ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the larger study of punk scene participants in a local scene, navigating the transition to adulthood. In a subcultural vein, punk is understood initially in terms that are clearly marked and recognizable. It’s the three chords and bratty lyrics; it’s the Mohawk and the safety pins; it’s anarchy and rebellion; and ultimately, it’s rock ‘n’ roll incarnate: loud, angry and hedonistic. Incorporating ideologies of punk into one’s life opens up a possible way to go about ‘adulthood’, and suggests the ways in which values and ideologies linked to traditional youth ‘subcultural’ participation can be translated or transported into one’s life. The abstract idea of ‘growing up’ is a powerful frame for understanding the changes a person might experience in their twenties and beyond. Articulated here as an exercise in complication by dozens of older punks, punk becomes something that can be incorporated into one’s adult life.
