1996.
Two 14 year old punk kids meet each other outside the school they used to attend.
One expelled, the other walked out one day and never went back.
One says to the other "where do you wanna go?"
The other replies "Destination unknown."
For those who don’t know, those are words from Rancid's "Ruby Soho."
Lyrics to a punk rock song.
But at the time, those word's also became an underlying philosophy for how we lived our lives.
Two kids who dropped out of school…
No direction or purpose.
Just a destination unknown.
And that was cool.
Because it meant we were unrestrained by the confines of society.
The rules and regulations.
The constant brainwashing and indoctrination by mainstream media that you MUST do this or you MUST do that.
It was all made up.
What we thought was a typical 90s punk/slacker mentality of "fuck you…I don’t care" was actually the opposite.
We did care.
Just not about bullshit that made no sense.
Our "Destination Unknown" philosophy created a space to let ideas flow freely.
A space where we could discover our own path instead of blindly following the expectations of others.
Others whose world seemed so much less colourful and vibrant than the world we wanted to create.
It's now been 30 years since the release of Out Come The Wolves and Ruby Soho.
I'm still punk.
Still straight edge.
And still living life on my terms.
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