Young at Heart is a hardcore band that formed in a region No Echo has rarely covered in the decade since the site launched: Alaska. The fact that they're straight edge makes sense when you speak with vocalist Aric Hanley.
"When we were growing up, Alaska had one of the highest rates of drug use when compared to the rest of the US," he tells No Echo. "All of the venues I grew up going to in the mid-'00s had no security and everyone was doing something outside between and during bands from drinking to hard drugs."
Formed in Anchorage in 2013, Aric didn't have an easy time finding folks that were nailed to the X. "As far back as I can remember, you could count the straight edge kids on one hand. A drummer—let alone a straight edge drummer—was rarer than a unicorn. All 5 of the original members (of YAH) were in different bands at the time, as soon as we realized we finally knew a drummer that was straight edge, it was game over and we started this project."
From the sound of it, Aric has rolled with the punches and adapted to whatever it took to keep Young at Heart moving forward. "I initially joined as a guitarist, but when our vocalist moved to Hawaii we became a four piece with me stepping up into vocals. Our original guitarist moved to Virginia in 2014, Doug joined and we remained a four piece until 2015.
"Since then other members have broken edge and Doug and I have relocated to Portland, Oregon."
Young at Heart just released a 5-song EP entitled The Misery Persists:
Aric offers some background on the new EP: "Doug and I have been writing The Misery Persists off and on for about 9 years. I feel like when you hear the term 'straight edge hardcore' you think about positivity, strength thru unity, etc. This is all well and good and dont get me wrong I love that end of the spectrum of the genre. But it’s simply not my lived experience so I can’t write about it genuinely.
"All I have is a half empty well of an entire lifetime of isolation and sobriety to pull from. It’s hard to accurately illustrate the collective struggle to survive against the grain. The inner strength we find thru Straight Edge. Every word and every note comes from our shared lifetime of existing without the crutch of substance use. Anger, pain, sadness and grief. Just like us, the misery persists. It's been over 30 years. We are still here and we are still fucking Straight Edge."
READ MORE: Essential ‘90s Straight Edge Swedish Hardcore Bands
With the new EP out now, Aric is ready to get busy on the live front. "Now that we have found our voice and defined our sound with this new EP, it’s time to find new members to fill out our lineup.
"PNW Straight Edge drummers and bassists please reach out: [email protected]."
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Young at Heart on social media: Instagram
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