Photo credit: Amanda Frost
Milwaukee straightedge band Forced Impact plays an all-ages show.
Drew Czarnik, vocalist for Milwaukee straightedge band Forced Impact, was only 10 years old when he first learned about hardcore and punk. It all started when he watched a documentary about Minor Threat. There was no turning back. It wasn’t until Czarnik was a freshman in high school, however, that he discovered that he could see a hardcore show just minutes from his house. “I found a vegan straightedge band from Milwaukee right after I first learned about Minor Threat,” said Czarnik. “That blew my mind.”
Now Czarnik is 18, and he has just returned from his band’s longest tour: an 11-day journey down South that took the band from Atlanta to Houston and to Miami. But when Czarnik got back home from tour, he didn’t go back to work or back into the studio; he went back to high school, as he still has a month left of classes until he graduates.
“Being in high school and having the opportunity to tour and play all these insane shows is seriously one of the coolest things ever,” said Czarnik. “I’m super lucky that I’ve been given all these opportunities to play music in other places besides Milwaukee.”
Forced Impact started playing shows in the fall of 2016. Although the band members have changed over the years, they have remained a straightedge band, spreading their message of freedom from drugs and alcohol everywhere they go. The straightedge movement began in the 1980s and has spread across the nation, resulting in a fast-paced style of music called “Youth-Crew.” Many straightedge bands write songs about the benefits of not drinking or doing drugs.
Forced Impact’s music is also fast and aggressive, most songs coming in at less than two minutes, mixing loud yells with fast guitars and drums. Czarnik’s lyrics revolve around independence and freedom from society’s standards as he yells in a song off of the band’s latest release, Conflict Theory, “You’re not going to scar my mind with all your traditions / They’ll never be accepting of this extra addition.”
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All four of the members of Forced Impact are under the age of 24. “We wanted to start this band to share things we felt passionate about,” said Czarnik. “We also wanted to start a band that sounded like a lot of the bands we were listening to, mainly fast-paced ’80s and ’90s punk rock.”
Straightedge bands in Milwaukee have always stood out, given how the city prides itself on its history of beer making and breweries. “If I’m trying to describe my band to anyone else, it’s very confusing, and people don’t really get it,” says Czarnik.
However, guitarist Brandon Santos says younger bands that were influenced by straightedge are starting to take over the hardcore scene in Milwaukee and the Midwest. “Many younger kids are being introduced to the scene,” says Santos. “When I began going to shows in high school, it was definitely an older crowd, but now I see younger kids starting bands and going to shows. I see this in other scenes across the country as well.”
Being part of the hardcore scene in Milwaukee has always been very important to Forced Impact. “It’s about the people and friendships,” says bassist Daniel Redmond. “It’s also about being able to express yourself in a positive outlet.”
Czarnik said the shows on the tour were exciting and invigorating. The band was able to visit multiple sites, like Clearwater Beach, Fla., and at The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. They were also able to eat at some of their favorite vegan restaurants, including Earth Burger in Texas.
Czarnik is used to mixing school with his band. “It’s definitely unfortunate that I can only tour when I have breaks or off days… It feels like I have to wait forever until I can actually just tour whenever we feel like it.” But that moment is approaching soon, as Czarnik graduates from high school this June.
Forced Impact is planning a summer tour. You can stream their music at forcedimpactxxx.bandcamp.com.
