It was ‘Helena’ by MCR that first introduced my to rock music. That beautiful video, their pasty, red rimmed, black-dyed image, totally opposite to what most people would have thought a 12-year-old middle class black girl would find interesting, and of course, the wailing, super-hyperbolic anthem of a tune. ”[What actually IS] the worst thing [you] could say?”* I’m emo? Well, no, I’m not. It’s not as black and white as that - through My Chemical Romance, I was introduced to rock, which led me to liking indie**, which led me to liking alternative, which led me right round to liking genres like country, afrobeat, rap, ska, dance, etc. ”Things are better off this way.”

And also, I don’t really rate cutting myself as a crazywackyfun activity. Don’t know about you :)

*’Helena’ - My Chemical Romance

**I had a brief, Converse-wearing stage where I was particularly fond of wearing a scuzzy red Primark hoodie (which I eventually got signed by the Cheek while they were still called Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds, way back when at Underage Festival’s 2009 Christmas Party), would regularly spend time making up crap songs on the guitar I eventually abandoned, and actually owned a pair of houndstooth skinny jeans. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.