Metalhead - A Fashion take

Where to find a metalhead....

Crobar 

This is a bar I have been to several times before. Located in Soho just off Charing Cross road this place attracts quite a crowd during the weekends. Blasting with metal bands like AC/DC and Led Zepplin the main crowd are metal heads who come to socialise with their own group and listen to heavy metal and drink. Though as they happily chat and drink loudly, with the blaring music it becomes very difficult to construct your own conversation. 

The facilities are not quite what you would expect. Dingy and dirty, probably in the worse conditions you will ever see a toilet, with slogan scribbled all over the walls like "Metallica rules" , "Death to all" and "Satan lover". 

Other reviews 

"Ok I have to admit, even though it has the yuckiest toilets I've ever set foot in my life, I pretty like this place. 

The place is always packed, the music is great, the walls are covered in old Judge Dredd comics, its open til late just great!"

Though on another note 

"Entirely unimpressed with this place. Pokey, uncomfortable and the only cider they've got is kopplaberg so if you don't like that and you're a cider drinker then bad luck I'm afraid. The toilets are also awful, it isn't worth going here just for a metal soundtrack."

THE INTERVIEW : With Jonathan Halls

BA illustration student, Londoner and Thrash metalhead Jonathan Halls. Now come and here is story. 

When was the first time you considered yourself a metalhead and why?

When i was 14, because I wasn't a goth and didn't want to be an emo.

Why associate yourself with those sorts of subcultures? 

Because I didn't fit in at school, I tried but it never worked no matter how normal I tried to be. The music then sort of gave me an identity that I fit in with and gave me friends.

Do you have other friends or a circle of friends who are all metal heads?

I used to when I first became one but most metalheads are metalheads for a reason, they're quite unbalanced so a whole group is insane. I now have metalhead friends but we socialise with other subcultures.

Do you parents accept your identity?

They accept it but they don't like it because it conflicts with their catholic and conservative upbringing.

Do you not involve yourself in the mainstream on purpose because your a metalhead or is it something that you do not come across?

I do involve myself in the mainstream but I prefer to go to metal bars or clubs because I can listen to music that I like.

Tell us about moshing? Why do you do it?

Its an extension of the music. The aggression of metal and the mainly male audience creates this sort of energy that is unleashed in the pit.

Why do you wear the clothes that you wear?

To express that music is important to me and give me an identity.