Fans of Metal - Help needed

[Anonymous]

I'm doing an assignment on youth cultures for uni, and my culture of choice is the heavy metal culture.

So anyone who classes themselves as a fan of heavy metal, I'd be massively appreciative if you could help me out by answering a few simple questions. Feel free to leave out anything you don't feel comfortable answering, or PM me with your answers if you'd prefer.

Age:
Gender:
Location:

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.):

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not?

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why?

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is?


Cheers. All help is greatly appreciated.

 

[ThrashViking]

Age: 19
Gender: Male
Location: Wairarapa - New Zealand
Socio-economic position: Middle Class
Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Er, not really. Depends how you define youth I guess.
Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? No. I have a strong passion for promoting local extreme metal bands (among the Death metal/grind variety) and seeing them spend thousands of dollars just to keep playing only makes my passion stronger.
My cd collection is mostly full of 80's thrash albums so im not bothered if it's out dated or not.
What do you think women’s' role in the heavy metal culture is? Alot bigger than what it has been years before. The female role in the local scene isn’t reduced to following around the boy friend because he likes the bands on display, now females are becoming more involved with promotion work, sound mixing and managing.
Unfortunately in the concerts that I have put on several girl friends of some of the bands want to get in for free because they simply don’t like the bands so they sit in the corner spending $100+ on alcohol but they refuse to pay five dollars just to get through the door but thats only happened a few times.
If you want more people to respond I suggest going to nzmetal.com, the guys who post there are either promoters or in bands themselves.

 

[Azkatro]

Age: 24
Gender: M
Location: Sydney

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): Middle

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? No, cos I'm 24!

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Yep, I'm already starting to mellow out a bit. I still love it, but tend to get psycho and pumped up and listen to it properly less often these days.

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? To show their breasts at live concerts.

 

[Once Dead]

Age: 21
Gender: M
Location: Sydney (Inner West - Croydon Park)

Socio-economic position: middle class

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? No, just turned 21 which i consider the age of which one becomes an adult

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older?

No. There are many different metal bands coming out every year and releasing mind blowing material. Your passion for certain metal bands sticks with you and like ThrashViking has said, you get close to the bands you like after a while and want to see them succeed so you're always backing them and supporting them. With that said, my musical tastes will expand and my passion for other styles thus increase

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is?
Heavy metal is mostly dominated by males, its the whole angry, angst-ridden / evil / bad guy sort of scene. Women DO have a place in the culture such as actually being band members but also mainly as objects - which is merely a reflection of society and the culture of metal

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, you've been a massive help.

Your answers were all exactly what I wanted to hear, too...

 

[Trollhammaren]

Age: 20
Gender: male
Location: Sydney (Balmain)

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): middle class

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? I'm a 'young adult'. I defiantely do NOT feel associated with teenagers.

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? Mostly likely it won't. I have a diverse taste in music currently, and still have a need for the extreme side of things, and I can't see my passion for this declining. Who knows what metal will be like in 20 years though, or if it's still around?

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? Although a minority, women are very equal these days in regard to the underground metal culture. Most of the women I know or have met, have NOT been groupies or at a gig to pick up a 'hot metal guy' etc. A lot of women are involved in promoting bands etc. I encourage more.




PS. A bloke at Macquarie uni is doing a thesis very similar to this from the Psycology department. You might want to try and find that guy and see what information he has; unless he is actually YOU!
There is also an interesting book titled something like 'Running with the Devil' by a doctor from an American uni, which has some interesting information. A very missunderstood group in society

 

[Evilgrowler]

Age: 42

Gender: Male

Location: Brisbane

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): Middle class

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? Many would disagree with me, but within myself I feel somewhat youthful. I certainly don't feel old.

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? It hasn't yet and I don't expect it to.

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? I see them as fans like me. Maybe for different reasons, but they most certainly have their place in the scene. Be it in the audience or on stage.

 

[aphelion]

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Location: Sydney

Socio-Economic Position: Middle Class

Do you consider yourself to be a youth: Difficult to answer. Sometimes I feel like a kid, sometimes I feel like a pensioner. I've never really thought about it to be honest.

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? It already has. These days I feel like I've heard it all before regarding metal, so I'm starting to get into other genres of music such as electro/industrial. 90% of my music collection is still metal though, and probably will be forever. I still listen to metal regularly, I'm just not as excited by it as I was when I was growing up.

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? Back in the "good old days" it was simply the token groupie/girlfriend role. These days though, women are equal with men in my opinion. A lot of women are starting to get involved in promoting/managing bands and venues, as well as joining/forming their own bands.

 

[millersnose]

Age: 79
Gender: h
Location: kogaraaaaah

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): rich bastard

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? no - because i am an old bastard

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? yes - because the bands are just recycled

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? eye candy for film clips

 

[RifRaf]

edit

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Age: 29
Gender: Male
Location: Sydney

Socio-economic position: Middle ($50-$70K bracket)

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? No, I'm almost 30 FFS!

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Probably not from the point it's at now, although I'm probably less "metal" than I was when I was 20-21.

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? Same as in any other form of rock. Metal is generally male dominated, but there are quite a few bands with female members, and many women involved in the metal press, record labels, promotions etc.

 

[Mighty Tiger]

Age:24
Gender:Male
Location:Sydney

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.):Middle

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not?
At the moment I do, I have a 4mth old and its Christmas time ;-)

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why?
I bloody hope not, but I fear it will given that the majority of bands these days appear to be doing cover work most of the time :evil:

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is?

I have met some that are bigger metal heads than myself and others who of course prefer nothing other than the techno crap that is played in night clubs.

On top of this we have an ever growing amount of bands that are starting to incorporate female artists to perform this type of music and I'm sure as time goes on more and more will start to follow this genre of music

 

[brook]

Age:24
Gender: Female
Location:Sydney

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): Middle

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not?
I guess so

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why?
It has, I still like all the bands I used to but all the new music I get into seems to be on the lighter side.

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? I think the dominant attitude is still that a womans only real role is as a groupie/token chick in the band (the all-girl groups exist but to me have tended to be viewed as a novalty...and those that have been successful have done so with a mostly female fanbase), attitudes are changing slowly but heavy metal concerts can still be a pretty uncomfortable place for most women

 

[Booyah]

Age: 18
Gender: Male
Location: Sydney

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): Middle Class

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? Yes. Because of my age-group.

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? No. Because I think I enjoy it too much for that to happen.

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? That depends. In terms of them being involved with the musical performance i.e. part of the band, I'm not a big fan of that. I do however, believe there is a place for them in other sections of the industy via record labels and promotions and so forth.

 

[Twizzle]

Age: 51
Gender: he
Location: Tweed Heads

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.):middle/upper

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? I'm a young 51

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? It has not so far, I prefer it loud

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? The same as men, sex is irrelevent

 

[blackfriday]

Age: 17

Gender: male

Location: sydney

Socio-economic position (lower class, middle class, etc.): parents are maybe middle

Do you consider yourself to be a youth? Why/ why not? yes, cos im still young

Do you think your passion for metal will decrease as you get older? Why? nope, because metal will always be playing in my internal boom box

What do you think womens' role in the heavy metal culture is? objects of impure lust and subject to lots of abuse.