Land

ArticleAcquisition for the Railways in Bengal, 1850–62 95

‘I Bang my Head, Therefore Young

21(1) 95–110
I Am’: Constructing © 2013 Sage Publications and
YOUNG Editorial Group
SAGE Publications
Individual and Social Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Authenticity in the Heavy Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/1103308812467673
Metal Subculture http://you.sagepub.com

Susanna Larsson
Örebro University, Sweden

Abstract
This article investigates the ways in which heavy metal fans construct their selves
and collectives in relation to the music and the culture, by concentrating on subjec-
tive and intersubjective arguments on what it means to be an authentic heavy metal
fan. The empirical material consists of focus-group interviews and single interviews
with Swedish heavy metal fans of ages 18–27. By way of conclusion, I find that
individual construction of an authentic heavy metal identity is the result of (a) argu-
ments of long-term dedication, (b) being able to highlight symbolic events and attri-
butes that are associated with the heavy metal culture and (c) arguments of making
the right choices based on an authentic inner voice. Thus, social construction of a
common authentic identity is the result of negotiations around an abstract moral.
The study on which this article is based finds that the construction of authentic
selves and collectives takes place partly in a close social in-group context, where
individual and collective dedication is known and need not be argued for, as well as
in a thematic in-group, where symbols and attributes are known but where dedica-
tion must be argued for.

Keywords
heavy metal, identity, authenticity, self, morals

Introduction
Being authentic is one of the highest values in our time. Some go so far as to claim
that we live in an authenticity culture (Taylor, 1992). Self-help literature teaches
people what to do in order to get in touch with themselves and to find their inner
voice. Authenticity is, however, not as easy as ‘being yourself’. In most situations in
life, the idea of the authentic self needs to merge with certain culturally negotiated
ideas of belonging (Williams, 2006). As shown by previous studies, subcultures are
special in negotiating what is authentic due to its extensive claims on looks, attributes
96 Susanna Larsson

and jargon (Lewin and Williams, 2009). At 40 years of age, heavy metal is an old
subculture bringing forth themes and attributes to which people must align in order
to be ‘authentic’. While it is difficult to unveil an ‘objective’ authenticity inherent in
subculture, subjective and social conceptions and expectations of authenticity can
easily be brought to the fore (see, for example, Muggleton, 2000; Widdicombe and
Wooffitt, 1995).
Subculture research is ample within the field of sociology and has brought with
it a number of perspectives on subculture constitution. A basic threefold definition
can be melded from the works of Hebdige (1979), Brake (1985) and Muggleton
(2000). First, the subculture is a group of people sharing a culture that sets them
apart from the overarching society in which they live. Second, this group acts as
a critique against this overarching society and thus serves to give the individual a
sense of autonomy from parents and other authorities. Third, this otherness and cri-
tique is manifested through a complex usage of style: symbols, codes, manners and
jargon. Clarke et al. (2006) suggest that the symbols and codes of style in their basic
forms are ‘maps of meaning’, which exist as a classification system everywhere in
social life. They carry with them a meaning commonly rooted in ideology, and can
be re-appropriated, stolen from another context, to fit the values of the subculture.
Clarke (1977) suggests that signs are put together and repeated until they give rise
to a characteristic discourse.
Moving on from this basic definition, the means of understanding subculture
as a social phenomenon is dependent on a phenomenological level to subculture
analysis, in which the actual lives and acts of the subculturalists are studied, claims
Muggleton (2000). He points out that subculture specifically is a field that should
be researched in reference to meaning as well as causality, that is, to bring subjec-
tive values and meanings of the subculturalists to the fore but also to move beyond
these meanings into the realm of the collective forces that push individuals in certain
directions. Muggleton’s (2000) thesis is motivated by the need to find explanations
on this micro level, bringing forth the views of the subculturalists themselves.
Sociological works on heavy metal can be exemplified by Weinstein’s (1991)
exposé of heavy metal, its fans and the moral panic attached to it. Walser (1993) uses
a more technical perspective on heavy metal music in his analysis of the portrayal of
heavy metal in lyrics and music videos. The works of Walser and Weinstein are in
some respects too generally written to include the mechanisms of identity construc-
tion. Later, research has in part concentrated on different forms of extreme metal.
While Purcell’s (2003) thesis on the death metal scene focuses on a certain type of
heavy metal, as does Kahn-Harris (2004, 2007) with his work on extreme metal, both
have a clear focus on political views and political engagement. Furthermore, black
metal and death metal represent two subgenres within heavy metal that are very
specific in their music and lifestyle perspectives. Also, I wish to withdraw somewhat
from the genre-specific research that has been acknowledged during the first decade
of the 2000s. Research on heavy metal has also investigated the negative effects of
heavy metal music, mainly concerning itself with delinquency, misbehaviour and
alienation (see Arnett, 1996; Selfhout et al., 2008). As the heavy metal culture has
spread and gained momentum around the world, aspects of heavy metal have also

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Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 97

been investigated outside the western world (Levine, 2008). In the Swedish context,
research on the topic of heavy metal is scarce, which is surprising due to its popular-
ity in Sweden. Bossius’s (2003) analysis on black metal and religion should however
be mentioned.
As for research on authenticity, empirical and applied work has been conducted on
areas such as marketing (see, for example, Gilmore and Pine, 2007). Sociologically,
the basis of much research done on authenticity lies in the philosophical tradition
of Taylor (see, for example, Taylor, 1992; see also Anton, 2001; Braman, 2008).
However, few, and in such cases many fragmentary, comments on authenticity have
been made in direct relation to subculture and heavy metal, especially in an empiri-
cal sense (see Bettez Halnon, 2004; Kahn-Harris, 2007; Walser, 1993; Weinstein,
1991).
One of the main difficulties of understanding what constitutes authenticity and
how it is created in the mind of the individual is, first in seeing how the individ-
ual constructs herself as an authentic being in relation to the rest of society and
social life, and second, how she uses social group belongingness to socially separate
in-group cultural authenticity from an outside world. Note that the main point of
departure here is self-identity as experienced by the individual. The starting point
of authenticity is the idea of self or the notion of the individual (see, for example,
Handler, 1986). The individual’s view of herself is, in the identity theory of Giddens
(1991), described as a life story. This life story is a kind of totality of events during
time, which people compile in order to make their lives legible to themselves and
others. In essence, the biographical comprehension of one’s life consists of an indi-
vidual conception of who you have been, who you are and also, through dreams
and visions, who you will be. As the individual views her life as a process it is dif-
ficult to problematize, shed light on or underline all the traits or happenings of her
self-identity formation (Giddens, 1991). In addition to this, the conception of self is
closely linked to the notion of continuity and a basic trust in life, i.e. an ontologi-
cal security (Giddens, 1991). Many self-accounts start with the presentation of self
by the subjective human being. The individual often strives to argue in relation to
herself and others that certain characteristics are special and unique for her as a
human being. The individual distinguishes one role (of many), which becomes an
integral and primary part of the individual’s perception of self. The role becomes her
‘second nature’ (Park, 1950: 250). In essence, we ‘play the role of being ourselves’
(Trilling, 1972: 11). In using this subjectively constructed view, the contrast to the
world outside oneself, to what is considered ‘untrue’, is stark. The individual tries to
be a ‘sincere actor’ as opposed to being a ‘cynical actor’, that is, believing firmly in
her own presentation of self. This belief in her own true self also demands displaying
a uniform self at all costs (Goffman, 1959: 19). The need to discern the true self from
the untrue self is hence pivotal in the strengthening of the individual’s idea of self.
This could be referred to as ‘disentangling’, to separate what is viewed as the real
from the false self, in order to highlight her authenticity (Giddens, 1991: 79). Antaki
and Widdicombe (1998) suggest that there are a number of variables entwined in
the idea of identity. First, the individual is commonly a member of a category of
people who share certain characteristics. Second, this category is occasioned, that

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98 Susanna Larsson

is, it varies with situations. By virtue of this, the individual can alternate between
different roles in society. Third, Antaki and Widdicombe (1998) claim that having
a particular identity is reinforced by the consequentiality of interaction in reference
to a specific role. Last, identity becomes readily visible only in the structures of
conversation.
Authenticity can be defined as ‘a congruence between avowal and actual feeling’
(Trilling, 1972: 2). There are at least two ways of viewing authenticity. First, there
is the view that an individual standpoint, or an individual feeling, is inherent in the
term authenticity (Taylor, 1992). Second, authenticity can be viewed as a through-
and-through social construction that is manifested through symbols or concrete
things. The first view is useful when researching how individuals talk about them-
selves as if self-made (see above). It is also useful in subculture research where,
as Muggleton (2000: 21) underlines, ‘A focus on authentic origins also produces
a particular conception of subcultures as internally homogenous and externally
demarcated’. Pointing out internal difference is thus of importance. Not only can
people see themselves as judges of their own level of authenticity, they also con-
sider themselves agents in ‘creating’ and upholding their authenticity. The individual
actively creates herself as an authentic subject through a process of self-determining
freedom, meaning that the individual must work to be herself in order not to miss
the purpose of her life (Taylor, 1992). Closely related to this view is the knowledge
that making your own choices is a prerequisite for the feeling of authenticity (Mills,
1991). Furthering the importance of human agency in authenticity, Taylor (1992:
26) understands authenticity as a feeling of right and wrong, what he refers to as an
‘inner voice’.
The above descriptions of authenticity are heavily subjectively experienced
and created. Contrary to his own view on the subjective ‘inner voice’, however,
Taylor argues that authenticity is created on the grounds of the collective moral.
By further emphasizing the social perspective of authenticity, he claims that moral
is not about the ideals that an individual wishes or wants, but about the ideals that
she should want (Taylor, 1992). In addition to this, Giddens (1991) argues that a
universal moral is not applicable to the sense of authenticity; it always refers to
the immediate and close context. Authenticity can thus be explained in reference
to both individual morals—what to be in your own sense of originality—and close
context socially constructed morals, a social negotiation of morals in the in-group
that functions as a barrier to the outside society. Thus, authenticity involves origi-
nality and originality must involve revolt from what is common practice in society
(Taylor, 1992).
In this article, I analyze the ways in which heavy metal fans construct their self
and collective images in relation to the music and the culture by concentrating on
subjective and intersubjective arguments on what it means to be an authentic heavy
metal fan. Following this section, the methodological concerns are addressed, as is
the theoretical background of the article. The analysis is carried out on three levels.
First, the individual perspective is studied, thereafter the heavy metal fans’ collec-
tive standpoint. Lastly, the individual and collective positioning against the outside
world is underlined. Following that, conclusions are made.

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Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 99

Empirical Material and Method

The empirical material consists of six focus-group interviews and four single inter-
views with young heavy metal fans between the ages of 18 and 27 in Gothenburg,
Sweden. In total, 26 heavy metal fans were interviewed. A letter explaining the pur-
pose of the study was sent out via the Swedish alternative community ‘Helgon’
(‘Saints’). This community serves as a forum for people engaged in alternative music
lifestyles. Though not specifically aimed towards heavy metal fans, the Helgon com-
munity engages around 10,000 heavy metal fans of all kinds in Sweden. A total of
218 persons marked as heavy metal fans between the ages of 18 and 27 living in
Gothenburg received a call for interview. During the interviews, questions were
asked following a semi-structured interview guide. Of these questions, those on how
to look, authenticity, belongingness and exclusions, the subgenre of choice and
boundary drawing were especially underlined and elaborated in conversation.
In the interview letter, the importance of the interviewees seeing and calling
themselves heavy metal fans was underlined. What was of importance here was to
include anyone who claimed to listen to or play heavy metal music, dress as a heavy
metal fan or who would generally, through acts and visuals, help uphold or repro-
duce the heavy metal culture. The Swedish term ‘hårdrockare’, most aptly translated
as ‘heavy metal fans’, has been used in the interviews. The Swedes, however, gener-
ally make no clear linguistic difference between fans who listen to old-school heavy
metal on the one hand or more complex forms of metal on the other. Twenty-two
out of 27 interviewees play in bands. As such they have both insight into and play a
part in the heavy metal music scene of Gothenburg. Furthermore, reference to heavy
metal fans in the article primarily includes the heavy metal fans interviewed.
Focus-group interviews can be ridden with problems of peer pressure. However,
the social and psychological mechanisms of people belonging to the same culture
can be highlighted to a greater extent in focus-group interviews than in single inter-
views (Fern, 2001). In addition to this, the importance of underlining the subjective
culture, that is, each individual’s own perception of her culture must be highlighted
(Fern, 2001). My intention, during interviews and analysis, has been to underline the
individual’s subjective and intersubjective conceptions of her culture.
The analysis concerns three thematic levels: the individual, the collective and
the collective against society. Important events, symbols and metaphors have been
underlined, as have distinct similarities and differences in individual and collective
narratives. Overall, a hermeneutic standpoint has been applied, where the part—the
narratives of the individual—has been viewed in relation to the whole—the narra-
tives and practices of the collective and the outside world. Interviews and quotes in
this article are primarily presented as collective narratives where a focus group was
created and individual narratives where a single interview was conducted.

Constructing Self
In analyzing authenticity, discussions on the lengths of someone’s participation in a
certain context used to argue for or against a person’s ‘true colours’ are vital.

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100 Susanna Larsson

Widdicombe and Wooffitt’s (1990) study on punk culture shows that the time the
individual punk had been involved in the culture had a direct effect on the level of
authenticity ascribed to this person and also the amount of respect that was gained as
a result of it. This appears to be just as prevalent in the heavy metal subculture. Johan
describes:

I started off with Alice Cooper and AC/DC … and the neighbour stuffed me with Saxon
and Iron Maiden pretty quickly … after that it’s always just been there for as long as I can
remember … I can’t remember anything else so I don’t know how I got into it.

Daniel argues, ‘I’ve been doing it for so long, so I don’t really reflect over it … it’s
so natural to me, I don’t even think about being ... different.’
Since Johan claims that he cannot remember anything else other than heavy
metal, he underlines that a lot of his conscious life has been woven into heavy metal.
Erik sees heavy metal as ‘natural’, a never problematized but plainly existing culture
to which he swears allegiance. The argumentation here shows that the heavy metal
music and culture has been instilled in the individual heavy metal fans to the point
where they consider themselves one with the music. The role they play or the per-
ception they have of themselves has become their ‘second nature’ (Park, 1950: 250).
In this section the individual heavy metal fans claim their own authenticity on two
levels. First, by claiming that heavy metal has existed for them for a very long time
and second, by underlining the natural and un-reflected state of their relation to it.
Matilda makes a vivid description of her own long-term actions and expectations in
relation to heavy metal:

It has always been there … it has been the faithful dog that never died, it always followed
me.… I’ve always been able to count on it. You’ve never been alone, no matter how lonely
and betrayed your friend have made you feel, you’ve always been able to play a song that
explains exactly what you feel. … If anyone had told Matilda at the age of 12 that ‘when
you’re 27 you will be the same way’… I think that would’ve been too good to be true,
because it would have meant that I would be myself.… And sometimes it feels as if I have
been quite the bore ... I’ve always been the same way, but at the same time it’s very safe to
know.

By claiming that she gave heavy metal music her childhood, Matilda uses the same
kind of time argument that the men used above. Furthermore, she gives an emotion-
ally powered description of the ups and downs of her own development in relation
to the music. However, Matilda also describes the continuity and feelings of safety
and security in relation to the music, a reasoning reminiscent of the understanding of
authenticity as a basic trust (During, 1999; Giddens, 1991).
When Matilda looks back at her childhood years she concludes that knowing
that she would remain a heavy metal fan would have been ‘too good to be true’ and
‘safe to know’. Matilda conveys that while social relations have gone, the music has
been there to comfort her; that she has ‘always been able to count on the music’. The
reason for this could also be that the individual, in her life story, takes herself as a
starting point and that she wants to portray herself in an idealized way.

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Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 101

Being able to argue that heavy metal has been a significant part of one’s life for
a long time can also depend on the evidence the heavy metal fan has to support this
claim, whether it is a life story or concrete evidence of dedication. Nils describes his
old heavy metal T-shirt:

I visited my first Maiden concert in 1984 or –’85 ... but I wasn’t very old back then, I sat
on an uncle’s shoulders … and I was given a Number of the beast-sweater when I was
born, from the year I was born, ‘82. I still have it but it’s really worn, well used. I always
use it at Maiden concerts and they must amount to, well, three digits.

In Nils’s case, the physical symbol of the ‘Number of the beast’ sweater acts as a
reinforcer of his dedication and as a form of physical authenticity claim. He has
owned the sweater since his birth, which underlines the time aspect of authenticity.
Receiving the sweater as a child may be a sign of the heavy metal identity coming
into his life even though he was not aware of this, which yet again underlines the
feeling of heavy metal as ‘natural’ and un-reflected. To others, this sweater is a sym-
bol of the heavy metal style, making it possible for them to categorize and map out
Nils’s authenticity (Clarke et al., 2006). Due to its long-term existence, this symbol
has been repeated over a number of events until it is instilled into the characteristics
of heavy metal discourse, why there is no margin of interpretation around it (Clarke,
1977).
Yet another way of underlining time as a factor in the creation of authenticity is
to draw lines against oneself and people who have not stayed true to the heavy metal
culture. Matilda says:

The worst taboo you can break as a heavy metal fan is to start denying heavy metal, saying
that ‘oh that ... it was just a period of my life ... a little phase’. It’s more … in here, in the
heart (shows with her hand pressed to her chest).

Matilda states the problem in seeing heavy metal as a little ‘phase’, which contrasts
her own long-term dedication. At the same time she uses the heart as a metaphor for
what is true and un-reflected. Claiming that heavy metal music is in the heart can be
seen as a way of underlining that heavy metal is not governed by rational thinking,
but rather from an intuitive feeling of what is right and wrong, what Taylor (1992: 26)
refers to as an ‘inner voice’. The inner voice is also reminiscent of what Johan and
Daniel said about heavy metal being natural and right.
By looking back at the past and how much time and passion has been invested
in a certain life interest or lifestyle, heavy metal fans can justify their position in
the heavy metal culture. The degrees to which the interviewees make authentic-
ity claims, however, differ in the usage of symbols and the emotional attachments
made. Where Johan and Daniel validate their authenticity through describing the
complete naturalness of heavy metal music to them, Matilda displays the same kind
of stand-by-me attitude while colouring her life story with feelings of trust. As a
third example, Nils uses a symbol to prove his worth.
The long-term relation to heavy metal that the heavy metal fans want to claim, all
in their own ways, appears to be static, something that followed the individual and

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102 Susanna Larsson

has never shifted shape. The heavy metal fans above seem to associate their lives
with heavy metal in one empowering story in past tense. What occurs is a ‘simpli-
fication’ of the self in relation to heavy metal, a stripped-down version of their core
relationship to heavy metal. I want to describe this as a ‘constitutive authenticity’,
that is, the individually created view of authenticity, which is seen to precede the
socially constructed authenticity. This kind of authenticity can be created in two
ways. First, the individual shows that heavy metal is internalized in the ‘true self’.
This is done for example by claiming it to be natural to the point where it needs
no problematization. Second, the individual elevates a few symbolic and formative
events that have been vital for her self-perception. While putting together their life
story the individuals do not necessarily take into account how the social climate
has been affecting their self-identity formation and creation of authentic self, which
is indicative of their view of it as ‘constitutive’ to their being, rather than formed.
This life story and individual take on authenticity is converted into different social
practices in the social realm of the heavy metal community. Through these practices
the heavy metal fans meet and compare their life stories. In the interest of showing
a complementary part of the constitutive authenticity, I now account for a couple of
practices and the social reproduction of authenticity that takes place in it.

Constructing ‘Us’
The difference between the active thinking of the self and the active collective con-
struction of heavy metal are the number of ‘musts’ that become implicit in social
comparison (Taylor, 1992).

Erik: It’s one of those things about heavy metal ... you buy the package, it’s this thing
where you buy the records, you dress like a heavy metal fan, you listen to heavy metal, you
go to concerts, you drink beer and you have fun. It’s not like you only put on a Motörhead
T-shirt on Saturdays.
David: You’re being genuine.

This relation to heavy metal appears to be highly conscious. The natural and unprob-
lematic view of heavy metal portrayed in the previous section is here contrasted with
a self-evident moral point of view, that the heavy metal fan needs to follow a number
of practices. The idea of heavy metal, the intuition that the individual talks about and
the moral portrayed here seem to be separate outtakes on the same phenomenon. As
a contrast to the ideally created story of the individual’s life, the moral of the heavy
metal culture is produced in a social room. The heavy metal fans thus need to adapt
to a system, and then need to socially compare themselves to other people who more
or less follow the same system. Where the heavy metal fans with their own stories
and intuitions address the authentic ideal picture of the self in the past tense, Erik
here creates a reproduction of the heavy metal culture by bringing to the fore general
subcultural ideas on what is right and wrong. This way of uniting around practices
and morals is what I would refer to as ‘reproducing authenticity’. To put on a

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Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 103

Motörhead T-shirt on Saturdays alone does not, for example, follow the standard that
Erik follows and thus he creates a ‘should’ for the outside world, following Taylor’s
(1992) theory. The way David confirms Erik’s statements by saying ‘you’re being
genuine’ is indicative of the way this heavy metal moral is reproducing authenticity
when someone from the same context utters it (Giddens, 1991). In the words of Erik,
to ‘buy the whole package’ means that the moral is fulfilled. However, it seems as if
the social musts portrayed here are still secondary to the individual interest in heavy
metal. If there is no authentic interest, there is no reason to do anything else than to
wear the heavy metal T-shirt on Saturdays. The authentic interest in music is hence
something created by the individual, and then reproduced culturally by the
collective.
The morals on how to be a heavy metal fan become most apparent in the way the
fans talk about how to look like a fan. Erik is involved in a discussion on the absence
of rules when it comes to looks in the heavy metal culture. He says, ‘That’s just the
thing ... that it doesn’t matter ... just go! I guess that’s why it’s a show too, if there
were a lot of rules and shit, you wouldn’t have accepted it.’
The same fan and his band proceed by presenting their take on how to relate to
heavy metal and rules to follow:

Erik: But you’ve missed the point if you think that everything should look as metal as
possible….
Erik: I think it’s a part of one’s identity … band T-shirts, leather jacket, jeans and boots or
whatever the hell you want.
David: But it’s like … if I feel like a heavy metal fan I will suddenly start looking like one
… you never knew what hit you.
Johan: If you do what we talked about ... if any of that falls away ... it would be like reason-
ing that ‘I am a Christian but I murder people occasionally’.

These quotes contradict each other in more than one way. First, Erik claims that he
would not be in the heavy metal culture if there were a lot of ‘rules and shit’, i.e.
morals. He underlines his individual authenticity, which is that there is no need to
conform to ideas. However, this is followed by a long declaration on how heavy
metal fans cannot be authentic if they do not follow certain rules. There is a constant
dialogue between the authenticity claims of the individual heavy metal fan and that
of the group. Internally, a social and moral perspective says something about what is
right and wrong in the in-group. Note that Johan, Erik and David in many ways have
conflicting views on what dressing like a heavy metal fan means, but there is no
argumentation. Returning to Antaki and Widdicombe (1998), this is an instance
where the individual identities of the heavy metal fans are strengthened by the dis-
course surrounding the heavy metal fan. Being able to uphold one’s own opinion in
a collective situation like the one above is also proof of the consequentiality in iden-
tity construction that the theorists write about.
The individual views on authenticity seem freely floating within the larger scope
of the view on collective authenticity. Since David tells us that feeling like a heavy
metal fan eventually entails looking like one, he is yet again drawing on the theory

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104 Susanna Larsson

of the inner voice (Taylor, 1992). Contrary to this, Johan argues that the way a heavy
metal fan should look and act is a principal question, a sort of uniform type. He
claims that you will find the same kind of dedication in following certain collec-
tively stipulated ideas as in Christianity, delivering another example of the words
clashing between the individual basis and the collective basis.
Sara and Annika accentuate that the heavy metal clothing and attributes can work
as a form of marker of belonging:

Annika: Then I have to bring up this question on the need to wear heavy metal clothes in
order to be a heavy metal fan. And honestly, I don’t think so ... but I guess I think that the
music comes first, then the clothes are there to get that … relation.
Sara: But aren’t those people the ones that takes the music seriously ... music is the basis
of the style, there would be no music styles with clothes if there was no music. If you have
the music alone I think you’re already true, but of course, if someone would come up to
me and look quite plain and tell me that ‘Yes, I am a heavy metal fan, I’ve got all of
Metallica’s records’, then I’d probably feel that it would be difficult to accept at first …
because I don’t feel connected ... but if you’d talk to the person, then of course...

The women are simultaneously trying to confirm the individualism and collectivism
of the heavy metal fans, as did the men above. Individually, the fan does not neces-
sarily need to look like a heavy metal fan; they are ‘allowed’ to call themselves
heavy metal fans as long as they listen to the music. The music seems to precede
both collective and visual rules when it comes to authenticity. However, this clashes
with an implicit demand for belongingness. This is a moral argument claiming that
authenticity comes with social recognizability. The women argue that people who
dress like heavy metal fans take the music seriously. If you combine this view with
previous statements about the music coming first, the heavy metal fan who listens to
the music and also dresses as a heavy metal fan is more authentic. The heavy metal
culture as an in-group hence depends on people dressing the part, as this becomes the
only way of directly associating people with a certain social context. As for the per-
son who listens to the music but does not wear the clothes, an acceptance could pos-
sibly grow, which can only stem from the fact that Sara gets to know this other
person and her music interest more thoroughly. The women are primarily discussing
their in-group, or more specifically, their social in-group. The fan who claims to be
a heavy metal fan but whom Sara would have a hard time accepting, belongs to what
can be termed the thematic in-group. Both these groups are heavy metal fans, the
difference is that the social in-group consists of people who know each others’ claims
of authenticity, knowledge and passion for the music, while in the thematic in-group,
people can only rely on markers of recognizability, for example, attributes.
Another way by which the heavy metal fans grade and make authenticity claims
is through discussions on whether or not a person is following the heavy metal prac-
tices or simply being pretentious:

Erik: I think that long hair is heavy metal (Erik has a shaved head and everyone laughs)
… but I do think so, I think it’s the ultimate heavy metal hairdo ... I guess you are allowed
to cut your hair when it starts receding, though.

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Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 105

Johan: Nah, the hair doesn’t matter a damn bit, but if you get a hairstyle then you are
fucking dense ... it has nothing to do with heavy metal! Always trimming it and
using.
David: Wax and …
Johan: Yuck, OK, so I have a flattening iron at home, but I mean ... I don’t want it to look
perfect, I just want it to be long … and thin. I don’t care, I just want it to be long.
David: If you don’t cut your hair for three years you obviously have better things to do,
that’s heavy metal!
...
David: If you spend time looking like something then you’re not a heavy metal fan.

The heavy metal fans draw lines between having long hair, as a typical attribute of
the heavy metal culture, and having a haircut, which they consider a trait of the
society outside the culture. They underline how a heavy metal fan should want to
have long hair, yet again talking about heavy metal moral, and that one should not
care about or spend too much time on one’s looks. Interestingly, the heavy metal
fans are consciously trying not to look like a heavy metal fan to the point where
they can be considered to have ‘pretences on not having pretences’. To claim that
the ‘hair doesn’t matter’ and subsequently count the ways by which it does is one
example of this. Johan, who owns a flattening iron and hence mocks himself, is
underscoring this duality. He may be using it to make the hair look ‘genuinely’
straight and as a consequence, actively constructs himself as an authentic heavy
metal fan. This excerpt illustrates how the heavy metal fans try to negotiate a col-
lective approach that does not take its point of departure in something plastic and
inauthentic. The fans seem to underline that the phenomenon of looking like a
heavy metal fan is a natural development, something that the individual intuitively
should feel is right, yet again evoking the inner voice (Taylor, 1992). This also adds
up with views on authenticity taking its basis in the individual’s feeling of original-
ity (Anton, 2001), rather than being a product of merchandise or advertisements.
Putting all your money into looking like a heavy metal fan is pointless. At the same
time, spending time and money on anything else than heavy metal seems to dis-
tance the heavy metal fan from being authentic. For that reason, people who are
apparent in their struggle to find authenticity instead of feeling what is right will be
ridiculed. They need to be congruent in what they feel and what they show (Goffman,
1959; Trilling, 1972). The heavy metal fans implicitly say that authenticity means
that the individual cannot show the kind of cracks in the façade that comes from
trying too hard to look like a heavy metal fan. Erik who has shaved his long hair off
is accepted despite this. His social in-group can, quite certifiably, identify him as a
heavy metal fan through other merits. Someone with the same looks in the thematic
in-group, however, would be ridiculed. In the social in-group, the morals are not
strict, but rather function as an abstract feeling lying on top of the individual authen-
ticity claims. Judging the authenticity of the heavy metal fan from a collective
standpoint thus depend on two factors: first, that the individual has an inner voice
to help decide what is the right kind of attribute, being an agent in creating authen-
ticity claims, and second, whether or not the person judging is familiar with the
judged one.

Young, 21, 1 (2013): 95–110

106 Susanna Larsson

Constructing ‘Them’
In this part, I focus on the ways in which the heavy metal fans view what is beyond
their personal individual and collective relation, that is, society at large. Authenticity
means drawing lines and revolting against conformity (Taylor, 1992). The heavy
metal fans draw these lines in a number of ways, resulting in a self-fulfilling alien-
ation as well as a deepening of the authenticity claims. Hampus says:

I would have done better for myself if I belonged to another music style…. But the music
is still good enough to have me choose it. Maybe I would’ve been more respected on the
work market if I was a dance band kind of guy instead.

Matilda puts it this way:

You want to be able to say that I live by a lifestyle and I don’t give a shit about the rest of
you and I live by my own rules but of course you’ll feel accused if someone’s mean to you
… that’s just human…. It’s not fun to visit the family law bureau to sign papers on having
a baby and parents around you look at you like ‘OK, are you going to be a parent? Good
luck, poor kid!’
Susanna: So how do you feel about that ... you’re about to have a baby and people are
looking down on you?
Matilda: It’s kind of rough really. And my own mom has told me that ‘well, you can’t keep
listening to that music now that you’re having a baby’ … but still, somehow I feel kind of
safe, because if you think about it ... is it that horrible if the child would become a heavy
metal fan? No, because then I know that it’s a very true person.

Both Hampus and Matilda tell us that there are other settings than the heavy metal
culture where they would have had a much easier life, but that the heavy metal music
and culture pulled them back in. By doing this, they validate their own authentic
position at the same time as the boundaries towards the rest of society are strength-
ened. Hampus has been forced to handle obstacles when it comes to the work market
while Matilda is fighting against the stereotype of not being a good mother because
of her subcultural belongingness. Not choosing the ‘simple’ path and instead fight-
ing for a sense of belonging could authenticate them (Mills, 1991). Despite the fact
that both Hampus and Matilda express some sort of alienation in relation to the soci-
ety in general, they do not seem to be in need of its confirmation. Rather, they con-
trast this against the form of approval they have received by themselves and others
in the heavy metal community. Note also that the heavy metal fans appear much
more confident in confirming their authenticity in relation to the outside world, than
towards other heavy metal fans. The outside world become the definition of the
inside world (Bauman, 1999).
By claiming that there is a higher value, the interviewees implicitly contrast them-
selves against something of lower value. Hampus argues that heavy metal music is
worth more than fitting-in in the labour market, while Matilda states that the sense
of safety and security instilled in her view by the heavy metal culture ranks higher
than fitting in at the family law bureau. There seems to be a grading scale that the

Young, 21, 1 (2013): 95–110

Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 107

heavy metal fans use in order to underline their own constitutive and reproducing
authenticity.
Where morals on dressing the part of a heavy metal fan are rather abstract within
the culture, the lines drawn against dressing in a socially accepted way in the outside
world are rigid. Matilda tells us:

When I worked (at [name of company]), skirts and high boots was the everyday style ...
but it didn’t feel as if I was putting heavy metal aside, rather, I went undercover as another
Matilda who was supposed to exist between nine and five every day.

Among the interviewees the heavy metal music and culture is viewed as a start-
ing point for the self. This demarcation between the individually and collectively
authentic me against the non-authentic ways of society in general can be understood
as a kind of backstage and front stage (Goffman, 1959). Matilda wants to underline
this by showing us that, while at work, she is using a mask that has nothing to do
with her perception of self, it is only present in order for her to fit in with a stipulated
dress code. Matilda acknowledges that there are different roles that are situational
and to which she must be true during a part of the day, as Antaki and Widdicombe
(1998) would suggest. However, in separating these roles as clearly as she does, she
is also ‘disentangling’, in the words of Giddens (1991: 76). She actively upholds
what she experiences as a true identity. While Matilda is agreeable to entering an
undercover role, some of the interviewees have no such ‘second role’ when it comes
to clothing:

Johan: Mom told me when she remarried to ‘please wear the unicolour sweatshirt’, and I
guess I can agree to do that. I wouldn’t have gone in a suit ... I don’t like it and I feel suf-
focated. If I put on a shirt, just buttoning the second top button … [makes noises as if being
strangled].
David: Yes, well if you’re used to being Superman all the time, you don’t want to put on
Clark Kent’s lame clothes to fit in with the dorks.
Erik: They are disgusting, the dorks.
Johan: Yes, … but that’s the way I think it is. I want to be myself and I want to be able to
be the way I like being, no matter what it is.
David: Yes, heavy metal is no alias, it’s the way it is.

The aversion to button the top button could illustrate an overarching dissent towards
adapting to what is considered a formal and conventional society. The heavy metal
style as a means by which the men position themselves against authority, partly in an
abstract sense and partly in direct relation to parents, is reminiscent of Hebdige’s
(1979) theories on style as a subversion to normalcy. The jacket and the shirt become
symbols of a rigidity and uniformity, which is portrayed as if it could strangle the
authentic me. David, who makes a comparison to Superman, clearly positions him-
self against an abstract mass, the ‘dorks’. In doing so, he writes up his own style in
relation to the rest of society by using a cultural symbol of strength and invulnerabil-
ity. By way of claiming that heavy metal is no alias, the music yet again becomes the
point of departure for the individual’s claim for authenticity. The heavy metal fans

Young, 21, 1 (2013): 95–110

108 Susanna Larsson

can view their heavy metal personas as being a ‘sincere actor’ (Goffman, 1959: 19),
something they would never compromise with. The combination of seeing the heavy
metal me as authentic and original while dismissing the formality as well as the
fragmentation and alienation of self in society could be expressed through the revolt
that is quintessential to the feeling of authenticity (Taylor, 1992).

Conclusion
Discussing the findings of this article, one can pinpoint the conclusiveness of expe-
rienced individual authenticity and the inconclusiveness of the collective take on
heavy metal authenticity. Individually, the heavy metal fans draw boundaries between
the true self and the false self. The true self is argued for through the time and emo-
tions spent in relation to the music. Here, the social heavy metal context is not talked
of. Showing one’s un-reflected and long-time commitment as well as bringing a few
highlighted events or style symbols to the fore is indicative of a constitutive
authenticity.
As for the collective standpoint, the individual, with her constitutive authentic-
ity appears to roam free within the larger practices and morals of the collective
context. The heavy metal fans thus seem to bring a high degree of individual under-
standing into the collective context, which results in a constant dialogue between
the individual standpoint and the collective standpoint. By making assumptions, or
negotiating something seemingly non-negotiable for the sake of an abstract heavy
metal moral to which they all adhere, the heavy metal fans create ‘reproducing
authenticity’. The moral underlined seems to take its basis in a feeling of original-
ity and genuineness, rather than being stipulated through the use of concrete and
practical examples. However, when focusing on the way the heavy metal fans relate
to the world outside the heavy metal community, the importance of disentangling a
true self from a false self is heightened along with the concrete symbols and heavy
metal style with which this can be underlined. This can partly be explained by the
effect of what is believed to be a conformist threat to the uniqueness of the self and
the collective.
The difficulty in underlining the mediating point between individual conceptions
of self, and social and cultural negotiations of authenticity in the heavy metal com-
munity can be derived from the abstract nature of the individual ‘inner voice’ and
the collective morals that the heavy metal fans seem to have, and partly derived from
the strong belief in the individual life story. This results in strong boundaries when
arguing for the authentic self and gliding scales on the part of the authentic collec-
tive. However, this inability to collectively pinpoint the main authenticity traits of
the heavy metal community is also contextual and can be explained by viewing the
social setting of the interviewee. In separating a social in-group, the close heavy
metal context, and a thematic in-group, a general crowd of heavy metal fans, one
can see that that which is claimed to be authentic is based on personal knowledge of
dedication in the former and apparent signs and markers of recognition and belong-
ing in the latter.

Young, 21, 1 (2013): 95–110

Constructing Individual and Social Authenticity in the Heavy Metal Subculture 109

Concretely, the findings of this study are that individual construction of an authen-
tic heavy metal identity is made, first, through arguments of long-term dedication,
second, through highlighting symbolic events and attributes that are associated with
the heavy metal culture and last, through bringing forward arguments of making the
right choices based on an authentic inner voice. Social construction of a common
authentic identity is the result of negotiations around an abstract moral. The arena
in which authenticity is negotiated and created is in part a close social in-group
context, in which individuals are aware of their group members’ dedication, and in
part a thematic in-group, where symbols and attributes are known but where dedica-
tion must be argued for.
There is undoubtedly a complex interaction between the individual and the social
authentic self. While Giddens’ (1991) life story falls well in line with the individu-
ally spoken for authenticity of Taylor’s (1992), as well as the belief of one’s own
role play as described by both Goffman (1959) and Park (1927), it may be that these
views exist mainly in the mind of the individual and are woven into the intricacies
of social life. Nevertheless, as Muggleton (2000) would concur, they are important
in saying something about agency and the motivation to withstand prejudice and
uphold culture in the larger collective sense.

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Susanna Larsson is a PhD student at the Sociology Department of Örebro

University since 2007. Her compilation thesis revolves around the construction
of identity in the heavy metal culture. Four themes are processed: authenticity and
identity, recognizability and visual identity cues, alienation/rebellion and positioning
within the culture and gender identity. [email: [email protected]]

Young, 21, 1 (2013): 95–110