For Lauren Kashan, music isn’t just music. Even before joining Baltimore hardcore outfit Sharptooth in 2014, the scene had offered her something of a lifeline – a place where she, as a queer fem person, could feel accepted and part of a like-minded community that readily accepted marginalised people into its fold. It was in the pits of that scene where she found not only herself, but her friends and future bandmates. It wasn’t always without resistance – she’s spoken previously about encountering a “no clit in the pit” attitude towards women in the hardcore scene – but it still felt like home. And that’s precisely why Lauren reserves the right to criticise its shortcomings. “It’s important that people get to feel the euphoria of being included and being a part of something,” she...
