The Heavy Metal Lifestyle 101
I grew up in a tiny town on the east coast of New Zealand. My working-class parents toiled hard to give us everything we needed and wanted. I was bullied in school. I moved away to uni, got a degree and a job making Braille books for blind people. I met a dude and married him. I like writing, hanging out with my friends, dressing up, listening to music and eating chocolate.
Boy howdy, do I sound like a ridiculously boring person? Why are you even reading the blog of such a hopeless sod? Are you hanging out for my fashion editorial on grey cardigans or my thrilling exposé on the dangers of self-locking door-handles?
Sorry to disappoint. Fuck grey cardigans. I’m heavy fucking metal.
Me looking kreig with my sword - band photoshoot, 2007
I live heavy metal; I eat, sleep and drink heavy metal. I write heavy metal, dress heavy metal, and on my weekends, I dance to heavy metal. If you were to look up heavy metal in an illustrated dictionary, you’d see a photograph of me kissing Lemmy on his warty cheek.
There are plenty of blogs online about metal music, but they’re only telling half the story. For people like me, my husband, and our friends, metal is more than music – its part of who we are.
You could compare me to hip hop and the ‘thug’ lifestyle, except I swear less and dress better, or emos and their ‘everyone hates me lets all shop at hot topic and cry ourselves to sleep’, except … wait, no. Don’t ever compare me to emos.
So what exactly IS the heavy metal lifestyle? Well, I’m writing this blog to discuss that very thing. Heavy metal means different things to different people – I’m not the authority on what is or isn’t kreig. Most of the time, you’ll probably find me all too positive and huggy to be considered adequately metal. That’s fine. I don’t personally believe that metal and hugs are disparate entities.
To me, living heavy metal is waking up each morning with a song on your lips and a blastbeat in your heart. Heavy metal is not music that sits in the background – and neither should you. To be metal is to be a person who stands for something, no matter how inane, stupid or dorky it seems to other people. Be true to yourself. Be the beast that cannot die.
So even though not everything I talk about on this blog may seem to be strictly metal (I love me some couture fashion as much as the next girl), rest assured everything you read here is written in the spirit of heavy metal.
Super Snuggles and Shoggoth Kisses
Steff
Tags: Steff, tr00 metal life
July 9th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I’ve followed you on wedding skulls for a while and was wondering what Steff and her crew would be like and am glad that you have started this blog. You are doing something similar to what I am doing with Gothic Gentleman, everyone sees the cliched images of our genres, by doing a day to day blog we are dispelling the myths in a small way! Keep the good work up!
July 9th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Aw, thanks dude. I agree totally – I love blogging but I wanted to write about more than just weddings (fun as they are). Now it’s all Steff, all the time :)
I love reading your blog too :) I’m definitely doing #spammersunday this week. It’s a great idea!
July 10th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Sweet Fucking jacket dude!
and I love the sword…
What’s your band called/what do you play?
I play guitar in a Symphonic/Epic BM band called Sylvus…
Our photoshoot was in pretty fuckin cool…we had a goat skull.
hehe.
Horns Up!
-A-
July 10th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I love that sword two. Good for husband beating.
This shoot was for my husbands band, which he had to quit in order for us to go to Europe. I wasn’t actually in the band (having no musical talent whatsoever apart from a few tootlings on the tin whistle) but I was the manager and took most of the photos on this shoot. Their lead singer snapped this one of me and it’s pretty much my favorite photo ever.
I’ve been listening to Sylvus on your myspace page. Pretty fucking epic!
(Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/sylvusmetal)
\m/
Steff