Dustin
C-C-Cool Beans!!!
15+ years ago, it would have been a completely different answer than it is now for myself.
Back then, when I had hair down the middle of my back, wearing studs and leather, I was often ridiculed fairly often by either classmates or workmates alike. out of a 1,000 kids I went to school with, only 10-15 of us were metal heads. Even though I was a gentle giant, I gave of the vibe of being (in their words) a rough, rugged, "Stoner". Growing up in a small farm area, I can't even count how many times the local Andy's & Barny's tried to nail me for something, only to find it they wasted their time and mine. Driving a 68' Chevy nova roaring down the rural roads blaring Anthrax and having the back window covered with bands stickers ranging from Fishbone to Deicide, certainly made me an easy target. Not to mention, the usual scuffles and fist fights with the typical macho alpha-male jocks-types, and the teacher or two that thought they shouldn't try to hard to educate you because you looked like a looser.
On the flip side, never had a problem getting the girls though! Back then, Metal was different, you were either into Thrash, or the fluff on the radio, and I listened to both, so my friends were pretty broad, and landed on one side or the other - the ones that listen to the radio rock/metal, would whine if I was spinning Voivod or Death, and other friends I hung with would harasses me playfully with terms like "Weak", "Gay" and "Poseur" if I happen to pop in a Skid Row or Winger album. Ahhhh, those were good times.
15+ years later, The leather and studs are gone, along with the hair (not my choice, its the genes!) however, the music taste never changed and only got larger and broader. Most of my old friends that were into the thrash/death crowd now openly listen to White Lion albums as if they liked them since grade school, and the other friends now like the heavier bands that they were afraid of long ago. and then I have friends that "grew out of metal" and look at it as a phase.
In the work place, I am actually the musical dictator. I have a stereo that I brought in and set up, it is plugged into the building that has speakers plotted around the place. With an iPod that has over 25,000 songs, a majority are metal in every variety but ranging from Al Di Meola and Robert Palmer to Deicide and Mayhem. Everyone is pretty liberal with me playing store "DJ", and often make remarks to me being a bit like Jack Black in "High Fidelity" when I talk about music. I only work with a crew of 8 people, and in wholesale, and also deal with hundreds of repeat customers of many different tastes and backgrounds. Ironically, I have only ever had two complaints by customers over 10+ years of playing what they considered "Offensive" music in a public place. In fact, I have had far more compliments, and "Who's is this playing? ..this definitely isn't the radio! This is good stuff!" over the last decade.
Back then, when I had hair down the middle of my back, wearing studs and leather, I was often ridiculed fairly often by either classmates or workmates alike. out of a 1,000 kids I went to school with, only 10-15 of us were metal heads. Even though I was a gentle giant, I gave of the vibe of being (in their words) a rough, rugged, "Stoner". Growing up in a small farm area, I can't even count how many times the local Andy's & Barny's tried to nail me for something, only to find it they wasted their time and mine. Driving a 68' Chevy nova roaring down the rural roads blaring Anthrax and having the back window covered with bands stickers ranging from Fishbone to Deicide, certainly made me an easy target. Not to mention, the usual scuffles and fist fights with the typical macho alpha-male jocks-types, and the teacher or two that thought they shouldn't try to hard to educate you because you looked like a looser.
On the flip side, never had a problem getting the girls though! Back then, Metal was different, you were either into Thrash, or the fluff on the radio, and I listened to both, so my friends were pretty broad, and landed on one side or the other - the ones that listen to the radio rock/metal, would whine if I was spinning Voivod or Death, and other friends I hung with would harasses me playfully with terms like "Weak", "Gay" and "Poseur" if I happen to pop in a Skid Row or Winger album. Ahhhh, those were good times.
15+ years later, The leather and studs are gone, along with the hair (not my choice, its the genes!) however, the music taste never changed and only got larger and broader. Most of my old friends that were into the thrash/death crowd now openly listen to White Lion albums as if they liked them since grade school, and the other friends now like the heavier bands that they were afraid of long ago. and then I have friends that "grew out of metal" and look at it as a phase.
In the work place, I am actually the musical dictator. I have a stereo that I brought in and set up, it is plugged into the building that has speakers plotted around the place. With an iPod that has over 25,000 songs, a majority are metal in every variety but ranging from Al Di Meola and Robert Palmer to Deicide and Mayhem. Everyone is pretty liberal with me playing store "DJ", and often make remarks to me being a bit like Jack Black in "High Fidelity" when I talk about music. I only work with a crew of 8 people, and in wholesale, and also deal with hundreds of repeat customers of many different tastes and backgrounds. Ironically, I have only ever had two complaints by customers over 10+ years of playing what they considered "Offensive" music in a public place. In fact, I have had far more compliments, and "Who's is this playing? ..this definitely isn't the radio! This is good stuff!" over the last decade.
), people saying the artwork is awesome, some light harassment from co-workers, but nothing too negative. I think the biggest surprise for people when my bandmates and I are walking around is how pleasant we are to people. I guess that stereotype isn't gone yet, but pretty much everyone seems happily surprised when we care to smile and say thank you.
