Ray Cappo

The ongoing relationship between the worlds of punk rock and animal rights and how the music became a breeding ground for vegan activism.

Ray Cappo lead singer of the straightedge hardcore band Youth of Today at the height of their growing popularity, leaves the band and goes to India. Ray becomes the monk Raghunath. What follows is the confluence of two worlds coming together. Hardcore punk and spirituality. Something Divine is a pilgrimage through the holy cites of India and concert halls in America. The film highlights the connection between people of very different backgrounds coming together through self-discovery, spirituality, music, the desire to grow and transform themselves personally.

The most widely associated perception of Straight Edge involves abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and promiscuous sex. Since it's origin in the early 1980's these beliefs have spread all over the world, connected through the Punk and Hardcore music scenes. Through interviews with musicians that directly shaped the idea of Straight Edge from its inception until today, EDGE reveals that the abstinence from drugs was established as a youth counter culture rejecting a society dominated by substance abuse and hegemony. Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), Ray Cappo (Youth of Today, Shelter) and Karl Buechner (Earth Crisis, Freya) give witness to their perception of the history of Straight Edge, why it was so important to them and what it changed in their personal and professional careers. But they also address problems like violence, sexism and intolerance that emerged within Straight Edge, and how it changed the 'scene' as well as its public image.

This documentary was made by Martin Strothoff on Helter Skelter Records in 1989. It features footage from several live gigs that Youth of Today played on their 1989 European tour along with a German interview that aired on regional television. "I organized and booked the Y.O.T. + Lethal Aggression DIY tour on my own and accompanied them as a driver. Three of my best sandbox friends accompanied me on the long 89 DIY tour as drivers and rowdies. It was a chaotic tour in many moments and a beautiful experience that I would not want to miss. If I had actually produced, supported or released the Halter Skelter - Bootleg "Live in Vienna" or this "European Tour Dokumentars - 1989", at least I had spelled my name correctly. During the tour I had neither means nor possibilities to record or film the concerts. (In 1989 there were no iPhones yet!) "Helter Skelter Records" is not known to me either."