I conducted intensive interviews with Christian Hardcore (N = 28) and Taqwacore (N = 20) members (Appendix C). Most interviewees (from both groups) were between the ages of 21 – 35 years of age but a handful were in their early 40s. There were notable educational differences between the two groups. Many Taqwacore interviewees held college degrees and about half of them were pursuing graduate degrees at the time of the study. The Christian Hardcore youth I interviewed typically had not graduated from college. The ones who were planning an advanced education were looking into ministry, and there were several people that I met who planned to do missions in South America and Africa before considering college.
Semi-structured interviews allowed me to explore the “loosely organized, short-lived or thinly documented” (Blee and Taylor 2002: 93) aspects of religious punk that are difficult to study through structured questionnaires. I chose this method because 1) “themes and categories of analysis are generated from the response” of participants (Blee and Taylor 2002: 93); 2) responses could be analyzed in the “context of wider social understandings and discourses” (Blee and Taylor 2002: 94); 3) participants have an opportunity to talk about their social world and direct the interviewing process; and 4) semi-structured interviews allowed me to evaluate how the group identity was challenged or embraced by those involved.
One-on-one interviews questions were designed to ascertain how (religious and non- religious) Christian Hardcore and Taqwacore youth distinguish themselves from other punks and from traditional religious institutions. In these semi-structured interviews, I loosely guided the participant through the conversation but was mindful to ask for elaboration and clarification of responses (Babbie 2005). These interviews gave me the opportunity to inquire about an
and political beliefs. I encouraged participants to pose additional topics and they often did. For example, during one interview, when I asked a Taqwacore if there was anything that he thought we should cover but hadn’t, he explained that the Patriot Act impacted his family – there was suspicion that his home phone was being tapped without reason.
I selected Christian Hardcore and Taqwacore interviewees using snowball and purposive sampling. Purposive sampling requires the researcher to identify people to be interviewed (Babbie 2005). For example, I identified key players in Christian Hardcore by cross-referencing the Unified Underground conference website and the webpages of bands. I contacted central figures in each of the groups such as members of a Hope for the Rejected ministry branch and the director of a Taqwacore film. Snowball sampling involves building rapport with one person or a small number of people and asking them to introduce me to others (Taylor and Bogdan 1998). I asked each interviewee to introduce me to another religious punk and/or a non-member, a punk who was not part of these groups but had knowledge of religious punk or a religious leader (such as a church pastor) who supported religious punk but was not involved in punk (Appendix D). While doing this research, I realized the differences between religious and non-religious punk can be difficult to discern. For example, I interviewed a man who was adamant that he was agnostic but bragged that the band he played in, which sings about Christ and repentance, had a lot of “depth.” Another man that I interviewed, Jeremy, worked at an all-ages venue and set up shows for touring Christian Hardcore bands. A member of Hope for the Rejected recommended that I interview Jeremy because he was someone who supported the music but was not Christian. Through interviews with non-religious punks, I was able to learn more about the values of underground music culture which was important to understanding how these values shape Christian Hardcore and Taqwacore beliefs and practices.
On several occasions, I had the opportunity to interview Christian Hardcore youth in pre- existing groups (Appendix E).14 For instance, I sat down with a group of three friends at UU and with their permission, recorded the conversation; at that same UU conference, I recorded a group of six people talking outside while smoking cigars; and I interviewed an entire band in their tour van. I also recorded people in pairs – usually married Christian couples. Interviewing already existing groups and couples gave me the opportunity to understand how issues are “normally” talked about while also giving me insight as to what issues and interpretations are contested within the group (Crang and Cook 2007). Realizing that the group conversations take on a different dynamic than one-on-one interviews, I allowed these to be more open-ended than the one-on-one interviews (Taylor and Bogdan 1998). Often times, I spearheaded the discussion by asking the participants to say how they all met, what they had in common, and what they think punk is about. From there, I let the conversation unfold in the direction participants took it, but returned to foundational questions about religion and music.
To establish rapport, my interview template addressed a range of issues but was short enough to be interview friendly (Crang and Cook 2007). One-on-one and group interviews lasted on average about 1 ½ hour each. I followed up a handful of the formal interviews with informal conversation and inquiry, either by phone or by email. Interviews with Christian Hardcore interviews took place in the basement of live music venues, in a tour van, at a coffee shop, a restaurant, at bars, and in a quiet space at the UU conference; one was done via email and two via Skype. Most of the Taqwacore interviews were done over Skype (N = 12); there were 4 over the phone and 4 done in person. None of the Taqwacore interviews were done in pairs or as a
14 I did not conduct any group interviews with Taqwacores.
group. Before starting the interview, I told each participant that I was recording the interview anonymously and that it would be a conversation, not a question and answer session.