The idea of rock music paints a picture in one's mind; jumping up and down in leather and lace, or sitting on the cold concrete outside a venue after a show. Rock music has always been in the background of political movements and controversies. The Cranberries played in the background of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the zazous were a trademark of punk culture during World War II. At Berkeley High School, rock music still plays through many headphones and plays an important part in some students’ lives.
Junior Max Mahmood is in multiple rock bands where he is able to play what he calls “aggressive music.” Rock music is a way of finding a community of like-minded people. “It makes you feel like it’s a cult following type thing, you feel like you're part of something,” Mahmood said. Rock music is a great way for students to connect and form new communities over this common interest.
Junior Kash Goldblum is an avid rock listener. “Currently I’m really into Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I really like their album, I think it’s called Blood Sugar Sex Magik. They've inspired my style and the way I walk in the world. In freshman year I didn’t really have much style and then I started listening to a lot of rock music,” Goldblum said. For many, rock music gives people a way to express themselves.
“I think there's a really interesting phenomenon that's happening, I think that a lot of high schoolers right now are identifying with the 80s and 70s, especially with just like, their hair, their style, all of that is really representative of like 70s rock,” Goldblum said. The resurgence of older generations’ styles like seventies mullets, neon clothes from the eighties, baggy jeans reminiscent of the nineties, and matching sets similar to those from the noughties, has inspired folks to continue the explorative journey of rock. The influence of rock has seeped into everyone's style.
Avi Neta, a Berkeley High Junior who was lead vocalist in Wolfstick and now plays guitar, bass, and sings with Stapler Deathmatch considers rock music to have altered who he is. “Rock has greatly influenced me in many ways. It’s what made me learn guitar and join a band. Rock music changed my life,” Neta said.
Rock music influences more than just peoples’ Spotify Wrapped. “From our first show to our last one I discovered myself as an artist and I felt the joy of performing something deep and visceral and energetic in front of a live audience that was sometimes confused and sometimes ecstatic. It has certainly influenced my style, but even more so it has changed who I am as a human being,” Neta said.
“I'll say it again that rock is so diverse. Rock can mean so many different things and as people are getting to the age where they’re starting to want to make art or be in bands or something like that, rock is going to be very accessible for them.” Neta said. Young people feel welcomed in rock spaces, they are able to try something new and have permission to be loud.
Rock and roll is a special genre because it has a million different styles to it. Rock is not one thing, it can be Bob Dylan or Bikini Kill. Rock music is a way to wade through the troubles of life and come out only partially scathed. It gives younger generations a voice, the power to be bolder and angrier than they have previously been allowed.