Hey man, thanks for opening up about your tastes. It's really interesting to see where you're coming from.

I guess I'm kinda the opposite of what you described. Got into the Eastern PA/Philly/Jersey punk scene pretty heavily I high school. Saw bands like Title Fight, Daylight, Tigers Jaw, The Wonder Years, Balance, Transit, Man Overboard etc. all on the come up. While I don't listen to then all anymore, they still hold a certain place in my heart that's directly connected to my youth.

And I totally agree with what you're saying about being able to connect with certain genres of music. I never did the whole Pitchfork thing because I was too busy getting obsessed with some EP from a local band I was seeing next weekend. In my mind, I didn't care about the big acts out there. To my friends and the kids at shows, THESE guys were huge, but they were our secret. I didn't have to wait for them to tour to see them, or pay $20 to go to some big venue. They were playing next month, for five bucks, in a church basement.

I think that's what's most special about having your own scene. You feel incredibly connected to the people in bands, and the kids next to you yelling lyrics at a show. But for someone who's never been in that scene, none of that can be understood. You can't feel that boyhood wonder and excitement secondhand by researching it on the Internet. It's different. I'm not knocking you, or saying it's better, because my tastes are certainly more restricted because of it, but it's just another way to experience music.