 It was the spring of 2013. I was doing some chores in my front yard with my dad. We eventually sat down on the porch for a break. He looks at me and says, one of my favorite bands broke up last week. What band, I ask innocently. He looks down at his feet solemnly. My chemical romance, he responds. At the time, I knew nothing about them. I heard the name and not much else. I knew they were like some metal scrimo band or something, not the sort of thing I'd normally enjoy. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and played mama from some music pirating app he downloaded. It was ominous, creepy, dark, and heavier than anything I'd heard before. I didn't get it immediately, so he decided to play me a different song. Welcome to the Black Parade. Unfortunately, the version he downloaded was an instrumental track, so all I wound up hearing was the opening piano bit before we quit trying to find it and got back to work. The next day, we climbed into his truck and started driving to school. On the way there, he blasted dead through his speakers and my mind was blown. I was subconsciously a fan of pop punk since I knew Blink 182 from Guitar Hero and I liked the theme song from Malcolm in the Middle, but this pushed all the right buttons for me. I was intrigued, but it climaxed once he finally played the next song. I heard Welcome to the Black Parade for the first time that day. So I'd been picked on and bullied quite a bit that week and I was full of preteen, angst, and depression. That song clicked perfectly. I heard it exactly where and when I should have. Even though I'd heard it only once, I was humming it in the halls and in class. I couldn't wait to get home to listen to more. It felt kind of like a secret since I'd never really listened to music with strong language or aggressive vocals before. My chemical romance was edgy, obsessed with death. These guys were cool and so much more than just a band the way my dad thought of them. So I started with Black Parade, then that turned into Danger Days. The following winter, I heard three cheers and it clicked with me the exact same way that Black Parade did. To this day, I consider that my Christmas mixtape. The Bullis album and the Weapons EPs followed shortly afterwards. It turned into an obsession. I bought their t-shirts, I started wearing skinny jeans, I tried to grow my hair out and I essentially took a residency in my local hot topic. The stereotypical emo kid you see in 2015 movies? That was me. I was a mess. I remember one night I sat down and I was ready to start another MCR YouTube binge. I came across the under pressure cover they did with The Used. Huh, I wondered to myself, who are The Used? So I listened to Choke Me. Seriously, pause this video, open up another tab and listen to Choke Me by The Used right now. I'll wait. That song genuinely scared me but it was oddly endearing. I listened to the entire self-titled Used album and something inside of me just snapped. I'd compare learning to enjoy hardcore music to somebody learning how to enjoy alcohol. When you first try it, it's pretty gross and not something you could ever see yourself getting into. Until you try it more and more. Eventually you can tell distinctions between different products and even start looking for different characteristics and what you consume. You learn to enjoy them and become more seasoned. Soon you develop an unhealthy addiction, you act out in public, get arrested and then you're disowned by your family. The Used had this unhinged brutality in their early sound. However, underneath it was a really emotional foundation that was far beyond anything I'd ever experienced. Where my chemical romance felt theatrical and flashy, The Used felt more personal and genuine. I learned to like them even more than MCR. While I was bummed that I'd never get to see my chemical romance live, I was really excited that The Used were still touring. My freshman year, The Used and Taking Back Sunday were performing in Idaho Falls, which was like two hours away from my house. I took a friend and we went to the concert as a birthday gift of mine. The show was held in the Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium which was actually a high school. Seeing two legendary emo bands in a high school in the middle of nowhere, that's ridiculous. We walked into the lobby and started scoping out the merch booths to discover that there was a third band on the lineup. We had no idea at all. Approaching the table, I kind of felt as though I recognized the dude selling merch. Oh my god, I tell myself. That's Frank Iaro. He played rhythm guitar for my chemical romance and he was just standing there in the same room as me. He was like a real person and not some picture on my computer. Okay listen, as much as I love Taking Back Sunday and The Used, all of my birthday money wound up going to my boy Frank. It was just so unexpected and insane. I was pumped to see him live and plot twist, he was really good. Frank Iaro is a pretty interesting figure because he went from playing and sold out arenas to high schools in Idaho. Listening to him perform with the passion and intensity that he delivered was something I had never seen before. It was really obvious it wasn't about the money for him and I really appreciate that. While I was watching his performance that night, a little voice in the back of my head whispered to me, hey, what if you want to become a musician? Wouldn't it be fun touring the country and playing music and whatnot? No, that's silly. I have no talent or know-how. The conversation kind of stopped right there and for a lot of people it does stop right there and that sucks. However, that wasn't the last I heard of that voice. A couple months later, I auditioned for a movie in a my chemical romance shirt. It was for a role of an emotionally distraught emo kid who winds up shooting up his school prom. During the audition, I wound up talking with the director about emo music and I made a pretty good impression. He was so pleased with my audition that he wound up offering me the role of a punk rock musician who gets shot in the chest at the end. The director's name was Matt. Matt and I got along super well during filming. He kind of reminded me of me. He was a total millennial so he got to see my chemical romance and I didn't. That made me mad. We actually became really good friends. After a bit, Matt started a band called Katis. It was like a pop punk emo thing. It was a weird mix of Sum 41 and Taking Back Sunday. I started to go see them live and I found out that boy, she has a really good local music scene. It was amazing. There was like an entire world of new music underneath my nose that I had no idea about. I eventually joined Katis playing bass. After picking up the instrument for the first time, I was playing a show with them after a week. Going to see concerts is one thing but actually being on stage and playing music that other people enjoy, that is a whole new beast. I was hooked. Playing gigs with that band taught me a ton. I learned that it was super easy to organize concerts if the bands are local. I learned how to run sound for other groups. I learned how to design t-shirts and be more comfortable on stage. I was making connections and meeting amazing people who would end up being lifelong friends of mine. If you watch my channel a lot, you know I'm pretty good friends with the king and queen of the losers. I actually met Scooter at a punk show while he was under the alias of figure eight punk rock. I thought he was a douche canoe at first but he's kind of grown on me in case he can't tell. In May of 2016, I started a punk rock alternative music festival in my hometown and honest to God, I was labeled as an agent of evil by a local church for doing so. This is a true story, no exaggeration. You can pause the video and read over what they say right here. This is the actual screenshot of what they said. Basically, my life was turned upside down. I was no longer a fan of alternative rock. I was an active participant in the culture. Everything quickly derailed and just took off. My supportive parents perpetuated it with their enabling. My emo phase should have just ended in middle school but it's lasted like six years and counting. On the outside, I look a lot less cringy but on the inside, I'm still a 2006 Myspace kid. The ironic thing is, I was like five years old and my space was a legitimate thing. I'm just appropriating mid-2000s culture. My chemical romance was kind of like a gateway drug. If I had never listened to them, I would have never started listening to the front bottoms, the frights, cursive or even 21 pilots. Have I outgrown their music? Yeah, a little bit. That does not mean I don't have an immense amount of respect and reverence for them. My biggest issue with them, like 21 pilots, is that they've been so insanely commercialized and capitalized upon by their management, the band was starting to be choked out by their record label. And while it was a controversial choice, I totally understand why they broke up in 2013. It makes sense and I think that MCR choosing to end their musical careers to preserve artistic integrity instead of being choked out by the music industry was actually a really gutsy move and one they have a ton of respect for. And to be honest, a part of me hopes they never release any new music again for that very reason. I know that at this point it's cool to make fun of popular alternative bands like My Chemical Romance, Melanie Martinez, 21 pilots or whoever else is popular. But these groups do something that's really important. They introduce legions of kids to a huge variety of music that they would not have known otherwise. That's how future musicians grow, that's how local scenes are created. That is how the art form thrives. While it may seem cool to poke fun at all the panic at the pierce the veil brides kids with the over-the-top YouTube names and the ridiculous hair and clothes, do you honestly think they'll be the exact same way in 20 years? Absolutely not! They're gonna grow out of their phase and they're gonna find their own stride contributing to the scene and helping it grow. These kids are important and they need room to grow up. Yeah, I see you Mr. Classic Rockalitas guitar dude who claims to love music more than anything while still beating down future contributing kids. You're not nearly as cool as you think you are dude. The moral of the story, for those starter bands, the fallout boys, and the panic at the discos and the My Chemical Romances, they all have their place in the music scene and it's an important role. Kids grow up and mature. Crunchy gross messes can turn into contributing members of the music community. Say what you will about their music but they are serving you in ways that you might not stop and consider. What started off as an obsession for me has evolved into a much more healthy lifestyle. None of these cool adventures I've been on would have happened if I hadn't listened to mama on the front porch with my dad on that day. I've discovered hundreds of bands that blow me away every single day and I found a whole galaxy of phenomenally talented artists practically in my own backyard and I really want to use this channel to encourage you to reach out and explore yours as well. My Chemical Romance ruined my life in the sense that I will never be a regular contributing member of society after that five-year rabbit hole that they've sent me down. The artists in the culture of who they've introduced me to are embedded into the fabrics of who I am and I don't see that changing anytime soon. How about you take a moment and you reflect on your past and your childhood memories? What artists have inspired you? What seemingly small things have turned you into who you are? It's important to remember your roots and respect other people's because at the very end we're all in the same boat, we want the same thing which is awesome music being made and you play a super important role in that community so do you remember that voice in the back of your head that says huh this will never happen I can never be a musician? Kick that voice in the balls. This is just a super weird question are you a nudist by any chance? If the answer is no you probably need clothes don't you? Well don't worry because I got you covered at the Nata's Lame official web store you can get t-shirts and sweatshirts. We have right here a pretty sick little t-shirt says welcome to the heck parade. Right over here the infamous ST Demon Seed t-shirt. All the other ones you see in stores? Yeah those are fakes this is the only real one how about this cute little sweatshirt you can totally ask your crush out in this thing it's glorious t-shirts are on $16 each the sweatshirts are about 30 plus for the first two weeks you get 15% off that's quite a steal that should cover like shipping or something plus we do international too are you in England Canada I don't care you can buy our stuff just might cost a little bit more for shipping handling I don't know you can find the store at bit.ly slash lame store the link is in the description by buying merchandise you not only help me actually that's it you only help me I'm trying to build the case against my parents to prove that this youtube thing could be like a legit job your contributions will help mooch is grossiest take care stay safe stay spicy