About Hardcore Dropout

I was seven years old when I first experienced hardcore — in the basement of Jerry’s Pizza in Bakersfield, California. I watched in shock as grown adults ran in circles and shoved each other while Thrice ripped through songs off Identity Crisis.

A few years later, my brother started booking shows, giving me a front-row seat to some of the most important bands of the 2000s — Job For a Cowboy, Suicide Silence, First Blood, Walls of Jericho, Death Before Dishonor, 100 Demons, Fear Before the March of Flames. The list is long and storied.

More than twenty years later, my love for aggressive music is stronger than ever. Hardcore Dropout is where I tell these stories, share new ones, and keep our scene’s history alive for anyone who still believes in loud riffs, sweaty basements, and the community they create.