Youth Of Today
BRASS MUG | TAMPA, FL | 03.15.2024
Photo by Sam James @samjames.jpeg
Raw Dogging Reality
Deciding to get sober was easy. Staying sober? That’s the tough part. You don’t realize how much of your life revolves around drinking/smoking/whatever until you stop. Who are my friends? What do I do to relax? How do I talk to people? What do I do with my hands? What do I do when I’m happy, sad, celebrating, grieving, loving, stressing or any other emotion or event when I can no longer crack a beer and briefly forget about the inevitable end awaiting us all?
Photo by Sam James @samjames.jpeg
Photos by Luke James @lukejeffjames
Youth of Today represent all things good that can come from staying true. Raghunath (Ray) Das presides over an ecstatic congregation piling over each other to take turns screaming and chanting into the microphone. The lyrics become mantras. He could go the entire set holding the mic to the crowd and there still wouldn’t be a word out of rhythm. There is an undeniable light around him and the rest of the band that can only be attained through decades of practicing what you preach.
Photos by Sam James @samjames.jpeg
I have a new respect for Straight Edge culture. It’s easy to sober up when the party is over, but to have skipped it entirely takes a level of self-assurance I didn’t understand until June 20, 2022 – when I got sober. I didn’t go to meetings and I don’t have a group, but I do have a rich genre of music to help me navigate a world that pushes back against my new path forward.
Written by Luke James @lukejeffjames
Photography by Sam (Willey) James @samjames.jpeg