My name is Andy, and I am a Skinhead. I am not a racist, an anarchist, a S.H.A.R.P., or a communist. I an aploitical, but that doesn't mean I don't care about politics. I am a patriot to the point that I am glad to be an American, and I would enlist in the event of war, but i will not blindly follow my government. That isn't patriotism, that's foolishness, and only serves to let the corrupt hold on to their places of power. My permanent residence is in Charleston, SC, but currently I am pursuing a degree in electrical engineering at Clemson University. I play guitar and bass, and I'm not at all too shabby on vocals. My favorite band I've been involved in is Nail Ska'd Hands. I love Ska (good Ska, not the pop-punk-kiddie crud that's been turning out lately) and Reggae. Most punk I don't go for, but i do like good (old) hardcore, and almost any Oi!. Punk has gotten diluted by all these pop-ish, So-Cal, Emo, West Coast, New School bands. Almost all of the punk bands that I enjoy broke up or died a long time ago. Some are still around though. I got to see Peter and The Test Tube Babies recently, and it was great. But Ska is my true love, and always will be. I was fortunate enough to see the Skatelites not too long ago, right before Roland Alphonso died (take a moment of silence, please). Josh Richey and I lived in my house for almost a year, and we became Skinheads around the same time while he was living with me. (His familly moved to Geogia, and he didn't like his school there so my parents let him live at our house so he could go to school at his old school for a year) Actually I believe Josh started claiming a little before I did, but he's younger than me by almost two years so he got stuck with being called the "Skinhead Sidekick" because we always hung out together. So if you'd like to know some embarassing stories about Josh, e-mail me, and I'll fill you in. I usualy feel like the last of the Ska Skins, especially in Charleston. There used to be five of us in town, but two joined the marines, one moved to Hawaii and another is a crack-head and lives in a box, so i've gotten rather lonely. So as far as I know, I'm the last one around town. Josh and I have been Skinheads for around three years now, and I doubt if either of us is going to change anytime soon. I am a Christian also. I have been at church with my familly since I was a little kid, and I always believed it, but I mark my stand as a Christian as beginning when I decided that I believed in it, not because my parents told me to, but because it was important to me. I also refuse use drugs, which I haven't done in four years (clap for me). I am not a vegetarian, I enjoy huge, juicy slabs of roasted red meat. I don't have anything against most vegetarians, just the ones who tell me I should be one, and I have yet to meet one of these Hard-Core, Straight Edge, Vegan kids who could beat me in a fight and take my meat away. I believe that it is important for everyone to define for themselves what they believe in and what they are going to stand for, but that it is their choice and no one should force their beliefs on ohters (like most of these vegan kids do, and then they call Christians fascists). I don't mind profanity in music, but I won't put any in the songs I write or perform. There are better and more intelligent ways of making a point than screraming "F#*&" every other word. A few of my favorite things are: getting drunk with a bunch of other Skins and getting rowdy at a show, my girlfriend Amy, fighting, and my big-ass car. I don't ride a scooter because it would seriously imparctical for me, since most of the places I hang out are a good distance (meaning travel on freeways kind of distance) away from eachother. A scooter would just be a waste of time, so I bought a 1985 Lincoln Town car for $800.00. It's the second biggest sedan ever made, and I can get my whole band plus all opur equipment inside it.
I am not from Charleston, and generally I tell people that I'm from Pittsburg, because it was the last place I lived before Charleston. My familly moved a lot when I was little, so I'm not really distinctive as being from anywhaere, but Pittrburg was my favorite place that we lived. It's exactly oppostie of every other city in America; it's not much to visit, but it's a great place to live. It's a Skinhead's kind of town. It's got Huge city wide pride (sprts teams, town history and such), working class foundations and ideals, and none of the bull for tourists. I love that town, and I'll probably go back there someday. By the way: Charleston Sucks! To those (and I know you're out there) who say "You can't be a Skinhead and go to college," I have this in reply: I am going to school on scholarships and money I earned for myself working fifty hours a week as a carpenter's assistant. I bought my own car and pay for my own car insurance with my money. I don't take a dime from my parents, for anything. I have worked hard for everything I have, and I doubt you have done a hard days labor in your life. Well, that's all I've got to say about that.
My goals in life are pretty simple. I don't really care about how much money I ever make (which I also believe is part of the key to being happy and content for the rest of your life) I would like to be a musician, but I don't want to get all that famous. I think I'd be happy being a little bit famous in a Ska underground sort of way. I'm in college just in case that doesn't work out. If I never get to be a musician then I'd like to be able to do a job where I get to work with my hands and build something, which is why I'm majoring in engineering. I'll probably get married at some point to some cute girl that adores me (because you know they all do...... yeah right), and she'd have to be somebody that likes me and gets along with me the way I already am, becasue my Mother has spent twenty years trying to get my Dad to change and now they can't stand eachother. That's one tradition I don't think I'll carry on. We'll get married have a couple roudy Skinhead kids, and I'll settle down and open a recording business. If I don't burn out my body and die young, I'll retire and my wife and I will spend the last couple years on a road trip in a Winnebago. Hmmmm, that's a nice rosy picture, isn't it. But right now I'm young and I'm going to have fun.
