Beginnings
Rose had fronted several notable Richmond, Virginia hardcore bands in the mid to late 80s including Screaming For Change!, What If! and Intact. All of which were straight edge outfits that were basically newer incarnations of the previous with revolving member changes. Fed Up! was the first serious effort Rose had made as a guitarist instead of providing vocals in a group. The band began as an underground animal rights outreach project with all the original members being vegetarians. At the time, the Richmond straight edge scene had become a bastion of enthusiasm for vegetarianism and animal rights issues and the new project, Fed Up! led the charge. Holzman was only 15 years old when he became friends with Rose and turned 16 just after joining Fed Up!. The two became close friends and worked tirelessly on the new project.
Rose and Holzman were arrested and jailed for direct action animal rights demonstrations in the formative period of the band. They had both been street team members for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) long before there even was such a thing and after their arrest, PETA distanced itself from them and offered no support in their defense. This caused disenchantment and opened the door for a new reality for the band.
Shortly after its inception, co-founder, Caine Rose, having been deeply involved in the eastern religious organization ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) since 1987, brought Hare Krsna into the forefront of the band’s focus. Having been inspired by legends Antidote and Cro-Mags and their affiliations with Hare Krsna, Rose wanted a decidedly self pronounced Krsna band to represent the values and beliefs of the Vedic religious tradition. Holzman soon became an enthusiastic devotee of the religion and the two fused the ancient Vedic teachings of Hare Krsna with the contemporary direct action animal rights movement and the burgeoning straight edge hardcore scene of the United States’ east coast. Although several lineup changes took place in the short span of the band’s history, the message remained the same with regards to Krishna consciousness, animal rights issues, drug and alcohol free living, and advocacy for the racially and politically oppressed.
Releases
Demo
Fed Up! released a demo tape in early 1988. Certain versions were known as Apocalypse Demo and others as Courage To Change. It included-
- Intro/Fed Up!
- Courage to Change
- Righteous Kids
- Thou Shalt Not Kill
- Give it Up!
- Too Much
- Something Must Be Done (by Antidote)
Scratching is contained in the track Righteous Kids as well as other unconventional recording techniques specific to hip hop. Jai Nitai raps a section in the song Courage to Change. Samples were used in various iterations of the demo to include a dialogue from the film The Seventh Sign and a short segment from a New Order track.
Solidarity 7" (unreleased)
In late 1988, the band produced a more polished studio recording; originally intended as a 7” release by One World Records. Of note, Jai Nitai's voice had changed between recording sessions, demonstrating his young age at the time. Even though ads were generated in hardcore fanzines, to include The Razor's Edge by Krishna devotee Kalki Das, issues occurred and the vinyl was never produced. Cassette copies of the material were distributed and sold by mail and at shows by the band for $3. Early copies of the demo featured artwork depicting Planet of the Apes.
Several attempts to release material on vinyl and CD which was recorded from 1988 were made in the early 2000s by Caine Rose and several record labels, including Malfunction Records, but no solid arrangements could be made and so to date, no pressings exist.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977) was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from India who spread the Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of “Krishna consciousness” to the world. Born as Abhay Charan De and later legally named Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, he is often referred to as “Bhaktivedanta Swami”, "Srila Prabhupada", or simply “Prabhupada”.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its main headquarters is located in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, born Vishvambhara Mishra, was a 15th-century Indian Hindu saint from Bengal who was the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which considers him to be an incarnation of Krishna.
The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the Mahā-mantra, is a 16-word Vaishnava mantra mentioned in the Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad. In the 15th century, it rose to importance in the Bhakti movement following the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This mantra is composed of three Sanskrit names – "Krishna", "Rama", and "Hare".
Youth crew is a music subculture of hardcore punk, which was particularly prominent during the New York hardcore scene of the late 1980s. Youth crew is distinguished from other punk styles by its optimism and moralistic outlook. The original youth crew bands and fans were predominantly straight edge and vegetarian.
Youth of Today is an American hardcore punk band, initially active from 1985 to 1990 before reforming in 2010. The band played a major role in establishing the "Youth Crew" subculture of hardcore, both espousing and evolving the philosophies of the straight edge and vegetarian lifestyles.
Ray Cappo, also known as Raghunath Das, is an American punk rock musician best known as the vocalist for the bands Youth of Today and Shelter and as founder of the independent record label Equal Vision.
Judge is a New York hardcore band formed in 1987 by Youth of Today guitarist John "Porcell" Porcelly and former Youth of Today drummer Mike "Judge" Ferraro.
Shelter is an American Hare Krishna hardcore punk band formed by Youth of Today vocalist Ray Cappo in 1991. Because of the religious Hindu-oriented messages in its lyrics, Shelter's subgenre has been dubbed by some as Krishnacore.
Mukunda Goswami is a spiritual leader (guru) in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
We're Not in This Alone is the third and final full-length studio album by New York hardcore punk band Youth of Today. It was originally released by Caroline Records in 1988.
Contributions to popular culture involving direct reference to the Hare Krishna mantra include the following.
The Radha-Krishna Temple is the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. It was founded in Bury Place, Bloomsbury, by six devotees from San Francisco's Radha-Krishna Temple, who were sent by ISKCON leader A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to establish a UK branch of the movement in 1968. The Temple came to prominence through George Harrison of the Beatles publicly aligning himself with Krishna consciousness. Among the six initial representatives in London, devotees Mukunda, Shyamsundar and Malati all went on to hold senior positions in the rapidly growing ISKCON organisation.
Krishnaism is a term used in scholarly circles to describe large group of independent Hindu traditions—sampradayas related to Vaishnavism—that center on the devotion to Krishna as Svayam Bhagavan, Ishvara, Para Brahman, who is the source of all reality, not an avatar of Vishnu. This is its difference from such Vaishnavite groupings as Sri Vaishnavism, Sadh Vaishnavism, Ramaism, Radhaism, Sitaism etc. There is also a personal Krishnaism, that is devotion to Krishna outside of any tradition and community, as in the case of the saint-poet Meera Bai. Leading scholars do not define Krishnaism as a suborder or offshoot of Vaishnavism, considering it at least a parallel and no less ancient current of Hinduism.
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some adherents refrain from engaging in casual sex, follow a vegetarian or vegan diet and do not consume caffeine or prescription drugs. The term "straight edge" was adopted from the 1981 song "Straight Edge" by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat.
Krishnacore is a subgenre of hardcore punk that draws inspiration from the Hare Krishna tradition. Although some hardcore punk bands had already made references to Krishna Consciousness in the 1980s, the subgenre was established in the early 1990s by the bands Shelter and 108. The name is a portmanteau of "Krishna" and "hardcore".
The Radha Krsna Temple is a 1971 album of Hindu devotional songs recorded by the UK branch of the Hare Krishna movement – more formally, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) – who received the artist credit of "Radha Krishna Temple (London)". The album was produced by George Harrison and released on the Beatles' Apple record label. It compiles two hit singles, "Hare Krishna Mantra" and "Govinda", with other Sanskrit-worded mantras and prayers that the Temple devotees recorded with Harrison from July 1969 onwards.
Animal rights are closely associated with two ideologies of the punk subculture: anarcho-punk and straight edge. This association dates back to the 1980s and has been expressed in areas that include song lyrics, benefit concerts for animal rights organisations, and militant actions of activists influenced by punk music. Among the latter, Rod Coronado, Peter Daniel Young and members of SHAC are notable. This issue spread into various punk rock and hardcore subgenres, e.g. crust punk, metalcore and grindcore, eventually becoming a distinctive feature of punk culture.
Hare Krishna Golden Temple is located at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, India. It is the first Golden Temple to be constructed in Telangana. It was inaugurated in 2018 by Vice President of India Sri Venkaiah Naidu.
