it can do for young people who are struggling with their own problems at home or in school or just in life in general," Flynn said. "I know how massively beneficial that can be for someone, and I'd like to see that continuing."