Teen Gothic

What exactly inspired you to start listing to Goth music? Was it gradual? Was new wave, dark wave or post-punk gateway genres for you, or did you just start listening to Goth right off the bat?

I'm interested in knowing what about Goth specifically is interesting to you. Is it the melancholy lyrics and vocals, the haunting effects, the driving bass lines, or is there just an indefinable quality to Goth music that encapsulated you?

I eagerly await your answers.

I absolutely love wearing goth clothes and want to wear them everyday but just a bit nervous but I don't really listen to much goth music. Does that mean i shouldn't wear the clothes?

What would you consider your gateway into goth music wise?

They don't have to be 'actually goth' but just whatever gave you a taste of something Goth or Goth adjacent that lead to you eventually looking deeper.

For me I think it was HIM, Evanescece and The Rasmus which I first heard about when I was about 12/13 years old.

I'm looking for the best, most accesible, newish bands to start a friend over into goth music, I tried with the 80 stuff but the production was a turn off for them, so I wanna get them into newer bands and work my way from there, help

PS: I started them w/ AFIs Blood Album / Bodies w have a lot of pretty good goth elements and they enjoyed that

EDIT: I get AFI is not a goth band, I never said they were ?? I said my friend was a fan so I showed them their newer stuff as I thought it would be a good segway lol, can we not derail the subjet please? at this point mentioning any other band that's not goth here is a sin or something. Im not making that mistake ever again… thanks for the dislikes though

I will preface this by saying this was a disagreement on tiktok which sounds so silly and i realize this.

Anyways, this girl posted a makeup look with dark eyeshadow and eyeliner and she put “#gothic” as one of the hashtags. People were grilling her in the comments saying this wasn’t goth, she didn’t look goth, etc. and I personally felt that was wrong. I commented and shared how goth is a music based subculture and that as long as you love the music, know the ideals and history of this subculture, you are goth! The makeup and fashion is just a plus. And I went on to say how there are plenty of folks who are goths and do not look the part (me included most of the time, thanks Covid)

And someone argued with me saying that goths follow a certain aesthetic and the one she’s dressed as is not it. And I said that I understand that but I think there should be more room for individual expression because the typical goth aesthetic is not one size fits all. And then they shot back at me saying things such as “well you can’t wear lip gloss and pink and be considered goth, etc” and I just am wondering where this whole mindset is coming from?

It was really giving off “you don’t look goth enough if you aren’t wearing x/y/z” vibes which I think could give baby bats a bad taste when first entering the subculture. Why can’t we wear pink and lip gloss and still be goths? I ended the argument with a respectful exit but I’m curious what you guys think. I personally think that since the core foundation of goth is music, it shouldn’t matter what you look like. But this is simply my opinion and any other thoughts are welcome! No opinion is wrong, we all have our points of view and I accepted hers with grace even if I disagreed

I also apologize if this is not the right space, please remove if need be!!

Soooo Im just entering in all this goth culture, and Im like :0 Beeing exploring records and even putting them on my local radio show How can I get more involved? Like What are some groups that are like escential? Some other genres that influence it? What are some good goth feativals? Are there goth places in or near miami? Any piece of art related to it u can recommend appart from music(films, series, etc) :3